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March 08, 2007
A beacon of hope
I met Munira Sattar during a visit to the Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, a cancer hospital. She never gave the impression that she had cancer and when a friend told me about her case I was taken aback. Her’s is a success story people should know about, especially women with cancer. She can be an immense source of inspiration and strength for them.“Don’t be afraid to talk about it, please don’t hide breast cancer, you can get more and perhaps better help if you talk about it to as many people as possible,” pleads Sattar to women who hide this illness due to embarrassment.
Through her personal experience she has deduced that the more people they speak to, the more help they get. During her sickness, she reached out to her family for moral support and immersed herself in prayers for guidance and strength to go through this traumatic phase. “I believe it was through Allah’s help and my family’s support that I was able to overcome this illness,” she says.
Although she had a history of cancer in the immediate family, her mother and sister both had it, yet somehow she had never expected to get it herself. “I had always been a health freak and started yoga when not many people knew about it. To date I practice yoga everyday to keep myself fit. My diet has always been controlled and balanced.”
Sattar had done everything by the book yet she couldn’t fight genetics. In May 2005, when her test results came out positive, she and her husband were devastated; they sat together and cried, consoling each other. They had to overcome their own sorrow and pull themselves together to face their family.
“After breaking the news to my mother-in-law, I told my children, who were immensely supportive. Gradually the news got around to my friends, there was hardly anyone who wasn’t moved and came to me with their suggestions and advice.”
Sattar immersed herself in prayers day and night and also searched the Internet to find anything available on the subject. It wasn’t long before she knew enough about her illness to make educated choices regarding her treatment. Wanting her family to be near her, she decided to have the surgery done in Pakistan. Next she looked for the best local doctor and hospital.
“Soon after the diagnosis, keeping my family history in mind I decided for the total removal of the breast. I wanted to live and so didn’t want to take any chances of it recurring somewhere else. The lymph nodes were also removed to eliminate any further spread of the disease.”
Mastectomy is not an easy choice to make for any woman as it affects her physical appearance. Once again all those long hours on the Internet proved useful and she knew about all the options available to her. She opted for reconstruction of the breast at the time of removal.
It was a 13-hour-long operation. “The removal of nodes entailed drainage of liquids from the body. I had to carry two drainage bottles with me everywhere,” she laughs, “So I put them in a shopping bag to hide them.” This was just the beginning of her painful treatment.
After seven weeks of surgery, she had to have chemotherapy. Throughout this phase she had to deal with both physical and emotional torture. Soon she lost her hair and wigs and scarves became a part of her life.
With make up she managed to hide the effects of chemotherapy on her face. “On the cosmetic front I did well but the chemo raged a war inside my body and affected my kidneys and liver, causing severe nausea. I lost my appetite and weight and was virtually living on chewing gums,” Sattar says.
In advance chemotherapy the immune system becomes very weak and the patient has to be isolated to prevent exposure to any germs. “This was a very depressing time for me so I took refuge in books and the Quran. “One thing to remember is that chemotherapy and its side-effects are temporary, your hair does grow back and most of the body comes back to near normal,” she reassures. “There is light at the end of this long and dark tunnel.”
It’s just over a year since her successful treatment and recovery yet there is nothing that suggests she ever had cancer. Both physically and emotionally Munira Sattar seems as normal and healthy as anyone here.
“Life is too short to be wasted, I think oversleeping is a waste of time, there’s so much one can do,” she says bubbling with energy. A typical week in her life includes Quran classes twice a week at her house, work-out sessions and looking after her family and friends.
Sattar is also involved in a number of philanthropic projects. She is counselling women with breast cancer – there are five women whom she’s helping at the moment. She is also helping poor patients who require eye operations by financing their surgeries. Munira Sattaar is willing to help anyone who has cancer and wants to discuss it with her.
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