Stage 4...??? So What...???




Baru mendengar kata kanker saja, banyak orang sudah terperangah. Apalagi stadium 4. Pasti terbayang berbagai hal yang menyeramkan.

Akhir bulan Oktober 2007 aku menerima telepon dari seorang kawan yang sudah sekian lama tak bertemu dan tampaknya ia baru mendengar kabar kalau aku terserang kanker. Ia tahu aku tetap bekerja. Lalu ia bertanya, naik apa aku ke kantor.

Mula-mula aku agak heran mendengar pertanyaan itu. Tapi aku langsung maklum…. Pastilah ia menyangka kalau aku tak lagi dapat mengendarai mobil sendiri seperti dahulu sebelum terkena kanker. Padahal keadaan tak berubah. Aku memberitahu bahwa aku masih membawa sendiri mobil lamaku, Suzuki Baleno hitam yang sudah setia menemaniku selama bertahun-tahun. Dari dulu aku memang tak pernah berniat memakai sopir.

Mendengar jawabanku, ia terdiam. Mungkin ia tidak percaya.
“Emangnya kamu kira aku sekarang sudah seperti nenek-nenek tua renta yang kemana-mana mesti pakai kursi roda, ya?” kataku bergurau.

Dari ujung telepon, aku mendengar ia tertawa tersipu.
“Aku punya teman, stadium 3 dan dia itu……” Entah kenapa, tidak meneruskan kalimatnya.

Aku sendiri baru tahu kalau keadaanku sekarang dikategorikan sebagai stadium 4 dari dokter Tan Sing Huang di National University Hospital. Tadinya aku menyangka kalau aku ini masih stadium awal karena aku tidak merasa sakit sama sekali. Oh ya, pernah sih, sakit sekali di dada sebelah kanan, tapi sakitnya tak berlangsung lama, hanya 2 hari, di bulan Maret 2007.

Menurut dokter, aku termasuk stadium 4 karena kanker yang tadinya menyerang payudara sekarang sudah menjalar ke tulang. Tapi tentu saja itu bukan berarti bahwa keadaanku sudah parah.

“A woman with breast cancer, be it stage 2, 3 or 4 can still lead happy and productive lives,” katanya.

“Different stages of breast cancer just affects the prognosis and treatment aims and each person can feel good or bad regardless of stage,” ia menjelaskan dengan sabar.

“It all depends on the individual and her outlook and willpower!”

Kanker memang sulit disembuhkan. Tapi bukan berarti tak ada harapan. Bulan Otober 2007 berbagai media dunia memberitakan penurunan tingkat kematian akibat kanker dari tahun ke tahun.

Berikut cuplikannya:
According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer each year worldwide and over 500,000 will die from the disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that 180,510 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2007. (But) Breast cancer death rates have been dropping steadily since 1990, according to the Society, because of earlier detection and better treatments. (berita lengkapnya ada di Internet….)

Jelas bahwa terkena kanker tak harus berarti akhir dari segalanya.
I had to admit that at the beginning I was depressed, which was quite normal, I think. After the mastectomy in December 2005 and the chemotherapy in the first five months of 2006, I got my life back.

Early this year I was shocked to find that cancer had spread to my bones. I was really upset. But I know that being upset does not help. I am grateful because cancer does not affect my daily activities. I can still work as usual – I even work much harder now!! In a way, this is good because it means that I am quite productive—cancer can do no harm to my skill, competence, my expertise, my performance. In another way, however, this is not good… because there is only little time left to do other things like writing for this blog……. or to do nothing…. Doing nothing is actually one of my favorite things… It’s sooo… relaxing….

Oh, yes, relaxation is quite important to stay healthy and happy… It helps me think clearly and positively. I remember somebody saying: Live is not always fair, but it is still good…. Instead of questioning ‘Why me?’ all the time, I’d better make a strategy to fight it. It may steal my money, but not my mind!