96-yr-old weighing 37kg beats breast cancer

Surat: A frail nonagenarian from Bharuch visited Dwarka as thanksgiving to the almighty and attended weeklong Bhagwat path. What makes the woman’s visit even more interesting is that Kanchanben Patel, all of 96 years and weighing just 37 kilogram, had just combated the deadly cancer successfully and also beat her high thyroid and WBC levels as well.
Doctors at at Jayaben Modi Hospital in Ankleshwar, though highly sceptical of the outcome initially, operated upon the ‘superba’ to remove a tumour from her breast. But after she was discharged, they are now a happy lot for taking up the challenge to save the braveheart.
“It was a rare case for us as breast cancer at such a late age is rarely observed. Looking at the patient’s courage and her family’s determination, we took up the challenge and successfully operated on her,” senior oncosurgeon Dr Divyesh Pathak told TOI.
According to Pathak, the case was challenging as the patent had thyroid of more than 50 mlU/mL against the normal value of less than 5 mlU/mL. Her white blood cell (WBC) count of 80,000 to 90,000 against the normal range of 10,000, which indicated leukocytosis.
“We took up the case with the help of medical oncologist, anaesthetist and physician. We brought down the patient’s parameters to optimum level before surgery. After the successful surgery, she could get back to her routine in three to four days,” said Dr Pathak.
Kanchanben has three sons and two daughters and her eldest daughter is now 75. She lives with her son Kanubhai Patel who is 73.
Kanubhai, a retired teacher, said: “We wanted to cure our mother at any cost. My mother has 35 members in the family to take care of her. We were fortunate to detect the tumour early as she drew our attention to a swelling type of development near her breast. She is a brave woman and readily agreed for the surgery.”
He said when they told Kanchanben that it was cancer, she said not to worry as “God will help everything go well”. “Within a few days of her surgery, she came with us to Dwarka for seven days for ‘Bhagwat Saptah’. She has lived a healthy life all these years and had never taken pills,” he said.
Dr Pathak, however, also had a word of caution to all women of all ages: “I would like to suggest to all women that if they notice anything unusual, they should immediately get it checked and should not shy away. Early detection and proper treatment helps the patient recover fast.”