Against all Odds: Inspirational true story of conquering cancer during pregnancy

By Sugat Gopnarayan

Deepika and Sugat had just got back from a vacation when they got the best news of their lives. They were going to be parents! The relationship that had started in college ten years ago was now entering a new phase.
In a strange twist of fate, Deepika was diagnosed with a rare breast cancer associated with pregnancy. They could neither terminate the pregnancy, nor delay the treatment. So they geared up to fight it out with the right medical guidance.
Whether it was the excruciating chemotherapy sessions, or the breast surgery to remove the tumour; forty hours of labour pain or the near-death experience – she sailed through the ordeal, Against All Odds.
Read this inspirational tale of the grit and resolution of a mother, narrated by her husband, on how they fought all obstacles for their beloved child.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Srishti Publishers
• Release date: Oct 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9789395192385

Book preview

Acknowledgements

A big thank you to Dr. Pranjali Gadgil, Dr. Tushar Patil, Dr. Jyoti Aggarwal, Dr. Vikas Kothavade,

Dr. Prajakta Sabale, Dr. Jyoti Solanke, Dr. Sharada

Umarani and Dr. Shrinivas Tambe.

You all are real life gods !

1

Introduction and Background

‘Y eh haseen waadiyaan, yeh khula aasmaan... aa gaye hum kaahaan, ae mere saajana...’

These lines from a very popular song that I loved during my childhood were running through my mind and heart. I along with Deepika, the leading lady of this story, were sitting on a rock at 15,000 feet above sea level, at the edge of a snow-clad mountain in Sikkim, staring at the mighty Mount Kanchenjunga in front of us. It was a heavenly feeling – her sitting in front of me and my arms tightly wrapped around her. We were deeply immersed in the serene snow-white valley and the blue skies that stretched as far as the horizon. It felt as if time had stood still, and we were in a scene from a movie, far away from our busy lives spent running around, earning a livelihood. While sitting there, we were experiencing a bit of heaven, leaving our earthly worries behind.

This was in February 2020. Along with our college friends from Mumbai, our much awaited plan of going on a trip together, that had been years in the making, had finally materialised. Northeast of India was decided as the destination. So desperate we were for a trip, we headed towards it like an arrow left from a bow.

In our group, Pratique, Vishal and I had been in the same class in our engineering college when we passed out in 2010. We were in constant touch even after graduation. They were some of the very few friends with whom I managed to stay in regular touch. We shared a very strong bond, as we had been a part of many life events together, including our outings, relationships and weddings.

Deepika too had been a student in our college, but she was junior to me. Ours was a ‘final-year guy fell for a first-year girl’ type of love story. Since both of us hail from outside Mumbai, we had to stay in the college hostel. It was a common hostel building separating girls’ and boys’ areas with a partition. The canteen and hangout places were common for both. Those were the places where we first met and got to know each other. While we were just friends in college, we did not think that we could ever fall in love someday. We began chatting with each other more frequently after my graduation, and that was when we started getting to know each other better.

Chatting turned into calling, calling turned into overnight calling and overnight calling turned into being on call 24x7. Finally, we exchanged the three magical words on the 18th of December 2010. Purposely mentioning the dates, as this story can be very well plotted on a timeline till the last page.

The next date was the same 18th of December, but the year was 2015. The year we got married. After five years of being together, we decided to get married on the same date on which we had started our relationship. Now one would easily expect that since 2010 = relationship, 2015 = wedding, five years down the line in 2020, what next on the same date? Kid? Well, yes. Almost. Let’s keep this on hold for now. We will deep dive into 2020 after a few pages.

For those five years, from 2010 to 2015, we lived in

different cities. I shifted to Pune to begin my first job immediately after I passed out, and so began a long distance relationship for the two of us. We used to speak on the phone every single day, but could barely spend more than three to four weeks without a meeting. Mumbai, for those five years, was a monthly destination for me. Video calling was not so handy at that time. People had just recently started using Facebook and getting familiar with social media. There wasn’t any WhatsApp for us until a few years later. In fact, till 2013, we just had that ‘tring-tring’ phone and SMS was the only means of chatting for us.

In March 2015, I got a chance for a six-month deputation in the United Kingdom. It was both a happy and sad occasion. While it was a promotional opportunity for me, it also meant a six-month ban on our meetings. My company sponsors spouse’s expenses on a foreign trip, but she was not my spouse yet. That very moment I decided I would definitely take her along during my next trip. With great difficulty, we managed to spend those six months being apart, but luckily, by then, video calls had become a household thing. Those ‘dooriyaan’ definitely brought ‘nazdikiyaan’ in our relationship.

Six months later, by the time I was about to come back, we had a full-fledged plan of how we’d inform our parents and convince them to give us their go-ahead for our marriage. Interfaith weddings are still not preferred in India, but thankfully both our families were very supportive. Deepika’s father was in the Indian Army, hence she had a very patriotic upbringing with no bias for any caste or religion. My family too did not have that bias. My mom is a big Bollywood fan and she always wished that I should marry a girl of my choice, irrespective of her faith. And when everyone agreed, I got married thrice! With the same girl, of course! Two weddings as per the faiths of each of our families, and one as per the faith of both of us – a court marriage.

