An Unexpected Fight To Exist!

It’s not just any other story, it’s my life's survival story…! Down the memory lane… In retrospect, it’s astonishing to my own self, how far I have come, how fast I have grown, adapted to various situations and still survived!

I still remember like it was yesterday, I was just 6 years old, my grandmother had come to my school to pick me up for me to see a doctor. I cried like every other little girl who fears doctors and the injection phobia had made me go crazy with just the thought of it. But, it was not just the injection or a doctor I was destined to tackle; there was a bigger picture for the story. 

Earlier that day, my Grandfather, who was a Pediatrician (Child Specialist), had found something unusual about my health. I used to constantly get a high-grade fever, nose bleeds and used to catch a constant cold and coughs every single month, multiple times and nobody figured out what was wrong with me as I had undergone multiple health check-ups and consultations from good doctors but on that fateful day, my grandfather had to say something about it - something very serious.

Earlier during my medical check-ups and all those sorts of things I had undergone a blood test and its results were out stating something very suspicious which my grandfather had found out. So, later that day, I was brought home and saw everybody in my family - my parents, grandparents, my uncle and aunt genuinely concerned about my well being. “You have to leave for Mumbai,” my grandfather said in his strict voice and I was totally surprised and nervous and scared to hell after noticing the situation in my house.

After reaching Mumbai, we settled and went to The Tata Memorial Hospital, one of the greatest hospitals at that time for the treatment of the various types of cancers. Yes, I was detected positive for Leukemia (Blood Cancer) at the age of 6. My Parents, both handicapped, but still my dad managed to come for my treatment to Mumbai. My mother could not due to her situation as she could not travel at all out of our house. Imagine a small kid, just 6 years old without her mother being close to her managing such a big illness on her own, I feel it was a big achievement for me back then. I think I was a brave child.

My Grandmother mainly stayed with me in the hospital throughout my treatment for those 1 and a half years period. She was a major source of support, physically present there for me back then. My parents did everything in their power, right from talking to the doctors, managing huge expensive hospital bills to talking to me whenever the hospital allowed on the phone. My aunts and uncles too were a major part of the whole process of getting me all hale and hearty. The injections, saline, drips, blood transfusions, etc were now an everyday thing for me and I managed them quite well, except the Bone Marrow Transplant, my real brother being my bone marrow donor, which was a killer was too tough to handle. The pain is indescribable when it comes to this illness, the pain to both the patient and her/his family. It was really tough to get the matching blood, platelets, and stuff just to keep me alive and going. My father put innumerable advertisements on the television, the newspaper, radio and everywhere he could in order to arrange it for my survival. He was my hero.

There were times when I recovered but, there were even worse times when I seeped down the death lane fighting constantly for my survival. All the great doctors I got for my treatment proved to be a boon for me and they tried everything in their power to speed up my recovery process. There was a time when no hope was left altogether, but as they say “You need to fight for your own survival in this world, nobody else can do it for you” and here I am writing this blog today, happily married to my lovely husband, married in a great family, living a happy and lovely life.

The process of me getting better and better each day and fighting cancer for a period of 1 and a half years made me appreciate my life and made me a better person, one who enjoys life to the fullest and embraces it every moment.

I can proudly say “I beat cancer and I survived it.” It was a huge challenge (not just for me but for my family too) but, I did it anyway and so can anybody in this world.

Growing up wasn’t as easy for my brother and me due to the constant challenge of both my parents being disabled but still they were and are still so strong and independent and self-sufficient. I really look up to them in terms of survival. They are both fighters and so am I and would continue to be.

And so, here ends my survival story. Thanks a lot for patiently reading it. I would love to hear your survival stories regarding any topic or anything in life, your hurdles, your challenges, just anything. Comment in the section below and let me know.

“One of the greatest moments in life is realizing that just two weeks ago, your body couldn’t do what it just did.”

Have a beautiful life…Cheers! SURVIVE!!!