Nitika Chahar grew up in India, where she met her husband, welcomed twins and worked as a pharmacist. She came to Canada in 2015, when she was 30 and her twins were three-and-a-half years old.

“My husband and I were full of energy and so excited for our move,” Nitika, who lives in Brampton, Ont., says. “We wanted to make a difference for our family.”

With young twins, Nitika chose to focus on getting settled as a family and not to pursue her pharmacist license in Canada.

She found work she enjoyed with TD Canada Trust and by all accounts, was living the life she’d dreamed of.

Grief, migraines and an unexpected diagnosis

That took a turn when she lost her father to cancer in March 2020. As though coping with such a loss wasn’t enough, Nitika’s migraines were becoming more frequent. Her doctor referred her for an MRI, and in May 2020, she learned she had a brain tumour.

“I didn’t tell my mother for over a year,” Nitika says. “She’s still angry that I didn’t share the news with her, but she’d just been through losing her husband. I couldn’t tell her.”

When she was diagnosed, Nitika’s tumour was eight millimetres. By May 2023, her tumour had grown to 18 millimetres and surgery was recommended.

“My neurosurgeon was retiring in June,” she says. “I had 15 days to decide if I wanted him to remove the tumour before he retired, or he would refer me to someone else. So, we put everything on hold that we had planned for that summer and I made the hasty decision to have the surgery.”

During her surgery, Nitika had a mini stroke that caused weakness on the right side of her body.

“I couldn’t even hold my phone with my right hand,” she says. “I couldn’t walk. I had to relearn the most basic things.”

Focusing on recovery

Through one month of inpatient rehabilitation and two months of outpatient rehabilitation, Nitika made consistent efforts to regain a sense of normalcy. She was able to drive again that fall and returned to work the following spring.

“It’s still a process and life is not the same,” Nitika says. “My body is more tired than it was before, but I’m able to do my day-to-day work.”

With about seven millimetres of her tumour still remaining, Nitika goes for MRIs every six months.

“I’m hoping they don’t have to operate again or I don’t have to go through radiation,” she says. “That’s something I’ll deal with if it comes.”

Reclaiming her independence

Now, her focus is on her family and her health. She does boot camp workouts and practises yoga and meditation, building resilience in both body and mind.

“In the beginning, I couldn’t lift anything because I didn’t have strength in my hands,” she says. “I want to be able to get groceries and not have to wait for someone to lift a bag of flour for me. I want to be able to do these things on my own.”

Nitika continues to challenge herself, even landing a spot as a finalist in the 2025 Mrs. Canada competition. She travelled to Montreal on her own, keeping up with the demanding five-day schedule.

“Mornings are very difficult for me because my brain feels heavy,” she says. “I had to get up at 4 a.m. each day. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do everything like the other contestants, but I did. It gave me confidence to know I could still put that makeup on and walk that stage. It was a bucket-list thing for me and I’m proud that I did it.”

Finding gratitude

Her experience has made her appreciative of a country that welcomed her with open arms.

“For me, the Canadian medical system has been amazing,” she says. “My physician took the proactive step to send me for an MRI. I can’t thank my neurosurgeon and my rehab team enough. I’m very grateful for this country, for being here with my family, for the support I’ve had.”

Her journey has also reshaped the way she sees the world and the pace at which she moves through it.

“We run so much in life,” she says. “Do this, do that, have this, have that. And then it all comes back to your health. If you’re not healthy, if you can’t be there for your kids—what’s more important than that?”

For Nitika, the answer is clear.

“You don’t have tomorrow to wait for,” she says. “You only have today.”