World Hospice Day with Gujarat Cancer Society

Today on the auspicious occasion of World Hospice Day, the founder of Love Heals Cancer Dimple Parmar was cordially invited by the Gujarat Cancer Society as a special panelist and Cancer counselor. Dimple gave her expert opinion and advice on the topic of Colostomy and talked about our founding principle of using love and care to heal Cancer.

For those who don’t know, Colostomy is a painful surgical procedure in which an incision is made in the patient’s stomach to attach a Colostomy bag into the Rectum to directly collect feces. It is usually performed when the Rectum and/or Anus of a patient is not capable of doing that itself and external help is required for normal Excretion process. Although a standard medical procedure, Colostomy involves significant changes in bodily integrity and a substantial change to the patient’s psyche.

As Dimple’s late husband and one of our founders Nitesh Prajapat went through the same procedure, Dimple had a first-hand experience of it. Describing her and Nitesh’s experience with Colostomy in detail, Dimple urged the patients not to be ashamed of it. She commented that the surgery and the aftereffects in themselves constitute a trauma and acknowledging that is the first step towards healing the hole that it inevitably leaves in your mind. After that, you have to move forward and reflect on this turning point in your life. You need to focus on the thing that gave you the courage initially and accept the major change that has come to your body. The conscious acceptance of what the procedure means for your daily life and future does not mean that we forget what happened, or pretend it didn’t. We have to find a place for it in our lives and realise that it was a step towards the healing process.

We at Love Heals Cancer realise how much bravery it takes to suffer an ordeal of this kind and we humbly bow to those brave people who have gone through it. Dimple very rightly said that the society should be motivated and inspired by such individuals and not chalk this up as another taboo. Colostomy is a standard procedure and should not be stigmatised by us. With this message, Dimple motivated the cancer patients and their caretakers to come forward and undergo the healing process with their head held high.