“When I was born, in 1994, doctors weren’t aware of the low immunity problem. Gradually, my parents started to notice how I would fall sick every now and then- lot of allergies on my skin and common cold almost every other day. Do you remember Aisha in The Sky is Pink? My health issues are very similar to her’s! I kept facing problems but in grade 11, I had fever for almost four months! Initially, everybody thought it was a regular fever. But when it didn’t decrease for months, we went to the hospital and I was diagnosed with a rare, non-contagious tuberculosis. I would throw up every day and the only thing I could eat were Oreo cookies and milk. Any new odour would make me sneeze a 100 times! Lots of tablets and chemotherapy later, I was fine. I wrote my grade 11 & 12 exams together in a week’s time. My immunity at one point was at 0 but I had to cope. I had to be strong. Little did I know that it was just the beginning.
Earlier last year, I started working with The Gallery Cafe as an internal and social media manager. I took this job to save some money for my Masters. It was a fun job, but life had something else planned for me. After saving enough money, I started my Masters in Psychology in Pune. My first year had just started and there was a lot of excitement in the air when suddenly one day I had severe stomach pain. My friend rushed me to the Emergency Room and I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis that later become chronic. I was hospitalized for 12 days and had to be bed ridden for 3 more months after being discharged. I had to drop out of the Masters program and return to Hyderabad to stay with my family. Later, I had a huge lump on my neck. When I went to the doctor, we got several tests and scans done. Throughout, doctors were silent. Nobody told me what it was. Later, I found out that I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Grade 2b (a type of Blood Cancer) in February. It was the first time doctors saw a tumor as huge as that (12-cm), so they were shocked, hence, silent. My brother, who is doing PhD in Bio Medical research, flew down to India. My father was away and the most difficult part was to convey this news to him over a video call. He broke down. It took him two days to digest it and talk to us again. But my mother was strong. Every time I saw her, I knew I could fight it. She gave me the strength I needed! Chemotherapy comes with many side effects. Having low immunity made everything worse for me. I would puke a lot. I started losing patches of hair, so I shaved all of it. My brother also shaved his hair to support and give me company.
These small gestures by my family meant so much to me!
After the first chemo, I thought about everything that was going on. I decided that I have to be stronger and deal with it with hope and positivity. After the second chemo, I had no side effects. Mentally, I was stronger than ever. It made a lot of difference. All of these health problems have affected most years of my life. I couldn’t enjoy school or college as much as other kids. But if I think about that alone, it’s only going to get harder for me. I learnt to be strong and courageous.
It’s difficult. Each of these medical processes are difficult. But if I have hope and my approach is positive, it’s going to help me come out stronger. There are many young girls like me out there. I want to use whatever platform I get to convey my story and motivate others to be stronger. It is devastating, but showing love and support to others in the same boat is going to help all of us fight against whatever we’re going through.”
#Life #Health #Strong #Immunity #Lymphoma #BloodCancer #Fightback #Struggle #Chemotherapy #Strength #Family #Support #Inspiration #Lifelessons #Motivation #Hyderabad #HumansofHyderabad