For years, Radhika Sapra believed her unbearable periods were just something she had to endure throughout her life. She would bleed for nearly two weeks at a stretch, faint in school from the pain. Even her XL sanitary pads would soak through within hours. Doctors dismissed her symptoms repeatedly, telling her it was “normal", reports TOI's Smita Mishra.At 22, she finally learned the bitter truth that she had ovarian cancer. Today, at 27, Radhika is battling stage 4 ovarian cancer largely on her own.ALSO READ: Bill Gates, once the world's richest man, reveals the real reason that made him happier “I always had painful periods — so painful that I would faint in school, not once, but for days in a row. I would have periods twice in a month and the bleeding would continue for 10–14 days. I had excessive bleeding, so much so that even an XL pad would soak through within two hours. I saw doctors, but they dismissed my symptoms all these years."When her health suddenly collapsed during lockdownSoft-spoken and gentle, Radhika carries herself with remarkable warmth despite the challenges life threw at her at a young age. Her father died in 2022, she has no siblings, and she avoids speaking about her mother. Yet even while narrating years of pain, she speaks with striking calmness.ALSO READ: Harsh Goenka is super impressed with Japanese school lunches that even Americans admireRadhika was working in Chandigarh when her condition suddenly worsened during the COVID-19 lockdown. Weakness, vomiting, rapid weight loss and exhaustion took over her body within weeks.“It began with fatigue, vomiting, and rapid weight loss. I became so weak that I had to crawl down the stairs. My condition deteriorated within one and a half months. My father took special permission and came to pick me up. The hospital immediately admitted me in the ICU. My condition was so bad they said I might have a cardiac arrest at any time.”“Ovarian cancer is rightly called a silent killer because many of its initial symptoms are either ignored or mistaken for common menstrual or gastric issues,” she was quoted as saying by the Times of India. The few people who stood beside herToday, Radhika is supported by a small circle of people who never left her side — her partner Param, whom she met on a dating app, her bua Sonia, and her close friend Anmol. These people stood beside her in her difficult time. “My bua keeps coming to the hospital whenever I am there, and my friend Anmol is someone I cannot thank destiny enough for. She was the one who would bring food for me every single day in school. She would ensure I ate well and would never judge me when I spoke about domestic or physical abuse that I faced.”Fighting cancer while struggling financiallyShe is not only fighting ovarian cancer. Her financial struggles are overwhelming too. Cancer treatment costs lakhs every month, while stable income remains uncertain.“My father was a heart patient. He suddenly passed away in 2022. He came out of the washroom, fell, and died. He was into trading and was, at that time, deeply troubled by his financial losses. He was not left with a single penny when he died. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, and he died in 2022 worrying about me. Since then, I have somehow managed. Money comes in the form of donations, but it is not always sufficient. I earn a little from freelancing, and there is a kind soul who sends me some amount every month. But yes, my expenses are around ₹2–3 lakh a month, which is very difficult to meet. I have registered myself as a clinical trial patient and am undergoing immunotherapy. Cancer came back four times in six years, and this time it has spread to my lungs, liver, and other parts. The battle is tough, and there are days I feel like giving up. But then I have my dog, whom I do not want to abandon like my parents did to me," she told TOI.A childhood marked by abuse and abandonmentBehind her illness lies a deeply traumatic childhood that still shakes her when she talks about it.“Ever since I was born, I have seen my parents not getting along with each other. Every two days, policemen would visit our home, and I would be sent off to relatives’ houses. As a child, I felt abandoned and like a burden. I was not given food and was beaten black and blue. Sometimes my father would give me some money so that I could buy food and eat. I was physically abused when I stayed at my relatives' place and when I did tell this to my mother, I was again beaten up. My childhood was all about pain, hunger and abuse.”Even while revisiting those memories, Radhika trembles. Yet what stands out most is not bitterness, but gratitude — for the few people who chose to stay.Choosing hope despite everythingThrough her Instagram account, she openly documents her cancer journey, sharing moments of pain, vulnerability and courage. Despite mounting medical bills and uncertainty about the future, she continues to hold on to hope.Radhika’s story is a reminder of how easily women’s health concerns can be ignored for years. But beyond the diagnosis, it is also a story about survival — about choosing to live, love and keep fighting even after enduring abandonment, abuse, illness and unimaginable loss.