Mammootty’s heroine Jewel Mary opens up about battling cancer, how she discovered it

In the year 2015, the National Film Awards adjudged a Mammootty-starrer film, which was an ‘ode to the Gulf Malayali,’ as the best in Malayalam. The Salim Ahmed-starrer movie Pathemari, which had many big names of the industry, including Oscar Award winner Resul Pookutty, National Award winner Salim Kumar, and Sreenivasan as part of it, had a newbie heroine – Jewel Mary. The anchor-turned-actress, who has been very choosy about her movie roles, debuted in acting that year with two Mammootty-starrers. Kamal’s Utopiayile Rajavu was the other film. Though she went on to anchor a host of different shows and act in a few movies, Jewel has been away from the thick of action for the past few years.

In a recent interview with media personality Dhanya Varma, Jewel revealed what kept her away. The actress was apparently diagnosed with cancer in 2023-end and was battling the condition in 2024, alongside a divorce case. Jewel revealed that she had Thyroid Cancer and almost lost her voice too as part of the treatment process for a while. She said that as someone who was under treatment for a long time for hypothyroidism, the condition in which you have less thyroid hormone, she realised she had cancer during a routine check-up.

Discovering cancer
During one of her check-ups at ASTER Medcity, Kochi, where she was asked to undergo a scan, Jewel said she could recognise problematic growths in her neck area. Being a BSc Nursing graduate herself, she apparently felt ‘Something is not right,’ noticing the nodules in her scan. She was asked to take two biopsies immediately, and it uncovered that she suffered from Thyroid Cancer. Jewel says she contacted the wife of renowned Kerala cancer specialist Dr V P Gangadharan, Dr Chitrathara. She helped Jewel connect with Head and Neck Surgeon Dr Shawn T Joseph of VPS Lakeshore Hospital.

7 hour surgery and losing voice
Jewel underwent a major surgery of seven hours as part of the treatment, to get all the nodules removed. Apparently, she also lost her voice for a while, though doctors assured she can gain it back in a few months. She also couldn’t move her left hands for a while, though physiotherapy helped her regain its strength. Though the doctors said that she might have to undergo radioactive therapy after six months if the condition doesn’t improve, to her solace, Jewel was cured completely. The actress said she undergoes regular check-ups, but is happy that she could handle the experience with grace.

What causes thyroid cancer?
The American Cancer Society says the reasons for the occurrence of thyroid cancer aren’t clear yet. However, certain inherited conditions like gene changes and changes in the DNA of our cells are quoted as the causes for thyroid cancer. There are many kinds of thyroid cancer, including papillary, follicular, anaplastic and medullary varieties.

Here are some of its symptoms:
1) Difficulty in swallowing
2) Swollen lymph nodes
3) A nodule that can be felt on your neck through skin
4) Changes in voice
5) Pain in throat and neck
6) A feeling that shirt collars are getting tighter