Lisa Ray recalls her battle with multiple myeloma: ‘The doctor told me I had five years’; opens up about relapse and recovery (Image credits: Instagram)
Lisa Ray has spoken about how her battle with multiple myeloma transformed her life, revealing that the cancer diagnosis pushed her to confront her deepest fears, abandon perfectionism, embrace vulnerability and ultimately discover a more authentic version of herself.In a conversation with actor and former Miss India Aditi Govitrikar, Lisa reflected on her diagnosis in 2009, a time when multiple myeloma was considered a far more daunting disease with limited treatment options.
‘I never asked why me’
Unlike many cancer patients who grapple with the question of “Why me?” , Lisa said her reaction was strikingly different.“There was just like a deeper knowing, a voice that said, ‘It’s okay. You’re going to get through this. It’s not going to be easy, but you’re going to get through this,’” she recalled.The actor explained that her study of Tibetan Buddhism had helped her view the illness through a spiritual lens.“On a deeply intuitive level, I realised this was something that I had to face and go through. That it was connected with everything that came before,” she said.
‘I was not living my authentic life’
Looking back, Lisa believes the disease carried a deeper message.“The malignancy was deep in my bone marrow. It’s the deepest part of yourself physically. I was not living my life. I was not living my authentic life. I had not brought all the disparate versions of myself together,” she said.For Lisa, the diagnosis felt like a wake-up call.“It was like life, the universe, God was forcing me. Now is your time to finally step into what you’re meant to do, who you are, without fear and without compromising your voice,” she added.She also connected her experience to the Buddhist concept of the “ripening of karma.”“When the karma is ripened, it means it’s ready to be picked. It doesn’t mean it’s a pleasant thing, but it means you’re ready to handle it, you’re ready to face it,” she explained.
‘There was fear, but not overwhelming fear’
While Lisa admitted she experienced fear, she said it never completely overwhelmed her.“I had almost like this out-of-body experience where I literally felt myself out of my body feeling like, okay, this is okay. I’m going to get through this,” she said.The actor believes her spiritual beliefs helped her navigate the uncertainty.“I believe we have a higher self that has made a kind of contract before we come into this life. I believe my higher self had made a contract to go through this particular experience and come out the other end,” she said.
‘A little bit of delusion goes a long way’
One of the most surprising aspects of Lisa’s journey was her refusal to let grim medical statistics define her future.While her family researched multiple myeloma extensively, Lisa deliberately chose not to immerse herself in survival data.“The doctor literally had told me, ‘You have five years,’ and showed me statistics and data. I just literally felt like my psyche left the room when he started doing that,” she said.Instead, she adopted what she jokingly described as a healthy form of denial.“A little bit of delusion goes a long way. No matter what the statistics were, I didn’t believe that was the signal I was receiving,” she said.
Cancer cured her ‘pathology of perfection’
The actor also revealed that the disease forced her to confront a lifelong obsession with perfection.“I call it the pathology of perfection,” she said.Recalling her modelling years, Lisa admitted she constantly pushed herself to outperform everyone around her.“I had to be the best model possible. I worked the longest hours. If I was sick, they would send a doctor to the set, give me an injection and I would continue. I had to be good,” she said.The pressure also affected her personal relationships.“I was very competitive with other models. I had really poor female relationships because every other girl felt like competition,” she admitted.Cancer, however, changed her priorities.“Cancer really rid me of the pathology of perfection,” she said.
‘Food became healing’
Lisa also reflected on her complicated relationship with food, which began long before her modelling career.“I was a very chubby child. We were exposed to very toxic beauty standards. I had a very bad relationship with food even though I love food,” she said.After her diagnosis, she began seeing nutrition differently.“Cancer rid me of those attitudes because I started seeing food as healing,” she explained.The actor educated herself about nutrition and embraced major lifestyle changes after leaving the hospital.“I realised the real journey with cancer began after I left the hospital. You’re out of crisis, but how do you rebuild yourself? Healing begins when you start rebuilding,” she said.Following a relapse, Lisa adopted an integrative approach that combined conventional treatment with dietary and holistic changes.“I went on maintenance therapy, a raw food diet and made other holistic adjustments. Together, those things put me back into remission without having to go through a second transplant,” she revealed.
Learning to ask for help
One of the biggest lessons cancer taught her was the importance of community.Before her diagnosis, Lisa described herself as fiercely independent.“I was so independent to a fault. I had this toxic independence where I felt it was a sign of weakness to ask for help from anyone,” she said.That mindset changed dramatically after she publicly revealed her diagnosis.“I understood the power of community because after announcing my diagnosis, I received such an outpouring of support,” she said.“How do you get help unless you ask for it? It’s a simple equation, but for somebody who’s very independent and introverted, it’s a tough obstacle.”
‘I’m not going to take on your shame’
Lisa also recalled being advised by several well-wishers to keep her diagnosis private.“People told me, ‘Whatever you do, don’t talk about it openly,’” she said.Rather than retreating, those comments strengthened her resolve to speak publicly.“I couldn’t understand why there was so much shame around cancer. What have I done wrong? Why should I feel ashamed on top of everything I’m going through?” she said.“The shame was what put me over the edge. I said, ‘I’m not going to take on your shame.’”She extended that thought to broader conversations around women’s health.“Why do we carry shame around cancer, menopause, women’s health, even being a woman? I decided no more. I’m going to put down this load now,” she said.
A journey of transformation
Sharing her diagnosis publicly turned out to be one of the most rewarding decisions of her life.“Something really magical happened when I shared that very vulnerable moment,” Lisa said.“I didn’t know what the reaction would be, but there was simply this outpouring of support from strangers and everyone around me.”Today, Lisa views her cancer journey not simply as a battle against disease but as a profound lesson in authenticity, healing and self-acceptance.“Cancer put a full stop to everything. It forced me to stop and face my own truth,” she said, adding that the experience ultimately helped her become the person she was always meant to be. Go to Source
