SARCOMA AWARENESS

July 18, 2022 anuraj No Comments

Teja Singh, was happily enjoying his college Old Students Association Meet and was perfectly alright but had hypertension and a fatty liver for which he would get his Ultrasound and blood reports done once in three months. That day also he got his blood reports done. The tests results were good. So he back to his routine life, went abroad on his office work. All seemed well, but this time the tests results were not that favorable and thinking there must be some technical issues in the lab, all the test were repeated. The ESR, which was supposed to be 15 was 120. The blood reports were not good so a Sonography was done suspecting TB or some infection in the body, that’s the reason WBC and ESR were on the higher side.

When some black spots were suspected immediately as CT scan was taken. All the reports showed a tumor and it was clear that Teja had Retro- differentiated Lipo Sarcoma, a very rare type of soft tissue sarcoma. Teja and his family were shocked. Teja, wept as to why God had punished him. Later when we spoke to him and counseled him, he started thinking positively and said,” When God was so nice to him all these years this must be a rare gift from God.” He and his wife decided to go through the treatment with a strong attitude and to move forward. The tumor was 20cm and in the third stage. Teja was informed about the surgery this again shocked him so I look him to a friend’s house who was a cancer survivor. A talk with him and seeing him so energetic, happy and full of live Teja got motivated and felt that God always guided him in his tough times. The surgery was for 7 hours Teja’s femoral nerve and kidney were removed and he able to move his legs, knees and ankles and his recovery was fast. After a few months there was relapse so Teja underwent six cycles of chemo, 30 cycles of radiation. Slowly after the radiation, the size of the tumors reduced and cancer activity got decreased. His diet was checked, he was advised to go sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free. Teja also learnt yoga and also started meditating and would come for regular checkups with a positive frame of mind. Today he is a great motivational speaker and encourages sarcoma patients to be brave and have faith in doctors and God.

WHAT IS SARCOMA?

Sarcomas are tumors of the connective tissue and the tumors may occur in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle or vascular tissues. Sarcomas grow locally and invade the adjacent tissues and press the nearby nerves and soft tissues, this is the reason why many complain of a hard mass and pain.

TYPES OF SARCOMAS ?

Two main types of Sarcoma are:

1) SOFT TISSUE SARCOMA: develops in the soft tissues of the body, generally in the muscles or blood vessels.

2) BONE SARCOMA: develops in the bone.

There are sub-types of Sarcomas. They are–

1) OSTESARCOMA—develops in cells that form bones.

2)DEMATOFIBROSARCOMA PROTUBERANS (DFSP)—develops in the skin.

FIBROSARCOMA—develops in fibrous tissue.

CHONDROSARCOMA—develops in cartilage.

SARCOMA TREARMENT:

Treatment depends on the type, stage and grade of sarcoma, possible side-effects, patient’s preferences and overall health of the patient is also considered. The types of treatment include—

SURGERY: Through surgery the tumor and also some surrounding healthy tissue is removed, to ensure that no tumor cells are visible at the borders of the surgical specimen. Rarely amputation is conducted when the tumor is very large involving the major nerves and blood vessels of the arm or leg.
RADIATION THERAPY: High energy X-rays are used to destroy cancer cells. Radiation Therapy can also be done before surgery to shrink the tumor so that it can be easily removed.
EXTERNAL –BEAM RADIATION THERAPY: It’s a machine from which radiation is given outside the body. I t focuses more on the tumor site and less on the normal tissues.
OTHER RADIATION THERAPIES ARE—BRACHYTHERAPY, PROTON BEAM RADIATION THERAPY, INTRA OPERATIVE RADIATION THERAPY.

THERAPIES OF MEDICATION are:

Chemotherapy
Targeted Therapy
Immunotherapy.

JULY—SARCOMA AWARENESS MONTH:

This month of July you are provided with the opportunity to learn more about this form of cancer—SARCOMA. There’s still a lot to know about sarcomas, which are cancerous tumors that can occur anywhere in the body. There are 50 types of sarcomas which fall into two categories—soft tissue sarcoma and bone sarcoma.

This July the medical fraternity wants to highlight about the disease to make a difference in the patient’s life who is suffering with this rare cancer. To raise awareness about Sarcoma, some easy ways to follow is—

On your Face book frame change your Face book account.
On social media share the different posts released by various medical organizations to spread awareness about Sarcoma.
Sarcoma Survivors can share their stories on social media tagging Cure Sarcoma #Sarcoma Awareness Month.
Place a sarcoma awareness yard sign (on the picture of a Sunflower write –SARCOMA AWARENESS MONTH ) in front of your house.
You can wear a yellow ribbon this month to spread about the Sarcoma Awareness Month.
You can also attend the various awareness programs being conducted the medical teams and organizations.
You can raise funds from family and friends for the noble cause to treat the patients and can also donate to research more about this rare disease.
Actually Sarcoma is considered to be a “forgotten cancer”. The truth is that little is known about Sarcomas and so efforts are made to encourage research and drug development for treating Sarcomas. Due to lack of awareness about Sarcomas this July month is challenging.
You can wear a T-Shirt on which the yellow ribbon can be0020 drawn and written –I AM A SARCOMA SURVIVOR.
As the disease is rare some indicators are discussed to help you understand the common characteristics of the disease- SARCOMA.

For Consultation : Cancer Specialist and oncologist