Breast Cancer Survivers - Success Stories

My Brief Life-sketch

It was only 4 years after my elder sister passed away of cancer that I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988. Being a doctor, I had all medical information regarding the disease. But I had been an integral part of the entire struggle my sister had gone through during her times of trial and seen her eventually defeated. All those memories were fresh in my mind and I was naturally a little scared. But immediately the thought came to my mind that I must fight this disease for the sake of my children, who were still very young and needed their mother.

I was fortunate enough to have the moral support of friends & family during my days of treatment. However, the financial condition was very tight at that time. We had used all our savings and also taken a huge loan to set up my hospital and there were no finances available for the treatment which was very expensive. I was not able to go to my hospital in the initial period during my surgery and recuperation period. And even though there were hardly any patients, the hospital and staff, house, children needed maintenance and we needed to pay loan installments also. Payments started piling up. We eventually had to sell our gold, silver & expensive electronic equipment to make ends meet.

My husband then decided to go abroad to work in order to generate finances for my treatment and to pay the loan installments and other day to day expenditure. So I was alone here - undergoing the treatment and looking after the hospital and home and kids. I would resume going to the hospital immediately after settling down after each chemotherapy cycle. It was an extremely difficult period of my life - physically, psychologically & financially.

But I am proud of myself that I was able to successfully battle the cancer. I made myself mentally very tough and maintained a sense of complete normalcy in the household throughout the duration of my treatment. There were no tears, no melodrama, no wallowing in self pity and no statements of 'Why me?'. I never ever, even for a minute, let my children feel that their mother was scared of the disease. That, in turn, made them very strong and unfearful of the disease too.

My sister's demise and my own fight with cancer made me determined that no other woman should face what we faced. I started my crusade against breast cancer. I authored 2 books in Marathi on my fight against breast cancer and I received a tremendous response from many women. They told me that my book gave them a lot of courage to deal with their fears after their diagnosis.

I was saved by the fact that I was extremely vigilant about the presence of a lump. And, I acted immediately after discovering its presence. The chances of successfully surviving breast cancer increases with the earliness of detection. Women are used to putting the family and their needs ahead of themselves and neglecting themselves for the family's sake. I wanted to create awareness that women should be vigilant about their health and the presence of a lump and that they should give priority to their health also. So then I rigorously started conducting camps for breast cancer awareness.

A second bomb was dropped on us after 11 years when my daughter was also diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 when she was only 26 years old. It was easier for me to deal with my own disease than hers. But she, being my daughter, fought it with equal courage and overcame it.

The battle did not end there. I was again diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, 17 years after my first episode. This time too I was able to successfully beat the cancer back. It is now 8 years since my second episode that I am leading a cancer-free and healthy life.

I am proud to say that I have the best academic qualifications in my profession too. I procured MRCOG & DRCOG degrees from London and later I was conferred upon with FRCOG.

Many people tell me that the way I fought cancer is an inspiration to them and that it gave them lot of courage when they were undergoing their own treatment. I can only say that god has graced me with courage to fight this disease and it is my duty to help as many people as possible. I have devoted my life to creating awareness about breast cancer through awareness camps, newspaper articles, TV interviews, radio talks, information booklets and movies. I will continue to do so until my last breath. Cancer could not take my life away from me and I am determined to save as many women as possible from its clutches as well.