Author: abhi

Categories
COVID Surviors

Gopal Solanki

Meet our BraveHearts

Gopal Solanki

Age : 3 years

Place : Shegaon, Maharashtra (316 miles from Mumbai) 

Gopal is a playful and cheerful child. He loves to play with toys, with other kids, and watch cartoons. His family and he started living at the Access Life center in September, 2020.

Fighting Cancer and COVID

Gopal first developed a fever. On being taken to the doctor, he was prescribed some medicines and blood tests. Because the report showed low platelet count, The treatment procedure was changed to include injection and saline. However, Gopal’s body temperature kept fluctuating and the family changed doctors. After all the tests were done, Gopal was put on a  treatment for malaria. However, his condition did not improve and the blood culture came out negative for malaria. The family then moved Gopal to yet another hospital in Akola, where he was diagnosed to have severe malaria. The doctors increased the dosage of medicines and injections.

There was a temporary remission in fever after which it was back again. So, the doctors further increased the medicine dosage. This process repeated for several weeks before the family changed doctors yet again. This doctor suggested a BMT test, which declared that Gopal had BCT-All cancer. The doctor asked the family to immediately go to Tata hospital in Mumbai and told them to be hopeful that the child will recover from this disease. Following the doctor’s advice, the family travelled to Mumbai.

In November 2020, Gopal tested positive for COVID-19. Gopal had to treated at the hospital where he wanted both his parents to stay with him. However, the hospital allowed only one parent stay and this was a challenging time for him. The child battled the disease for a month after which he was finally declared COVID negative in December.

Challenges

The family faced a lot of challenges mentally, emotionally, and physically trying to find out what exactly was the problem was and why fever was not alleviating. The parents had no clue about childhood cancer and the news came as a major shock. The family faces financial issues and had to take loans from friends and relatives for the treatment. The family also had problems finding shelter in Mumbai, since they were traveling with two women who were uncomfortable staying in the hospital or out on the streets. 

Categories
Active Patients

Aarsalan Shaikh

Meet our BraveHearts

Aarsalan Shaikh

Age : 5 years

Aarsalan is a happy child who is very playful and has adjusted well to his life at the center. He has been living at the center since September, 2020.

Fighting Cancer and COVID

It all started when Aarsalan  fell down from the bed and injured himself. Post this injury, he started feeling very weak and developed a fever. The temperature kept fluctuating and so the family consulted a doctor. The doctor suggested a few tests including blood tests and X-ray, wherein the latter showed that the child had a cyst. The child also had some vision-related difficulties for 15 days. So, the doctor advised the family to go to Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai for further testing. Here it was confirmed that he had Neuro Oncology.

During his stay here, Aarsalan also tested positive for COVID-19.

Challenges

The family has no relatives in Mumbai, and so it was difficult for them to find affordable place to stay. This became even more challenging as the family faces a lot of financial troubles.  The family also faced a lot of financial issues. They had to borrow money from relatives and friends to travel to Mumbai. They were not aware of childhood cancer either and, thus it was very shocking for them when the news broke about the cancer, and this affected them mentally as well as emotionally. The child’s siblings are left with the relatives, and they miss their parents a lot, especially since they are very young.

Give the gift of health to Aarsalan Shaikh

Thanks to generous donors like you, Aarsalan Shaikh has been adopted and their needs will be taken care of for the duration of their treatment.
Categories
Cancer Survivors

Baby Shubi

Meet our BraveHearts

Baby Shubi

Age : 1 years

Place : Lucknow area, Uttar Pradesh (830 miles from Mumbai)

Baby is a happy child who came to the Access Life center in August, 2020.

Fighting Cancer

Initially, Baby’s parents observed that the child had developed a swelling on the backside and after a few days they observed blood in the toilet. The parents rushed to the local doctor and the child was admitted to the hospital for 15 days. The doctor did a few tests over there and suspected that it could be cancer and recommended them to go to Lucknow for further checking and treatment. The parents left immediately for Lucknow. All the tests were repeated and Baby was diagnosed with PAED Solid Tumor. The doctor of the Lucknow Hospital recommended the family to go to Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai for further treatment.

Challenges

The family traveled from Lucknow to Delhi by bus and from Delhi to Mumbai by train during the pandemic induced lockdown. The family had never heard of Childhood cancer and didn’t have much idea about the treatment process. Baby’s father had some savings which he used for the treatment and for travelling till Mumbai. The family faced a lot of financial difficulties. They did not ask help from any relatives or friends as they believe if other people get to know about the disease then no one will marry their daughter in the future. 

Categories
Cancer Survivors

Anjali Gaware

Meet our BraveHearts

Challenges

The family had no clue about childhood cancer and it was shocking and astonishing for the family to accept that their child was diagnosed with cancer. They also faced financial difficulties and so had to take loans from relatives and close people for the child’s treatment. Anjali has a brother who had to stay with their grandparents. Furthermore, the family did not have any acquaintances in Mumbai and it was very difficult for the family to manage shelter, food, and treatment all together when they first reached Mumbai.

Categories
Blogs

AccessLife Gold Ribbon Strides 5K Walk/Run

AccessLife Gold Ribbon Strides 5K Walk/Run
AccessLife Gold Ribbon Strides 5K Walk/Run

By Hardeep Singh

A fit Body leads to a positive Mind, which forms the basis of serene Soul and Happiness.

On April 29th, The Youth chapter of Access Life America hosted their first-ever Gold Ribbon Strides 5K Walk/Run event at Webb Bridge Park, Alpharetta, GA.

The initiative was to promote healthy life-style and to create awareness about Access-Life’s commitment to support little-souls impacted by cancer. The event was a collective and collaborative initiative and was selflessly supported by of many folks from myriad walks of life. Youth chapter of AccessLife participated in planning and execution of the event by designing the logo, flyer and encouraged friends and families to sign-up for this cause.

190 health-conscious souls participated in the event, with ages from 8 years to 73 years old. The run started at 8am. The logistics were very meticulously planned and executed. There were ample amount of nutritious supplements, water, coffee, tea and energy bars. All the registered participants received excellent quality T-shirts with Gold Ribbon Logos.

Access Life Assistance Foundation in Mumbai, is working to provide much needed support of safe and hygienic accommodation to child-patients and their families, who travel to Mumbai from remote towns and villages for cancer treatment. Access Life Assistance Foundation provides a loving and temporary home for the parent or care-taker and the child undergoing the treatment.

Presently there are 5 centers in Mumbai, which are presently hosting 43 child-patients along with parents.  Since last 3+ years, 180 kids have stayed at ALA centers while undergoing treatment for cancer.

Average cost to support the stay of a child-patient is approximately $287 per month. If you would like to support, please donate by clicking here.

Hexaware was the Platinum Sponsor of this event.  Other sponsorers were CCMG (Cancer Center for Middle Georgia), Resolution Technologies, Paramount Software Solutions and Envoy Mortgage. Glad Clicks captured the exciting moments of the event. Part of the proceeds will go to Atlanta Ronald McDonald House of Charities as part of ALA’s Give Back initiative to local charities.

Are you getting ready for next ALA’s 5K Walk/Run!   Healthy Body, Healthy Soul!