His book is about facing mortality and still holding on to hope and leaving life lessons behind.
“He wrote on things that he self-reflected on since he knew his days were numbered,” said Makkar. “He wrote about hope, about parents, about losing everything and what’s important at the end of life.” Dua wrote this book as a guide to help people who are facing adversities and how to get the emotional, inner strength to work through anything.
Dua opened his dental practice in Calgary, Canada in 2016 from scratch which led him to be featured on the cover of Dentaltown magazine. He was inspired by his sister, Makkar to pursue a career in dentistry. He then received the diagnosis of oral cancer in August 2019 which was removed with surgery but shortly after recovery cancer reappeared in the lymph nodes in his neck and it had metastasized in April 2020. By that time, Dua chose to close his practice.
He had endured a second surgery for his lymph nodes and received chemotherapy and radiation in the following months. The doctors then found another lesion in his chest which started very small and was given chemotherapy and radiation for treatment as well.
After his 34th birthday on June 27, 2020, Dua finished his chemotherapy in July, and in November he had received the news that the chest lesion grew 4 times in size. In September 2020, Dua had begun writing his book about his journey.
“I just wrote an article on preventable cancers like this with early diagnosis, getting the HPV vaccine, and getting regular dental checkups,” said Makkar. “Cancer just doesn’t affect the person suffering but the village around him/her.”
Makkar owns her own family dental practice PDM Family Dental. 295 N Broadway, Jericho, NY, 11753. She advocates for early diagnosis with regular dental check-ups. To learn more or make appointments please visit www.pdmfamilydental.com or call 516-388-5002.
