My mother was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer she tried her best to fight it, but she passed away two months later. In the battle against breast cancer, I lost round one. But 13 years later, when faced with the same demon of a disease I took up the challenge once again. I turned 40 in 2013, I considered doing the tests myself. My mother had it and I had perused before that likely six to eight percent of individuals do get it in the future. So remembering that I went to my gynecologist for a normal examination and requested that she endorse me a mammogram. I went through a mastectomy medical procedure, eight chemo meetings, and 25 radiation meetings at various clinics in Mumbai.
Mentally, you might be ready to do the tests and all, yet whenever it's analyzed, it's unique. But having said that, when I went to my doctor we discussed the reports and the course of action, what he told me gave me a lot of positivity. He told me that I was diagnosed early, and we will be able to fight it. I was lucky that I had my friends and family extending every sort of support.
However, therapy for disease negatively affects your wellbeing. So how could I figure out how to shuffle my treatment and work? Assuming I had chemotherapy one day, the following day I would telecommute. On the third day, I really would go to my office to work . Hectic as it was, it was the fight for life that helped me overcome breast cancer. My education and training came in handy. I am a food technologist and I know a lot about nutrition. There are a lot of things that chemo does, and you need a lot of antioxidants to fight back so I planned and kept a check on my diet.
I went through treatment during 2013-2014 and emerged from the fight with a total triumph. In 2017 I commended five malignant growth-free long periods of life. However, my fight made me mindful of the way that ladies in India do require all the help to battle malignant growth. That is the reason I began The Pink Initiative, banding together with my primary care physician where we hold hold talks, conversations, and mindfulness crusades across urban communities in the state now. Believing that awareness is what women in India need most to fight breast cancer, I wish to keep up the fight all year.

My story begins on a Saturday afternoon, I noticed that there were big lumps on my breast, but I ignored thinking its natural.
After some days, the pain increased and got to know that the lumps got bigger, then I realised that something is wrong with my body.
Again I went for a check-up and got to know that I am having breast cancer. Since I got diagnosed at an early stage, I was able to get an operation done 21 days post my diagnosis.
I went through a very difficult time while receiving chemo and radiotherapy treatments frequently as advised by the doctor. Also due to the radiation, my body started getting weaker, as I started experiencing a massive hairfall and vomiting. With treatments, I eventually was able to fight cancer. If there's one message that I'd like to tell everybody that "Don't lose hope".

I'm Rekha Mittal, a breast cancer survivor. At first, I felt a little irregularity in my breast, yet I overlooked it imagining that I can't have breast cancer growth since anyone in my family has ever been diagnosed with it. However, I was off-base, following 10 months I spoke with a friend who was a doctor and she took me for a checkup. I had not informed anyone at home. Indeed, even the radiologist is a companion and said it looks genuine really at that time I told my husband. That time maybe the world had imploded. However, at that point, we decided that we need to battle it fearlessly. We met doctor after doctor and eventually I ended up taking 6 chemos before my surgery. I had been reading a lot about chemo and thankfully I didn't suffer such a huge amount during my treatment. I'm extremely fortunate to have an exceptionally steady family and such good friends who were constantly there to lift up my spirits. I kept myself extremely positive in these tough times. I kept doing everything in my reach during my treatment. It was during the virus outbreak that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and thankfully I ended up facing no problems despite travelling to Ahmedabad for my treatment. For me, the radiation was the most exceedingly awful part. My therapy went on for a year as I needed to take 17 chemos. Be that as it may, by God's elegance presently I'm completely recuperated and totally fine, by going for regular checkups. Presently I've skipped back with more mindfulness and care following my enthusiasm and interests like travelling, gardening, playing games. I advise all breast cancer patients that they should do a regular check-up and not overlook anything even after anything is identified, keep a positive attitude and believe in yourself that everything happens for the best. Life is a circle, up-downs are all a piece of life, accept life as it comes.

Amid the chaos of COVID19 and lockdown, my life took an unexpected wrong turn that left me with nothing but utter disappointment. It was summer, I had recently moved in with my boyfriend. He suggested me to do a breast exam looking at the abnormal behaviour in my breasts. I got a call from the hospital that shook my world ad I could see it falling apart. I was detected with breast cancer, that very awful disease that ruined the peace of my family.

It runs in my family, and my mom is BRCA-1 Positive. I lost my grandma & aunt to this awful disease. Turns out I was positive as well, but never knew. I've gotten breast exams and mammograms in the past, but the doctors always told me it was nothing. One of the biggest myths I've heard was "if it doesn't hurt, it's not cancer". To this day, I can still hear that in the back of my mind. My oncologist informed me that since breast cancer is in fatty tissue, most people don't notice it at first.
I'm a Estrogen/Progesterone negative and HER2 positive, so my cancer is very aggressive. Since I've started treatment I've endured chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, starting radiation and doing more chemo on the back end. I've been fighting for over six months, and I still have a ways to go. I remember sitting in the chair thinking "I don't belong here". It's still hard for me to show up to each session and keep it together. Especially since most places aren't allowing any visitors to be there with you. I had to do it alone, and it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Most days I don't know how I do it. I will say that I have the best support system and I am very grateful I got diagnosed when I did. I'm young, strong and resilient. I've met so many amazing people and made friendships along the way. I am proud to be a part of the fighters club. Since then, I've learned to live everyday to it's fullest potential and not take anything for granted.

Three years after gaining back pain-inducing breast size, I felt a small lump in my left breast on self-examination during my bath. I pressed it, again and again, to ascertain that it was a hard lump. As the mass of fat in my breasts is high, there are always flexible, moving lumps in my breasts which I have encountered during self-examination.
I went to a doctor recommended by my family doctor. He advised immediate biopsy and there I was on the operating table where the doctor was getting a sample of the tissues from the lump.
He asked us to be patient and wait for the biopsy result and when it finally came negative with no traces of cancerous cells, my doctor was not satisfied. But things got complicated when my sister also carried out self-examination and discovered a lump nearer to her armpit. She was also diagnosed with breast cancer at the same time. Now, there was a possibility of genetics in it as both the sisters had it though there was no family history of it. My surgeon told me sometimes the BRCA genes mutate in a generation and that could be the reason for both of us getting it. But that remains to be determined through the BRCA test which I have kept for a later date with the varying results of mammography and biopsy. So he recommended another round of biopsy, which I underwent because I trusted his judgement over the other doctor. And there if was, the trust paid off. The second biopsy revealed that I indeed had breast cancer, Stage II.
Initially, my surgeon had said that since it is in the early stages, I would only require surgery and radiation.
I understood what form of cancer I have and how it could have spread to the lymph nodes.
Thankfully, only one lymph node was affected in my case. After the operation, I recovered fast and well, with a small white patch on my aureola as the only reminder of the stitches. But underneath the scar, I now have differing size lumps, which makes self-examination of my left breast difficult now, but I chose to be a survivor and will continue to stay strong.