Tell us about yourself
A combination ofthe traditional Asian upbringing (where you always overplan) and my lifelongcareer as an events professional has made me a very task focused individual. Inthe pursuit of delivering my tasks and somewhat getting somewhere on my careerladder, I had the usual bad habits of not eating on point, surviving only oncoffee, along with my crutches of cigarettes, alcohol to the strong beats andriffs of heavy metal and rock. Even with my lifestyle, I was strong as an ox,with no hospitalization history and I cannot even remember the last time I hadfever.
What led you to the diagnosis and how has the journey been like
I first startedhaving sores on my legs in late Nov 2020 and figured it will heal in the nextmonth or so as the GP put it down to an allergic reaction to an insectbite.
However after amonth or so, things didn’t get better. I sought a second opinion and this timeit sounded like we had something, autoimmune disease. The symptoms abated for awhile but it eventually got so bad that I had new sores appearing and I couldno longer walk.
I was then sentto a dermatologist, who took one look at me and said, no, you are going to theNational Skin Centre. Within a couple ofweeks of being with the A/P at the Skin centre, he warded me for further checksstating that he felt abnormal lumps in my torso.
So, on the 12March 2021 (my best friend’s birthday), I was officially diagnosed with cancerthrough the CT Scan imagery. I transferred to a private medical facility and 50hrs after admission, I was delivered my first dose of chemo to manage thesituation as the stats then showed I could either have ovarian or pancreaticcancer. I was hoping fervently that itwas the former.
The results camethe following week, alas, I had to get it, I was diagnosed with Pancreaticcancer stage 3, it has mestasized to my liver, peritonenal and possibly ovariesas I have a large ovarian cyst. I evenasked my oncologist very innocently what me treatment plan looks like (eventhough deep down I knew I was in deep shit), and he took a deep breath, satdown and broached what we would term a very difficult conversion. Basically theapproach is to shrink whatever is growing, and then plans will morph as thesituation goes. What snapped me back to reality was “if it works, we canprolong your life by a few years”
Since March 2021till now in Sept 2023, I’ve gone through 2 rounds of chemo, 1 round of targetedtherapy via oral medicine, 3 surgeries of which 1, I literally was sewn upafter being cut open. It has been an absolute rollercoaster but I’ve lived 2years 3 months since – when the average prognosis is 12 months life extensionwith surgery.
I’m lucky tohave lived this long with only chemo and today, it is mostly cleared in theliver and the rest reduced so significantly that the cameras weren’t pickingthem up. This put me in the right frame of mind to kick off chemo again; round3 here we go.
Any advice for others who may be going through a similar experience
Make youroncologist your “partner in crime”, he or she will be going on a long termjourney with you. It is important youlike and have a rapport with each other. If you are not comfortable to your assigned or first appointedoncologist, always seek a second option.
Talk to peerslike us who understands or perhaps can empathise better with yoursituation. The current cancer supportgroups out there don’t address this need, at least based on my personalexperience. We are sick yes, but we arenot feeble minded.
Don’t loseyourself in the process, learn to embrace all the challenges, celebrate everysingle win, live life.
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