A Story Of A Fighter- Amol Gunjal

What could possibly go wrong when you are working in a reputed organization, is married to a beautiful woman and have two amazing energetic twins for children. Nothing could have possibly gone wrong for Amol Gunjal either. Born in the very famous small town of Latur and presently working in Pune, Amol was leading a perfect life of love, work and peaceful living which included being a professional at NMHG, spending time with his wife and kids, taking care of his parents who lived in Latur and making sure to be there for his friends whenever there was a need.

A badminton enthusiast, Amol joined his society’s Badminton Club and was a regular in the morning to play and chat up with his neighbours. It was back in April 2015, that he noticed a lump on his shoulder. A tiny lump that could have been anything from an injury to a swelling due to regular games of badminton he indulged himself in.

Hoping that the lump will go away on its own, he ignored it for a couple of months but destiny had something else for him. The lump, over a period, turned into the size of a tennis ball. He started worrying and eventually showed up at his friend, Dr. Shinde’s place. After the initial diagnosis, Dr Sham Shinde asked Amol to get a sonography done which further lead to suggestions for a Biopsy.

Also read: An Admirer Of Life – Nitin Dhakne

Tissue samples from his shoulder were drawn for the biopsy. The results were sent to his general practitioner and from there everything came crumbling down. The doctor said he was fairly certain that Amol has Non hodgkins lymphoma, intermediate between DLBCL and Burkitts like lymphoma. Incidental HBS-AG Positive. He saw some hope because he doctor told him that despite this being a rare case, it had a good chance that it can be completely cured.

After much recommendation and suggestions, Amol contacted oncologist, Dr. Sameer Melinkiri. Dr Melinkiri took extra efforts and time to answer his queries and ensure that Amol saw light at the end of the tunnel. Amol’s wife had a billion questions to make sure that the love of her life will be safe and the doctor made sure she got all her answers. Things changed around him quickly, his parents moved in with him, friends and neighbors who knew about his health stepped up to support him.

Later as per the protocol his treatment started with chemotherapy, the first two sessions went about without troubling him except for the physical changes. But during two weeks of his third session, he observed drastic changes and was admitted for two weeks to come back to normal.  Severe fever, mouth ulcers, loss of appetite and weakness pulled him down further. He wasn’t ready for the next round of chemotherapy, physically and mentally and it was during this time he visited Vellore to get a second opinion. There they suggested him to go for a bone marrow Biopsy and later he was told that there are chances that he might have to undergo Bone Marrow Transplant.

After returning, he finished two more sessions of chemo with few changes in protocol and also went for 18 radiations. During this trying times, Mr. Rahul Bhandarwar, a friend of Amol, came in the form an angel. Mr Bhandarwar knew about the financial aspect of this fight against Cancer and he also knew that Amol would need a large amount of money for Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). So Rahul took the initiative of collecting the money from the society and work place. Whoever was willing to contribute, stepped up and lend support for the same. The collection so far has kept their hopes alive as Amol has decided to step up and be mentally strong to fight Cancer.

In the words of Amol, “I know this journey is tough but when I saw that my friends and people from my society decided to lend their support, I just knew that I had to stay strong and fight this one. This is not how my life was and I won’t let this change my life.”

We bring you this story to not just tell you that people who fight cancer are true heroes but there is a need for everyone to step up and help people like Amol and others. So if you wish to support and help

Amol, please feel free to contact- Info@zuviuslifesciences.in

To know more: The cancer stories no one wants to hear

Leave a reply