Bucks mum’s message to other cancer survivors: talk about it and lean on those around you

Priyanka Pandya-Bhatt reflects on her own journey two years on from the release of her book: ‘When mummy had cancer’.

When Priyanka was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022, her “world shifted overnight”. Her experience was made all the more difficult to navigate with her daughters being just 4 and 2 at the time of her diagnosis, something that inspired her to write her book ‘When mummy had cancer’ to support other young families. 

Priyanka explained that ‘there isn’t a lot of support for young families when a parent is diagnosed with cancer’ and remembered one of her own hardest moments being when one of her daughters asked her not to lose her hair, a promise Priyanka couldn’t keep. But her book, published in 2024, aimed to change the lack of guidance available for young families - and has. 

Since its release in both the UK and India, it has become ‘a valuable tool’ which families can use ‘to read together and understand what everyone is going through’. In India especially, Priyanka feels it has been welcomed warmly as a subject which often goes undiscussed, but explains that now ‘the importance of the matter is becoming very apparent, and it is a conversation that families do want to have’. 

She also shared that talking about her cancer journey has also been a ‘form of healing’ which she compares to therapy. After being in remission for the past few years, Priyanka adds that ‘going through cancer and coming out at the other end does make you see life differently’. 

‘It's putting things in perspective, you see what's important and what can wait, the people who matter, the people who are there to carry you through. You learn so many life lessons that you wouldn't necessarily think of, but then it's also understanding what is important and where should you spend your time? For me, that is family and making memories with them, and it's not just these big memories during holidays, it's the everyday memories that you make with your children.’

Recently, Priyanka and her daughter Keya completed their first Race for Life 5K, finishing in just over 50 minutes. Something Priyanka says ‘wasn't about the time, but what it represented — resilience, hope, and giving back through raising money for cancer research.’

To anyone going through cancer or who has battled it, as a survivor Priyanka’s advice is to ‘lean on your friends and family, lean on those people who want to see you come out winning. They are the people who will carry you through this journey.’

She also emphasised the importance of talking, whether it be to your friends, family, someone that you don't know or a counselor: ‘Just talk, you don't know what sort of help you need and how you will need it, and just having those people around you will bring a smile to your face. And just like the ending of my book: Keep dancing in the kitchen.’