New Delhi [India], November 11 (ANI): Sonia Gandhi in her memoir “Belonging: A Journey of Love” has for the first time revealed that she had been diagnosed with Cancer. The Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson further said that she had undergone surgery in 2010.
"Our second UPA term brought me some personal challenges. Apart from occasional bouts of asthma and allergies, I'd had no serious health troubles until then. As my doctors pointed out, stress is one of the main causes of stomach disorders, and, sure enough, these became frequent and worsened as I grew older and got drawn into politics myself," she wrote in her book.
Sonia Gandhi goes on to write that doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had advised her to undergo surgery and although she had full faith in the doctors she chose to go abroad for treatment as she wanted to keep things private.
"I had full confidence in my doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Still, I felt shaken and worried; there was no time to lose, my children and I were told, and my mind began to race to a possible scary outcome. A question arose then for which a decision had to be taken by my doctors: Should I undergo the surgery here, at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, or abroad? I wasn’t keen to be at the centre of a media frenzy that would have inevitably accompanied a surgery in Delhi. I had always sought to keep my personal space private, and the thought of my illness being discussed in the media was painful to me—even infuriating. True, I had become a public figure, but did that mean I wasn’t to be allowed even a modicum of privacy?, she wrote.
“On the day of the surgery, as I was wheeled into the operation theatre, Rahul and Priyanka held my hand and kissed me on the forehead, assuring me that all would be well," she added.
Although the surgery was successful, the Cancer flared up again a year later for which she underwent treatement in Rotterdam.
"We immediately thought it was a flare-up of the earlier problem. Following many consultations, my doctors felt that I needed immediate surgery. The tumour was initially suspected to be a neuroendocrine one: That would mean a long operation, and a prolonged hospital stay," she said.
"I was agitated and worried about the operation in spite of everyone's reassurances, since the actual extent of the disease could only be determined after the surgery. My mind began to dwell on a worst-case scenario. What if it turned out to be a metastatic growth? Would I come through it?" Gandhi further wrote. (ANI)
"Sought to keep personal space private": Sonia Gandhi details battle with Cancer in memoir
