Actress-content creator Chhavi Mittal, who has been documenting her breast cancer journey on social media ever since she was diagnosed in April 2022, as an attempt to raise more awareness on the topic, took to Instagram on Monday to post the first picture of herself with her surgery scar and spoke about why she was proud to be a cancer survivor.
The actress shared photos of herself wearing a mustard halter-neck backless dress and posing at different angles, including one where was showing her scar near the rib cage. She also shared a long, compelling note on why she would not hide her scar. Chhavi wrote, “Scars. You can see the ones on the body... but you’ll never see the ones etched on the bearer’s soul. Yesterday when I found the courage to flaunt this scar… there were some who flinched at the sight of it. I say, if the mere sight of it makes you flinch, imagine what I felt when it was given to me! But in my opinion, a man is not a complete man if he has the nerve to look down and admire a woman’s assets but is not brave enough to appreciate the effort she went through to save those assets (sic).”
Chhavi went on to share that people had asked her if she would remove her surgery scars through laser surgery, but that she refused since that would be “tampering with evidence”. “Some have also asked me if I’ll remove these scars with a laser or some such and I say never! They remind me of the fight I fought and the victory I achieved. Why would I ever want to hide these battle scars! That would be tampering with evidence! Proud to be a #cancersurvivor (sic),” she concluded, adding the hashtags battle scars, scars, scars are beautiful, love my scars, breast cancer, and breast cancer survivor.
Chhavi revealed that she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer on April 17, 2022, after she went to the doctor for a gym injury. Soon after, a lump was detected in one of her breasts. The actress also said that in her case, there has been no family history of breast cancer. “It is definitely a physical struggle, the body goes through a lot. I don’t want to make it an emotional struggle, so I smile and try to be as strong as I can (sic),” she wrote.
“To all women, I feel like my gymming will literally save my life but nothing should be left to chance. As a post-cancer patient one is supposed to do 6 monthly PET scans mandatorily… so in order to save your life from breast cancer, PLEASE do regular self-examination/mammograms… and do not neglect a lump if you find one (sic),” Chhavi added.
The actress has been sharing frequent updates on Instagram about her surgery and health following her diagnosis.
Chhavi is known for television shows like Teen Bahuraaniyaan and Naaginn.