Ram Kapoor opens up about helping his father die, inoperable pancreatic cancer
“I helped my father in planning his death. He was diagnosed at 63. Pancreatic cancer. It was not possible to operate. He underwent 18 sessions of chemotherapy. His cancer was almost gone. He recovered so well that he lived till 73. A good life,” he expressed. DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine.Kapoor added, “Obviously, my reaction was the same as anybody else’s. He managed to convince me that if I don’t help him, he will die alone. He didn’t give me a choice. He had a condition that I cannot share this with anyone. He also said, you can’t leave me alone. When they put me into ICU, you have to be there with me. We got admitted to the hospital, but no one knew that there was no treatment happening. I didn’t know I would be strong enough. Somehow, he knew I could do it. He was scared. He was scared of being alone. He wasn’t scared of dying. But he just didn’t want to be alone. He said, I don’t want anyone to cry at my funeral. I held his hand, and every day, I helped him …go…(pauses)…My mother and sister still don’t talk to me…it’s been more than five years…But I think…it’s one of the best things a child can do for his parent.” Taking a cue from his revelation, we asked experts about when pancreatic cancer is inoperable. Dr Vivek Bande, surgical oncologist, TGH Onco-Life Cancer Center, Talegaon, said that pancreatic cancer is considered inoperable when the tumour has spread to distant organs such as the liver or lungs, or when it has grown into major blood vessels around the pancreas, making surgery unsafe or unlikely to remove the cancer completely. “In some patients, the cancer is also detected at a very advanced stage, when surgery would not provide meaningful benefit. Even if surgery is not possible, chemotherapy, targeted treatments, symptom control and palliative care can help improve quality of life and, in selected patients, may even shrink the tumour enough to reconsider surgery,” said Dr Bande.
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