This 50-year-old cancer patient beat covid-19 at home with yoga

You must have heard about the benefits of yoga and how it can help you stay sane and boost your immunity. But today we have a feel-good story about this ancient practice that is so inspiring that it will reinstate your faith in the power of yoga and perseverance.

Recently, a 50-year-old cancer patient who was infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus made a healthy recovery with just the help of yoga, a balanced diet, and light exercises-all while he was in home isolation.

Please note that this man has stage-4 cancer
Chemotherapy is the one of the biggest reasons why people with cancer have such poor immunity. So needless to say he was very likely to contract covid-19. But the biggest challenge that his doctors faced was finding a way to stop the chemo sessions for two weeks without letting his cancer progress.

The patient, who suffers from esophageal cancer, was detected with covid-19 on June 25 and was advised home isolation as he was asymptomatic.

“The patient needed a chemotherapy session every two weeks, which began three months ago. When he came for one such session, we tested him as per protocol and the result came positive,” said Chandragouda Dodagoudar, the director of medical oncology at Aakash Healthcare in Dwarka.

“Since he was immunocompromised due to his cancer treatment, we opted for home isolation for him as he was asymptomatic. He didn’t even have fever,” he said.

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The patient remained in home isolation for two weeks and under observation for another week. Dodagoudar said the challenge was two-fold.

Major medication changes were done keeping covid-19 in mind
At this stage of cancer, following the treatment schedule is important or it can get difficult to contain its progression. So, his doctors had to be very careful about the medicines they were prescribing because the risk of accentuating covid-19 was high.

During home isolation, the patient was given painkillers and the acute cancer treatment, which could have made covid-19 infection severe, was put on hold.

He was prescribed a balanced diet, comprising adequate fruits and vegetables, and a light exercise regime like walking inside the house, the senior doctor said.

“To maintain a balanced mental health, he was advised light yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and listening to good music”, he added.

His two-week home isolation ended on July 10 but as a precautionary measure, doctors kept him under observation for another week, after which he resumed his chemotherapy sessions on July 20. The doctors are now monitoring him for covid-19. 

There is no denying that the threat of covid-19 still prevails. But if the elderly and vulnerable in your home are anxious about this infection, then recite this tale of positivity and will power to help them feel at peace.

(With inputs from PTI)