It was 12th April 2005. I am a doctor and had been busy preparing for the Member of the Royal College of Surgeons exam. I was perfecting my clinical examination technique with my other colleagues.
While feeling my neck, my friend remarked, “Have you noticed that you have got a lump?” I hadn’t noticed any alarming symptoms or signs.
After all, stress and weight that swung like a yo-yo was part and parcel of a junior doctor’s life of working long hours and graveyard shifts.
I saw my GP who promptly referred me under the two-week rule to a specialist for suspected cancers. I thought that being a fellow professional, I was being accelerated through the system as a courtesy.
Two weeks later after the initial consultation, I received a telephone call from consultant’s secretary. He wanted to see me in his clinic urgently.
I had always sat at the other end as the bearer but this new position of receiver of news was alien to me. The dreaded awful words came out “You have cancer”. I had my staging CT scan the same day.
I felt alone but I was lucky that my younger brother was there to provide support. I waited for the surgery in June.
I could not break the bad news to my mother who was thousands of miles away in Malaysia. Hurting her would be more painful than having this. I went to work as though everything was normal.
I spent a week in hospital. One of the most terrifying experiences of my life was lying flat on my bed strapped to two drains on each side of my neck.
I could not breathe because my calcium level was very low and it affected my muscles of respiration. My mother and brother were my pillars of support and they looked after me well.
I joined the support group, Butterfly North East. It was a revealing experience. Everyone was supportive and they had been through was I was going through then.
I had a much longer period of recuperation than I anticipated. I had lost my voice because my vocal cords were paralysed as a result of the operation. It has gradually improved.
I have learnt to appreciate the importance of being able to verbally communicate with the world.
My colleagues were very supportive and worked hard to accommodate my absence in the workplace. The department extended my contract without any hesitation. This eased one of my major worries - financial difficulties because of unemployment.
I had my radioiodine ablation treatment in August last year. It was a difficult time because you had to rigorously follow a strict iodine-depleted diet. The treatment went well without any complications.
I am currently having my follow up scans which have been done using Thyrogen. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the results will be good news.
I am now working as a Clinical Research Fellow. I am developing projects aimed at improving standards of care for cancer patients. I hope to give something back for all the treatment and help I have received.
