Azrene’s personal fight with cancer

Azrene and Tan Wei Ming of Thalgo Cosmetic SEA which is supporting the Mt Kinabalu climb

“IT’S time people knew,” she says. Datin Azrene Abdullah, chairperson of breast cancer charity foundation Pride, reveals that she discovered she had oral cancer four years ago.

“While I accompanied my late mother-in-law for her chemo sessions, I was also making trips to the doctors,” she says.

As someone who is hands on in the foundation to make breast cancer patients and survivors feel loved, comfortable and informed, she wants people to know that she’s going through a similar struggle.

One of her major roles in the foundation is to get women to do monthly breast self-examinations to detect breast cancer early as early detection saves lives. But what prompted her to make that first visit to the doctor?

“As a woman, you have powerful instincts. You know when something is not right with your body. Don’t you agree?

“Even before the doctor told me, I already knew. In my case there were blisters and ulcers that wouldn’t go away,” says Azrene who is in her 30s.

It didn’t come as a big shock to her or the family. Everyone was already seasoned to the Big C by then and was tuned to a kind of survival mode, as her mother-in-law, Tun Endon Mahmood, was then battling with the disease.

“Still there were things we had to learn, and we learned along the way,” she adds.

As Azrene’s cancer was detected early, she didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy but has had seven surgeries to date. She visits her oncologist once every three months.

She names a list of caregivers but says Tun Endon was her biggest supporter. “She always said I had to fight this. I have my children to think about, they keep me going. I have to be brave for them.”

Her four children — two girls and two boys aged between 7 and 13 — especially the older ones are very concerned and make sure she takes her medication.

They watched their grandmother succumb to this disease and were initially worried. But Azrene’s change in lifestyle — the frequent doctor’s appointments, a healthy diet and exercises — has quelled their fears.

“I tell them that I do all these things to maintain my health. I need to be in good health so I can be with them,” she says.

“Life is a challenge but it’s become more interesting. I see things from a different perspective. Everyday I learn something new.”

She takes the opportunity to instill in them healthy eating habits. It’s tough in this pizza and burger society, she admits. She’s doesn’t mind them indulging occasionally since they know it’s important to eat vegetables and fruit.

She has learned that encouragement from family members can only go so far but support from a survivor is more important. Not only does it carry more weight but it can also take you a long way, she says. This is one of the main pillars of Pride, or Pink Ribbon Deeds, besides increasing awareness of the disease. Members count on the relationships they make at the foundation to take them through the most difficult time of their lives.

“It’s very frustrating and even depressing to be sitting at home and doing nothing when you are going through chemo. It’s good to have a support system in place to help you get through.

“We have become family. We make hospitals visits, we cry together and we laugh together. Support groups have become very important,” she says. “It’s a long, tough journey, an emotional one. Some days you are good, the next day you come down with fever, then you have one of your better days again.”

Being surrounded by fighters has helped Azrene pull through. She knows many members personally, meeting them often at Pride events.

“It’s very fulfilling to know them and their stories of strength, resilience and perseverance,” she says.

She doesn’t think she will start a support group for oral cancer as it’s rare and very different from breast cancer. The numbers for breast cancer are staggering. One in 19 women get breast cancer which accounts for 31 per cent of all newly-diagnosed cases of cancer.

Then there is the issue of self-esteem. Many women are too embarrassed to seek treatment. Some women are in denial while some husbands threaten divorce. To many women, breast cancer affects that part of them that’s so important as a woman.

“We give out prosthetics to help them cope. There are feel-good workshops, talks on diet and nutrition, wearing good bras and taking care of breasts in general. It’s especially painful if your husband is not supportive. We need to educate men too.”

Azrene started Pride as a tribute to Tun Endon’s courage and strength in fighting the disease.

“She was one of the first Malaysian women who talked openly about it.”

Azrene also makes it a point to take time out from work and to spend more time with “people who love you”.

Besides her other charity organisations and her businesses which keep her busy, Azrene devotes much of her time to her children, “just getting involved in things that interest them, be it ice hockey, football, ballet for listening to their type of music”.