Cancer-Survivor Lisa Ray Reveals She Was Replaced From A Travel Show For Short Hair After Chemo
Lisa has time and again chronicled details of her battle with cancer and how she chose never to get defeated by it.
Cancer survivor Lisa Ray has inspired people all over the globe. Lisa has time and again chronicled details of her battle with cancer and how she chose never to get defeated by it.
Her most recent piece for Humans of Bombay described her battle with cancer, its impact on her life, and her subsequent recovery. On National Cancer Awareness Day, Lisa's story was shared (November 7).
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Lisa Ray shared how her life changed after she was diagnosed with bone marrow plasma cancer.
"'How are you still standing? Your red blood cell count is so low that you can go into cardiac arrest at any moment!' My doctor said that when she first saw my blood test report. I'd been experiencing fatigue for months. And a few tests later, another doctor said, 'You have 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! I wanted to write a book. It helped me connect with myself. But with work, I never got to do it."
"But cancer changed things," wrote Lisa Ray, further sharing how she was "close to death" during her stem cell surgery and then being "reborn."
She added,
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"My stem cell surgery felt like being close to death and being reborn. But it helped me appreciate the life I had. I remember writing a blog about what it's like to live with cancer. Since the stigma had been so bad in South Asian cultures, coming out felt cathartic. People appreciated my honesty too. Somehow, we all found courage in acceptance."
Lisa Ray revealed after her treatment that she was fired from her job as host of a travel channel since she had lost her hair while undergoing chemotherapy.
An excerpt from her poignant post reads: "After my treatment, I once tried wearing a wig for a public event but found it 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,"
The model-actor relapsed three years after her recovery. She described her recovery journey in her post and added,
"But soon, I did go into remission, only to relapse three years later. Things were different by then. I was getting married. I was shattered, but I took it one day at a time. My body told me what to do, and I listened. I went for a 3-week transformation program. I meditated, drank juices, ate sprouts, and introspected. I healed internally. And within months, I beat cancer again¡ªwithout stem cell surgery! It's been nine years since then, and a lot has happened. I did more movies, wrote a book, raised cancer awareness, had kids, and did the unthinkable¡ªfound the courage to start an art platform."
She ended her beautiful post by summing up her entire journey:
"It's ironic how a disease that usually brings the end to us changed my life completely and made me feel more alive than anything else ever did."
Read Lisa's post here.
After three years of cancer recovery around her wedding, Lisa relapsed. It took her months to effectively battle cancer once again, this time without the help of surgery. Lisa had mentioned previously that she tried to keep it a secret from her husband, Jason Dehni, for some time.
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Lisa and Jason got married in 2012. In her 2019 memoir Close To The Bone, Lisa recounted her battle with cancer.
Lisa Ray is still lauded for her role in Deepa Mehta's film Water. Her string of releases includes Dobaara, Veerappan, and Kasoor.
Lisa Ray has appeared on TV programs, including Endgame, Top Chef Canada, Murdoch Mysteries, Blood Ties, and Four More Shots Please! She last starred in the third season of Four More Shots Please!, which also starred Sayani Gupta, Bani J, Kirti Kulhari, Maanvi Gagroo, and Prateik Babbar.
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