The feisty granny, who is now cancer-free, has this advice for other stomach cancer patients: 'The first thing is to learn to adjust your eating habits. If something causes pain, just stop eating it.'
Gastric cancer's sixth most common here
Gastric cancer, more commonly known as stomach cancer, is the fourth and sixth most common cancer in men and women respectively in Singapore.
Each year worldwide, some 700,000 people are diagnosed with the condition. However, it can easily be mistaken for peptic ulcers as both conditions have the same main symptom: abdominal pain.
Stomach cancer patients like Madam Dolly Kong end up having some, or all, of their affected stomach removed.
Dr Jimmy So, senior consultant at the National University Hospital, said it is possible to live without a stomach because the small intestine is able to digest carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
What the small intestine cannot do, however, is to absorb vitamin B12. Hence, patients like Madam Kong have to get vitamin B12 jabs thrice a year. The body needs this vitamin to produce red blood cells and to keep the central nervous system functioning.
Dr So also said that for someone like Madam Kong, food goes straight from the gullet to the small intestine. This means she can only eat small amounts each time, even though there is no restriction to what she can eat.
As her cancer was detected at stage one, Madam Kong did not have to undergo chemotherapy.
'When part of the stomach is removed, there is digestive enzyme reflux from the small intestine back into the stomach and over long periods of time, this can cause cancer which is what happened in Madam Kong's case,' said Dr So.
Stomach cancer has many predisposing factors. If a person's diet is high in salt, lacks vitamin C and is high in preservatives (nitrosamines), he will have an increased risk of getting stomach cancer. Smoking is also another predisposing factor.
Infection with the bacteria Helicobacter Pylori is another well-known factor, even though the method of transmission of this bacteria is currently unknown.
As with most cancers, stomach cancer may be hereditary. Also, the Chinese seem to be more susceptible to it than Malays or Indians.
Gastric cancer's sixth most common here
Gastric cancer, more commonly known as stomach cancer, is the fourth and sixth most common cancer in men and women respectively in Singapore.
Each year worldwide, some 700,000 people are diagnosed with the condition. However, it can easily be mistaken for peptic ulcers as both conditions have the same main symptom: abdominal pain.
Stomach cancer patients like Madam Dolly Kong end up having some, or all, of their affected stomach removed.
Dr Jimmy So, senior consultant at the National University Hospital, said it is possible to live without a stomach because the small intestine is able to digest carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
What the small intestine cannot do, however, is to absorb vitamin B12. Hence, patients like Madam Kong have to get vitamin B12 jabs thrice a year. The body needs this vitamin to produce red blood cells and to keep the central nervous system functioning.
Dr So also said that for someone like Madam Kong, food goes straight from the gullet to the small intestine. This means she can only eat small amounts each time, even though there is no restriction to what she can eat.
As her cancer was detected at stage one, Madam Kong did not have to undergo chemotherapy.
'When part of the stomach is removed, there is digestive enzyme reflux from the small intestine back into the stomach and over long periods of time, this can cause cancer which is what happened in Madam Kong's case,' said Dr So.
Stomach cancer has many predisposing factors. If a person's diet is high in salt, lacks vitamin C and is high in preservatives (nitrosamines), he will have an increased risk of getting stomach cancer. Smoking is also another predisposing factor.
Infection with the bacteria Helicobacter Pylori is another well-known factor, even though the method of transmission of this bacteria is currently unknown.
As with most cancers, stomach cancer may be hereditary. Also, the Chinese seem to be more susceptible to it than Malays or Indians.
