14/12/2025
THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I AM HERE
Imagine being elderly and frail, with no spouse, money or transportation, living in a cold, dark room, with advanced oral cancer (from chewing to***co) and essentially no one to help you. That's the reality for the uncle of one of our students who lives in the neighboring city of Ajmer.
Cancer care here is free and available, but it can be daunting and difficult for someone in this position, made worse if literacy is also an issue. There are a lot of steps that have to be done properly, and associated costs and trips that have to be made.
In this case inaction has allowed the disease to progress farther than it might have, but there is still a good chance. I am fast tracking everything as best as possible. We went to the chemotherapy clinic and he is now registered, and we just got new CT scans and all of the other tests that are required for the doctors to start treatment.
I've been doing this for a somewhat long time now, and sitting yesterday waiting for the doctor and watching Sir cradling his swollen face and quietly trembling just broke my heart. To face it with his circumstances, it's hard to even imagine.
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A GUIDE FOR HELPING
If you happen to visit Pushkar/Ajmer and someone you love or even someone you meet has a developing case of oral cancer (likely from to***co or supari), I can summarize the course of action for you - and you can of course contact me. It may save someone's life. Please note this is advice for helping them to receive professional medical care. Do not ever attempt to administer care yourself.
First they have to be seen either by an E.N.T. or an oncologist and have a biopsy. You can go to JLN in Ajmer (the large Govt. hospital), or Aryabhatta hospital in Ajmer or Chachiyawas. One or the other will do a biopsy, x-rays, blood work, CT scan and other investigations (the term for "tests" in India). You may have to help the person get all these tests, which is free in the government hospital.
If you're not accustomed to using a large government hospital and the cost is not an issue you can also opt to do these supporting tests at an accredited private hospital like Mittal. Do not go to a private diagnostic clinic as these tests are not generally admissable.
One note: I have seen oral cancer patients from Pushkar who choose to go to Jaipur for treatment. This is a personal choice, but I will only say that from a practical standpoint, this is far more difficult and complicated and expensive than doing it in Ajmer, and Ajmer has excellent full-service treatment. Again, it is of course the patient's choice. If you're trying to help someone and they only want to go to Jaipur and you're not very familiar with everything, contact me and I can try to help.
If the biopsy confirms cancer and it is deemed treatable, the patient will likely be referred either for surgery or chemotherapy/radiation therapy. If surgery is prescribed but the tumor is large, then surgery may have to wait until chemo reduces it. These are decisions for the doctors to make. The chemotherapy center in Ajmer is called the Department of Radiation Oncology (address Jln Medical College Cir, Rina Rd., Ajmer). It is part of JLN. If you are anywhere near it anyone you ask will know where to point you.
Get there early (9:30am), go to counter 5, get a slip, and go back to the main counter, and Ma'am will do what needs to be done to get the patient ready for whatever services they are receiving that day. Make sure the patient has their Aadhaar card and other documents ready. The chemotherapy center is well regulated and has procedures that are not optional. You need to be on time, polite and cooperative, with your documents in good order. This is good advice for any medical treatment here.
If the patient is to receive chemotherapy or radiation they will be given various documents that must be retained long-term. Make color copies that are kept separately from the patient, and laminate everything. The most important thing is to never lose the pink colored **Diary**, the biopsy report, or their Aadhaar ID card. There may be several sessions scheduled several weeks apart, and they must show up promptly on the assigned days. Again this is up to the doctors to decide.
If the patient has surgery, it is an extremely serious surgery requiring long-term support afterwards, in terms of nutrition, emotional support (as it is severely disfiguring), material and financial support and of course follow-up dressing changes and other medical evaluations and treatments.
The whole process may take 3-6 months and involve a dozen or more trips to hospitals. If you do become involved in helping someone you can contact me and I will do my best to help as well. Also, always take it as an opportunity to encourage other people in the patient's circle of friends and family to stop using to***co and supari.
