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Dinesh Raj Neupane: Layers of Pain – Decoding the Multifaceted Toxicity of Breast Cancer in Women’s Bodies and Minds

Dinesh Raj Neupane/LinkedIn

Jul 13, 2025, 16:18

Dinesh Raj Neupane: Layers of Pain – Decoding the Multifaceted Toxicity of Breast Cancer in Women’s Bodies and Minds

A mother is not just someone who feeds her baby with milk. She is the heartbeat of the household. She is the caregiver, the emotional anchor, and often the quiet force holding everything together. Whether it is her child, her husband, or her extended family, everyone depends on her for nourishment, for strength, and for love.

Now imagine the unthinkable.

A young mother, only 26 years old, notices that her breast milk has stopped flowing while nursing her baby. Worried and confused, she visits different doctors and is referred to the cancer care center in Kathmandu. What she hears there breaks her world apart.

She is diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. It has already metastasized

Her husband, a military professional who died while serving the nation, left behind an ex gratia payment, the only financial support the family had ever known. It is this small sum that she has been surviving on. Not just for herself, but for her little one. She has no siblings to turn to. No parents by her side. She walks this journey completely alone.

The diagnosis is not just a medical crisis. It is the beginning of a downward spiral. A life suddenly filled with financial burden, emotional pain, mental exhaustion, and social isolation. She comes from a rural village, far from the capital, where treatment centers are located. Each hospital visit means another struggle, not just for expensive medicines, but for bus fare, food, and a safe place to sleep. She can no longer breastfeed. She cannot afford formula.

She cannot afford nourishing food. Not for her baby. Not even for herself. The toxicity she faces is not only in her body. It has taken over her entire life.

Physically, she endures pain, fatigue, and the side effects of cancer.

Mentally, she lives with fear and anxiety, wondering what will happen to her child.

Emotionally, she feels abandoned, lonely, and devastated. Her dreams are slipping away.

Financially, she is drowning in a system that does not support her.

The cost of treatment keeps rising, but her resources have run dry. The government offers her one-time support of one lakh rupees. But what does that cover? One or two doses of chemotherapy? A few tests? It is a drop in the ocean. It does not pay for survival. It does not give her the dignity or security she deserves.

This is not just her story. This is the story of many mothers across Nepal. Women who are battling not just cancer, but the deep unfairness of the system. We must ask ourselves whether access to care depends on where a woman lives? How much money does she have? On whether she is married or not? Because when a mother suffers, the whole family suffers. And when she dies, a child does not just lose a parent. That child loses food. Warmth. Safety. A future.

By Dr. Dinesh Raj Neupane, PharmD, MPH

You can find more posts featuring Dinesh Raj Neupane in OncoDaily.

Read OncoDaily’s article on “Breast Cancer Success Rate: What Patients Should Know in 2025“.

Dinesh Raj Neupane: Layers of Pain - Decoding the Multifaceted Toxicity of Breast Cancer in Women’s Bodies and Minds