“There Have Been Days When I’ve Been So Exhausted and In So Much Pain That Even Lifting A Finger Hurts": Sonali Bendre

We're all rooting for Sonali Bendre to ace and win her battle with cancer. And the actor is reciprocating our love with all the motivating posts, she shares on social media to help uplift everyone who's going through something similar. 

While every post of hers is a reminder of how bravely and fiercely she's fighting, Sonali is not afraid to talk about the moments when she feels vulnerable, worried, and tired, both physically and emotionally. 

In a recent post, Sonali talks about the days when she felt that cancer took everything she had to push past it, calling it 'a minute-to-minute battle with herself.'  “I got through it knowing that even though I was fighting a long drawn out, draining battle… it was one that was worth the fight,” she writes. 

“There have been days when I’ve been so exhausted and in so much pain that even lifting a finger hurt. I feel like sometimes it’s a cycle… one that starts off with physical pain and leads to mental and emotional pain. The bad days have been many… Post chemo, post-surgery and the like… where even just laughing hurts,” she added.

Here's another powerful post by her:

In this post, she writes:

"“I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me.” – Cheryl Strayed, Wild.

Over the past couple of months, I have had good days and bad ones. There have been days when I’ve been so exhausted and in so much pain that even lifting a finger hurt. I feel like sometimes it’s a cycle… one that starts off with physical pain and leads to mental and emotional pain. The bad days have been many… Post chemo, post-surgery and the like… where even just laughing hurts.
Sometimes it felt like it took everything I’ve had to push past it… a minute to minute battle with myself. I got through it knowing that even though I was fighting a long drawn out, draining battle… it was one that was worth the fight. 
It’s important to remember that we’re allowed to have those bad days. Forcing yourself to be happy and cheerful all the time serves no purpose. Who are we being fake and putting on an act for? 
I allowed myself to cry, to feel the pain, to indulge in self-pity… for a short while. Only you know what you’re going through and it is fine to accept it. Emotions aren’t wrong. Feeling negative emotions isn’t wrong. But after a point, identify it, recognize it and refuse to let it control your life.
It takes an immense amount of self-care to get out of that zone. Sleep always helps, or having my favourite smoothie after chemo, or just talking to my son.

For now, as my treatment continues… my visual focus remains to just get better and get back home. 
It’s yet another test…
Student all my life…
Learning all my life…
#OneDayAtATime

- Sonali Bendre"

 Kudos to her for being so fiercely motivating when we thought handling a deadly disease with such grace was almost impossible.