A Doctor's Encounter with Breast Cancer

A physician friend of mine was detected with Breast Cancer a few years back when she was merely in her 30s. But the active person that she is, many of our friends still do not believe she has cancer.

I had always been pestering her to write her side of the story...to tell the world about how it feels like to be doctor who has been detected with cancer.

It's a combination of conflicting feelings one has.

At one end, you feel you are a doctor and you are very careful about your health. So cancer cannot happen to you! At the other end, as a doctor, you know cancer can happen to anybody...just about anybody. It is only another chronic disease needing lifelong treatment and care...like diabetes or high blood pressure or heart disease. And yet as a patient you know life is not the same anymore once you are detected with cancer.
You know you will lose hair with chemotherapy, you will feel nauseated, you may even throw up often...And you also know of all the other complications that chemotherapy brings along. At the same time, you also know chemotherapy will make you feel better as it will help destroy the cancer cells.

You are trying to show the world you are a brave person with a very positive frame of mind. Nothing, not even cancer, can pull you down! And then one subtle comment on your wig or your breast implant lets you down...makes you feel defeated and bereft.

Through these ups and downs of life after detection, my friend came out as a triumphant young lady. She went on to win a yoga championship and publish volumes of medical articles in journals. She continues to live  a wonderful life of a busy doctor, a caring mother and a loving wife. And she joins hands in spreading awareness about cancer.

Read my interview with her where she talks about her cancer and the changes it brought about in her life. What is it about cancer that makes people realize their own inner strength...an inner strength and beauty that they never knew existed?

To the strongest cancer patient I have encountered...love being your friend!

"Cancer is not a killer." What kills is ignorance, carelessness, delayed diagnosis, and late, improper or no treatment.


If you have encountered cancer at close quarters, do share your story with others. Your story may inspire others.

Sweet Diet to Lose Weight

You're my pumpkin pumpkin, hello honey bunny

I'm your dumpling dumpling, hello honey bunny

Feeling something something, 

Hello honey bunny, honey bunny

Toko toko...

How I love this Idea, Sirji! And this gave me another idea... that of trying out a sweet diet to lose weight. 

Have read a lot about how honey helps in reducing weight. So let me give it a try and see. Since a couple of days, I have started having a glass of warm water with a spoonful of honey added to it. I have this concoction first thing in the morning. Even before my glass of milk. I have noted my weight at the beginning and I plan to check again at the end of January. That would be two weeks. Does honey really bring down the weight dramatically? Well, let's see. 

Here are a few sites that seem to provide some information about honey and weight loss: 

Can Honey Help You Lose Weight – Seriously?

Honey for Weight Loss

Honey is a natural sweetener that contains fructose and glucose. These are simpler sugars compared to sucrose that is found in our daily use 'sugar'. It also contains antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that boost immunity. 

Medical research shows that honey provokes a longer suppression of appetite or desire to eat. It also alters appetite regulating peptides and has potential 'obesity protective' effects. 

It seems one does not need to make any other changes to the diet when consuming honey. The Internet is full of anecdotes from people who have lost weight by simply adding honey to their diets. They did not alter their diets or increase their exercises. 

My curiosity pokes at me again. Is it actually possible to lose weight by doing just that? With no other changes in the diet?? Wouldn't adding another sweetener to my diet without subtracting one lead to weight gain? Logic says, it should!

What sweetener should I subtract from my diet if I wanted to? We do not use any sugar in our diet...not with the milk...not with the cornflakes. No kheers and halwas too. The only sweetener I consume is a chocolate or two a week. 

Okay, let me simply add the honey for now... no other change in my daily routine. 

I love the taste of honey. I find myself consuming honey with warm water in the morning, with my bowl of cornflakes at breakfast, as a dessert after my dinner. 

Let's see if this helps. If honey did miracles for you, let me know.