With two international silver medals
and nine national-level golds in kick-boxing, Girish R. Gowda never imagined
the dreaded C word would halt his career while still in his prime.
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| Girish Gowda, Kickboxing Gold Medalist |
The 31-year-old fully fit boxer had a bout of viral fever and on the advice of his family doctor took some medication. Soon he started bleeding from his nose and mouth.
Assuming something was seriously wrong,
he went in for a lab test as advised by his physician. The tests showed his
platelet count oscillating wildly every hour.
Girish’ world fell apart as he
was he
was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in March 2017.
Girish met Dr. Hari Menon at Cytecare
Cancer Hospitals, who put him immediately on treatment which continued for the
next four months. Those weeks saw Girish undergo major lifestyle and bodily
changes. A fighter that he always was, Girish fought severe side effects during
this period. During later stages of treatment, he kick-boxed the challenges and
trauma with complete confidence to start his day-to-day activities afresh.
Speaking about this case, Dr. Menon,
Consultant, Haemato Oncology said, “Girish was diagnosed with a grave medical
illness that was potentially life-threatening. He had to go overcome unique
challenges - initially due to the disease itself and subsequently due to some
unusual side effects related to his treatment. However, he remained stoic and
brave, overcoming these problems in his stride. He has remained focused on
getting better and responding fully to treatment.”
Dr Menon, recalling Girish on World
Cancer Day said while medical science had answers to specific problems in
cancer leading to its cure, it is also important for afflicted patients to
remain positive and to persevere to get back into the mainstream and continue
to pursue their dreams.
Girish works as a fitness trainer and
trains celebrities in kickboxing. Currently, he is a National kickboxing coach
and after fighting cancer for almost 10 months, Girish has made a comeback
and won another National Gold Medal in the recently concluded Wako India
Kickboxing Federation Championship in Delhi.
As a gesture of gratitude, Girish
presented this medal to Cytecare Hospital to inspire others like him to fight
the battle against cancer.
Girish said: “I dedicate my achievement
to Cytecare, which helped me beat cancer the right
way. I hope this gift will
motivate other patients who suffer from the disease and overcome their trauma.”
He also thanked the staff for their
care and concern, and called them the real heroes who were instrumental in his
recovery.
CEO of Cytecare Hospital, Suresh Ramu
said, “We are filled with emotions of pride, joy, and gratitude whenever we
meet Girlish and learn about his achievements. He lives one of our core
organizational values: Grit - a combination of passion and perseverance, the
ability to fight in difficult times with courage. We learn from him that we
must never give up and keep doing our best for every single cancer patient.”
Girish still visits Cytecare for
follow-up treatment. On World Cancer Day 2018, specialists are of the opinion
that cancer can be fought more effectively now than a few decades ago.
“Diagnostic technologies are changing
rapidly to allow doctors to screen and detect cancers early. And many cancers
can be cured if detected early. There is a need to aggressively step up all
efforts on cancer awareness and screening. At Cytecare Cancer Hospitals, we
commit ourselves even more to this cause each year when we celebrate World
Cancer Day,” said Ramu.
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