Peer Story-Sharing: Moving Stories

“I’m still living a normal life”

Sunflower Network peer sharing

When my doctor told me in 1996 that I had breast cancer, I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that I was facing death at such a young age (my mother died from breast cancer that spread to her whole body). I knelt down and prayed to God, “I still love this world. I don’t want to leave it so early!” After praying, I felt the Lord’s peace. I began calmly accepting all of my doctor’s arrangements and had surgery to remove the tumour and the lymph under my arm. Because the cancer was discovered early, the cancer cells didn’t spread. After my surgery, I had 30 radiation therapy treatments. After I recovered, it was life as usual, and I continued to work.

Then I found that there was a new small raised dot on my chest. I quickly went to see a doctor, who referred me for a mammogram. Subsequent reports revealed that there were cancer cells in my breast and that I needed to go to specialist doctors for follow-up treatment.

When I found out that my breast cancer had relapsed, I was actually quite calm, unlike how alarmed I was 19 years ago when I first learned that I had breast cancer. The reason was I now knew that cancer is not an incurable disease. As long as you treat it early, you can recover from it. A lot of tests were set up shortly thereafter, and it was confirmed that the cancer cells had not spread to other parts of my body. Within a short period of time, my doctor performed two surgeries on me, removing the whole breast and all the cancer cells. After the surgeries, my doctor instructed me to take five years of anti-cancer medicine and return for a follow-up consultation once every six months.

I’ve now been in recovery for almost five years! These days I stay upbeat, and I’m living a normal life. In my spare time, I also volunteer in caring for cancer patients.

Cancer is NOT a death sentence. There is always HOPE!

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This article is created and owned by Roche Hong Kong