I discovered I had stage 3 breast cancer after I found a lump upon self-examination. My doctor told me I had a 5-year survival rate of around 82%.

One of the big things I changed was starting to eat healthier every day.

My doctor recommended for me to do a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy. After doing some of my own research as well, I followed their plan. When I made that decision, I felt quite angry, anxious, scared and discouraged.

Still, after everything, I’m now in remission, but I’m still taking hormone therapy.

In terms of side effects, the ones that affected me the most were: diarrhea, fatigue and hair loss.

To manage them, I relied on exercising more and self-medication.

After my treatment, I tried my best to commit to a healthier diet every day. Since discovering I had cancer, now I find myself spending twice as much time with my children, and go for around 10 trips a year with my family.

With my family, we plan to spend lots of time together, making lovely memories with the grandchildren. For the next 2 years, I’ve planned more holidays. My family has been the biggest motivator through my journey, my dream is to spend time with them.

It’s that the treatment wouldn’t work. I’m still a bit apprehensive.

After everything, I still feel fearful, but I’m more optimistic about things. I feel frightened and nervous at times, but also thankful, inspired and hopeful.

To others, I would say: “Try to stay positive, remember to look after yourself!”