In 2010, Sarena became the member of a Hong Kong idol group, Xiao Long Feng (Little Dragon and Phoenix). As a beginner in music circles, she could have enjoyed the charm of stage but a sudden disease shattered her dream of acting.
Five years ago, she had sudden massive nose bleeding so she had to see a doctor. At that time, she was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Instead of giving up, she bravely fought against cancer and recorded her treatment process on her Facebook. She also wrote a book called Memoir on Anti-cancer treatment to encourage other cancer patients. “Cancer is a test given by God. If you go through this test, you will recover soon. God bless you! Come on!”
“You’re superman who can do everything. You are so powerful. Even if you never say never...” Sarena bravely sang an inspirational song called Strong in front of camera. She said that the song was an epitome of her life. Even though her voice became hoarse because of the disease, she still enjoyed herself during singing.
Cancer might overwhelm me
Sarena was a pretty singer who loved singing since she was a little girl. After graduation, she signed an idol group, Xiao Long Feng. Then she began recording songs and received dancing training. She promoted a demo Love on the Internet with two other members.
In 2012, 22 year-old Sarena was diagnosed with cystic sinonasal cancer, a rare disease at the prime time of her life.
Recalling the first attack of cancer, she said, “Before diagnosis, I had had tinnitus for a long time. At first, I thought it might be otitis media which caused effusion in my ear, so I underwent a surgery to let effusion out of my ear. No more tinnitus at that time. But one day, I suddenly had had nose bleeding for two days, so my relative took me to see an otolaryngological specialist. After check-up, the doctor told me that there was a tumor measuring about 4cm in my nasopharynx, which was confirmed to be rare adenic and cystic cancer.”
“I can’t believe it. Why me? I’m very worried about my health and appearance. I’m afraid I will be bald after chemotherapy and I wanna give up. But later I think positive attitude will be helpful to my recovery so I need to be brave,” Sarena said in a hoarse voice.
Sarena made a performance for Hong Kong Cancer Day and brought positive Energy to everyone.
38 cycles of radiotherapy led to right ear hearing loss of 70%
Because the tumor was extremely close to artery, tumor resection was not available at Hong Kong hospital and then the doctor suggested radiotherapy for her. Then she followed the guidance of the doctor because she hoped to recover soon. However, she found that radiotherapy and chemotherapy caused problems in her oral cavity and hearing.
Sarena said, “I received treatment frequently. 38 cycles of radiotherapy and 4 cycles of chemotherapy in about two months but the effect wasn’t obvious. I remembered that at the 10th cycle of radiotherapy, my oral cavity was damaged so I couldn’t speak or eat. Even opening my mouth was difficult for me. One year’s treatment caused great side effects to me. Besides receding gums, my right ear hearing was decreased to 30%. But I was so lucky that my hair was just receding from the back of my head at that time and now I can still have my long hair.”
During interview, interviewer could feel her effort when she said each word. She struggled to speak clearly in a weak voice. She is always optimistic and for her, music is the key to happiness.
Music makes her stronger
With a restrained smile, Sarena told us that her saliva was getting less now so she had to drink more water. Even though her gum receded and she couldn’t open her mouth very big, the doctor told her that if she insisted on drilling oral cavity muscle, she could recover well. “Though I had problems in voice, hearing and face muscle, I can still keep on singing as long as I can speak.” She learned ukulele herself and later she would like to learn how to play the drum in hope to improve her musical command.
Sarena was taking a picture in Hokkaido
Sarena was just over 90kg and looked feeble but she had strong mind. To recover soon, she looked up anti-cancer information and concluded that eat more vegetable and less meat; no fried or pickle food; keep doing exercise.
Cryosurgery on cancer metastasis
In March, 2016, recommended by other cancer patient, Sarena presented to Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital for treatment. Upon admission examination, cancer cells had already metastasized to her lung. Then she was given cryosurgery on lung metastasis and iodine seed implantation in nasopharyngeal tumor.
During post-operational examination, Sarena was happy to find that tumors in lung and nasopharynx were both shrunk, so she showed great gratitude to all doctors and nurses at Fuda, “Every staff here treats me like a friend. They are so sweet.”
On Jan. 3, 2017, Sarena presented to our hospital again for reexamination. She gladly said that finally she was able to pursue her singing dream again. In the end, she made a New Year’s wish that her upcoming album could be appreciated by others so that more people would know her. Now, she would like to share her anti-cancer story in hope to bring more positive energy to others.