“In 2014, my wife, Lay Hong, was found to have a growth in her kidney. It was diagnosed as a benign kidney cyst but we continued to monitor it closely. Unfortunately, it grew and in October 2016, she had an operation to remove the cyst. A biopsy later revealed that it was, in fact, sarcoma. 

 

My wife and I had never heard of sarcoma so we went online to find out more and understood more about it from friends who are doctors. We were shocked to learn that sarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer that affects the bone and soft tissue. Yet, at that time, we were hopeful that the entire tumour had been removed during the operation and that the cancer had not spread.

We later spoke to a doctor friend who had survived sarcoma at a young age and she referred us to Dr Richard Quek from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS). 

 

Dr Quek specialises in sarcoma. He explained more about the disease to us, the different treatment options available to Lay Hong as well as the pros and cons of each. We realised it was only a matter of time before the inevitable would happen. In early 2017, just three months after her sarcoma diagnosis, my beloved wife of close to 30 years passed away.

 

This vicious disease can affect anyone – from young children to the elderly. As it is a rare form of cancer, research and treatments into sarcoma are not as progressive as the other more common cancers. I wanted to do my part to change this and decided in August 2017, to make a donation in memory of Lay Hong, to support sarcoma research at NCCS, to assist other sarcoma patients in need of financial help for treatment as well as to raise public awareness of this disease.

I hope that if more is known about this disease, more people will recognise the symptoms and seek treatment early. At the same time, if researchers can work on finding new cures, hopefully in the future, more precious lives of our loved ones (children, parents, spouses) can be saved.”

- Mr Yip Hoong Mun, husband of the late Ms Chua Lay Hong