Breast Cancer Helped Me Live!
By Nisha Samson posted Nov 1st 2010 at 6:00AM | Avg Rating 
HEALTH 
Nisha Samson
Counting stars with Muthuswami Dikshitar's compositions playing in the background, bliss! Nisha is a writer and editor who spends her days in a world of books, and nights understanding the nuances of Hindu and Jain philosophy. A self-confessed dreamer, who believes that a smile, a warm hug and a supporting shoulder are the best gifts one receives.
Image courtesy: ©Thinkstock
“I embraced and accepted my cancer, and I survived it,” says a smiling Nandini (name changed on request). Five years ago, Nandini, an acquaintance, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 29!
Until then, my only real concern with my breasts was lingerie that looked fabulous. I remember going home that night and examining my breasts for the first time. Cancer waits for no one and while each of us have a different relationship with our breasts (loving them, hating them, willing them this way and that), it’s time we took care of them; and care begins with regular self-examination.
However, being diagnosed is not the end. Nandini says, “I cried, was angry, scared, very weak and questioned the Almighty. Why me, and at 29. Was this a joke?”
Her mammogram results told her that it wasn’t, and it was then that she decided to live life on her terms. “I had cancer; the only thing I could do then, was fight. Fight the disease with everything I had in me. I wasn’t worried about what may or may not happen. I focussed on my fight, I focussed on me.”
Through the following year, I watched in amazement as Nandini chose to live. That lump in her breast was just a temporary extension of her. Her medications and treatment weakened her, but she awoke at 5:00 am daily to meditate. She loved cooking and decided to learn authentic Italian cooking. She had a plan, a day-to-day plan. While she focussed on her victory over her disease (she acknowledged it as ‘her’ disease), she was aware that she’d live each day to its fullest.
“I love life and my cancer helped me respect it. The treatment exhausted me, but it was just a part of my life, not my whole life. I promised myself that I’d smile through it all. I meditated, did yoga, drew positive energy from my family and friends, shut out people who disturbed me and continued doing the things I loved. I got up every morning and told myself that I was well. My disease was God’s way of putting things in perspective for me. And here I am, five years later telling you about it... with a smile.”
As I give Nandini a parting hug and begin walking away, she calls after me and says, “I believed that I was going to live and I did.”
Until then, my only real concern with my breasts was lingerie that looked fabulous. I remember going home that night and examining my breasts for the first time. Cancer waits for no one and while each of us have a different relationship with our breasts (loving them, hating them, willing them this way and that), it’s time we took care of them; and care begins with regular self-examination.
However, being diagnosed is not the end. Nandini says, “I cried, was angry, scared, very weak and questioned the Almighty. Why me, and at 29. Was this a joke?”
Her mammogram results told her that it wasn’t, and it was then that she decided to live life on her terms. “I had cancer; the only thing I could do then, was fight. Fight the disease with everything I had in me. I wasn’t worried about what may or may not happen. I focussed on my fight, I focussed on me.”
Through the following year, I watched in amazement as Nandini chose to live. That lump in her breast was just a temporary extension of her. Her medications and treatment weakened her, but she awoke at 5:00 am daily to meditate. She loved cooking and decided to learn authentic Italian cooking. She had a plan, a day-to-day plan. While she focussed on her victory over her disease (she acknowledged it as ‘her’ disease), she was aware that she’d live each day to its fullest.
“I love life and my cancer helped me respect it. The treatment exhausted me, but it was just a part of my life, not my whole life. I promised myself that I’d smile through it all. I meditated, did yoga, drew positive energy from my family and friends, shut out people who disturbed me and continued doing the things I loved. I got up every morning and told myself that I was well. My disease was God’s way of putting things in perspective for me. And here I am, five years later telling you about it... with a smile.”
As I give Nandini a parting hug and begin walking away, she calls after me and says, “I believed that I was going to live and I did.”
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario