On the occasion of National Cancer Awareness Day, Lisa Ray spoke about her journey of battling cancer on social media. The actor went through bone marrow cancer in 2009 and then went cancer-free, and once she had undergone a stem cell transplant.
Lisa’s post for the Humans Of Bombay read, “’How are you still standing? Your red blood cell count is so low that you can go into cardiac arrest any moment!’ That’s what my doctor said when she 1st saw my blood test report. I’d been experiencing fatigue for months. And a few tests later, another doctor said, ‘You’ve cancer of the plasma of the bone marrow.’ At that moment, for the 1st time in years, I stopped and took a breath. I’d always been on the go. But while a part of me lived on the red carpet, the other craved spiritual peace – extreme ends! Like, I wanted to write a book. It helped me connect with myself. But with work, I never got to do it.”
“After my treatment, I once tried wearing a wig for a public event but I found it to be ridiculous. I told myself, ‘Remove it’ and went all bald. It was all over the headlines but more than that, it was the most liberating thing I’d ever done. But the media wasn’t always nice. After chemo, I was a part of a travel show with my hair short. I called it a ‘chemo cut.’ But the channel replaced me. They wanted a girl with ‘long’ hair. It was heartbreaking,” she added.
The actor relapsed after recovering from cancer, at the third year. This happened around her wedding time. This time she had to fight the disease but without surgery. The actor hid this from her husband, Jason Dehni for some time. The couple tied the knot in 2012.