A Dutch expat in Dubai who was diagnosed with cancer has shared her inspirational story, describing her learnings from the ordeal and sharing advice with others.
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/dutch-expat-in-dubai-reveals-her-cancer-story-of-ordeal-and-inspiration-1.92579221
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#UAEnews #cancer #Dutch
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/dutch-expat-in-dubai-reveals-her-cancer-story-of-ordeal-and-inspiration-1.92579221
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #cancer #Dutch
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NewsTranscript
00:00I never thought I was lonely in my cancer journey, but I was, really.
00:07And it's amazing to have people around you who may not go through exactly the same thing,
00:14but they still understand.
00:18I think it was 2017, I started feeling not great.
00:22There were some symptoms, but I didn't know what it was.
00:25I went to see a doctor, he said it was promptly okay.
00:29Later, I went to see a second doctor who said it was probably okay.
00:33Then in 2019, when I went to see a third doctor, she said this is not okay.
00:39We did a series of tests and I found out I had, at that moment, stage three rectal cancer.
00:45Starting with chemo and radiation, then surgery, where I got a stoma, an ileostomy,
00:55and then four months of chemotherapy.
00:59After that, we thought I was okay.
01:02But six months later, we found out through a routine scan that the little dots in my lungs
01:10were the same kind of cancer.
01:13And with that, I was stage four, and my cancer is very hard to get rid of.
01:20So as we speak, those dots are still in my body.
01:26And we're just trying to make them grow as slowly as we can.
01:30When I was diagnosed, four months after I was diagnosed, COVID started.
01:36So that was a whole different world.
01:39After my second series of treatments, I found that my life was starting to get very small.
01:47It's very hard to lead a full life when you never know what you're doing next week.
01:55If you're going to be on chemotherapy or on radiation, or you have doctor's appointments,
02:01and then there are the occasional visits to the emergency department.
02:05Then a friend brought me here.
02:08And it was amazing that people understood all that.
02:15And I found that I never thought I was lonely in my cancer journey.
02:25But I was, really.
02:26And it's amazing to have people around you who may not go through exactly the same thing,
02:34but they still understand.
02:35Apart from that, Majlis Al-Amal by Al-Jalila Foundation gives us very practical things,
02:46exercise classes that we can actually participate in,
02:51even though we've had surgeries and alterations to our bodies.
02:54I've had an amazing talk with a psychologist here that has helped me so much
02:59in dealing with the stress of blood tests and scans.
03:06In my case, it's not, is there cancer?
03:08It's always, yeah, there's cancer, but how much is there?
03:11That's very, very stressful every couple of months.
03:14To be honest, 20 years ago, we didn't talk about breast cancer either.
03:18And now we have the huge pink October month where we do talk about it.
03:23And I really hope that we can reach that point on colorectal cancer as well.
03:29Because people, first of all, need the awareness of what to look for, how to know your body.
03:38If your bathroom habits are changing, it is often a reason to go and see your doctor.
03:44Secondly, it's amazing to have support of, in this case, our sisters,
03:51to be able to talk about stupid little things and find that, oh, but we all have that.
03:59And they can be things that you might be really worried about.
04:03But for us, once we start talking about it, it's normal.
04:06And that can give a much lighter load on your shoulders.
04:11And it can give a much brighter view into life, I think.
04:17I really hope that if women see this, they can find their way to Majlis Elmal,
04:25to Al Jalila Foundation, and find that support.
04:29As part of my healing, my tumor was removed and I was given an ileostomy.
04:39An ileostomy is a little piece of, in this case, the small intestine coming out of my tummy.
04:46So that instead of going to the bathroom, waste is caught in this bag.
04:51So what we do, I wear a two piece.
04:55There are also one pieces.
04:57There are bags that you can't open and you just throw them away every time.
05:01I wear this one.
05:02I, first of all, make the hole a lot bigger.
05:04I prepare my skin.
05:06Then I put this on my skin.
05:08And this helps keeping the waste away from my skin,
05:12because when it comes out at that level, it's very, very acidic.
05:16So we put this on and then we put the bag and we press it on like that.
05:24And it will stay, for some people, it stays for a day.
05:27For some people, it stays for several days.
05:30If I'm really lucky, I have it for about five days and then I just change it.
05:35During the day, I go to the bathroom.
05:37Every time I go to the bathroom, like normal people, I can empty it over here.
05:43The material it is made of keeps away every bit of smell.
05:48That is something that people get it, that people are very afraid of in the beginning.