Life Interrupted: Alum completes book in honor of brother

“Life Interrupted” How Oral Cancer Took My Brother

By Dr. Parul Dua Makkar

In June 2019, my younger and only brother texted me a picture of a lesion on the lateral border of the left side of his tongue. I urged him to get a biopsy. After consultation with his oral surgeon, it was determined that the lesion was lichen planus and he was prescribed a steroid.

My brother, Dr. Manu Dua, was also a dentist. He practiced in his thriving start-up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He thought, “I am young and healthy with no history of smoking. I don’t have any predisposing conditions for cancer.” At age 33, he was in the prime of his life.

Manu eventually did get a biopsy in July 2019, after his symptoms began to worsen and caused him pain. By that time, the lesion was diagnosed and classified as Stage 2 Squamous Cell Carcinoma. In August 2019 he had a major 8-hour surgery, where half of his tongue was resected and had lymph nodes removed from the left side of his neck. He didn’t receive any chemo/radiation treatment.

In the following months, Manu had to learn how to talk again, practice swallowing, and learn to use his left hand again. However, he vowed to turn this experience into a positive one, inspiring people with a similar diagnosis, and encouraging others to live their lives to the fullest by sharing his journey in DentalTown. Manu was featured in several articles, blogs and podcasts, and he began writing a book.

Unfortunately, Manu’s cancer reappeared in April 2020 as the world began to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. He had another surgery, followed by chemo and radiation in June 2020 amidst his 34th birthday. Due to COVID restriction, Manu braved these treatments alone and had limited contact with friends and family.

He sold his practice to focus on his health. He started to check off items on his bucket list. This is when he decided to write reflecting on life as he faced his own mortality. His writings are now a book, Life Interrupted, Dr Dua’s Survival Guide. By November, the cancer was very aggressive spreading to his lungs and bones and deemed inoperable. I visited him in December 2020, flying from New York to Calgary with special clearance from the Canadian government as borders were closed. In the next months were very taxing on our family. As he went into hospice, I had to say goodbye via a video call, telling him it’s okay to let go. On March 14, 2021, Dr. Manu Dua passed away with our parents by his side. He was only 34.

Parul Dua Makkar, D.D.S., is an OU College of Dentistry alum. She graduated in 2003. In 2006, she moved to New York to complete a general practice residency at Staten Island University Hospital. She currently owns and operates a successful private practice in Long Island, where she lives with her husband and two sons. She has devoted her life to sharing her brother’s story and educating dental and medical professionals alike about the warning signs of oral cancer.

“Our lives will come and go, but our ideas will remain immortal, and therefore in essence the soul behind our work remains eternal. So, seek not to fear your own mortality, but rather embrace the challenge to create something that will outlive your fears and wildest imaginations, such that you may be able to provide service years after you have dearly departed. Live with the strength that not only is not impossible, but quite tangible if we can simply let go of fears that will not serve us any purpose in this life or the next.” — Dr. Manu Dua

Learn more about Dr. Manu Dua’s journey in his collection of essays, published posthumously: Life Interrupted, Dr. Dua’s Survival Guide. The book is available on Amazon.