Suresh use to work as a peon (contract employee) in Government office and his wife worked in a private company. Both of them hail from Bihar. They have two children one boy and a girl.

It was in December 2018, when Suresh started developing an infection in his Jaw. At first, Suresh thought it to be harmless and ignored it. Two weeks later, the infection still persisted, so he went to a quack for treatment which made it worse. He eventually had to see a doctor who suggested Suresh to take some test.

When the result came out it showed cancer of buccal mucosa. The news of cancer shattered everyone at home. Suresh children are still studying in school, Rohit is in class 10th and Pooja is in class 5th. When Suresh wife, Usha heard about the disease she couldn’t handle the news and went into depression.

Suresh had started his treatment at DSCI hospital. The Chemo sessions were not easy and were making Suresh weak. He had to leave his work as he was not able to cope with work. Now the whole responsibility of the household came on Usha, which was also making her depression severe. The pain was unbearable and had made Suresh bedridden. He also developed bed sores as there was no one to take care of him at home. The condition become so bad that his wife had to leave work and take care of him full time.

One day, Usha while buying vegetables in the market read about CanSupport at the back of a Autorickshaw. She called the helpline number and shared about her problem.

The team visited Suresh the next morning. When the team first visited, they found Suresh was in a very deplorable state. Suresh was screaming with pain and his wound was smelling due to fungating wound. His wife explained that the smell of his wound has made everyone uncomfortable, even children didn’t like to be around because of the smell.

Upon reviewing Suresh case, the doctor decided to prescribe some pain-relieving medicine to ease his pain and the nurse cleaned the fungating wound which had developed maggots. Since the wound was deep the team decided to visit Suresh for next two days to dress the wound. In those two days the nurse trained his wife how to clean and dress his wound by using household items which are cost effective and reasonable. She also taught her about what food to give and assured her to call the team whenever she needed their help.

While talking to Suresh the counsellor found that Suresh knows about his diagnosis and prognosis. The thoughts of leaving his family made him anxious. He often vent his anger by blaming God, himself, etc. CanSupport counselor helped Suresh deal with his anxiety and frustration. The counselor also helped his wife overcome her depression. Dealing with the end of life emotions isn’t easy, but the team handled it with courage.

Though Suresh condition is deteriorating, his family has accepted his condition. The team visits them once in a week to check on Suresh condition. Usha have started working as Suresh sister comes home to look after him while Usha goes to work.

They are many people like Suresh who need palliative care but they don’t know where to go. While CanSupport is doing its best the reach out to people informing them about their services, we request you to spread the word. Share our Helpline Number 011-41010539 with to all the needy people. Though all CanSupport services are free of charge for patients, the cost of reaching out to patients and caring for them cost Rs. 1300/- per visit per patient.

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Patient names have been changed to protect their identity.