Can-sera-sera
That was cancer patient Anne Prowse’s motto, and it helped her through the disease
As a young woman, Ms Anne Maree Prowse, 53, witnessed her mother fight breast cancer, undergoing a mastectomy and struggling with mood swings and tiredness that came with chemotherapy sessions.
It was an emotional turmoil watching her mother die three years later at 51 when the cancer spread to her lungs and brain.
“That was some 26 years ago. My mother had to deal with cancer alone as my father had died,” the Australian expatriate said matter-of-factly. By the time she helped a friend through breast cancer in her late 40s, she had become all too familiar with this monster.
Yearly mammogram appointments were faithfully kept and a clinic check in December 2006 gave her the all clear. However, when she found lumps under her arms four months later, another mammogram was advised.
This time, two lumps were detected in her right breast. A visit to Gleneagles Hospital confirmed she had a cancerous tumour. “It was an out of body experience. You talk about it like it was happening to someone else and not you.”
Thankfully, her cancer was in its early stages. This saved her from having to consider whether or not to completely remove the breast.
In May 2007, Ms Prowse underwent a lumpectomy, or breast conservation surgery in her right breast. Only the cancerous segment of the breast was removed together with the lymph nodes in the armpit.
She said, “I had some idea of the procedure but it became different when I was the one in the chair.
“A thick needle was injected through my nipple. These were things my girlfriend never talked about. Perhaps it was better not to know what to expect. On reflection, the pain was bearable and the outcome worth the experience – like childbirth.”
Due to the high costs here, Ms Prowse, who has been living here for nine years, considered returning to Australia for chemotherapy treatment but she later abandoned the idea, opting for convenience and familiarity.
Having her husband’s support here was also integral as he ended up as the one in charge of administering injections at home.
Of Dr Ang Peng Tiam, Medical Director and Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Parkway Cancer Centre, Ms Prowse said: “Dr Ang was always positive and quick to explain any aspect of treatment or questions I had on anything at all. He was always accessible by phone if I needed to clarify or ask a question. I doubt very much if I could expect that sort of care from anywhere or anyone else.
“He explained things in terms you can understand, particularly the statistical nature of survival. While we all prefer the rosy reply, the honest caring and knowledgeable approach of Dr Ang made a tough time far easier to take than other approaches may have been.
“He called me his little “Ayam” and he was right – I am a chicken but accepted his comments as they were intended and as fun.
With separate root canal complications, Ms Prowse found herself shuffling between the hospital and the dental clinic, “wanting it all to end, wishing it would just go away”.
Determined to get through all her medical appointments, she coined a term: “Can-sera-sera, whatever should be, should be.”
She was not upset seeing all her hair, including the last strand of eyebrow, disappear. When she felt better, she woke extra early to draw some eyebrows before her looks shocked anyone.
She also kept up with golf activities twice a month and was part of a group of weekend golfers who helped raise over $6,000 for the Breast Cancer Foundation through a Cancer Awareness trophy last October.
Dr Ang said: “I remember distinctly how she would say, ‘Okay, let’s get on with it!’ This positive attitude helps her cope better with treatment.”
“Her cancer was diagnosed quite early. The only negative finding was the fact that there was one lymph node which showed metastatic involvement. The cancer was hormone-sensitive and this allowed us to use a combination of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy to treat the cancer.”
Chances that Ms Prowse’s cancer will never recur anytime in the future, is in the region of 80 per cent.
