Blip, Blip, Blip, Blip - blipped the ECG machine erratically as his dad floated in and out of consciousness, lying comatose in bed for the better part of a month. “Shit”, muttered Rayomand, who had gotten special permission to see him. Such visits were few and far between. Even though meeting his dad was something that was expected of him, Rayo visited him very less.
The reason being - who wants to see someone you love, barely conscious, hooked up to 150 tubes entering him from his nose and mouth while the ventilator steadily worked and did its job keeping this vegetable of a human being alive?
When he was active, Sourav’s dad and he were inseparable. They would play the piano; they would go on walks together, during which Rayo would run into random shops and pick up things, with Dad slowly walking behind, clearing the bill. Cancer did not look good on his father, wondered Rayo, as he stared at a shell of a human being, barely being kept alive by the ventilator.
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma - said the doctor - is a very rare kind of blood cancer.
Cancer kills. Unless you’re very, very lucky and your therapy is spot on, cancer kills.
And it’s a sad, messy end, as the person descends into a personal hell, the only saving grace being that they’re barely conscious most of the time, so they don’t feel the pain. And you know the worst part, it's still growing. In 2022 alone, Cancer killed 9.7 million people, and researchers believe the toll will grow to 15.4 million by 2040.
