‘I learned to be kind to myself and to my body’: new Singapore mother on how a stage 4 cancer diagnosis changed her outlook
- Snehal Ponde arrived in Singapore from India, and gave birth to a son just as Covid-19 spread there, disrupting her postnatal check-ups
- Months later, she learned the cause of pain in a breast was stage 4 cancer; with her family’s love, yoga – and a new career – she’s fighting back
A cancer diagnosis changes lives. Feelings of shock, fear and uncertainty can overwhelm not only the patient but their entire family. For Snehal Ponde, a breast cancer diagnosis in August 2020 brought despondency and anxiety – followed by clarity and focus, and a fierce determination to embark on a new career.
A human resource professional with 13 years of experience, Ponde started a new journey, training to become a life and career coach while undergoing chemotherapy and dealing with its debilitating side effects.
Born in Mumbai, India, she and her husband had moved to Singapore in December 2019 for him to take up a new job. “We had been married for two years and were excited about starting our life in a new country and becoming first-time parents,” says 38-year-old Ponde, who was five months pregnant at the time.
In April 2020, the couple welcomed a healthy baby boy just as Covid-19 hit the city. While breastfeeding him, Ponde noticed that her left breast remained unusually engorged.
“I thought it was a mild infection that would go away and tried home remedies like massage and applying heat to the affected area,” she says, but she postponed a doctor’s visit because of the pandemic.
The problem persisted, and Ponde finally consulted a doctor. An ultrasound, biopsy and a PET scan revealed stage four metastatic breast cancer, which had spread to her lungs, liver and bones.