Dr. Janarthanan Kankesan

Kankesan was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka and raised in Brunei after his family escaped the civil war in their home nation.

The family emigrated to Canada in 1994, where Jana earned a doctorate in experimental carcinogenesis — studying cancer at the chemical level — at the University of Toronto.

He completed medical school at the University of Ottawa before specializing at Queen’s.

Now he, his wife and their young son have moved to Belleville.

“We’re delighted,” chief of staff Dr. Dick Zoutman said. “He came highly recommended.”

He said recruitment took years because of a shortage of the specialists.

The clinic’s capacity is controlled by the province, he said, but “we expect our wait times will improve” thanks to the hiring.

Zoutman said the care “has always been very good,” but it was “an awful lot on one person.”

There is no plan to recruit a third oncologist, Zoutman said.

Kankesan said the workload is daunting but he is willing to take on the challenge.

“We have too much business.

“Cancer has overtaken heart disease as the number-one factor that affects people,” Kankesan said. “It really puts a stroke of fear in the patient, as well as families. That’s what we deal with every day.

“A lot of cancer that we see is late cancer.”

Kankesan said he’s always been fascinated by the science of cancer but he also relates to its human side, since some of his relatives have had the disease.

Helping people is difficult yet rewarding, he said.

“You’re seeing someone who’s devastated, downtrodden, and you’re able to give them some glimmer of hope.”

Even in terminal cases, said Kankesan, the oncology team can still improve a person’s quality of life by managing pain and trying to “give them time to reflect and perhaps give them some comfort.”

He added the team hopes to let residents know they’re ready to help patients.

“We want to bring about the awareness that we’re here. Specialized care in a small town is not something you would expect.”

luke.hendry@sunmedia.ca

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