Our Story

Our Path



Our Journey

DUSHA cancer foundation was established by committed caregiver Ganesh Dhawle and Shilpa Dhawle in response to a fight against cancer. Ganesh lost her mother to cancer, Shilpa saw the suffering of cancer for her mother as well as mother-in-law. Both knew that someone needed to be part of the day-to-day care of the person with cancer.

Caregiver roles change as patient’s needs change during and after cancer treatment. Both performed important part of the cancer care treatment along with the normal day-to-day tasks such as meal prep, cleaning, and transportation. In their own journeys, along with doctors, scientists and friend like Dipak Borhade they had close experience of cancer patient treatment journey. DUSHA cancer foundation was found to create awareness that cancer is preventable and curable. Our goal is to reduce cancer deaths in the upcoming years & offer emotional support, guidance to cancer patients, including caregivers.

Today, DUSHA cancer foundation works in through research, education, awareness and promotion. We are helping people to avoid a cancer by early diagnosis or detection; early enough to be successfully treated.

We couldn’t do any of this without the support of our foundation and individual donors.


Thank you!

Our Inspiration

Late Usha Dhawle

“She was initially diagnosed with Endometriosis in 2017 at age 57. I remember it was literally shock to me and not was being able to catch my breath when I saw her report.
At this point, my father and our family members were very scary to be facing my mom’s diagnosis. We felt sad at the time when everything was going good in family, and we faced that shock.
While the initial cancer was not in advance we followed the path for cancer treatment: Surgery (Hysterectomy) then chemotherapy followed by finally radiation. She was in active treatment for 6-8 months. Despite hair loss, nausea, weakness, and fatigue. During this treatment my father and wife gave very intense support and love.
After 3 years, My mother had been experiencing lower back pain in the summer of 2020. She was on pain killer initially then she visited a gynecologist and a few doctors before one of them checked her cancer markers.

We were all incredibly shocked when she was diagnosed again in 2021. We did lot of investigation and consultation and one surgeon suggested one minor surgery. Now I feel that that was the major wrong decision I took for my mother by made her ready for surgery. After that surgery everything was against to her and my family, she could not perform her daily activities and the pain was very intense and she was not getting sleep because of that her mental peace was very much loss. She was continuously crying then I felt the guilt of taking that surgery decision.
Finally palliative treatment was started and that was last phase when she gone through with unbearable pain and unconsciousness conditions. I remember that earlier life was good and filled with sweet memories. My mom reveled in watching her grandkids grow. We just lived life to the fullest, from the mundane to the spectacular.

What made us take the first step in this direction

Me and my family had unrecoverable loss, but now I decided to provide awareness in society, patients/ caregivers with renewed hope, increased knowledge, end-of-life preparations, and the reminder that they are not alone. Whether you need support, education, or help during treatment, we have a team dedicated to getting you the help you deserve.”