Manisha Koirala on her battle with cancer

Manisha Koirala faced one of the toughest battles of her life when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012.

Recently, the actress opened up about her journey with cancer and how she overcame it.

She told ANI about how she first learned about her diagnosis. "In 2012 I was diagnosed and I had no clue that it was the last stage of ovarian cancer. And when I was diagnosed in Nepal, I was very fearful, obviously, like everybody else, extremely. We were in Jaslok Hospital. There also, when the doctors came, the two, three doctors, the top doctors, and I spoke to them, I felt I was going to die. And I felt this was the end of me," she said.

"We knew some two, three known people, figures, we knew that they had gone to New York and done the treatment. And my grandfather also had gone to Sloan Kettering and done the treatment," she added.

The actress spent around five to six months in New York for treatment. She spoke about her successful 11-hour operation and how the doctors were kind to her family and also shared how she responded well to chemotherapy.

"My mother had taken Rudraksha from Nepal by worshipping Mahamrityunjaya and had given it to the doctor to keep it with him. So somehow, I don't know how he kept it, but he managed to keep it with him, and after 11 hours of operation, he said that this mala has done wonders," she said.

"I also started responding very well to chemo. He introduced me to Vicky Makker, who is half Punjabi and American, Punjabi American. And so she basically started treating me and she gave me a lot of hope," Koirala said.

"There were a lot of times I remember I would break down and I would see only darkness... hopelessness and pain and fear. And she's the one who kept on saying, 'Manisha you're doing well. You know, your medicine is working on you,'" she added.

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