Shalet Souza is a 42-year-old nun at the Institute of Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, in Mangalore, India. She currently takes care of aspiring nuns and lives a life devoted to learning and supporting others, including the poor and needy in her region.
At 29, Shalet sought treatment for frequent fevers, which would normally resolve themselves within a few days. During that time, she was selected to study religion at Vidya Jyothi College in Delhi. Shalet was encouraged by a colleague to get a proper blood test as a precaution before she left for her studies. The test was a blessing in disguise, indicating that her white blood cell count was abnormal.
Further examination, including testing of her bone marrow, led to a diagnosis of leukemia. Despite the shocking news, Shalet remained optimistic thanks to the support of her family and congregation. Her doctor prescribed medication to treat her disease and directed her to The Max Foundation (Max).
Through Max, she is provided with the necessary dosage free of cost and periodic blood tests confirm the quantity of cancerous cells present in her blood. Shalet views the nausea caused by the medication to be a minor symptom compared to the chemotherapy and radiation that other patients are suffering through.
Shalet now considers The Max Foundation to be her second care home and has bonded with fellow patients over the years. She’s thankful for the Max-led awareness programs and activities, as well as insights from doctors that relieve her doubts. She continues to live a healthy and happy life and encourages her fellow patients to “not lose heart, take courage, and be positive. Cancer is a small test to prove our mettle.”
The Max Foundation is a leading global health nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating health equity. For 28 years, Max has pioneered practical, scalable, high-quality solutions to bring life-extending treatments and patient-centered health care to more than 100,000 people living with cancer and critical illness in low- and middle-income countries. Max believes in a world where all people can access high-impact medicines, where geography is not destiny, and where everyone can strive for health with dignity and with hope.
The Max Foundation is joining Poptivism — a consumer-driven charitable giving program that sells unique PopSocket Grips and donates 50% of the sales of those PopGrips to support a nonprofit’s mission (that’s us!). Please consider purchasing one of our Poptivism PopGrips today! With each purchase, you’ll help expand access to lifesaving cancer treatment the world over.
We’ve already seen lots of activity around the world this spring: The first gastrointestinal stromal tumor patient meeting in Hyderabad, India; storytelling workshops where people facing cancer learn to share their experience with dignity and hope; and the Malaysia patient team takes their gathering public with a great picnic! See what else has been happening at The Max Foundation during the first part of 2016.
In the last decade, we have reached over 10,000 patients and caregivers in Malaysia. This has been one of the most significant things in my journey with The Max Foundation: the opportunity to work with so many amazing individuals – each one of them teaches me the meaning of life, shows me the courage, and prove that nothing is impossible.
