Natural Health October 2017

SPECIAL
National Cancer Survivors Day 2017:
THUMBS UP FOR CANCER SURVIVORSHIP
Hibatullah Abdul Rahman
27, Student
Finishing treatment is just one part
of healing from cancer, as survivors
often face physical, psychological
and social problems post-treatment.
The National Cancer Society (NCSM)
of Malaysia’s Survivors Day seminar
and workshop was held on July at
Sunway Medical Centre, to discuss
skills as well as knowledge on life
after cancer. Natural Health speaks to
one strong Breast Cancer survivor.
Can you tell us a little
about yourself?
I am the youngest of five siblings. I'm
a final year student enrolled in the
Bachelor (Hons) in Business Admin
programme in Lincoln University
College. I run a little home business that
provides custom cakes for birthdays,
weddings and hantarans called
BakeGrrls which I started with my close
friend, Nazeera. I recently started a
blog called babatheawesome.com (yes
it is actually called that : P) to write
about my experience with breast cancer
and share with other patients some
tips that I used during treatment that I
hope will help them too. I'm a bit of a
geek. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, and
it actually helped me a lot while I was
going through treatment.
When and how was
your breast cancer
discovered?
I found a lump in my breast in 2011.
Every time I went to the doctor, they
would conduct an ultrasound and
diagnosed it as a benign lump. I would
go for a check-up every year and it was
always the same answer. This went on
for four years.
In February 2015 I started
bleeding from my nipple. I went to
see my Gynaecologist, who then
referred me to a breast surgeon,
Dr Harjit Kaur. She did a biopsy
and diagnosed me with Grade
2 breast cancer. A few more
tests and a CT scan later, I was
officially diagnosed with Stage 2
ER+, PR+, HeR2- Breast Cancer.
How long have you
been cancer-free?
I don't really know how to
respond when people ask me that
because I’m not sure when being
cancer-free actually starts. So if it's
from the day of my diagnosis, it's
been two years and five months.
If it's from the day I finished
treatment, it's been eight months.
How did you and your
family deal with
the news?
I was surprisingly okay the day that
Dr Harjit broke the news to me. But I
guess that's because when I first went
to see her (the day she did a biopsy),
she prepared me for the worst. So I had
some time to mentally prepare myself.
My family was crushed. I knew they
were, even though they didn't show it. If
I remember correctly, I did cry suddenly
a few days later to my mom while we
were in the kitchen. She gave me a very
big hug and said that everything was
going to be okay. My brother lives in
the UK and he wanted to fly to KL to see
me, but I didn't think it was necessary
and with the beauty of technology
nowadays, we kept him in the loop
throughout my treatment.
What emotions were you
experiencing when you
heard your diagnosis?
I was scared and confused at first. Then
I became determined. Determined to
fight this, determine to know what my
treatment options were, to find out about
the team of doctors that I should have
and to determine what was best for
my health.
Where did you get your
strength and resilience
from?
From God and from my parents. My
mom and late dad always have a
smile on their face even in the face of
adversity. They have gone through a lot
in their lives and have always reminded
me that God never gives someone a test
that they cannot handle.
Did you continue to work
during the treatments?
No I didn't. I quit my job and took two
semesters off from university. I resumed
after I recovered from my mastectomy.
The university was kind enough to allow
me to study from home.
30 Natural Health * October 2017 VOL 84