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Toronto
Star, Ontario
ed.
LIFE,
Monday, November 18, 1996
Feroza Fancy
loves a good party. She and her husband Aziz invited 75 people
to their silver wedding anniversary celebration a few months
ago. Few of those guests could tell their hostess was recovering
from breast cancer surgery.
But then Feroza
is, by her own account, "an old pro at survival." She
had battled and beaten cancer twice before.
Her fight began
in 1978, seven years after she and Aziz had moved to Toronto as
newlyweds. They'd had a daughter, Sabrina, and a son, Zain.
Feroza, who's now
48, had just turned 30 when "it seemed like everything fell
apart. I started feeling constantly tired and blamed the kids
and age," she says. Then a lump appeared on the side of her
neck, and Feroza learned she had Hodgkins disease.
"When tests
confirmed I had cancer, I resented the diagnosis because I
thought only old people had cancer," she says.
"I'm curious
by nature so I bombarded the doctor with questions. He told me,
'It's a mild form of cancer with a good cure rate.' "
She searched
library shelves looking for everything she could find on
Hodgkins disease. Only when she knew what she was dealing with
did she tell her family.
Aziz, a sales
consultant for a car manufacturer, was shattered.
"Feroza has
always been the stronger one in the family" he says.
"We take our cues from her." But then when he saw how
well she was handling the diagnosis, "I decided it will be
all right."
Feroza began
radiation treatments at Princess Margaret Hospital. "The
first few treatments were a breeze," she says. "And
then it hit me. I started reacting to the treatment quite
violently."
Feroza wanted her
mother to come from Pakistan, but there were visa delays.
"My sister came from London, and my friends in Canada
became my family," she says. "They gave me the support
and care I needed."
For two weeks
Feroza was hospitalized in the children's ward of Princess
Margaret because there wasn't enough space in the regular ward.
"This is
when I started to truly value life and I thanked God that it was
me who was there, and not my children. At that time, I decided
that I'll savor every moment of life."
Feroza's cancer
went into remission, but within a year of that first diagnosis,
she fell sick again. The family had taken a trip to Disneyland,
and Feroza developed a fever that wouldn't go away.
Back in Toronto,
she found the cancer had spread to her bone marrow, liver and
lymph node.
"I was
scared," she says. "The first time, my chances of
recovery were 85 per cent; this time they were 50 per cent. But
I told myself no matter what the odds, I'll beat it."
Feroza needed
chemotherapy , and again she insisted on learning everything she
could about it. The doctors "got so fed up they told the
interns, 'Give her any information she wants because she
probably knows more about the disease than you do' " says
Feroza.
"For me,
knowledge about the disease is half the cure."
This was a rough
time for Feroza, who was weak and needed blood transfusions.
"What kept
me going? My faith, and support from family and friends,"
she says. Her mother had finally arrived from Pakistan.
"This was a blessing because she took over the house and my
kids," says Feroza. "My friends brought in so much
food that we didn't have to cook for a month."
The chemotherapy
she went through this time was intense, and a bout of pneumonia
added extra months to the treatment.
Doctors had
warned Feroza about chemotherapy's possible side effects,
including sterility. "That didn't faze me because my family
was complete," she says. "But I was terrified of
losing my hair. I prepared myself with scarves and wigs and told
the kids to be ready for a bald mother. And you know something?
I didn't lose my hair."
Gradually, Feroza
began regaining her strength and health. The family moved out of
their big house and into an easily-managed Mississauga apartment
in 1981. Life went on more or less as normal.
Then in 1984,
internal problems that she thought were the result of
chemotherapy sent her back to her doctor. She found out she was
pregnant.
"My first
reaction," she recalls, "was that I didn't want any
more children, especially if my system was harmed by radiation
and chemotherapy. The doctor assured me I was not affected, and
for a while I toyed with the idea of abortion. Then my faith
took over and I accepted that life and death are in God's hands
- what goes in between we have to bear with trust and faith in
the Almighty.
"On one
visit the doctor told me, 'There's something funny on your
ultrasound.' It might have been funny for him, but when he told
me I was carrying twins, I didn't find it funny at all!"
Healthy sons
Mikail and Taimur were born in May, 1985, and life returned to
"as normal as it can get with twins," laughs Feroza.
"I had eight years of a healthy, happy life where I
attended parties galore."
She says she
found fulfilment by joining CANSURMOUNT, an organization of
volunteer cancer survivors. "It was very therapeutic for me
because I believed I was totally healthy and wanted to help
other survivors."
But in September,
1995, Feroza found a lump in her breast. She had a biopsy done
right away, which confirmed her suspicion she had breast cancer.
Previous radiation treatments led to complications with the
biopsy incision, and eventually she had a modified radical
mastectomy. And there was more chemotherapy.
"I was so
paranoid about the chemo, with memories of my previous
treatments, that I would start getting nauseous at the sight of
the hospital," she says. However a new
anti-nausea drug and
other advances in treatment helped her avoid side effects and
made her recovery easier.
Feroza admits she
asked herself, "Why me again? I felt cheated because I've
paid my dues," she says. "But what can you do except
cope. I know that my family looks to me for support so if I
break down, what will they do?"
These days,
Feroza finds herself accepting the counsel of people she once
counselled through CANSURMOUNT.
"I've
learned that life is short and very sweet, so I take it one day
at a time. And with wonderful people around me, I know I can
survive anything."
at incentive to work
in my field again," says Tahir Rafay, director of that division.
"My father's been a
great asset bringing experience in medicine and staffing," says
Rafay. "He's helped recruit over 100 people and (set up) a booth at
the University of Toronto job fair. Since he's joined me, business has
boomed.
"Within six months I
had a revenue of over a quarter-million." She's now reached the $1
million mark.
But again her youth
proved to be an impediment when she applied for the $30,000 line of
credit from the bank. "It was tough to get a credit line because
I'm young and I don't own anything," she says. "I had to be
very convincing, bring testimonials from previous clients, get
supporting paperwork and also had to use the Maclean's article to get
credit."
She cites competitive
rates as one reason for her success. "Most companies have a
placement fee of about 15 to 20 per cent- I have a lower rate for the
same service, and am always open to discussion with my clients,"
she explains.'When I walk into an office and they see a young woman,
it's like two strikes against me. One vice-president asked me which
company I was the representative for ... his face changed colour when I
told him I was owner'
Copyright
© 1996 Toronto Star, All Rights Reserved.
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