En Ying, together with her family on holiday, before her cancer diagnosis in 2023. Her mother shares her cancer treatment journey over the past 10 months:
Symptoms and Diagnosis
En Ying has a quieter personality compared to most, yet in school, her teachers often praise her for participating eagerly in class. She loves studying and going to school. Learning is her passion and one of her favourite things to do.
One fateful day, we started noticing some odd symptoms. En Ying’s left eye swelled up, and she began experiencing pain in her arms and legs. She described the pain as a tingling sensation in her bones, similar to the pain from a bruise.
We first brought her to a general practitioner, who prescribed antibiotics. However, after two weeks, she still hadn’t recovered. She then underwent a CT scan, which revealed a lump above her left eye. We visited the eye clinic to discuss the results, and the doctor decided to perform surgery to determine if the lump could be a tumour. Noticing how thin En Ying looked, the doctor asked for her weight. At the time, she was only 29 kilograms. Concerned, the doctor requested a blood test due to her low weight for a 14-year-old.
After the blood test results, the doctor immediately contacted Dr. Betty from the Paediatric Ward 2A at Sarawak General Hospital. They performed a bone marrow examination to confirm what type of leukaemia it was, and on 11 September 2023, En Ying was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
Start of Treatment
The entire diagnostic process took about a month. Once diagnosed, En Ying immediately started chemotherapy, with active treatment lasting until April 25, 2024. During treatment, En Ying lost her appetite and even disliked eggs, her favourite food, due to mouth ulcers.
This was an incredibly tough time for everyone, especially En Ying. I can’t imagine what it feels like to be in her shoes, facing a life-threatening cancer diagnosis as a young teenager.
During treatment, our daily routine became repetitive. En Ying’s days mostly consisted of eating, sleeping, watching other kids play, and being on her phone. Despite the hardships, it was a relief to see the treatment working and En Ying getting better over time.
On 6 May 6 2024, En Ying started her first maintenance therapy session. She will need to undergo 12 sessions of chemotherapy for maintenance, one session every two months, over two years. Currently, she is also undergoing radiotherapy and needs a total of ten sessions.
Adjuvant treatment, which includes chemotherapy and radiotherapy after initial therapies, aims to keep the disease under control and lower the chance of the cancer returning. It also provides a better quality of life and increases the survival rate for patients.
Support from the Community
Regarding the support received from SCCS, En Ying said, “The SCCS team always finds time to play and chat with me while I’m at the ward. It makes it less boring and stressful.”
“In the beginning, En Ying and her mum seemed reserved. En Ying was particularly a very quiet child. But over time we’ve become well-acquainted, and I found them very easy to talk to. They’re both very open to share about their experiences and seemed more joyful. En Ying’s mum had even expressed interest in providing peer support to other parents going through similar journeys,” said Shu Shan, SCCS Support Services Counsellor, while recounting her experience with both mother and daughter.
En Ying has also returned to school, and it’s comforting to see that not much has changed. Her teachers and classmates are very supportive. Her teacher informed those around her to wear face masks, so as to be mindful of her weaker immune system and avoid spreading diseases.
En Ying is adjusting back to normal life, although she has to avoid crowded places such as the school canteen.
GoBald 2024
As her parents, we wanted to show as much support as we could for our daughter, which is why we decided to join GoBald 2024, shaving our heads in solidarity with not only our daughter but all children with cancer.
It is crucial for us to let our daughter know that she is not alone in her journey and that her parents love her and will always be there for her through the good and the bad.
To all the families going through this journey, “Jia You (Hang in there). Don’t give up. You may feel very emotional at the beginning, but as you see your child’s condition improve over time, believe that things will get better.”
Sign up today for our Heart of Gold Monthly Donation Programme to help ensure children with cancer get access to the medical treatment and care they need to get better.
Childhood cancer is treatable, and your support can help save their lives.