Andhra Pradesh doctor beats Leukemia after complex bone marrow transplantation at Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad

Kadapa: In August 2016, 58-year-old Dr. Rama Devi, a resident of Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh felt weak and lost her left eye vision. Due to her history of fever and easy bruising on the arms and legs, thorough blood examinations confirmed the diagnosis to be Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), a type of rare and life-threatening blood cancer.

The diagnosis of AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) came as shocking news, and was quite harsh and devastating for her entire family, especially at a time when the children were preparing for their exams. She then decided to travel to Hyderabad along with her husband, leaving the children alone at home in Kadapa to seek consultations in the city with top doctors.

Dr. Rama Devi’s case was quite complex, firstly because she had a single kidney from birth. At the time, the blood cancer i.e. AML had developed in the left eye, and this meant that the treatment was going to be an arduous journey since very few chemotherapy drugs can actually penetrate into the brain and eyes. She also had a history of hypersensitivity to most antibiotics and some other relevant drugs meant for the treatment of AML.

Battling with the disease, she was then taken to the Hemato Oncologist and Bone Marrow Transplant Department at Yashoda Hospitals, Somajiguda and Dr. Ganesh Jaishetwar, Consultant Hematologist, Hemato-Oncologist & Bone Marrow Transplant Physician rose to the challenge and began her treatment. She was started on a high dose of chemotherapy for her AML. Again, the course of treatment with chemotherapy became difficult for her since she had many complications due to her hypersensitivity to drugs, and she developed renal failure due to severe sepsis. Eventually, with rigorous monitoring and careful management by the team at Yashoda Hospital, Somajiguda, she triumphed over the blood cancer within the next 4 months.

“With bone marrow transplants, we are successfully curing incurable diseases like leukemia, myeloma, lymphomas, aplastic anemia, immunodeficiency disorders, thalassemia etc. and also improving the quality of life for the patients,” Dr. Jaishetwar said.

It has been almost 4.5 years now for Dr. Rama Devi post completion of the AML blood cancer chemotherapy. For Cancer treatment, survival without cancer for 5 years after the treatment is synonymous with achieving an operational cure from the disease, and there is a relatively low chance of the blood cancer ever coming back. Her treatment journey will serve as an inspiration to many others and help them understand that medical advancements have successfully paved the path to the future of ‘Blood Cancer treatment & Bone Marrow Transplantation in India.

Her journey of triumphing over AML and becoming a cancer survivor offers a fascinating view into the future of blood cancer treatment. Today there is treatment beyond chemotherapy since more curative options in select cases like Bone marrow transplant such as targeted drug therapies and immunotherapies offer a promising future for blood cancers with very high success rates.

Dr. Pavan Gorukanti, Director Yashoda Hospitals Group said, “The strength of our Cancer Institute lies in our ability to offer all treatment modalities under one roof. Patients are seen and evaluated in multimodality clinics by a team of specialists in each malignancy”.

Yashoda Hospital’s Hyderabad has recently started a “Yashoda Medical Centre in Kadapa ” at Yerramukkapalli near SBI Bank, for patients in and around Kadapa and YSR district to guide and facilitate advanced treatment for the locals. Experienced doctors from all specialties of Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad visit Kadapa especially for outpatient consultation. Local Patients can use the medical center to access the best and world-class healthcare facilities in Hyderabad.