Turkish woman beats breast cancer with patience

By Andac Hongur

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish woman has recovered from the deadly disease after five years of treatment and returned to life.

Bulvin Oz was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 30, although she has no family history and inherited cancer genes. She started to receive medical treatment--chemotherapy --and both of her breasts were removed.

Oz, a member of the Cancer Fighters Association, told Anadolu Agency that she used to think she was young and so did not go to breast examination, adding she learned the cancer diagnosis at the doctor's control which she went with the insistence of her friend.

"When I lost my hair, that day I realized that I have cancer and I have to deal with it somehow. A feeling of fighting and resistance comes to fight and overcome this and to regain health."

Recounting her chemotherapy treatment took six months, receiving it every 3-3.5 weeks, she said, "You lose your hair 15 days after the first chemotherapy. I think this is the most painful side for many women as it is for me too."

She said that she has completed five years in treatment and that the controls, which were initially performed for three months and then every six months, started to be done annually.

Pointing out that the disease process altered her perspective on life, Oz said:

"Before, everything could easily make me feel stress and I could easily get upset about some things. After experiencing something like this, you become more selfish and you put yourself first."

Oz noted that after surviving cancer, she has changed her diet, eating mainly vegetables and fish and removing sugar out of her life.

She addressed people diagnosed with cancer and receiving treatment, saying nothing lasts forever and cancer is all a matter of patience, and it's a process.

"Everything goes back to old," she added.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan