As an adult, it’s hard for me to remember my mother before her sickness. But if I go back into childhood, I can access that.
— Bruce Eric Kaplan
One of the worst periods in my life was when my mother passed away due to colon cancer in February 2017. Having been in journalism for many years, garnering information and data in order to make sense of whatever conundrum I face is part and parcel of the various habits I have formed. When one is faced with a life or death situation, there comes a point that emotion dissipates and what you are left with is the need to find a solution to your predicament. As hard as it is to say this, there was a great sense of relief when she took her last breath since she was not in that horrid limbo where suffering was all she knew.
According to certain statistics there are around 6,000 people who are diagnosed with cancer annually here in Sri Lanka. While your genetic disposition can surely affect your chances of developing cancer, many other factors can also increase your chances of developing cancer – for example, smoking is known as one of the leading causes of oral cancer. My mother was misdiagnosed with a heart ailment when she was suffering from fatigue; in actual fact she was suffering from anemia, and was losing blood; the reason for this was a tumor that was the size of a coconut, which resided in her stomach. By the time a colonoscopy was done and the cause was found out – she was suffering from Stage Four colon cancer. I keep asking myself how a life could have been saved if early detection was something we were educated about.
An invasive operation was conducted to remove the cancer in 2016, and a steady stream of chemotherapy sessions were given in subsequent months. The only cure for cancer as per my understanding is early prevention. Sickness as an entity zaps so much energy from the person who is going through it and also from the family members. While the emotional despair is something that is very difficult to come to terms with so too is the level of financial strain. My mother went through two years of unbelievable agony, and all at a cost of LKR 6 million; this is taking into consideration the various misdiagnoses and the subsequent treatments for such false flags.
Adages and proverbs are there for a reason; one that surely comes to my mind is: forewarned is forearmed. The reality here is that I carry the same genes as my mother, and my aunt who passed away due to colon cancer as well. The advice given to me was to make sure I go for a screening every year. The cost alone for this is a taxing affair. Considering this reality and looking at the events of the past, what would really have helped me and my family would have been an insurance policy that was well-meaning and genuine in all aspects. A proper policy – like AIA’s Health Protector – would have helped us from a financial aspect, and even prodded us to go for regular health checkups to ensure a long and healthy life.
Written by Rohitha Perera