Cancer activist benefits from campaign

A NEW Germany resident, Kasturi Naidoo, is thankful to be receiving a wig of her own from the CANSA’s Kindest Cut Campaign after being one of their donors for years. The campaign gives the chance for people to donate their hair to make wigs for cancer patients. Today, Naidoo is the patient who stands on the receiving end of this campaign as she was diagnosed with Sarcoma Cancer late last year.

This has inspired her to tell her story in the hope to raise awareness.

Also read: Why early cancer detection means better upfront treatment

“I sat in my car parked at the mall when I received my diagnosis – it hit me hard. Everything simply went blank. They opted to let my ex-brother-in-law, a medical professional, give me my diagnosis. Having a close relative deliver the bad news helped, but it didn’t stop the tears. I always knew there was a possibility, but I never expected it to happen to me – again.

“Despite receiving this life-changing news two days before Christmas, I actually went back to the mall the next day, determined to prepare all the Christmas spread myself as I felt this would probably be the last Christmas I spend with my family. While shopping, I couldn’t remember the items needed because I got too emotional. People kept coming up to me and asking, ‘What’s wrong?’ and saying, ‘You don’t look right’. But I guess the worst part of it was my life was no longer 100 percent mine. Everybody else is controlling doctors appointments, X-rays, surgeries and blood tests and telling you what to do. I couldn’t just go ahead and do things that I wanted to do anymore,” she said.

Naido said she continued to be optimistic when the chemotherapy treatment appointment started. “Regardless of how I felt, I got up, showered, got dressed and faced the day. I keep myself busy reading, watching movies and social media, and doing light housework to keep active and reduce muscle cramping. I refused to let cancer drag me down – but chemotherapy sure wasn’t making it easy.”

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She said that after her first treatment, her hair began to fall out in patches. “Losing my hair to chemotherapy was expected, but the sudden decrease in my confidence wasn’t. Instead of letting cancer take it piece by piece, I decided to have my partner Keith cut and shave my head. This was the hardest part – my heart shattered in a million pieces.

Naidoo said she was happy to have her family around to show her emotional support. Due to the change of season, which will bring about lower temperatures, she has opted for a wig.

“I will be trying out my first wig with CANSA’s Kindest Cut Campaign. I almost couldn’t believe it. I was so amazed to find out that some of their wigs looked so much like my old hair. The colour was a little lighter than my blue-black, but the style was almost identical to what I had in the past. People wouldn’t even know the difference. Oh, it’s going to look just like my old self – I’m so happy. It will give me a little confidence boost when I put it on – I will feel like my old self again,” she explained.

Naidoo said that in all the times she has donated to the CANSA’s Kindest Cut Campaign, to help create wigs, she never thought she would be a recipient of one.

“This must be how everybody else feels, I thought. What an honour it will be to wear it. The fight is not over, but now, I will step out in the world with a renewed confidence to take on cancer,” she said.

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