Life as she knows it

Life as she knows it

Herald Review November 23, 2014 

‘After the Fall: A Breath of Life’ documents Shilpa Raju’s journey through two cancers and a double lung transplant and hopes to dispel existing myths about organ donation among the South Asian community.

LISA ANN MONTEIRO

The past seven years have been tumultuous for 28 year old Shilpa Raju, born and raised in Canada.

She was forced to keep her plans and dreams on hold as she battled for life, multiple times. At 21 and in her final year of an undergraduate degree in life sciences, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system.

Chemotherapy therapy sessions followed and proved successful. However when she began to get short of breath, she found she had pulmonary fibrosis, a side effect from the cancer treatment, where her lungs were badly scarred.

During her first cancer and treatment, she managed to lead a fairly normal life, finishing school, dancing and travelling.

Once the pulmonary fibrosis set in and her breathing started to get affected, the illness began to more noticeably impact the quality of her life.

Her lungs deteriorated to a point where she needed to use oxygen. She got a double lung transplant done and then contracted Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder, a potentially fatal form of cancer obtained after solid organ transplant. She was caught off guard. “ Every time things seemed to improve a little, I would end up experiencing another setback - I guess it was like I couldn't catch a break. But suddenly, after a terrible couple of months, my body just started to get better, and things improved. And once things started to turn around, it just became easier to keep pushing to get better and better,” Shilpa says.

Her mother who had seen her suffer time and again wasn’t convinced she should go through with the double lung transplant. She was told Shilpa would need to be on medication for life to prevent her body from rejecting the transplant, which also had their own extensive list of possible side effects and serious complications. “ My mother saw it as me again trading one problem for a whole bunch of others.

She wasn’t willing to accept that this may have been the best option I had.

She was hoping I would just get better, through faith, and alternative, natural forms of healing only.” Eventually she came around and has begun to accept the transplant especially when she sees how good things are for Shilpa right now. “ She can appreciate that while transplant is not a perfect solution, it has its merits and when it works it can be pretty amazing.” Shilpa says.

She has turned into an advocate for organ donation today and believes transplants can provide hope. “ By becoming a donor, even as you die you have the potential to give a gift that might help someone else live. You can give someone hope and change their life,” she believes.

To further her cause and inspired by her story, her friends Rose D’Souza and Pam Sethi decided to make a documentary ‘ After the Fall: A Breath of Life’ . The short documentary on the journey that Shilpa and her family went through details her illnesses, discusses her mother’s hesitation to see Shilpa receive the transplant and explores the different support systems the family had.

The last part of the documentary focuses on Shilpa’s experience of coming to terms with death. “ This is really the most interesting part of the documentary because most people don't talk about death or dying with their family members until they actually experience death.

And, from my South Asian experience, we certainly aren't openly talking about illness and death in my family,” says Rose D’Souza, Bombay- born, Torontoraised director of the film.

While working on the documentary the team learnt that that the South Asian community in Ontario has the lowest rates of signing up as donors.

The issue of organ transplants too isn’t publicly discussed in the community.

“ We learnt many myths about organ donation prevailing amongst ethnic communities in Toronto one of which is that if you sign up to be an organ donor, doctors are less likely to try and save your life if you are in an accident.

This isn’t true and I hope Shilpa’s story inspires not just the South Asian community but many others and sparks a change in conversation for how families talk about organ donation and death.

The documentary is also an emotional journey to see such a young, beautiful woman talk about the many times she was close to dying because of cancer and complications from the double lung transplant,” Rose says. Shilpa’s life has been all about adapting to the changing circumstances in her life. At every step when things haven’t worked out according to plan, she has had to modify her plan to work with her limitations.

Her supportive network of friends has helped her get through difficult times.

There’s a place for both faith and science in healing and health, she believes.

“ We all deal with things differently and seek support in different ways, but one of the best things we can do is to be informed.” The film premiered on November 15 at Revue Cinema, Toronto. Review Bureau

link: http://epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=9433&boxid=172733703&uid=&dat=11/23/2014