The First Victory In Her War Against Cancer

It was a very tiring week at the hospital. A week we fought cancer.

My mother has won a major battle. Her war against cancer is not over. But this battle is a big step to eradicating the cancer in her.

From knowing of the cancer, understanding the diagnosis, making the decision to operate, to the actual surgery, I was hopefully confident my mother would at least make it through the operation. But I did not fully see the fight in her until after the operation.

After waiting for over 3 hours outside the operating theatre, we were told the procedure was over and she was in one of the recovery rooms. Later I heard the nurses were waiting for a bed in the high dependency ward where she would be placed under close observation. Suddenly, a male nurse told me my mother had asked to see me. Was she conscious already?

I put on the necessary gear and proceeded into the one of recovery rooms. When I saw her, I was amazed how awake she was. She told me energetically, now that the surgery was over, she wanted to go home.

We all wanted to go home. Siti slept on a hospital chair except for the one night my mother was in the high dependency ward. I woke up very early most mornings, drove through rush hour traffic to make it in time to talk the doctors doing their rounds. Then took some meetings near the hospital, drove Siti home and back to the hospital in time to help her with dinner.

To be on time, I sought out the fastest routes to the Singapore General Hospital, the nearest carparks to the different wards she was in before, during and after the surgery.

Our dog is happy to see more people in the house again. We are all happy to be home today. We are now mentally preparing for the next challenge – radiotherapy, 5 days a week, for 6 weeks.

The war against cancer requires an unwavering positive outlook. Winning each battle in this war is signficant, each victory to be appreciated and savoured.

Michael Douglas was asked – Which living person do you most admire? His answer – Any cancer survivor. My mother is now a Cancer Survivor. Together with her, we have become Cancer Warriors.