Man begs for Biryani before getting his cancer-affected stomach removed

DUBAI: A man with a cancer-affected stomach in Dubai surprised surgeons when he asked for Biryani as a last meal before the surgery.

According to report by the Khaleej Times, Ghulam Abbas had two options at hand: ‘Either die of stomach cancer or get his stomach removed. He wisely chose the latter.

“I asked the doctor if I could have chicken biryani as my last meal before the surgery. My wife prepared it and my brother carried it to the hospital. I sort of gorged on it,” he told the paper.

According to the report, Abbas, a father of two, was diagnosed with stage three cancer after he visited the hospital with a complaint of sudden weight loss and vomiting. The test results revealed that there was a huge tumour in his stomach that had almost covered the entire stomach. Though the thought of getting his stomach removed was devastating, it was a decision that Abbas had to make.

“It’s the most devastating decision and yet the answer was clear, I had to do whatever it look to save my life,” he told the Dubai website. “I did not want my children to grow up without my presence; I did not want to lose the opportunity to see their milestones, watch them laugh, even fight. I was not going to give up on my family and me. I just wanted to hold on to life,” he added.

Dr Ali Khammas, head of general surgery and consultant laparoscopic surgeon at the hospital stated that cancer in young patients is seen to be ‘very aggressive’. Which is why there is often no option but to perform a total gastrectomy. “We decided to perform the surgery minimally invasively, which has multiple advantages as opposed to open surgery. We have performed several colon cancer surgeries using this technique but for a total gastrectomy, it was the first-of-its-kind surgery in Dubai,” added the doctor.

According to the report, the surgery was a success along with the pathology report showing the surrounding area free of cancer cells.