After losing my son to cancer, a timely diagnosis saved my life | My Story

In November 2021, Raaj Kumar Bothra, a 67-year-old retired businessman from Bengaluru, was completely shattered and looking at a dark abyss as he was diagnosed with ampullary cancer. Ampullary cancer is cancer of the ampulla of Vater. The ampulla of Vater is located where the bile duct and pancreatic duct join into the small intestine. Ampullary cancer forms near many other parts of the digestive system. The cancer diagnosis left him with an emotional turmoil as just 19-months prior, his son, 38-year-old Rishab Bothra, had succumbed to cholangiocarcinoma or bile duct cancer in Edinburgh, Scotland. Despite the devastating loss of his son, Bothra braced himself for the journey ahead. He underwent Whipple surgery to remove the malignant tumor from the head of the pancreas, facing both physical and emotional challenges and was finally declared cancer-free in June 2022.