Nine Years Strong: A Breast Cancer Survivor’s Unyielding Spirit and Optimism
Madam Tuminah’s warmth and positivity is infectious even over a Zoom call. Excitedly, she chatters about her passion for people, and how much she looks forward to seeing her dragon boat teammates, the Purple Dragons, over the weekend.
But behind her cheerful demeanour lies a source of strength that has enabled her to battle breast cancer for ten years.
A Complete Surprise
“It never occurred in my mind that I had cancer,” the 59-year-old wryly recalls. She ate healthily, exercised five or six times a week, and had breastfed her two children—all factors that should make her low-risk.
So, when she went to collect her biopsy results in 2015, she was sure that it would not be serious.
“I told the doctor, ‘It’s not cancer, right? Cannot be’. The doctor stared at me, then held my hand and said, ‘I’m so sorry’,” Madam Tuminah recounts.
“I just wanted them to understand”
From 2015 to 2023, Madam Tuminah went through the full spectrum of breast cancer treatment: surgery, around 25 cycles of radiotherapy, and later, hormone therapy.
“I had hot flushes, my hair thinned a lot, and I put on weight,” she shares of the side effects. During this period, she also underwent knee replacement surgery and an operation to remove her womb.
“There was a growth [in the womb] and chances of breast cancer patients having ovarian cancer is higher,” she explains matter-of-factly.
Physical discomfort aside, the most challenging for her was to balance her illness with work.
“Getting colleagues to understand my condition was not easy,” Madam Tuminah muses. She was excused from heavy duties that required upper limb movement. But colleagues quickly grew frustrated and resentful about her “special treatment”.
When she had to go for radiotherapy, her company only gave her two hours off a day—barely enough for her to rush from her office in Jurong to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and back again.
“It was only around the 15th session when the doctor found out and wrote me a letter [excusing me from work].” she recalls. When she informed her boss, instead of expressing any concern about her well-being, he simply retorted: “You didn’t tell me”.
His response stung. “I didn’t want pity or sympathy,” she clarifies. “But I wanted them to understand.”
Finding Silver Linings
What kept Madam Tuminah going in the face of challenges was her religious faith and her desire to see her sons grow up and start families of their own.
She also considers it a blessing to have discovered Singapore Cancer Society (SCS). SCS gave her access to a dietician to guide her in eating healthy and shedding the extra pounds she picked up. She also attended physiotherapy and occupational therapy to help manage her symptoms and get back into shape for the workforce.
Particularly useful was the Return to Work programme, which gave her advice on what jobs to look out for, and helped prepare her mentally for the job hunt. Through the programme’s connections, she managed to secure a new job at a clinic soon after her contract with her previous employer ended.
“I’m really, really grateful,” she reiterates, adding that her experiences with the organisation are partly why she has confidence to declare: “Cancer is not a life sentence.”
Her advice to others struggling with a diagnosis or treatment is to reach out for help.
“Don’t keep quiet and keep it to yourself! You’ll be surprised at how many people are there to give your moral support and help you when you need it,” she shares.