JOIN US'Fight cancer with positive attitude'
"The first question that came to my mind when I was diagnosed with tumour in my head was 'why me'," says Sudha Narasimhachar. The 35-year-old, who is doing her PhD in computational electro chemistry in Canada, says there were times when she was annoyed with the side effects of the radiotherapy - darkening of skin and hair fall. But her determination, family support and trust in God saw her through. "I expected hair fall after two weeks of radiotherapy. I did not even need to comb my hair and it would just come out.
Then, I focused on finishing the treatment with a positive attitude,” she says. After undergoing three various surgeries at a private hospital and radiotherapy, chemotherapy and even cyber knife treatment at HCG, Sudha says, she has "no active tumours" anymore. Sudha feels alright now and has even resumed her research, which she had to discontinue and return to India for treatment of severe headaches which she started experiencing. That was when she was diagnosed with having tumours. She is hopeful that she will submit her thesis by September. "You should never lose heart. You can fight back the disease. All you need is strength and determination," she says. Finally, quoting Madame Mary Curie, the noble prize winning scientist, Sudha says: “Nothing in this world is to be feared, only understood”.
An understanding wife
Treatment is only 50 per; the rest is family support, believes Sanjeeb. The 40-year-old was detected of colon cancer in late 2009. But he sums up the whole experience as a journey from illness to wholeness, as it gives a person an opportunity to take a relook at himself or herself and start a new life. With positive attitude, he feels one can overcome the disease and that is what he did.
His wife, who was his anchor, 'orchestrated his life' during the treatment phase, he says. "Firstly, she made sure that I was surrounded by positive people, relatives and friends. Secondly, she would prepare healthy and appropriate food. Thirdly, she helped me whenever I wanted to know something about the disease over the internet," he said.