05 February 2013| last updated at 08:38PM
Five months into his medical career, a young man is diagnosed with cancer, writes Kasmiah Mustapha
FOR the past three years, a jovial young man has been dealing with the biggest challenge of his life. In 2010, at 27, he was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma or cancer of the lymph nodes.
Unfortunately, after going through many cycles of chemotherapy, his battle is still not over — the cancerous cells have spread.
As this story goes to print, Dr Mukhlis Idris, is going through another bout of intensive treatment. This time he will be given a higher dose of chemotherapy and a blood transplant.
It is easy to be angry and depressed with such devastating news, but Mukhlis was a picture of calm and courage just a few days before he began his treatment.
He was five months into his housemanship at Selayang Hospital in 2010 when he suffered shortness of breath, fatigue and loss of appetite. He thought it was asthma as he had a strong family history of the illness and, with his work schedule, it was normal to be tired.
As he was on medical rotation at that time — including being on call for emergency cases — he did not go for a thorough check-up. Instead he would visit the staff clinic and ask for an inhaler to treat his shortness of breath.
“It was stupid to self-diagnose myself. I knew that adults rarely had asthma unless they smoked, and I didn’t. But I was so busy at the time that I could not find the time for a proper medical check-up,” he said.
For four months, Mukhlis suffered the symptoms and because of that, he was frequently on emergency leave. It wasn’t until he was in training at the orthopaedic unit that he finally decided that he should have an X-ray and CT scan done to find out what was wrong.
The X-ray showed fluid in his left lung. Thinking that it could be tuberculosis, he was referred to another hospital for treatment. However, tests indicated that it was not TB. Although doctors weren’t sure what it was, he was put on medication for TB. It didn’t work and his condition worsened.
SECOND OPINION
He decided to consult the doctors whom he used to work with. They did a battery of tests on him and they finally found an enlargement of the nodes near his collar bone. A biopsy was done. It was cancerous.
He recalls: “I received a call from the consultant who confirmed it was stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Actually, when the doctors didn’t know earlier what was wrong with me, I had thought it might be cancer. I had a list of diseases with similar symptoms and cancer was at the top of that list.
“I was prepared for the news. I had even told my parents I could have cancer and they were also prepared. But when it was confirmed, my knees went weak. That night I cried for two hours. That was the only time I cried. I did not cry for myself but for my parents. I was worried over who would take care of them now that I was sick.”
He started his first round of chemotherapy for six months at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre and completed it in Sept 2011. Three months later, he had a Pet scan done. Unfortunately, doctors found two small lesions on his heart and one near his lung. The cancer had spread.
“I was not happy with the scan and asked to have another one done at Putrajaya Hospital because you can get lesion from chemotherapy. But the second scan confirmed that the cancer has returned. I was told that I was among the few unlucky Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients who had a relapse,” he says.
Then he was put on to a different regime of chemotherapy consisting of different types of drugs to kill the cancer cells. He had four cycles of the treatment. Sadly, it didn’t work as the lesions grew bigger and they found another one between his heart and diaphragm.
He was then put on two cycles of chemotherapy for lung cancer patients and is now waiting for the results of the Pet scan.
This week, he is on another cycle of chemotherapy, one with a higher dosage compared to the rest he had previously. Once he completes the 12 cycles of chemotherapy, he will go for a blood transplant.
“Doctors say the high dosage will kill the cancer cells as well as bring down my red and white blood cells and bone marrow. Once that happens, they will transplant my blood with that which had been harvested earlier so I can get healthy red blood cells back.”
POSITIVE OUTLOOK
Mukhlis adds: “My doctors feel the outlook is positive. They have seen many people survive the cancer with this treatment even after a relapse. They tell me there’s a 95 per cent chance of survival especially since my cancer is Stage 2.”
His medical knowledge has helped prepare him for the gruelling treatments. As a medical student, he had studied Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the treatments and survival rate. He is positive and confident that he will beat the cancer.
“I am now a patient, not a doctor. My condition is no different from that of any other cancer patient. I suffer nausea, body aches and joint pains due to chemotherapy. Perhaps the only thing my medical knowledge has helped me with is that I am positive about survival. With my knowledge I can explain my case to others. I have shared my experiences on Facebook and have received many positive comments. Cancer patients have told me that my positive attitude has motivated them,” says Mukhlis.
He says when told that the cancer had returned, he was not depressed or angry. Instead while going for the treatment, he kept busy with his business — doing beading, sewing and bridal make-up. It was something that he started in-between recuperating from his first round of chemotherapy.
“It was a talent I discovered by accident. I had never done it before or learnt how to do it. Then one day I decided to do beading on my mum’s dress and slowly picked it up from there. Now I am also doing bridal make-up. People know about my business from Facebook and Instagram. And it has expanded,” he explains.
“Now this is my income since I can no longer work as a doctor. It helps to pay the medical bills and in a way, it is therapeutic for me. When I found out I had cancer, I thought Allah was telling me something. I had been given the opportunity to be a doctor for five months. Now it was time for me to do something else.
“Death is inevitable. Everyone dies but I will make sure the days ahead are meaningful. This is not the end of my fight against cancer. I will fight it as long as I can. God willing, I will beat it.”
Source: The doctor is now a patient
