Begin Again

What if beauty is what we make of it? This is a lesson Anisha Oberoi, a cancer survivor, had to master along the journey of self discovery.

July 12, 2010

From being featured on the front page of The Economic Times as one of the few women marketing managers for male-centric luxury goods and a month away from flying to Paris to start my MBA, to having just shot for an international magazine—I thought I had it good. I was walking on air and addicted to the superficial, as we tend to be when younger.

“I think you should wait for the doctor to share the results with you,” said the nurse who closed the package with my name on it and walked out swiftly.

My heart sank. This can’t be happening. It was just a small lump that gynaecologists had deemed a fibroid without insisting on a biopsy. Until it started to throb.

I quickly ripped the envelope open. Carcinoma of the right breast, intermediate stage. ‘BRCA’ soon became an abbreviation that would forever be the second thing a doctor wrote under my name on a prescription.

August 10, 2010

“We are not sure until we go in how much of your breast we will have to remove. We need your permission for a mastectomy if required.”

August 11, 2010