By Young Joo Choi

     With the same excitement from last week's home visit, Joonho and I made our way to our first home visit together. This time, we were accompanied by Counselor Renu and Nurse Marykutty. At the top of the spiraling stairs, we were greeted by a lovely family. The contrast between the Roshini's (patient) beaming smile was contrasted by that of the distressed complexions of her husband and two children.

     The loving mother and wife was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer which had unfortunately metastasized. As Nurse Marykutty placed the tourniquet on Roshini's arm, she furrowed her eyebrows in an attempt to locate a viable vein to insert the IV needle. As they had been damaged by previous chemotherapy treatments, multiple tries were necessary in order to locate a feasible one. At each attempt, she hid any sign of discomfort of the needle, but little did we know that she had a fear needles! She remained brave and even flashed a smile in front of her family in order to provide some consolation. During the whole process, the counselor and nurse engaged with the patient and her husband while Joonho introduced the children to the world of Snapchat games and filters. The atmosphere wasn't that of a professional visit but rather a relaxed gathering of friends and family. It was a time where the children could relish in their youth and the adults could chat nonchalantly about various topics. 

     Roshini also confessed that her biggest concern was leaving her family behind and through all of her anxiety and pains, Renu and Marykutty were there to listen. Not only did CanSupport absorb the financial strains of the medicine (4000 Rs. by itself), but listened to her concerns about leaving her husband and children behind. Roshini was not concerned about what cancer had done to her body but rather what it would do to her family. In her eyes, nothing, not even cancer, could captivate her attention more than her loving family.