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| Lyn (left) with a fellow OFW cancer patient. |
A Filipina helper in Hong Kong who is recovering a year after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy to treat her Stage 3 cancer of the uterus, has launched a personal campaign to “inspire and give hope and strength” to other OFW cancer patients.
Lyn, who says she is single and has no child, uses Facebook as a platform to write about her struggle against the disease and the depression she felt being far from her loved ones.
“Ang hirap hirap ng mga pinagdaanan ko, kasi nasa malayo ako. Wala kang ibang aasahan kundi ang sarili mo lang kasi malayo ka sa mga mahal mo sa buhay,” she rues.
It was in January last year when Lyn was diagnosed with the disease. She said she was very lucky her cancer had not yet spread so she underwent surgery on Feb 5 last year to remove her uterus.
Before the operation, she was confined in hospital for two months because the cancerous growth had caused her too much bleeding each time she moved.
On the day of the surgery, she closed her eyes and prayed hard as she was being rolled to the operating room. “Sabi ko: Lord God, kung wala na talaga akong pag-asa na gumaling, mamaya sa operation ko huwag nyo na lang po akong gisingin.” Then she fell asleep.
Five hours later, Lyn was awoken by a nurse who told her the surgery was over. “OMG, naiyak ako. Sabi ko, thank you, Lord, at nagising pa ako. Ibig sabihin ay may pag-asa pa akong gumaling.”
Nevertheless, depression was inevitable, as there was nobody around to comfort her or to simply converse with her.
“Feeling ko nun, ako lang talaga mag-isa lumalaban, kasi dapat nang mga time na iyon may nakakausap ako sa tabi ko na magbibigay sa akin ng lakas ng loob. Pero paano nga, mag-isa ka lang sa malayo. Kaya madalas umiiyak na lang ako,” she said.
At 12:43 am on Feb 27, Lyn posted a video showing her on a hospital bed, hairless, frail and tearful, and visibly suffering from the debilitating side-effects of chemotherapy.
Lyn said she would not have posted the video because she looked like a house lizard “pero gusto ko lang ma-inspire na lumaban yung mga nagmi-message sa akin or kahit hindi nagmi-message sa akin na may mga karamdaman ngayon, lalo na yung mga nag-chemo or kahit anong klaseng treatment sa ngayon, kasi dadaan din po kayo sa pinagdaanan ko.”
She said she took the video because she was thinking that if she suddenly dies, “my loved ones would see me alive until my last breath.” But she said God willed that she did not pass out each time she felt very weak because she would pray for help to get well.
One other reason that Lyn fought her illness were the old local women in her hospital ward who also had problems such as ovarian cancer. One granny was 82 years old but comparatively well, while others were senile and bedridden.
Lyn said that each day that she saw them, they were struggling against their afflictions, and this rubbed off on her. She returned to her employer’s flat and resumed her daily despite her general weakness. But she was thankful and proud of her employers because they understood her situation and did not send her home. Thus, she continues to get the treatment she needs in hospital.
Now she is recovering gradually “pero hindi ko kini-question ang Panginoon na bakit ako pa ang nagka-cancer, marami namang masasamang tao diyan, bakit di pa sila. Naniniwala akong kung kapalaran mo talaga, wala kang magagawa kaya tanggapin mo na lang”.
“Ginawa ko ang post na ito para i-encourage yung mga gaya sa akin na may malubhang pinagdadaanan, lalo sa mga kapwa ko OFW na nagkakasakit din,” Lyn said, urging them to fight on and not give up.
“So, for anyone else out there who is battling cancer, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don’t give up, stay strong and positive.”
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