My first thought was, ‘Why me?’: Sonali

I realised I had the strength to deal with this: Sonali

Starting to ask ‘why not me?’ helped me: Sonali

Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre was diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2018. She defeated cancer in 2021 after having received treatment in New York. In a recent interaction with Humans of Bombay she recollected the mental challenges of dealing with cancer. “When I received my cancer diagnosis, my first thought was, ‘Why me?’ I’d wake up thinking it was all a nightmare; I couldn’t believe that this could happen to me. That’s when I started to change the way I thought. Instead of ‘why me?’ I started asking, ‘Why not me?’ I started to feel grateful this wasn’t happening to my sister or my son. I realised I had the strength to deal with this, I had the resources to go to the best hospitals, and the support system to help me through this. Starting to ask ‘why not me?’ helped me start the healing process,” Sonali said. 

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In 2021, Sonali had made a post on Instagram inspiring positivity after having succeeded in fighting off the disease.” How time flies… today when I look back, I see strength, I see weakness but most importantly I see the will to not let the C word define how my life will be after it…You create the life you choose. The journey is what you make of it… so remember to take #OneDayAtATime and to #SwitchOnTheSunshine #CancerSurvivorsDay,” the post mentioned.