Surgery gives cancer patient a second chance

Knowing there is a countdown on life is the worst thought that can come to someone's mind.

The moment doctors told her she had breast cancer, Suad Ajoon felt that her days were numbered.

Luckily, 55-year-old Suad lived to tell her tale.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in Tawam Hospital in Al Ain after she had noticed lumps in her breasts.

"For nearly a year, I went to a private hospital repeatedly because I felt there was something wrong with me. After multiple tests, the doctors repeatedly told me that I was healthy," she said.

It was when the lumps grew and became evident that she knew there was something wrong with her.

"I decided to go to Al Tawam Hospital to get another check-up. The doctor told me that the tumour has been growing for nearly a year and that it was evident in the X-ray [report]," she said.

The moment she knew, Suad decided to undergo surgery and told her children she was going away for business.

Suad said: "After the surgery, the doctor told me that the tumour was successfully removed. This is when I decided to tell my children."

Suad feared that the disease would tear her family apart and she could not bear the thought of having her children see her in her most vulnerable moments.

"I did not want my children to see me in the state I was in during my chemotherapy sessions. But as it turned out, they helped me in more ways than I could think of," she said.

Chemotherapy was the toughest period in Suad's recovery. It was a time when her hair fell and her bones turned brittle.

"It was not physically painful, it was like I had a very [bad] stomach upset every day for six months. The only time I left my bed was either to go heave or go for my next chemotherapy session."

After a few months, things started to look better as doctors told she was getting better.

Next came radiotherapy.

"Fortunately radiotherapy did not hurt, the only problem was I had to go to Al Ain for the treatment every day. But at that time I did not care, because I had felt and hoped that I was getting better."

In 2007, Suad's doctor told her she had defeated the cancer.

"It was one of the happiest moments in my life - the feeling that I got another chance in life."

Now, Suad goes for check-ups regularly to ensure she is healthy.