Dealing with cancer

Dealing with cancer

Ruby quit her career to serve cancer patients.

When faced with a challenge, some  

give up, while others see it as an  opportunity for helping others. Ruby  

Ahluwalia, now based in Goa, faced the challenge  of being afflicted with breast cancer. When she  completed all her sessions of chemotherapy, she  visited her doctor and asked him about the next  course of action. He knew there was nothing  more that allopathy could offer, so he asked her  to follow a healthy lifestyle by taking care of her  body, mind, and spirit. 

“At this time, combatting fear was uppermost  on my mind,” she says. To divert her mind, she  tried to focus on her creative talents, like painting  and thought of helping others follow a healthy  lifestyle. She saw very few organisations in the  area of promoting a holistic lifestyle for cancer  

‘Can Serve’

patients who had been through the rigours of  chemotherapy. In 2012, her altruistic intention  came to fruition with her starting a non-profit  organisation, Sanjeevani—Life Beyond Cancer,  which provides comprehensive cancer care pan  India.  

Starting with one city, Mumbai, Sanjeevani  presently operates in 23 centres across 13 states  in India and has worked with more than five  lakh patients through its various flagship pro 

grammes. The plan is to have Sanjeevani’s pres ence in at least one city of every state in India The impact studies done on the NGO’s vari ous programmes show encouraging outcomes.  Sanjeevani believes that a disease like cancer  presents multiple fronts for a cancer patient  and that all of them need to be addressed for  the prognosis of a patient to become positive.  It strives to ensure that no patient feels alone  in their journey of cancer and that no survivor  lives a suboptimal life.  

Sanjeevani is the only organisation which works  across India on the complete spectrum of cancer  care through long-term innovative solutions.  Their flagship programmes are Can Chetana for  prevention; Can Sahyogi for in-hospital patient  assistance; Can Saarthi for skill development  of cancer survivors and their relatives; Satori  for strengthening immunity through nutrition,  breath, and mental constructs to be able to  manage the side effects of the treatment and  reduce the chances of a relapse; and CanAhaar  for nutritional supplements for poor patients. 

Ruby has taken an early exit from her civil  service career so that she can concentrate on her  NGO and help others heal holistically. 

- By Jamuna Rangachari