It was an afternoon of candid talk. Cancer survivors, all of whom admitted they were in a self denial mode when they were first suspected, or diagnosed, with the disease and tried to hide their malignant status from others, were frankly baring their thought process during the period of their treatment and the positive takeaways from their experiences. The occasion was “Saluting The Champion Spirit†programme organised by Max Superspeciality Hospital, Mohali for cancer survivors as part of the National Cancer Survivors Day celebrations, at IMA Complex in Sector 35 on Sunday.
After a heart-talk session involving half a dozen recent survivors and attendants, most of the 100-odd cancer survivor men, women and children individually and collectively walked the ramp with their doctors and danced their hearts out with a team of bhangra performers.
Photos By: Life in Chandigarh
The team of doctors included Dr Sachin Gupta, senior consultant, medical & hemato oncology, Dr Sunandan Sharma, senior consultant, surgical oncology, Dr Shaveta Gupta, Dr Gautam Goyal, senior consultant, medical oncology, Dr Ritesh Pruthi, senior consultant, surgical oncology, Dr Pankaj Kumar and Dr Sajal Kakkar.
The chemistry was to be seen to be believed as the survivors gleefully walked the ramp hand in hand and arm in arm with their doctors. Dr Sachin Gupta appeared to the star of the day as patient after patient poured their heart out to describe him as a wonderful medical professional who went beyond the call of duty to help patients bear their trauma and pain with a spirit of love, compassion and faith.
All the cancer survivors who shared their thoughts were unanimous that when the body is in distress it is the mind which sees you though the difficult time. One needs to have faith in oneself, in God and the doctors and support staff to be able to overcome the anxiety, pain and stress. Support of the family and friends is equally crucial for survival, they said.
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The atmosphere in the auditorium was so charged up that Dr Gaurav Goyal, tasked with proposing a vote of thanks to the guests (the guests of honour – Chandigarh Mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal and motivational speaker Vivek Atray – had left by then) was overcome with emotions and could not continue with his thanks-giving.
Positive takeaways for the survivors
- Don’t remain in denial when suspicion of cancer arises, accept the fact as a reality of life and be positive about the outcome of the treatment. As one of the survivors shared, he had booked holidays to Manali months in advance, confident of surviving the disease.
- Believe in yourself and in God, and give time to yourself also while showering your attention and time on other members of your family.
- While in treatment, go about your daily chores as best as you can, as if nothing adverse has happened. Keep yourself happy and enjoy life to the fullest. Cancer can weaken your body, but don’t allow it to conquer your mind and spirit. As another female patient said “I did not hesitate having my favourite pizza for dinner a day before my chemotherapy session.”
- Having passed the most difficult exam of your life, every problem henceforth in your life gets trivialised. As one of the survivors said : “Now whenever I am faced with a very difficult and challenging problem, I simply ask myself, is it bigger than cancer?”
- “Kyun Na Chemotherapy Nu Apni Mehbooba Bana Lavan”
- To chemotherapy : “Amrit Ban Ke Mere Sharir Mein Samaa Ja”
- “From A God-fearing Person, I have Became A God-believing Person”
