Anthropologist from School of Social Sciences Hosts Talk on Cancer

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Anthropologist in the School of Social Sciences, and College of Humanities, Dr Maheshvari Naidu, hosted a talk titled: “Cancer Journey - Long Walk to Freedom.”

Naidu said the title indicated the arduous and traumatic process each cancer patient undertook on their “journey”, or process of diagnosis and treatment, towards their personal freedom of attempting to be “rid” of the disease.

Naidu said there were many types of cancer which was a disease that played out in and on the body in multiple ways.

She said the biomedical model reduced illness to a biological mechanism of cause and effect, while the practice of medicine itself was broken down into smaller and smaller ‘medical bytes in the name of specialisations; the oncologists, the cardiologists, the radiologists, and the surgeons, among others. These specialists and subspecialists all take care of different parts of the same body, while cancer itself impacts on the entire body and person’.

Naidu explained that allowing individuals to share their stories about what had happened to them in the context of their illness, encouraged them to talk about themselves as “selves”, rather than just “ill organs”.

She said the talk was also a space to show the power of narratives. ‘Narratives within the social sciences play a powerful role in allowing us to gain insight into the person sharing the story, as well as into the phenomenon.’

Psychology Lecturer Ms Lucinda Johns shared her powerful and poignant story about being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32 and her decade long “walk” through remission. Her story depicted her grace and courage in the face of shattering news. She said she had added an auto-ethnographic approach to her doctoral work which examined breast cancer.

A Social Anthropologist from India, Professor Shalina Mehta, spoke about her battle to fight her way out of multiple potential terminal illnesses, including cancer. She said that her ‘children had been the light at the end of the tunnel’ – ‘the freedom’ she fought towards.

Mehta told the audience her first encounter with terminal illness was when she was in the demanding position of Dean at her university. ‘In ‘the face of pronouncements by doctors, I refused to die, for the sake of my children,’ she said.

Dr Maheshvari Naidu spoke about her experience nursing a loved one through palliative care and terminal cancer, and said that in some heartbreaking instances, ‘freedom’ meant death. She added that ‘while those left behind suffer pain and heartache, the hope is that those who have passed on, reach their freedom’.

The stories were unique and charted different journeys and different ‘freedoms’. Many in the audience were visibly moved and shared some of their own painful experiences.

A young woman staff member in the audience said: ‘It was enlightening and somewhat of a cathartic experience; rather emotional too. To hear first-hand accounts of how women have survived cancer, was inspiring and made me reflect on my experiences of losing someone with cancer. It also made me realise that life really is too short and I shouldn’t be afraid of letting go once in a while and being free and enjoying myself. Thank you for allowing me to attend.’

A postgraduate student at the talk wrote the following to the organisers: ‘I had an emotional breakdown after the talk. I realised how I was slowly dying without knowing it. I’m taking a break today, then I will later see a doctor. Thanks for the talk, it was a life-changing event.’

Melissa Mungroo