What Is It Like To Beat Breast Cancer?

What is it like to beat breast cancer? We talk to three women who battled the disease and have emerged feeling empowered, educated and enlightened

- Natalya Molok

Last year, a cheeky squeeze led to a life-changing discovery for Cindy Wong. “My boyfriend squeezed my breast as he was leaving the house one morning and he told me that he felt something unusual,” recalls Cindy, who is studying for a career in early childhood care and education. “I was convinced it was nothing but after doing some research and seeing my GP, I decided to visit a breast specialist.” What they found was a 2.5-cm lump in her right breast that even the doctor initially thought was benign. Cindy decided to remove it for aesthetic reasons but a standard biopsy following the surgery would realise her worst fears.

“They diagnosed me with Stage 1A breast cancer and although I acted quickly following the discovery of a lump, it was a very aggressive type of cancer, commonly found in women with BRCA1 genetic mutations. That’s the same breast cancer gene that Angelina Jolie carries,” she explains.

“More tests revealed that I carried that gene, too, so then I went through a double mastectomy to lower my risk of the cancer returning, because the doctor said there was an 80 per cent chance I would get breast cancer again.”

While Cindy reveals that she’s not yet in the clear as patients can technically only call themselves survivors after five years, she admits she’s very lucky to be alive and now has greater purpose in life. Still, she has some hang-ups about the way Singaporeans broach the topic of cancer. “My wider family still don’t know that I had breast cancer because being sick and suffering from a disease like this is still very taboo to them.

“I found it very, very hard to talk to people in Asia about what I was going through. Even though one in three women get breast cancer in Singapore, no one wants to talk about it,” she laments.