Doctors involved in the treatment of Yuvraj Singh have confirmed that the cricketer has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy in the USA.
Setting aside speculation about Yuvraj's medical condition, Dr. Nitesh Rohatgi and Dr. Anupama Hooda of Max Healthcare said here on Monday that Yuvraj had a condition called “extragonadal seminoma, located between his lungs.”
“It is not lung cancer. It is a rare tumour which forms less than one per cent of cancers,” Dr. Rohatgi said at a press conference here.
Dr. Hooda said the disease was “over 95 per cent curable” and the exact cause of it was not known.
The doctors and Yuvraj's family, through his spokesperson, pleaded with mediapersons to respect their privacy. They made it clear that details of Yuvraj's illness and location of his treatment, supported by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), would not be revealed anymore.
Meanwhile, BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a release that the Board had been in touch with Yuvraj's family members.
“His family values the affection and concern the media has for Yuvraj. The Board would like to appeal to the media to respect the privacy of Yuvraj and his family members at this critical juncture. Periodic media releases regarding his health status will be issued by the BCCI,” Jagdale said.
The ace cricketer had contacted Dr. Rohatgi and his hospital in mid-January. “Since our meeting we have been coordinating his present treatment and will continue close follow-up,” Dr. Rohatgi read out from a statement.
“On Wednesday, Yuvraj will begin the third of his nine weeks of chemotherapy in the USA. As expected, in the first few days Yuvraj did not feel very good, he felt nauseous, but starting this week he will be hopefully on the mend. Yuvraj has shown tremendous courage and kept his spirits high all this while.
“The chemotherapy has been planned, to ensure that Yuvraj can return to full fitness and readiness for cricket. Yuvraj should be able to start active training in about 10 weeks. I feel that Yuvraj the person will be cured of this cancer and most likely Yuvraj the cricketer will return with the same fervour that he had when he left. Hopefully, he would be on the field by first week of May,” said Dr. Rohatgi.
“The USA-based team has specially been chosen because of their vast experience with sportsmen and they have had many positive outcomes, more importantly, seen the athletes return to field.”
According to the doctors, the star cricketer had been playing video games, going for long walks, jogging and reading books, including those by top cyclist Lance Armstrong who had made a remarkable recovery himself after being treated for testicular cancer.
