Determined mother fights against son’s cancer
Family sold only piece of land they owned to meet treatment cost
Savita Devi came to Delhi from a village near Siliguri three months ago to get her son Bablu, 16, treated for blood cancer. She had little money, but was full of determination to save the child.
Savita's husband works as a driver in Haa, Bhutan while she stayed at their home taking care of their two children. The family has now sold off its only piece of land at Rs 4 lakh to begin Bablu's treatment. The total cost of that is estimated to be Rs 8 lakh. “Our land in the town was worth Rs 10 lakh at least. But as I sold it over phone from Delhi, we had to bear the losses,” Savita said.
She has also received Rs 3 lakh from the Prime Minister’s fund. Help also poured from the community back home. Bablu’s teachers collected Rs 51, 000 for him.
But apart from the cost of treatment, she needs money to stay on the capital with her ailing son.
“Delhi is a big city and functions very differently from our small town. The cost of living is high,” said Savita. Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, where Bablu is being treated, has provided her with a one-room flat free of cost near the hospital for six months.
“Looking at her financial condition, we advised her to go back to her hometown and get the treatment there. There have been many cases where families sell all their assets and are still forced to leave the treatment mid-way. This destroys the family and the patient is also not saved. But Savita Devi stuck to her demand of treating her son here, and finally managed to raise the money,” said Dr Gauri Kapoor, Director and Head, Pediatric Oncology, who is handling the case.
Bablu had suffered from fever and other ailments for many months, but no local doctor could diagnose him properly. When he was taken to a hospital in the town, the test results showed he had blood cancer, the most common cancer among teens. Within a week Savita rushed to Vellore, Tamil Nadu, but when a relative suggested that the national capital offered the best chance of saving Bablu, she came to Delhi.
Cancer among children has to be treated differently than in adults due to difference in their response to drugs. While cancer cells grow among adults at a slow rate, they respond less to treatment.
In children, the cancer is usually more aggressive and spreads fast, but it is more curable. It needs intensive treatment, said Dr Kapoor.
At her hospital, the success rate among children suffering with cancer is 70 per cent as against 30-40 per cent among adults.
Already, there are positive results. “Bablu now helps me in changing the bedsheet. He had lost a lot of weight within few months and needed help sometimes even to walk,” said Savita.
Bablu, a keen sportsman and among the toppers of his class, also feels better. “I feel healthier.
However, I want to return to Siliguri and play with my friends. I am ready to take the pressure of treatment for this purpose alone.”
The woman’s name has been changed.
