Goa IPs officer Nidhin Valsan: “Call me cancer fighter, not cancer survivor!” Shared his story of victory over non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer which generally develops in the lymphatic system, at this year’s World Cancer Day on February 4. He was felicitated at Manipal Hospital where he cut a cake with some cancer children (see pic elsewhere here). (Above, from Left to Right) Dr Pankaj Mhatre (Consultant Nuclear Medicine), Dr Mahadeva Swamy (Consultant Hematologic Consultant), Nidhin Valsan (IPS, SP North Goa, chief guest), Dr Shekhar Salkar (chief of oncology), Dr Gunjan Baijal (consultant radiation oncologist), Dr Shreedharan (consultant surgical oncologist)
NIDHIN Valsan couldn’t believe it. Damn it, he was a super fit cop in his mid-30s only and so fitness conscious that he was running marathons including the Ironman triathlon…how could he get cancer? That too cancer of the lymphatic nodes – which make up body beautiful’s cleaning up or detox system (comprising of lymph nodes, spleen, thymus gland and bone marrow). We met cancer fighter Nidhin Valsan at the Manipal Hospital on February 14, 2023 where he was being felicitated as a cancer survivor and were struck by his vitality. Later on he shared his thoughts on what happened to him when in the prime of his life in 2021 he was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes which spread and spread and spread till his body was black all over…at every stage of his chemotherapy it was a story of will he, won’t he — make it? He made it and a warm hug for him!
He was 36 going on 37 and belongs to the 2012 batch of IPS, currently posted in Goa as superintendent of Police North Goa (Crime). He was diagnosed with non-Hodgekins lymphoma, a cancer of the blood, after he wasted two and half months living in pain and ignoring it if you please more or less. Sharing his story as a cancer fighter he said his nights became hell with pain and a lump a lump under his arm which he kept ignoring, he says he kept on putting up with the pain and dealing with it in other ways …he actually thought his weight loss was because he was exercising so much (incidentally, weight loss without a valid reason is one of the first signs of cancer)!
AFTER ALL he was a young man and when he started waking up to pain he didn’t take it seriously, he was a cop for goodness sake, and no sissy! A cop’s routine is tough anyway. Still, he visited doctors and did some tests but none thought along the lines of cancer, at one stage they thought it might be arthritis because his mother suffered arthritis. Arthritis in your 30s? Yes, he lost more than two months treating himself with painkillers and other diagnosis by doctors before one fine day he asked his doctor, “Is it cancer?”
That’s when it clicked and cat and PET scans were done, also MIR and there it was. Cancer of the lymph nodes is a rare cancer but it is a very painful cancer because as the body sells up within it impacts the nerves. Unfortunately, by the time the diagnosis came through the spread of the cancer had already started happening his whole body over. Why do people get this this cancer? Nobody knows, it’s all conjecture, maybe young people get it for reasons like too much exposure to radiation or chemicals (as in agricultural chemicals).
The cancer spread all over his body and in a grim situation his white blood corpuscles were dangerously low and his immune system very compromised, “the cancer had spread and my body had turned black almost all over…”confided Nidhin.
It is heart-breaking and heart-warming to listen to this cancer fighter’s story of how he fought desperately to beat lymphoma cancer, “Don’t call cancer patients cancer patients!” he says, “call them cancer fighters!” Things got worse once the radiation and chemotherapy treatments started, it was traumatic for his family in Kerala too, “I had to go home and be isolated on second floor in a room. For some time it was the government hospital which treated me in the beginning…I saw my wife crying when she heard and my two young children, my daughter praying because she knew I was very sick.”
He did six cycles of chemotherapy and the usual things happened, he lost his hair, appetite, his comfort zones, everything was very annoying and even if there was a power outage at home, “I once blasted my father!” And felt very bad afterwards. He was stuck in a room and even caught covid twice to aggravate the situation. Yes, tough cop Nidhin Valsan confesses he had to re-learn a lot of things, “For one thing I learned that knocking back three to four bottles of alcohol is not okay, there are other ways to be happy, one can be happy without drinking alcohol!”
A lot had to change. He had to learn how to change his eating habits, eat more vegetarian food, be patient, he was arrogant and that is what took a real beating from this disease, “Why was this happening to me! Maybe I was being punished for something!” He started believing in God too, you cannot take life for granted, perhaps God chose him for this disease to teach him some lessons!
THE good side to it all. He realized how many friends he had for they kept calling him to talk and some even flew down to visit him. His boss in Goa too was very kind and sanctioned all the leave for treatment. He thanks the Goa Medical College & Hospital doctors for treating him so well. Healing happened slowly over time with ups and downs and crisis points but surely he was well again. He had fought grade 4 cancer stage and lives to tell the story…everything you heard about cancer came true as the chemicals introduced into his body took a toll on his immune system, his last cycle of chemotherapy was last July and after that he concentrated on just getting fit again, “I do some yoga, my diet has changed, I meditate for 20 to 25 minutes daily.”
Today his cancer is in total remission, he is looking the picture of fitness again, on medications maybe but the nerve-wrecking pain destroying his body from the inside out is not there. His fitness mantra is back and he even participated in the Ironman’s Triathalon end- 2022 and all went off well. One thing is certain. He is not going to play with his body again, “Cancer has changed my outlook on life! I find that if you keep your mind positive the body doesn’t know, I tell my body I am fine, I am fine, I am cured! ”
AN INTERESTING point he makes is that one of the reasons why it took him so long to accept cancer is “because there is so much stigma attached to it, I didn’t want to tell anyone I had cancer! How can I get cancer!” It was to cheers all around that Goa’s senior IPS officer Nidhin Valsan, concluded his story of being a cancer fighter, “Everything happens for the good. God, He or She is actually a very good person. Just pray in the right manner and belief in God increases.” It’s all God’s grace that he is alive today!