WHEN Nicole (not her real name) found that she was losing too much weight in a short time, she knew that it was time to see a doctor. 'I think I must have lost five kg in just two weeks,' the 40-year-old recalls. Other worrying signs were having stains and blotty discharge. But nothing prepared her for the news that she might have cervical cancer two years ago. She was working in a hotel in Macau at that time, and the doctor there advised her to go for a more thorough check-up after initial tests indicated she had cancer. Nicole had her first sexual encounter when she was 20 years old.
'I realised then that I could just simply die any time after this. Yet here was I still very much alive and wanting to achieve the long list of things that I had still not done in my life. I had been just too focused on work because I wanted to build my career fast,' she said. 'I freaked out. I was so depressed . . . I called my mother who immediately flew out to be with me.' When one gets news like that, you can't think straight, she adds. Nicole decided to come back to Singapore immediately for further tests and a second opinion.
Upon confirmation, her doctor here advised immediate hysterectomy to remove the womb. Within a week, she quit her job in Macau and went for the operation. Because her cancer was stage 1b, she didn't have to undergo chemotherapy and she also chose not to go for radiotherapy. 'I rested for about two months after which I felt like I wanted to go back to work,' says the self-confessed workaholic. 'My doctor said that I was aggressive in my determination to get well, and I wanted also to put this behind me,' she says. She took up a job offer in Hong Kong as a business development manager for a hotel there, where she is now.
Finding out about her cancer gave her a new view on life. 'It gave me a second chance to live life in a more balanced way. I had not been good to myself in the past,' says Nicole, recounting how she had steeped herself in work in Macau as it was a new hotel.
To find out about more about cervical cancer, she surfed the Internet. One of her neighbours was also a nurse, and she had introduced Nicole to a few other post-cancer patients. 'We talked about our experiences and I found it better to talk about it.'
'These days, I think my life is better balanced. I find time to exercise and relax, and make sure I eat properly. I'm not just focused on work,' she says. She's also a 'softer' person now who listens better. 'I was once so headstrong, argumentative and rebellious that it was no surprise that mum and I had a really hard time just trying to talk to each other, never mind listen.'
Her doctor, Jeffrey Low, head of gynaecologic oncology at National University Hospital, counsels women to seek prevention of this 'most preventable cancer' as it's caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) spread mainly through sexual contact.
Cervical cancer claims 200 women in Singapore every year, of whom more than 80 will die from it. Another 1,000 women discover the illness before it becomes cancerous through tests like pap smears. There are two vaccines approved in Singapore to prevent cervical cancer.
