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S'pore woman, 28, diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer 10 days after wedding, on road to recovery
She advised young people "never to take their health for granted".
October 10, 2024, 02:58 PM
After getting married in September 2023, 28-year-old digital designer Gezane Yap was looking forward to her honeymoon.
But a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis 10 days after her wedding flipped the script.
What followed were six arduous months of chemotherapy sessions, which Yap endured with the support of her husband and family, before she was declared cancer-free in March 2024.
Her journey was documented in an Instagram post on Sep. 19.
Found lump on neck one week before wedding
Yap told Mothership that about a week before her wedding day, she discovered a big lump on her neck after showering.
Inspecting it in the mirror, she felt blood drain from her face as it felt swollen.
Image courtesy of Yap.
Yap went to see a family doctor, who examined her and said it was not just one lump, but many.
This freaked her out, she recalled.
Worse, after she was referred to a specialist, he told her that based on his experience, it was most definitely cancer.
The specialist recommended her to undergo a biopsy to verify the diagnosis, but Yap and her partner were reluctant to do it before the wedding as it would leave a scar.
So they decided to carry on with the their nuptials first, with the potential cancer diagnosis hanging over their heads.
"We still tried to remain positive, because we didn't want to affect our guests. It's a happy day, you know? We didn't want them to have to hear such heavy news, so we tried to carry on with the day normally," Yap said.
Their big day was on Sep. 16, 2023.
Image courtesy of Yap.
A few days after the wedding, Yap went for her biopsy, and the results came back negative.
However, this turned out to be a false dawn.
On her doctor's urging, she did a follow-up CT scan, which revealed the true diagnosis.
It was Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma.
This is a cancer of the lymph nodes, that most commonly afflicts people in their 20s and 30s and those over age 65.
Image courtesy of Yap.
"I'm just married, for goodness' sake," Yap recalled, adding that the diagnosis hit her "like a truck".
She had no family history of cancer.
Had overlooked symptoms, thought it was due to 'stress'
On hindsight, Yap said she had experienced some symptoms in the year leading up to the diagnosis.
She suffered from a sporadic mild fever on a semi-weekly basis, coupled with occasional eczema flare-ups, loss of appetite and a persistent "Covid-19 cough", but chalked these down to overwork and stress.
Four to five months before her wedding, a blood test also showed she had a high level of white blood cells.
Yap shared it was a bit of a "red flag" for her, but she had been too busy with work and wedding preparations to go for a follow-up test.
"I had no idea such tumours were growing in my body," she said.
Overcame with support of husband, family
When the diagnosis came, it thwarted Yap and her husband's plans to visit Europe for their honeymoon.
Initially scheduled for three weeks after the wedding, they had to cancel the honeymoon as the doctor said it would be risky to delay treatment any further.
Instead, Yap spent the next six months completing an arduous 12 rounds of chemotherapy in Singapore.
Image courtesy of Yap.
During the process, she struggled with the side-effects of chemotherapy, like chronic fatigue, hair loss, pain and complications like sores and infections.
But during the cycles of negative emotions — anger, depression and sadness — her husband was a constant source of encouragement, and an outlet when she just needed to vent, Yap said.
He would visit her frequently in hospital, and also shaved bald as a form of solidarity.
Image courtesy of Yap.
"We learned how to cherish each other at a deeper level we didn't think was possible," Yap said.
Yap was also grateful for her mother who tirelessly whipped up home-cooked meals for her — a challenge given that chemotherapy affected Yap's sense of smell and taste and made her appetite erratic.
"This week I would eat tomato and egg but next week I might feel sick of it. I couldn't even stand the smell or taste of garlic, onion, fish and any meat... so it was a real struggle for my mum to cook for me. She would spend 24/7 in the kitchen," Yap said.
Yap with her parents. Image courtesy of Yap.
Her family also played their part by wearing masks at home as her immunity was compromised due to the cancer.
As the chemotherapy took a toll on Yap, she lost a lot of weight and dropped to as low as 51kg on her 172cm frame at one point.
Image courtesy of Yap.
But she was motivated to fight the cancer for the sake of her husband and her family.
"I just got married, so it would be irresponsible of me to just go and leave my husband alone. And I felt I haven't repaid my parents enough," Yap said.
The good news
In end-March this year, Yap's efforts paid off when a final scan showed that her body was 100 per cent clear of cancer.
"It felt like I had been unknowingly carrying a huge rock on my shoulders, which suddenly disappeared," Yap said.
"It was a huge, tremendous sense of relief."
So, in June, she and her husband celebrated by going on a short family trip to Macau, a place he had promised to bring her after her treatments.
For the near future, Yap will still be on "heightened alert" as the cancer has a high likelihood of remission in the first year.
But she's hoping the worst has passed.
'Never ever take your health for granted'
Yap hopes to share her story as an encouragement to those going through similar struggles, but also as a cautionary tale for those who take their health for granted.
In another Instagram post, she mused on how she had ignored some of the disease's symptoms while "working like crazy... sleeping late at night, eating at odd timings and skipping meals".
So her advice for those who experience anything abnormal in their body is to seek medical advice promptly.
"I was literally just married with plans of starting our own little family. Just because we are young does not mean we have immunity against cancer or any sort of sickness," she wrote.
"Please take care of your own health and never ever take your body for granted."
Top image from Yap
