I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 20. I was in my 3rd year of college, studying Chemical engineering. As I received this news on 1^st January, 2018, I used to tell everyone that it is my new year gift.

Symptom

I noticed a painless swelling in my neck. This was the very first symptom of cancer. Initially I ignored it. The swelling did not have any kind of pain so I was careless. After a few days, I experienced night sweating and coughing while sleeping. One more chance, I noticed; I was sleeping a lot. I used to sleep for at least 13 hours.

Diagnosis and treatment

After Few days, things started getting tougher. Then I went for a check-up. And it was diagnosed as Hodgkin's Lymphoma. My treatment started in AIIMS Delhi. Initially I was finding it very difficult to manage everything. Getting treatment in AIIMS was also difficult. After getting diagnosed, I got my first appointment after one month. It was a very difficult time. I was always worried about how to solve these problems. But eventually everything took proper shape.

As a part of treatment, I was given 12 cycles of chemotherapy followed by 15 rounds of radiotherapy. I was diagnosed in the year 2018 and luckily my treatment also got over the same year.

Side effects of treatment

Cancer treatment has a lot of side effects. It was very difficult to manage. But my family also supported me throughout this journey, it helped me a lot in overcoming this. After my 10th chemotherapy, I was exhausted and lost all hope. That time, my father consoled me. He used to encourage me a lot. After every chemotherapy session, he used to encourage me saying that now you have less number of chemo left.

Emotional Support

Emotional support is very important in a cancer journey. My sister is a psychologist. She was the strongest source of support for me. During my treatment I became emotionally so weak that I always used to sit with my mother. I did not allow my mother to leave me for a single moment. Today I am very thankful to my family, friends and all the people who supported me in this tough journey.