Little Sneha’s Journey Through Cancer: A Mother’s Perspective | #ImpactGuruSuccess

My Goddess Laxmi

When I first held my newborn in my arms, I was the happiest person in the world. It was as if she gave me another reason to live, that of being her Ma (mother). I knew right away that my life had changed for the better because my daughter was the greatest gift I’d ever received. It felt like the arrival of Goddess Laxmi in our home.

Our entire family was overjoyed when we shared the news that we’d been blessed with a baby girl. She was super-special to me and was the best thing to have happened to me. In addition to the beginning of a new chapter, her birth marked the first daughter to be born in the Bhunia household. My newborn Sneha’s smiles and chirpiness filled our home with happiness. Her birth completed my small family, she completed me.

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The Dreaded “C” Word

Sneha had such a contagious smile. No matter what the day threw at me, her smile was enough to make the world right for me again. Having a daughter was truly a blessing and everything was going well for us. Little did we know about the frightening future that awaited us…

When my little angel turned two, she lost her ability to walk after she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (a fatal form of blood cancer). 

The moment I heard the news my ears started ringing and I was unable to hear anything else around me. It was heart-wrenching. The worst part was that I couldn’t even sob in front of her because I didn’t want my source of pride to ever see me cry. 

Nobody prepares you for the horrible day. No mom should ever have to hear her child has cancer. As a parent, your main instinct is to protect and care for your children. But, what happens when your child is diagnosed with cancer? How do you possibly navigate your family through the devastating diagnosis, harsh treatments, and fears of recurrence? 

The effects of this deadly disease were torturous for my baby. It tormented me to see her smile turn into endless cries. At first, she got a fever. Her eyelids, hands, and legs got swollen. She was unable to get up and she refused to eat. At such a tender age, my baby was suffering so much.

It wasn’t an easy ride. Even though I had prepared myself mentally, my emotions overpowered me. I simply didn’t know what to do. Not only did I have to deal with the emotional upheaval but the physical toll was equally impossible to deal with. It was one of the toughest fights of our life, to say the least.

Also Read: How The Power Of Social Media Gave This SMA Warrior A New Life

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The Curse of Being Poor

I am a native of Kanthi, East Midnapore, a district in West Bengal. We couldn’t get a proper diagnosis done there, so we had to somehow arrange funds by borrowing and traveling to Kolkata for my daughter’s treatment. 

The doctors tried their best but they weren’t able to properly diagnose her condition, so we went to Vellore. However, we had to return to Kolkata as we couldn’t afford to pay for her treatment in Vellore. Poverty felt like a curse at times like these. It was a literal struggle with life and death. 

Doctors at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Cancer Hospital had said that my daughter could be cured by chemotherapy, blood transfusions, supportive treatment, and a bone marrow transplant (BMT). That being said, we didn’t have the money that was required for my daughter’s treatment. Just because we couldn’t afford it, my innocent baby had to suffer. I hated to see my 2-year-old pay the price of our poverty. 

The doctors had said that we would need to arrange Rs 28,75,000 for our daughter’s prolonged treatment, but we’d already exhausted all our savings by then. Time was running out for us and our daughter’s life was hanging by a thin thread.

ImpactGuru - The Lifesaver

Miracles and ImpactGuru go hand in hand and our family experienced that through the crowdfunding magic of ImpactGuru. We weren’t aware of this organization at first until a hospital staff recommended it for fundraising. 

Crowdfunding was something we had heard of for the first time. Sneha’s father reached out to ImpactGuru and the response we received was overwhelming when donations started to pour in from all over the world. There was just one mission: To save little Sneha and help her lead a cancer-free life. With the gift of donations, Sneha was able to get her treatment done on time. 

My Sneha has recovered today and that’s totally because of ImpactGuru’s kind donors. Their help meant a lot to us. Sneha is back to reciting poems and dancing. I can’t thank ImpactGuru enough for putting a smile back on my little angel’s face. Thanks for filling our homes again with giggles and laughter.

Source: ImpactGuru

Sneha isn’t the only child with cancer. There are many children out there like Sneha who are battling cancer, and success stories like these encourage us to maximize our efforts for a greater cause. Team ImpactGuru allows you to amplify your impact and bring about change by joining the GEM community and saving countless lives. 

Like the famous quote by Anne Frank, “No one has ever become poor by giving,” your contribution can make a big difference and provide timely treatment to critical patients across India. So, what are you waiting for? 

Spread the word. Make A Donation. Save A Life. Let’s make healthcare accessible for all.