I never thought my life would shrink into hospital walls and waiting rooms. But here I am, 52 years old, sitting in Sahyadri Super Speciality Hospital, Hadapsar, Pune, trying to make sense of words I never imagined would belong to me: metastatic cancer.

The doctors said it’s in the head of my pancreas, and it has already spread. I remember staring at the floor when I heard it. 

Now my days are measured in cycles. 6 of them. Each one is 28 days. 4 of them are already completed, and the rest are required.

“Chemotherapy is not just a treatment. It’s a fight,” the nurse whispered the first day. I try to hold on to that.

The fight isn’t just in my body. It’s in my family’s faces. Nights are the hardest. The helplessness sits heavier than the pain.

Simple things are now struggles. Climbing the stairs feels like a mountain. Eating a meal feels like a task. My body feels tired before the day even begins. Yet every time I think I can’t, I remind myself: I have to. For my closed ones.

I keep telling myself, “I am not my disease. I am still me.” I believe it.

But here’s the truth. This treatment is long, and it is expensive. My daughter is doing everything she can, but it’s not enough. I don’t want to give up this fight because of money. I was earning myself before this cancer hit me. I want to keep going, to finish these 6 months, to hear the doctor say the words: you’re getting better.

I dream of returning to normal life and living as before.. That’s the picture I hold in my heart.

If you can help me reach that day, if you can be part of this fight, I will carry your kindness with me through every cycle, every needle. Please help!

How to help:

Donate: Click on the ‘Donate Now’ button and contribute to Prashant’s treatment.

Share: Share Prashant’s story with your friends and family and support further.

मला कधीच वाटलं नव्हतं की माझं आयुष्य हॉस्पिटलच्या भिंती आणि वेटिंग रूममध्ये संकुचित होईल. पण मी ५२ वर्षांची आहे, हडपसर, पुणे येथील सह्याद्री सुपर स्पेशालिटी हॉस्पिटलमध्ये बसून, मी कधीही कल्पना न केलेल्या शब्दांचा अर्थ लावण्याचा प्रयत्न करत आहे: मेटास्टॅटिक कॅन्सर.

डॉक्टरांनी सांगितले की ते माझ्या स्वादुपिंडाच्या डोक्यात आहे आणि ते आधीच पसरले आहे. ते ऐकताच मी जमिनीकडे पाहत राहिलो.

आता माझे दिवस चक्रांमध्ये मोजले जातात. त्यापैकी ६. प्रत्येकी २८ दिवस आहेत. त्यापैकी ४ आधीच पूर्ण झाले आहेत आणि उर्वरित आवश्यक आहेत.

"केमोथेरपी ही फक्त एक उपचार नाही. ही एक लढाई आहे," नर्सने पहिल्या दिवशी कुजबुजली. मी ते धरून राहण्याचा प्रयत्न करते.

लढाई फक्त माझ्या शरीरात नाही. ती माझ्या कुटुंबाच्या चेहऱ्यावर आहे. रात्री सर्वात कठीण असतात. असहाय्यता वेदनेपेक्षा जड असते.