Ram Snehi (name changed) is 52 and suffering from ca breast. She’s married and has four children, two sons and two daughters. Two of her children (a son and a daughter) are married and the other two children are still in school.

Ram Snehi is from Bihar and both she and her husband work as labourers in a paddy field in their hometown. When her cancer was diagnosed, she moved from Bihar to Noida (Delhi NCR) with her elder son for treatment. Her husband had to stay back to look after the other children and the family.

After they came to Delhi, they moved into a small hut beside a park in Noida. Her son managed to get himself some work as a daily wage labourer. Ram Snehi’s was aware of her diagnosis but not the prognosis. Her treatment started at AIIMS.

Until the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown, Ram Snehi’s treatment continued at AIIMS but post the lockdown, her treatment faced a serious roadblock. It became mandatory to book appointments with the doctors online. Since Ram Snehi did not have a mobile phone or any access to the internet, her treatment got interrupted. She was unable to book online appointments with the doctors at AIIMS.

While on their way to visit a home care patient, the palliative care team from CanSupport found Ram Snehi sitting by the roadside. She had a fungating wound, which smelled foul. Her hand had also developed lymphedema. The team went up to her to get to know about her sickness and if she was taking any treatment? With tears rolling down her cheeks, she shared her plight.

The team listened to her calmly and tried to pacify her and told her that they would look after her and assist her with all the challenges she was facing. After inquiring about where she lived, the very next day the team home visited her.

To start with, the team nurse cleaned her fungating wound and did the dressing. The nurse also provided medicines and taught Ram Snehi as well as her caregiver, how to do the dressing regularly. She also had trouble raising her hand. The team bought a crepe bandage from a pharmacy and tied it on her arm to relieve her of the swelling.

From then on, the team started visiting Ram Snehi regularly. Visits by CanSupport home care team helped Ram Snehi to relax and feel comfortable. Her son also did not feel alone anymore in looking after his mother. Through the intervention by the team, the patient was able to resume her further treatment from AIIMS hospital after the team helped her with getting online appointments with the doctor.

Ram Snehi’s treatment got back on line again, but very shortly her doctor at AIIMS advised her to get a PET scan done from a private hospital as there was no facility in the government hospitals owing to the pandemic.

When Ram Snehi was told this, she broke down again. She did not have sufficient financial resources to afford a PET scan from a private clinic or hospital. Her son started contemplating selling their property in Bihar to continue to afford his mother’s cancer treatment. The team counselled her son by discussing the prognosis with him and the futility of selling their property. The team urged him to think wisely, keeping in mind the family’s future and not to get carried away by emotions. They assured him that they will arrange appointment for her PET scan through CanSupport social worker.

Just around this time, all of a sudden, the authorities decided to demolish the huts of the labourers where Ram Snehi and her son were living, giving no proper notice. They were not even given enough time to pack their bags and properly vacate their homes. Everyone who lived in those huts hurriedly packed and moved here and there to different places. Since Ram Snehi did not have a phone, she could not contact and inform the team from CanSupport about this sudden development.

On their next visit, when the team found all the huts demolished, they decided to look for Ram Snehi by inquiring about her from many people. After days of asking many people about her whereabouts, they finally found her. Ram Snehi was overjoyed to see the team again and surprised at how they found her.

For Ram Snehi the battle hadn’t finished yet. She got news that her husband had also gotten sick, so she decided to go back to her hometown in Bihar.

The team provided enough ration, medicines, clothes and many other things that Ram Snehi needed and sent her off to her hometown, encouraging her to keep in touch with them.

Addressing suffering involves taking care of issues beyond physical symptoms. Palliative care uses a team approach to support patients and their caregivers. We are happy that we could make Ram Snehi and her son’s journey with cancer comfortable and pain free.