Illness gives stomach cancer survivor a different take on life

Staying upbeat and keeping your emotions in check constitute part of the means to fight cancer, but stomach cancer survivor, 45-year-old Wong Mei-wah, knows all too well how difficult that can be.

On reflection, Ms Wong, who has been given a clean bill of health for four years since her initial diagnosis in 2003, said a cancer patient's mental state was as crucial as the plethora of medical treatments, but she said her immediate reaction had been one of crippling fear rather than optimism.

The stress at the time had been further compounded by the fact that it was the height of Sars, and no visitors were allowed in the hospital.

'Before the operation, I was numb with fear. I felt like I was hanging off the side of a cliff as life was nearing its end,' she recalled.

Though the information void was one of the most daunting aspects (no family or friends had ever suffered cancer before and she had heard little about the illness), she soon came to grips with the illness with the support of her husband, who helped her by gathering as much information as possible about her cancer.

A year before her diagnosis, Ms Wong had been treated for a bacterial stomach infection so when the same pain returned, she assumed it was just another infection. But an endoscopy soon revealed stomach cancer at an early stage.

Her surgery involved the removal of the entire stomach followed by connecting up her colon with her oesophagus. She opted to waive chemotherapy, fearful that her body was too weak from surgery and wouldn't be able to cope with the side effects.