“If They Can Do It, I Can”: Colorectal Cancer Survivor Thrived in a Support Group

To anyone who will listen, Prabu Naidu urges early cancer screening. 

“Colonoscopy is recommended at the age of 50,” he recounts. “I did it at 62, twelve years later. If I had done it at 50, I think I wouldn’t have to go through this [cancer] journey.”

“What will happen if I don’t get through?” 

It was a free FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) Kit, provided by the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS), that alerted Prabu to the presence of blood in his stool. This would morph into a stage 3A colorectal cancer diagnosis. 

He went through denial, surprise and shock. ‘How can it be?’ he thought. 

While the usually stoic Prabu put on a brave front, he admitted to being terrified inside. His greatest fear was not making it through his treatment and leaving life with “unfinished business.” 

Support Group was a Lifeline 

Finding a community was key to improving Prabu’s emotional state.

Early in his diagnosis, he was buddied up with cancer veteran Ellil Mathiyan as part of a befriending programme by SCS. He later joined the SemiColons, an SCS support group for colorectal patients and survivors.

There, he met other “veterans” just like Ellil who had been through it all and had picked up lessons in survival and resilience. Talking to them lessened Prabu’s anxieties. “I realised it’s okay. If they can do it, I can do it,” he says. 

Having found a community of support then made him think about the many others he could help. After all, he reasoned, colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among men in Singapore. There had to be others who were feeling as low as he once had. 

“How do I reach out to them?” he wondered.

“As I Received, I Shall Give Back” 

This urge to help led Prabu to volunteer with SCS’s patient ambassador advocacy group. In this role, he is buddied up with new cancer patients. Many are just embarking on their treatment and may feel scared and lost like he once was. 

“We take them on like personal friends and share with them the [cancer] journey in a very informal setting,” he explains of the patient ambassador role. 

Today, he is also the chair of the SemiColons, the group that gave so much to him. In a twist of fate, he took over the role from Ellil, his former buddy.

As Prabu looks back on the support he received during his battle, he is determined to pay it forward. 

In his words: "As I received, I shall give back."