'Cancer is not the end. It’s the beginning of looking at life from a different perspective'

Panaji: Ninoshka Fernandes from Saligao was 26 years old when she was diagnosed with a rare aggressive cancer. She had only just met the man she was to marry, and the cancer diagnosis was a bolt from the blue. “There was no history of cancer in my family, and in fact, I was the healthiest member of my family. I never took sick leave in school,” she told TOI.She got engaged two days before her chemotherapy sessions began. The chemo sessions were harsh on her, and she required hospital admission. “I would go in for the sessions walking but return in a wheelchair. I was at my lowest and didn’t know if I would make it to the next day,” she said. Today, five years later, she finds that the chemo sessions, although terrible at the time, made her a stronger person emotionally.“I feel I’ve been given an opportunity at a second life, and I’m blessed. There are times I feel depressed and have mood swings, but I recognise that this is not normal and seek help immediately,” she said. Ninoshka waited until her hair grew back and touched her shoulders before she tied the knot with the man who stood by her through her sickness. Today, she helps her father with their family business and also reaches out to those with cancer.“I try to keep myself busy; otherwise, old thoughts come back to haunt me,” she said, adding that she has chosen to cut down on sugar in her diet. “When I tell people my story today, they don’t believe what I’ve gone through,” said Fernandes.">In South Goa, Simitra Rodrigues, a cancer survivor and mother of two, turned her life around, quitting her high-paying corporate job to give back to the society after she was cured of cancer detected when she was 44 years old. Today, she shares her own experience and counsels others battling cancer around the world. “I’m blessed to be healed, and I believe I’ve been called upon to serve others,” she told TOI.Prior to cancer, she devoted all her energies to the pharmaceutical company, working up to 14 hours when work demanded it. “I remember leaving home even at 5am and returning around midnight,” she said. Today, she devotes that same passion for work and level of commitment to counsel and pray for others in hopeless situations, telling them that there’s hope.She is also one of the coordinators of the South Goa District Hospital’s Serena Palliative Care Programme. She and her husband set targets on their app for how many steps to complete each day. “I neglected myself in my past, but I’ve learned to be kinder to myself, as self-care is not being selfish">,” she said.Auria Fernandes from Panaji, a cancer survivor for 16 years, was diagnosed with it when she was a schoolteacher. “Dr Shekar Salkar, who was treating me, told me to be positive and focus on the light at the end of a tunnel. I did that for six months of chemo, and that got me through it,” she recalls.Friends’ support during chemotherapy is a must, she believes. “You need them, not on social media but physically present to talk to and hold your hand to distract you from the chemo which clouds your brain and pulls you down,” she said, recalling how she would ride her bike to the hospital for radiation and go back to school for her class. Today, she has never missed a single yearly check-up with her doctor and regularly follows an exercise routine that includes yoga.Cancer is not the end. It’s the beginning of looking at life from a different perspective“Cancer is not the end. It’s the beginning of looking at life from a different perspective,” she believes. “I tell myself if I could beat cancer, other problems cannot appear that big. Some people don’t want to talk about cancer, but I feel there’s no need to hide it. To me, it’s a milestone,” she said.