Defying the Odds: A Journey from Diagnosis to Recovery

Triumph Over Colon Cancer

“We have the results,” Dr Ryan looked at me directly, in the eye. It made me somewhat uncomfortable as I did not know how to respond. His face did not give away any emotion. Good news? Bad news?

The handsome doctor was my gastroenterologist. The day prior he had completed a colonoscopy on me.

I had spent the last two days at the hospital. My daughters accompanied me; the hospital room I stayed had accommodation for family members. The good doctor had made his rounds that morning and paid me a visit to explain the outcome of the colonoscopy.

The two years before ending up at the hospital, I had experienced changes in my bowel movements. I was constantly having diarrhoea during daily toilet episodes. The endocrinologist that I was seeing for my diabetes attributed it to my diabetic medicine, thus for two whole years it had been like that. Eventually, it turned bloody.

I could not fart either. Only diarrhoea. For those who are unaware, the ability to fart is linked to the health of the digestive systems. The easier the better. We cringe at the mention of fart, but it is a ‘strong’ health indicator.

Having constant diarrhoea also meant the need to use the toilet could happen anytime; and I was on the road for long hours.

As a single mum, I had to drop and pick my daughter up from school which was a good 45 minutes drive one way, on a good day. A bad day could see a 90-minutes drive. After dropping her, it would be another 40-minutes drive to my office. One hour and twenty-five minutes on the road one way, each day took a toll on me as I had to rush to toilets at gas stations on the highway and not every gas station had clean toilets. Some did not even have water supply!

After suffering a full two years of unpredictable diarrhoea, during one of my diabetes review, my new endocrinologist suggested that I do a colonoscopy to rule out any digestive related issues. I was almost 50 by then and had only diabetes which was pretty much hereditary. Every other health indicator was at healthy level, still is.

The colonoscopy on the previous day brought Dr Ryan to my room and there he was seated on the edge of the writing table with a piece of paper in his hand.

I looked at him; my daughters were beside me.

“You have colon cancer, Stage 2 and it is malignant,” he said slowly.

My elder daughter was the first to burst into tears. The ambience in the room became more uncomfortable. My second daughter was just 13; she had no clue that her mom could die in less than a year. I was silent, numb.

“We are not sure whether the cancer had spread beyond T3,” he added. I did not understand.

“That means we are not sure whether your cancer had spread to any other parts of the body,” he explained. “We would like to do a CT-Scan on you to check whether there are any other activities at any other part of your body.”

It took me a full ten minutes to realise that I could be on the way to my grave earlier than expected. Reality hit very hard. Single mum with two daughters and one was still in school. But strangely, I did not cry at all. Until today, I have no idea why I had not cried anytime during the whole ordeal.

The CT-Scan was scheduled the next day and luckily, the cancer had not spread. It was very localised at that spot in my colon, at that time. Time was of essence as the sooner the cancer was removed, the higher would be my chances of survival.

The next hurdle came when I was discharged from the hospital. The company’s insurance company did not cover my expenses as I had not completed three months on my new job. I had to scramble to withdraw money from multiple sources and pay my hospital bill. It was indeed a large sum.

Subsequently, the digestive medicine unit of the hospital suggested that I undergo an operation to remove the affected part soonest. They were worried that the cancer could breach the final layer of my colon walls and spread. The insurance company did not cover my case as it was considered pre-existing. So, I turned to my provident funds.

That was another set back because whatever was available for medical treatment would be eligible for use ONLY if the illness was diagnosed as chronic. Colon cancer was not. To give you some perspective, chronic means death was certain. So the provident fund said that if the disease was not sure of killing me, no way I could use the funds. Why did I contribute to that funds, then?

Time was running out and I could not use the money I had. Not a good place to be stuck and I was lost. I still did not cry but turned to the Divine for help.

One temple priests referred me to an ayurveda practitioner who prescribed a host of herbal remedies which I had to consume thrice a day. Still, the diarrhoea did not stop.

But I got lucky.

The company that I had just joined had connections among doctors in the government hospitals in Malaysia and one of them arranged for me to be operated at a hospital renowned for treating colon cancer patients and the hospital was just a few minutes away from my home. The colonoscopy that was done a few days prior to the operation saw the tumour in my colon reduce by half in size. I believe it must have been the effects of the herbal medicines. It was such a relief, indeed, after all the trauma that I had gone through since the cancer diagnosis.

Exactly two and a half months after the diagnosis, I underwent a major operation to remove the part of my colon that was cancerous.

A stay of 6 days saw me progress from a bedridden patient to one who could walk and no longer had diarrhoea. Life slowly returned to normalcy.

One of the visitors when I was bedridden was my ex husband (now deceased). You will be just fine, he said. Such confidence! Till today, I thank God that I am.

Post surgery some of my habits changed. I became a full vegetarian for five years. No more late night binges as my endocrinologist said that high glucose can promote growth of cells, including cancer cells. I drank a concoction made from boiling a few slices of ginger, pieces of galangal and lemon, regularly. 18 months after the surgery a close friend introduced me to a supplement made from Rodent tuber or the scientific name is Typhonium Flagelliforme. Some called it the miracle herb. Rodent tuber is not for human consumption as it contains fatal poison but the bioactive was said to have the potency to kill cancer cells.

My last cancer review was in December 2019, right before the pandemic and the cancer cell marker reading was below 0.05 — a huge relief!

That episode in my life had taught me many things especially that each day that we wake up is indeed a blessing and to thank that blessing, one does not need to have a fat bank balance or a lot of wealth. A heart full of gratitude would suffice as life was never meant to be complicated. It should be as smooth as how my operation went.

I also have a lot of gratitude for the fact that I did not have to undergo chemo or radio therapy after the operations. My utmost gratitude is to our Creator who ensured that despite not having access to any funds, I was operated upon by six top colon cancer specialist in the country! What more could one ask for.

Today, at 58 I am reasonably healthy that I could jog with my Shih Tzu, Mushu daily. Indeed for me, that is a blessing and I am super grateful!

Apart from writing on Medium, I also have a blog.