Living in the moment
Three young cancer patients tell how they are coping with the disease
BATTLING cancer is a journey full of emotional and physical struggles. It is even more challenging for those diagnosed at an age when they are about to start a career or family.
When life seems full of promise and the future looks bright, dealing with cancer is the last thing that any young adult expects to face. Suddenly, their lives are thrown off balance. They have to shoulder extra challenges and deal with issues concerning their health and how it in turn affects their jobs, finances and family.
CARPE DIEM
Living with cancer is a harsh reality to swallow but life must go on. For N. Lavania, 23, Yap Pak Ken, 30, and Wan Musfirah Aimi Wan Supian, 33, being diagnosed with cancer in the prime of their lives has taught them to live in the moment and appreciate every single day.
The trio have known each other for about a year through the Young Ambassador Support Group, a voluntary group initiated by patients (under 35 years old) who have gone to the National Cancer Society for education and support.
Lavania, from Taman Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, was born with a birth defect called imperforate anus (missing anal opening). She has been living with a colostomy bag attached to her abdomen since she was 16. It was during one of her routine checkups that her doctor saw a lump on her neck.
“The lump was the size of a golf ball and looked like an Adam’s apple. I thought nothing of it because it wasn’t painful. But after a thorough checkup, I was told that I had stage 2 thyroid cancer which had spread to the lymph nodes.
“At that time I was only 21 and had just got a job at a law firm,” says Lavania, a former public relations student at TAR Colleave Lavania (right) with her best friend, S. Mages.
Kuala Lumpur.
The news was a blow to her because she was unsure whether to inform her employer or not.
But she had to take for surgery and radiotherapy treatment so she had no choice but to inform her employer and eventually, she was asked to resign.
“My boyfriend also left me after I broke the news to him,” she says.
Lavania completed her treatment at Hospital Kuala Lumpur in December 2016. Now she spends about RM2,000 a month for medical expenses (both for colostomy and cancer) and dietary requirements.
Apart from some financial support from her family, she pays her bills from her income as a freelance photographer. She also cuts down on shopping and other expenses.
“The toughest thing to deal with is not being able to get a stable job. I don’t have the confidence to be honest about my health condition with potential employers because I know my chances will be slim. However, I am grateful that I can still work despite my illness,” says Lavania, who is the only daughter in her family.
“Despite these obstacles, I take things positively. From the day I was diagnosed, my life motto has been carpe diem (seize the day).
“My job now enables me to do just that. I love taking pictures, and capturing people in their happy moments makes me happy and helps me forlege, Freelance photographer N.Lavania was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was 21.