Exclusive: Actress, cancer survivor Chhavi Mittal shares inspirational story; reveals how social media helped
During a recent Manipal Hospital event, TV actress Chhavi Mittal celebrated World Cancer Day with their physicians and other cancer fighters. The actress had a candid chat with Asianet Newsable about her emotional journey after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
FollowTV actress Chhavi Mittal was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2022 and had a successful surgery. Despite defeating the disease, physicians advise survivors to continue specific health measures after surgery, such as frequent checkups, medical testing, or both, to track their successful recovery.
A few days back, she was at Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road, Bengaluru, to celebrate cancer warriors on World Cancer Day. During the event, Chhavi Mittal elaborated on her journey to promote hope to people with cancer. At the event, there were two-panel discussions where the team of medical oncologists and haematologists spoke extensively on the necessity of early detection, screening, and innovative treatment approaches that can aid in rapid recovery.
At the event, the actress said, ”I would like to thank Manipal Hospitals for organizing this event where the cancer warriors can inspire people with their experience. I am also a breast cancer survivor and know that along with the medication, mental strength and courage help fight this battle. It is essential to follow the routine and medication set by your doctors for immediate recovery.”
In a candid chat, Chhavi Mittal revealed what happened when she got to know she had lumps in her breasts, "When my radiologists told me the first time “Chhavi, you have three lumps in your breasts, two of them are fine. But this one is the non-mass enhancement, please get it checked”. And of course, the reports were positive. When I got to know that I had cancer. Somehow fear is not what I felt. I just knew that there is a fact that I had cancer. Here is also another fact that I want to fight it. And the first thing that I learned was when I was diagnosed with cancer. There are different kinds of breast cancers. And the ability of people to fight cancer is also different. So I weighed all my options and put all my facts in place. Fear is a perception it can be subjective; it differs from person to person. The first thing that I learned after my diagnosis was that cancer has types. There are different types of cancer, breast cancer has types and the ability of people to fight cancer is also different. Unlike others, I too had a lot of myths related to cancer, but I chose to talk to the specialists only, who know what they are doing.
Chhavi's discussion with her oncology, "I had a conversation with my doctor about my cancer, and whether was it curable or not. When he said that it was 100% curable, the only question I had was that “what is my quality of life going to be after cancer?”. If he says that it is 100% curable, then will I be able to do everything that I love? I do a lot of physical activities, for e.g.: I love going to the gym, I love lifting weights, I love working out, etc. I believe that gyming saved my life because I got a gym injury, for which I went to the doctor after finding out that I had lumps. After all this, the only thing my doctor said was that you would do everything just like earlier, having cancer doesn't mean the end of life, I was very confident that I would fight it. I learned a lot of this in my journey."
How did Chhavi Mittal deal with cancer?
"One of the other learnings was that, even if it's not curable, it's treatable. And it is how you manage your disease. So it’s more of disease management. I still have a lot of discomfort from certain things, because of the surgeries. But just because you're going through treatment for a few months or a few years doesn't mean you have to stop living your life and keep waiting for that day when it is over. So I decided that I will continue to do everything that I do, and I will try to feel as normal as I can. I started going to the gym on the 10th day of my surgery, not that I could do much, it’s just that I wanted to be in a place that makes me happy. Then I regularly started going to the gym to do my physiotherapy, I used to meet my gym buddies. And it just gave me a lot of positivity," actress said
How social media helped Chhavi Mittal:
The actress talked about her recovery, "I started going to the office, I started playing with my kids. And I think just because I continued to feel normal every day, I think I had an amazing recovery. And I had a fantastic journey. I chose to share this on social media because I think as a social media figure, we share everything about our life, our happy moments, our shoots, and awards that we are winning. That’s when I thought of sharing my journey. I came across so many inspirational stories. Then I felt that I have to love and live my life."
She added, "Kudos to the Manipal Comprehensive care unit, they have the compassion to do it, the happiness and victory they enjoy after treating a patient. So that’s all I am very happy to be a part of it."
Chhavi Mittal, on the other hand, is well-known for her parts in programmes such as Tumhari Disha and Ek Chutki Aasma. She has also appeared in series like Teen Bahuraaniyaan. She also appeared in the film Ek Vivaah... Aisa Bhi starring Isha Koppikar and Sonu Sood.