Finally, after a wait of five long years, we began our life together in Pune. Deepika was keen on working, but for some reason, it didn’t happen right away. Since childhood, she had a good understanding of leading a healthy lifestyle and eating well. I insisted that she pursue further studies in nutrition, her favourite field. She agreed for it happily, and a couple of years later, she became a certified nutritionist. A weird combination of engineer becoming a nutritionist, but that’s what you end up with, when after doing something that is perceived as respectable, you finally listen to your heart.

By that time, our families, like every other Indian family, started asking us as to when we were giving them the ‘good news’. But we were not ready yet. We wanted to travel together and enjoy our life as a couple first. So far, all we had was a short trip to Ooty.

I was keen on taking her on a foreign trip, and only after that, we would start a family. Ultimately, in December 2018, I got a chance to go to the UK once again. And this time, Deepika accompanied me as well. Those days, it was the trend to put a travel status on Facebook, especially when one was travelling abroad. I was no exception. As soon as we reached our departure gate, I grabbed my phone and punched in a nice travel status tagging Deepika.

We were to spend an entire month in the UK. On weekdays, I had to work, but we made the most of those four weekends, exploring and travelling as if there was no tomorrow. We knew that the next step would be planning our family. Coincidentally, our third anniversary was also coming up, and we got a chance to celebrate it in London that year. It was all like a dream come true.

After coming back from the UK, I had another dream to fulfill. This time it was related to my parents. Belonging to an average middle-class family, they were very curious about air travel, especially the flights I used to take. I wanted them to experience it as well. Also, my mother had a childhood dream of watching the Republic Day Parade in Delhi in person. So Deepika and I planned a trip to North India close to the 26th of January as a surprise for our parents. Somehow, I managed to get the passes for the parade, with help from Pratique. On the day our parents arrived in Pune, we surprised them with the announcement that we would be travelling to Delhi the next day, to see the parade live. My mom was very happy and excited. The next thing that I told her brought tears to her already happy eyes. I revealed that we were going by air and she would be embarking on her very first flight. Her joy was unimaginable, and it was a moment to cherish for life. A good five-day trip to North India followed in the first month of 2019.

A couple of months later, the focus was back on the question of us starting a family. Deepika, who had studied after marriage, hadn’t begun working as yet. She wanted to work for at least a few months before getting pregnant. She missed being busy with her studies, and sitting idle at home was hitting her hard. She started looking for a job and thankfully got one quickly this time. We postponed the plan of having a baby by another six months.

In November 2019, it felt like it was finally time to start, but then another plan arrived on the cards. A trip with our friends which was long due, was finally taking shape. It was decided that we’d visit Northeast in February 2020. All the tickets got booked and hence once again, we couldn’t give conception a try as it could hamper our trip plans. Pratique had been married for two years now. Deepika too was good friends with Pratique, Vishal and the other buddies of mine, as she knew all of them since our college days. We all spent some good time in local outings before our weddings as a friends group, but had never gone on a proper vacation. This was the time.

It was a wonderful trip, some moments of which I have described in the very first lines of this book. This time, after this trip, we indeed felt fulfilled from within. Deepika and I had shared some of the best times in those four years of marriage, with each other, with family, and with friends. Now that travel and trips were ticked off our list, we were ourselves looking forward to starting a family as soon as we headed back to Pune. We had taken our time, and had spent four years to live and fulfill our couple goals. It was worth it!

2

GOOD NEWS!

We were soon back in Pune, still hung over from the trip. At this time, the so far unknown entity coronavirus was spreading havoc across the western world, but India was yet to feel the brunt. We were very fortunate that we managed the air travel without any hitches, and could enjoy a wonderful trip just before the government started imposing restrictions. I was closely following the situation in Italy, which was the second worst affected country after China. Covid-19 was soon declared a pandemic, spreading globally at an alarming rate. Most of us Indians at that point were relaxed, thinking that summer was approaching in India. Since it seemed that the virus could multiply only in cold weather, it wouldn’t be able to withstand the harsh Indian summer. We hoped that India would be spared. But this was wishful thinking and before we knew it, cases in India started rising exponentially with every day. Finally, on the 24th of March 2020, a complete lockdown was announced.

No shopping, no office, no movies in theatres and no hanging out with friends. Everything was closed. By then, I hadn’t even received a laptop from the office, so there was no question of work from home. It was as if destiny itself was trying to help us conceive by giving us a lot of quality time and relaxation together, which was very necessary. This was true for others as well, and as a result, the world saw a baby boom in the upcoming months of December and January.

During the initial lockdown phase of April, we had a rather good time at home. From sorting and re-arranging things in the cupboards to coffee dates in the balcony, we were doing all that we had done ages ago, given our hectic schedules. OTT, which is a household thing today, was just spreading its arms at that time. And it was an opportune time as people resorted to movies, web series and old TV shows to while away time. Government too started playing old TV shows like Ramayana, Mahabharata and many others to avoid people getting bored at home. Those who ventured out, without a valid purpose crowding the streets, usually returned home with a couple of long, red baton marks on their bums. It was sometimes funny to watch on television how police were beating those who were out without a reason. I used to be out only to buy veggies and groceries, and that too, just once a week.

In the first week of May, while watching the movie Good