A Cancer Survivor’s 32-Year Journey of ‘Giving Back’ Through Aid, Emotional Support & Prostheses

Mumbai-based Renuka Advani (now 61) was 47 years old when she was diagnosed with cancer. Like many patients who receive this diagnosis, she was devastated. 

“I remember breaking down during one of the treatment sessions,” she shares. Alone in the room — Renuka’s husband and mother, who often accompanied her to the hospital, were waiting outside — Renuka was surprised when a stranger walked in and offered to sit with her. 

“I didn’t know her [the stranger], but she held my hand and sat with me while I cried. I confided in her that I thought I was going to die, and she calmed me down,” Renuka shares. 

“When I recovered, my daughter told me about wanting to do something to ‘give back’. That’s when I remembered the woman who had sat with me and told my daughter that we should reach out to the organisation she was from — V Care Foundation; we connected with Vandana Gupta, the Founder and Chairperson, and that’s how Squash A Mile shaped up,” Renuka says, adding that the initiative by her children Rhea and Rohan uses sports as a medium to support patient communities undergoing active cancer treatment, including radiation, surgery, chemotherapy, or supportive care. 

For the last 14 years, Squash A Mile conducted at the Bombay Gymkhana has raised funds that are channelled towards helping the patients associated with V Care Foundation. Now that Renuka looks back at how it started, she sees it as a ripple effect that began with a small act of kindness — with a stranger choosing to be there for her in a moment of distress. 

“This is exactly the intention with which I started V Care Foundation 32 years ago,” Vandana shares. When she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma stage 3 (a cancer of the lymphatic system) in 1993, she recalls not knowing much about the diagnosis. “My husband and I looked up the term in a medical encyclopedia; that’s how we knew it was cancer,” she shares.  

Through the treatment process, Vandana recalls feeling lost. She explains, “Doctors often do not have the time to sit with the patient and explain. All the booklets I was given highlighted side effects, which scared me about the process. I almost backed out.” 

So, once she was declared cancer-free, she figured she wanted to be a beacon for all those who, like her, did not have the right information or support when diagnosed with cancer. And that is how V Care Foundation started. 

The NGO provides free medical, financial, and emotional support to ‘cancer warriors’ and their family members through carefully designed interventions. As Vandana explains, “Our mission has always been to walk alongside those affected by cancer, providing treatment navigation with support from healthcare providers, financial aid, emotional counselling, nutritional support, and end-of-life care.” 

But it doesn’t end there. 

“We extend support to caregivers who are the backbone of every patient, who often bear the emotional and physical burden in silence. Through support group meetings and guidance sessions, we aim to ensure no one walks this journey alone,” she adds. 

A multitude of interventions centred around care

Shirdi-based Yatharth Somnath Pathak (15) was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2017 when he was just six years old. His parents recall the ordeal they had to go through before they had a diagnosis. 

Yatharth was referred to Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital for treatment. While he does not remember the details clearly, considering he was so little when they unfolded, he remembers having to sit in Betadine solution for 30 minutes every day to ward off any infections. This went on for years. The bottles were provided by V Care Foundation. 

As part of their Aadhar initiative, the foundation helps patients with infection control kits, wigs, chemo caps, transportation assistance, prostheses, and other items that help restore dignity and confidence. 

In fact, Dr Tanveer Ahmed Shaikh (34), currently an assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Haematology at SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, shares that he got to know about the foundation helping patients diagnosed with sarcoma (malignant tumor arising in connective tissue) with prostheses. 

“I am closely in touch with V Care,” Tanveer shares, adding that he is currently involved in setting up a paediatric oncology unit at the hospital, and the foundation is assisting him with wigs, prostheses, and other logistical support. 

Tanveer himself is a cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with non-metastatic Ewing sarcoma of the left maxillary sinus (soft tissue) while studying in his second year of MBBS; the treatment ran in parallel with his studies. 

When he cleared his MBBS, Tanveer decided to pursue his MD in paediatric oncology. Explaining his reasons, he shares, “Whenever I would go to Tata Memorial Hospital during my treatment, I would always see the children on one side of the cancer ward, happy, oblivious to the worry of their parents who were clustered on the other side. I realised that, as a doctor, I had the power to choose either of these mindsets — the one that focused on hope, or the other that focused on worry. I chose the first.”

As part of V Care’s interventions, there is also the Rahat initiative through which they provide financial assistance to patients undergoing active treatment, helping them manage the many out-of-pocket expenses that arise during long and often expensive therapies; Poshan focuses on nutritional support, ensuring patients and caregivers staying in Mumbai during treatment receive healthy, dietitian-planned meals that strengthen immunity and aid recovery. 

Aashray addresses one of the biggest challenges faced by outstation patients — accommodation — by arranging safe housing for patients and caregivers during treatment, while Josh, recognising the emotional toll the disease takes on caregivers and patients, organises recreational activities like art workshops, games, and cultural events to give patients and families moments of joy and relief from hospital routines. 

Through Samvad, the foundation conducts awareness programs across the country, encouraging open conversations around cancer and reducing stigma, while Manokamna extends palliative care support, offering financial assistance to improve the quality of life for patients receiving end-of-life care.

‘We intend to make their days happier.’

Every patient is dear to Vandana. Losing one feels personal to her and the team at V Care. 

But, as she reiterates, there’s often only so much they can do. “We don’t aim to prolong the life of someone. But, instead, we try to ensure that whatever time the person has is happy,” she says. 

Vandana shares about one of the very first patients V Care Foundation helped, “He was very young, and the family needed a lot of emotional support. In one of the final checkups, the doctors said that blast cells (immature blood cells) had increased dramatically, and the boy had very little time left. The family was insistent that they wanted to spend all their savings on helping their child, but we explained to them that nothing they did could help.”

The patient passed away within a week of this. V Care Foundation stayed in touch with the family. “Today, his older brother is a social worker and is so thankful for everything we did to help the family during that time,” Vandana shares. The foundation is constantly on the lookout for patients and hospitals they can help. 

Commending their spirit of giving, Dr Navin Khattry, professor of the Department of Oncology and Deputy Director of Clinical Services at ACTREC (Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer), the R&D wing of Tata Memorial Centre, shares how, while setting up the bone marrow transplant unit in the Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre and the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Varanasi, they had an urgent fund requirement. 

“Usually, a foundation will want to see how the unit is progressing before they step in to give funds, but I remember telling Vandana ji that we needed 25 lakhs to start treating patients, and she said okay,” he recalls. 

Today, both centres are flourishing, providing state-of-the-art care to patients diagnosed with cancer. And this thrills Vandana and team. 

For everyone at V Care, success lies in their ability to ease an emotionally heavy process, ensuring that no patient has to navigate cancer alone, and that, along with treatment, they also receive compassion, dignity, and the reassurance that someone is walking the journey beside them.

All pictures courtesy V Care Foundation; this story was made possible with the support of Jyoti Patil Shah, Chief Executive Officer, V Care Foundation, who helped facilitate the interviews. 

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com