Why the interview in Hindi Language? We want to reach out to women & men fighting cancer but do not understand any other language but Hindi & Hindi is also the National Language of India- the motivational interview will be extremely helpful for the families fighting cancer! Savita also speaks in Marwari about her journey!

Journey of Savita Shekhawat… An inspiration to the Mankind- Savita got diagnosed with Breast Cancer, faced the fight, emerged winner with her courage & determination. She didn’t stop herself.. She came forward to become an ADVOCATE, with a mission to spread the word and save LIVES- through her selfless voluntary service… Hats off to Savita & So blessed to know her & it’s a privilege to have Savita in our BCH family as our BCH Advocate Ambassador.

By, Dr. Lopamudra Das Roy, Founder-BCH

Savita’s Story .. in her own words…

I am Savita Shekhawat 36 year old, lives in Bangalore, India. I belong to the family/community where education was not much encouraged especially for girls. But God had different plans; I did my MCA and today working as Principal Consultant in a well known firm in Bangalore.

In the year 2014 my father was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He was treated at HCG Bangalore by Doctor Mahesh KB. He is doing very well. In the year 2017 March my mother-in-law was diagnosed with metastatic ovarian cancer. She was operated by Doctor Mahesh KB in HCG Bangalore. Unfortunately we lost her in June 2018.

We could not come out of this loss and within few months in Nov 2018, I noticed some discharge in my right breast. Very next day I met gynecologist. She examined me and advised me to do some blood test. Those tests came clear and she asked me to wait for a month as she expected it as some hormonal imbalance.

My husband was away to my native with my 7 year old son. I had a plan to attend family wedding within two weeks. I did lot of online research about breast cancer symptoms and how can I examine myself. And somehow I could feel some vague mass in my breast. Immediately I went to Dr Mahesh. I remember when he saw me, his first question was, “are you scared?” And I said no sir, I just wanted to be alert. His reply was, “just keep this attitude, all will be fine”. He asked me to do ultrasound looking at my young age as mammogram sometime can miss lumps in dense breasts. Ultrasound results indicated possibility of malignant tumor. I was handling this all alone. I informed my husband when he was traveling back. Later that week I went through series of test and unfortunately every test got me closer to cancer. I was diagnosed stage 2 (ER/PR +) Breast cancer at the age of 36.The day when I was supposed to attend a family wedding, I actually underwent 11 hr long surgery which included Mastectomy, reconstruction and chemo port installation.

My parents and father-in-law were not aware of my diagnosis, and were informed later once I was discharged from hospital. Those ten days hospital stay was most difficult time of my life. My brother came from Pune to be with me. My sister and her husband were always with us. My husband, who just lost his mother to cancer, was now dealing with all this. He was my pillar of strength. I wanted to see my son growing, wanted to grow old with my husband – these thoughts kept me going. He was always there with me, during all those tests, hospital stays and visits. We cried together and we laughed together.

Surgery was followed by 4 AC and 12 weekly Taxol cycles of chemotherapy. And then, 28 sessions of radiation. Each and every member of my family took turn to look after me. I am lucky and blessed to have such a big support system.

Yes it was difficult to undergo such a long and painful surgery. Chemotherapy was brutal too. But it reminded me that we are mortal, it made me more spiritual and I learnt a lot about humanity and human behavior. During hospital stay when I was recovering from the surgery, nurse in the hospital when held my hand and prayed for me, it was very soothing. Physiotherapist who helped me to walk, I am so thankful to them, I remember I cried when after eight days finally I could come out of bed and took small walk. It got me closer to the people around me, my family.

Awareness is not only important for the cancer patients but also for the people who interact with them. No cancer patient wants pity but positivity around them. Therefore I deliberately decided not to talk about my illness as I didn’t want me to get impacted emotionally during the course of treatment. Still few friends were great support.

My advices to patients and caregiver is, just take it as a normal cold and flu. Take one day at a time. The days will pass and it will make you stronger and better version of yourselvesJ.

And my request to everyone, please do not ignore your health. Be vigilant. Go for second opinion when in doubt. Only you can save your life.

I also came across few online forum (https://www.breastcancerhub.org, http://breastcancerindia.net/ ) which helped me during my treatment, whether it was home remedies to deal with side effects of chemo, treatment queries or just a casual talk with other patients. I read a lot during this time period and found solace in books.

Now after eight months of treatments I am getting back to normal, living the life to fullest. I am so grateful to my mother, siblings and in-laws. They were great support. Many thanks to my doctors at HCG Bangalore. My sincere thanks to Dr Sumeet Shah and Dr Rohit Malde from breastcancerindia who works so passionately. They were so prompt on responding the treatment queries. Last but not least many thanks to Dr Lopamudra Das Roy who again always responded to my queries/doubts. The work she is doing is very inspiring. I have found a friend and sister in her.

By, Savita Shekhawat

Interview with Savita Shekhawat in Hindi, Breast Cancer Advocate, August 19, 2019, Bengaluru