Thankful For The Extra Years.
My husband, Shahid, was full of life. He enjoyed it with a gusto that was hard to ignore, full of positivity and action.
When we moved to Canada in 1996, he was full of plans. He was an engineer by profession, but had already decided that he would not apply for an engineering job. He wanted to be a businessman! I was a bit surprised as both of us belonged to very professional families—but why not?! He threw himself into establishing his business, worked tremendously hard, and did very well. During those years, there was no time to relax or go on vacation…it was work, work, work! But he was looking forward to traveling the world once things slowed down. However, fate had other plans.
In 2007, he suddenly started passing blood in his urine. We tried to convince ourselves that this must be due to some kind of infection, but somehow we knew that it was bad. His symptoms were very severe and progressed quickly. His urologist suggested a prostate biopsy. The date April 18th, 2007, will be forever etched in my mind: it was when we got the news of prostate cancer. Shahid’s was a very aggressive kind. He was 55 years old at the time of his diagnosis.
Following the diagnosis, there was surgery, hormonal therapy, radiation, and chemo, but by 2013, he stopped responding to the treatments. That was when we were referred to Princess Margaret Hospital. We were seen by Dr. Aron Hansen and Dr. Lillian Siu and their team. We were losing faith and were really worried, but Dr. Hansen gave us a glimmer of hope. At that time, they were doing a study on immune suppression, and the medication was called MK-3475.
Dr. Hansen wanted to try it on Shahid because the trial results had been promising so far. We jumped on the chance, and it really helped Shahid. His cancer did not go away, but it stopped growing. That was all we could ask for at that point.
During those few years, our life was almost normal! MK 3475 worked for a couple of years, but then it suddenly stopped. However, Dr. Hansen continued to work with us. He switched Shahid to a few more trial drugs. These all worked for a short while, and then their efficacy would wane or the side effects would be too severe.
Finally, Shahid lost the battle to cancer in 2018. During this process, Dr Hansen’s team was always positive and full of smiles. We got to know the nursing staff, and they always had a kind word and inquired about our children and grandchildren. I am amazed at how much patience the staff has, considering that they see so much suffering, day in and day out. They never got upset, although sometimes you would see a patient tired and angry due to unforeseen delays.
The few extra years that we got with Shahid were because of the research, which is constantly ongoing at PMH. My children and I will forever be grateful for that. I hope that Shahid’s participation in the trial drug programs will bring hope, sunshine, and happiness to someone who is struggling with this awful disease. I applaud the perseverance of all the research doctors, without whose efforts so many lives could be cut short.