A tragic loss

Was quite a sad day yesterday. One of mom's closest friends, finally succumbed to breast cancer.


She fought the disease for two long years, had about 30 painful chemos, but still the cancer took her away. Last few months saw her hospitalized, with progressive loss of motor abilities as the cancer spread to the rest of the body. It was painful to watch for all the closed ones for her to wither away like that, coz she used to be the brightest and the most cheerful person around.


Her illness has proved to be a clarion call for everyone around. Mom, aunts and friends are more aware and have had/are planning to have their check-ups done. Women at that age (40-50 yrs) are particularly prone to various ailments due to hormonal changes, and a regular check-up is the least one can do to identify and control any type of cancer before its too late.


Cancer is hardly the incurable disease that it was, provided, it is detected at an early stage. And for detection, we just need some more awareness (I still see a serious lack of this and a frightful inclination of those affected to hide the illness) and willingness to carry out tests frequently. I am saying this for purely selfish reasons, because this episode has made me realise how important women in our family are, in our lives and that nothing, absolutely nothing can take their place.

P.S. A new research shows the benefits of olive oil in fighting breast cancer.