Celebrate Life! Juliana's Cancer Treatment Journey
I am Juliana Latif. I delivered my firstborn son at the age of 37 years old and put myself through 1 year of breastfeeding. The second month after stopping breastfeeding, my husband and I decided to continue with our family planning and scheduled our IVF procedure for our second child.
My world turned upside down
Little did I expect that my regular Breast Self Examination (BSE) done once a month would save my life. I detected a lump in my left breast when I was still breastfeeding my son. I thought it was just a blocked milk duct. After all, I was below the age of 40. My breast lump was confirmed to be an invasive carcinoma by ultrasound just a week before the scheduled IVF procedure. After this, I underwent a treatment combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, and Herceptin therapy.
Cancer treatment plans may differ from person to person as it depends on the staging and type of cancer they have. My breast cancer was hormone receptor negative and HER 2 receptor positive for which I was advised to undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and Herceptin treatment. While my cancer diagnosis essentially put my baby number 2 plans on the back burner, I was determined to fight my cancer as my priority.
My body's changes and my response
I researched a lot about the body changes I was likely to experience during chemo and prepared the best I could for it. I anticipated dry and itchy skin, dry mouth and ulcers, nail changes, hair loss, nausea, and tiredness.
I found that regular hydration was an important step to control the side effects on my skin and was a strong believer in prevention. Despite the grueling side effects of chemotherapy, I would still religiously apply my skin, nail, and oral care products on a daily basis to minimize side effects.
Hair loss was inevitable for the type of chemotherapy drug that was selected for me and despite the use of a cold cap I still lost about 70% of my hair. I had cut my usually long hair to a short bob prior to starting treatment but eventually had my head shaved after my second cycle as the hair loss was too emotionally challenging. I learned to embrace my new-shaven look and took to wearing headscarves when out of the house. It was such a relief and an immense feeling of emancipation when 4-5 months after ending chemo I finally grew enough hair to leave the house without a head cover!
Nausea and tiredness were very emotionally draining on me and despite my usual positive disposition it did manage to push me into a period of sadness during my chemo cycles. I tried to overcome this by taking daily walks and planning little things to look forward to. As challenging as chemotherapy was, I persevered through it as best I could. My body and mind slowly but surely recovered leaps and bounds after the treatment had ended.
Reflecting back, I knew that my dry and sensitive skin was going to deteriorate during my cancer treatment and so I made changes to my skincare regime to ensure that my skin was well taken care of. I focused on skin hydration and making sure that I used products that were mild and gentle. One of the first aesthetic treatments that I chose to do after completing my main cancer treatment was actually laser hair removal because I had started growing a lot of unwanted facial hair about two months after completing my chemotherapy!
"You Have to Live, Not Just Survive"
Since my diagnosis, I have met some wonderful cancer survivors who consulted me for advice on aesthetic treatments. I felt inspired to help those who may have lost some confidence in their physical appearance as a result of their cancer therapy.
This is where I first came across the term “Onco-Aesthetics” whose purpose is to improve the psychological well-being of cancer patients by addressing their attitude toward their psychophysical care. “You have to live, not just survive” perfectly encompasses the goal that “Onco-aesthetics” aims to achieve.
However, having been through it myself, I believe it is important to not rush into any treatment but focus on giving our bodies and skin a chance to recover through sufficient rest, healthy dieting, and regular exercise.
It is love that conquers all
I cannot overemphasise the strong support that is required. My pillars of support would definitely be my husband first and foremost, followed by my mother, the rest of my family, and the amazing support I got from my friends. My husband has walked beside me every single step of the way, giving me strength when I had none. He lovingly said to me: “I am with you always, the only place I cannot be with you is in your dreams”. Hence, when I was going through this dark period of nightmares and insomnia, I would wake him up and he would comfort me.
COVID-19 complicated my family’s situation as they resided in Malaysia and Brunei and were unable to fly in immediately to be with me during the initial diagnosis. We had to get special permission for them to fly in for compassionate reasons. COVID-19 strengthened my family bonds and I am so grateful that they endured the swabbing and quarantine on my behalf. I have always been very close to my family and having them with me was an integral part of my healing process.
I am also very thankful to my business partner Wenus for shouldering the burden of managing the centre when I was away for about six months undergoing my treatment.
Time to celebrate!
Being blessed with such strong support, I remained positive and was able to return back to a new version of my normal life. Looking back, I see the experience I have gone through with cancer as a blessing in disguise. I now live every day with greater tenacity and joy. I am very lucky to have discovered my condition at an early enough stage and been given a second chance at life. As a cancer survivor, I hope to encourage early detection and provide support to other cancer patients through my experience. Following my recovery, I served on a committee for a breast cancer support group course, and dedicated myself to volunteering and providing clinic services as a way to share my knowledge and help those in need.
We are not cancer patients. We are cancer survivors.
