Kanjikode: Not only did she defeat cancer, she went on to research it and earn a doctorate as well. Suryakala (51), a native of Kanjikode and a college teacher, has an inspiring story.

In 2012, while working as a Business Administration lecturer at a private college in Coimbatore, she began noticing symptoms of the illness. Tests conducted at a private hospital in Palakkad confirmed it was stage-two breast cancer. When doctors advised surgery, Suryakala recalls feeling as though darkness had enveloped her entirely.

It was at a time when her husband had quit his job in Saudi Arabia, returned home, and they were moving forward happily with a business venture that her diagnosis came. Suryakala remembers that only a few months had passed since she had stopped breastfeeding her younger child. On the advice of her husband’s family, she approached Dr VP Gangadharan for treatment.

The treatment lasted nearly eight months and included 30 rounds of radiation, six cycles of chemotherapy, and surgery. After chemotherapy, she faced several hardships—numbness in her hands and feet, loss of hair and eyelashes, vomiting, and darkening of her nails and lips. During moments when she felt mentally exhausted, the doctor’s words—“We will survive all this?”—gave her great comfort, Suryakala says.

Drawing from her experience that cancer survivors need support, not sympathy, she earned a PhD in 2018 from Bharathiar University on the topic “Awareness and Satisfaction in Cancer Treatment.” With the aim of saving at least one life through early diagnosis, she began organising awareness classes at educational institutions. In collaboration with the Kochi Cancer Society and various panchayats, she led free breast cancer screening camps in around 35 regions, including Attappadi.

Suryakala lives at KTC Kalanilayam in Kanjikode. She is currently a visiting professor in the Department of Business Management at a private college in Chennai. Her husband is Kamalasanan. Children are Kishan and Kiran.