Sanjeev’s father was a very handsome, loving man and worked as an audio-visual technician. He respected his job and was very diligent. In 2015, when he was 53, they diagnosed him with Carcinoma Oesophagus at 4th stage. This made him to drop his profession, and his treatment started at the AIIMS hospital.

To run the household, both Sanjeev and his mother had to take up jobs. Sanjeev got employed as a sound operator and his mother managed to get hired as a peon in an office.

In 2018, Sanjeev’s grandmother, who is in her late 60s and a case of asthma, had too been diagnosed with breast cancer and had her left breast removed. Luckily for Sanjeev, his grandfather had worked as a central government employee so it provided for his grandmother under the CGHS empanelment and she could get treated and cured.

To take want of both his father and grandma, Sanjeev had to drop his job. He had to be at home but life became more imposing for him, providing the cost of medications, checks, commuting and basic family expenses became burdensome.

Sanjeev used to escort his father to AIIMS when his father’s treatment was continuing. It was here that at the start of 2019, Sanjeev learnt about CanSupport and its palliative care services. Sanjeev had never heard of palliative care before but he decided to call, and that’s how the CanSupport palliative care team found his father first.

When the team met Sanjeev’s father, he was in a lot of bodily pain. He would constantly feel tired and exhausted in his day-to-day activities. Ordinary, mundane chores also seemed insurmountable. He was constantly going through a sense of desolation and was mostly in a zombie-like state, with no command over his daily life and social relationships. It was hard for him to share his concerns, even with family. He felt alone and left at a “table in the corner” when struggling and coping with the illness.

The team set up their care and treatment with regular home visits. The team doctor gave him medication to curtail the pain. Since he couldn’t swallow anything, the team nurse helped him with a nasogastric tube (NG tube) that carries food and medicine to the stomach through the nose. Counseling sessions with the team counselor encouraged him share his uncertainties and anticipates. The continuum from the team really made him happy. Earlier he used to feel “totally abandoned and left to myself.”

At the time the family was also struggling financially, free medication support from the team greatly assisted them. Sanjeev was regularly in touch with the team over the phone, addressing his father’s symptoms and receiving advice. Sanjeev was indebted that there was someone he could call whenever his father’s symptoms increased instead of health care experts who did not recognize their situation, and could not contribute assistance and symptom control.

In 2020, Sanjeev’s grandmother’s cancer reappeared, and she had to go through chemotherapy. The team supported her fully as well with medication and counselling. Over a period, the palliative care team became like their extended family.

Sanjeev’s family felt like the team waited on them both hand and foot, attending to his father and grandmother. They really admired the constancy of care by the team. In December 2020, Sanjeev’s father breathed his last peacefully at home surrounded by his family.

Sanjeev says, “The CanSupport team was like angels in caring for my father and grandmother. Thank you for being there for us, standing by us. They comforted my family in so many ways—emotionally, spiritually, physically—while taking us through a rough patch in life. I can’t convey my gratitude enough.”

In April 2021, the second wave of Covid-19 hit Delhi like a tsunami and on the 2nd of May, Sanjeev’s grandma also became Covid positive. Even though her medication started through an online consultation with a doctor, her oxygen level started declining, causing concern to the family since she is also asthmatic. The doctor asked Sanjeev to promptly arrange oxygen for her. With a city already struggling with oxygen shortage, Sanjeev didn’t know what to do or where to go. He called CanSupport and the team immediately sent an oxygen concentrator to his house, which helped his grandmother breathe and to the relief of the family within a few days she could recuperate from Covid.

Sanjeev’s grandmother is now steady, is able to sit and move around. She looks forward to the team visits. We at CanSupport are delighted to observe the family move forward together stronger, steadier and comforted.