Neerja Malik, who was a primary teacher in Mumbai, shared with
Humans of Bombay that her secret to battling cancer on two occasions is a positive attitude
Humans of Bombay that her secret to battling cancer on two occasions is a positive attitude
Neerja Malik, a Mumbai-based primary school teacher is an inspiration for all of us, who feel that life isn't fair. Malik, a two-time survivor of breast cancer, recently told Humans of Bombay that the secret behind her surviving both times was taking it in her stride and having a positive attitude.
"I've lived a great life with ups and downs – much like everyone else. Life is ironical at times. As a primary school teacher, I was always surrounded by children, but after marriage I had several miscarriages and then delivered a stillborn. It was the toughest phase of my life, but I finally eventually gave birth to twins – both were premature, but now are healthy and happy children," she said.
"I've lived a great life with ups and downs – much like everyone else. Life is ironical at times. As a primary school teacher, I was always surrounded by children, but after marriage I had several miscarriages and then delivered a stillborn. It was the toughest phase of my life, but I finally eventually gave birth to twins – both were premature, but now are healthy and happy children," she said.
Life was normal for Malik after that until 1998 when during an aerobics class, she felt a pain in her breast. Initially, she thought it was a muscle pull and shrugged off. "A few days later, I felt two lumps and realised it wasn't any pain. I rushed to the doctor and got my tests done. I tested positive for breast cancer and had to almost immediately get surgery," she said.
After surgery, while going home, Malik gave a fist pump to her husband and assured him that they would be okay even though the doctor had just told her that she had 25 per cent chances of survival. "Through this whole time, I didn't once ask, 'why me?' — I didn't indulge in any form of self pity. My whole life focus shifted from being sad to becoming a fighter. There were days that I cried, but for every tear I shed I fought harder. I forced myself to laugh, to distract my mind and enable myself — very often I would fight with the hospital staff if they tried to help me go to the loo…even though I would fall on the way I made sure I did it on my own," she recalls
Through her positive attitude, Malik beat cancer, but had a relapse once again in 2004. "I underwent multiple chemo sessions and lost all my hair but I distinctly remember not giving it too much energy, she recalls.
During this period, Malik lost the hair from her eyebrows, but instead of fretting, she painted her eyebrows with a brown pencil. Her nails, too, had turned black, so she would paint them a new colour everyday to make herself feel happy. "I would experiment with different wigs and love my look…there were times when I went out completely bald and people asked me if I had just visited Tirupathi and I would play along! My whole life became about being happy no matter what my situation and the fundamental rule of life is — a disease cannot exist in a body that has positive energy. I beat cancer, again and this time I came back with a thumping victory. I began to counsel cancer patients ever since, because for me defeating it twice wasn't enough— I wanted to defeat it as many times as I possibly can," she said.
Now, Malik feels she can ask 'Why me?' because she has the answer. "Because I'm strong enough to handle anything that life throws at me…and because I already have!" she says.
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