Debjani Roychoudhury

Story: "Sometimes life just happens. It happened to me when I was painting and having fun at my art exhibition. I had a loose motion that would not stop and blood in my stool. Thought it was a minor problem and went to the doctor after almost 3 weeks of noticing it.

"The gastroenterologist at LH Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, was furious at my lackadaisical attitude. I smiled secretly while she was scolding me. She suggested some blood tests and a colonoscopy. The next mistake I did was delaying the colonoscopy by 2 weeks. I had some exhibitions lined up and did not want to miss them. So I showed her my blood report after two weeks and bunked the 1st colonoscopy appointment. My hemoglobin level had come down to 7.5 and my doctor was shocked as to how I was standing on my two feet! She was furious.

"Finally, on May 5th, 2015 I went for my colonoscopy at 8:30 a.m. The colonoscopy was done, the doctor came out of the process room to meet my husband and used one of the most dreaded words on this planet - cancer! Yes, cancer. I had colon cancer.

"My husband did not know how to react. He was shocked but decided to stay calm. Then came the golden words from the doctor, 'Don’t worry, I am here.' They gave my husband assurance, confidence, and huge emotional support. I was yet to be informed. I was just told I needed to be admitted to the hospital immediately because there was a tumor in my colon. In fact, I was joking around with my husband that we should go dancing after getting discharged from the hospital, which I thought would be the next day. Little did I know that I was embarking on an extraordinary journey - a journey that has changed and will continue to change my life forever.

"The word cancer was revealed to me the next day by my gastroenterologist. She put it in a very positive way by saying, 'If I were to have cancer, I would prefer your kind of cancer, which is a good cancer.' By good cancer, she meant that it was curable and the surgery was enough to take care of it. Bad cancer is something that is difficult to cure and tackle. So my cancer remained in the colon never having the chance to spread its ugly tentacles."

Advice: "Cancer didn't happen to you. You happened to cancer. Fight cancer with knowledge, hope, and confidence!"