When cancer struck twice

Lung cancer gave Mr Barita and his wife Jung Lie a double whammy

It was bad enough when Mr Barita found out he had lung cancer. But just as he and his wife, Jung Lie, thought it could not get worse, it did.

Soon after Mr Barita started his treatment and responded well, the couple got hit by another shock: Jung Lie found out that she, too, had been struck down by the same disease.

"I felt as if I received the death penalty," she said. It was a double whammy for the couple, who have a seven-year-old son.

The family's ordeal started when Mr Barita, who works in a non-government organisation, arrived in Singapore for what he assumed would be a simple medical check-up. "I thought I would be told to watch my diet and exercise," recalls the 53-year-old.

To his shock, the test showed otherwise. "I called my doctors in Indonesia and they were shocked too."

Mr Barita, a smoker, quit smoking immediately on finding out that he had lung cancer.

His oncologist, Dr Ang Peng Tiam, notes that smoking is the main cause of lung cancer in men. But in non-smoking women, it is genetics that plays the major role.

The couple's second shock came soon after, when Jung Lie also went for a medical check-up. The 50-year-old banker does not smoke.

"I had an office check-up earlier, and they didn't find anything. At first, I thought it was deep vein thrombosis, since I was a frequent flier. But a biopsy was done, and it was found that it was not."

Knowing what her husband had had to go through, Jung Lie found the devastating news even harder to accept. "I had read all about lung cancer, and knew what was coming. It was like déjà vu," she recalls.

But the couple did not throw in the towel in despair.

"They were there for one another," says Dr Ang. "I saw the love and support that Jung provided when Barita was ill, and again how he reciprocated when Jung was found to have lung cancer."

Dr Ang put both husband and wife under upfront chemotherapy before sending them for surgery. This proved effective in treating their cancer before the primary cancers were removed.

Mr Barita also became the first patient to have a Positron Emission Tomography-Computerised Tomography (PET-CT) scan in Singapore. This combines PET and CT scans, standard imaging tools that help pinpoint the location of cancers.

Says Dr Ang, "I remember receiving a call from the radiology department that the PET-CT scan was being commissioned that day, and they had two doses of FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose, a sugar used in the scan) free-of-charge for anyone who was keen to have a PET-CT scan.

"At that moment, sitting in front of me was Mr Barita. When I offered him the free PET-CT scan and explained the benefits of the scan, he immediately agreed."

Dr Ang explained that PET-CT scans are very useful in helping doctors evaluate patients with lung cancer. "The addition of a PET-CT scan reduces 'futile surgery' by 50 per cent, compared to conventional work-ups with CT scans and bone scans," he says.

For Jung Lie, her treatment involved the use of Iressa, a Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor. This did not come cheap – Iressa costs $120 a tablet.

Fortunately, both husband and wife responded well to the treatment.

Jung Lie still remembers how relieved she felt when she was given the all-clear after undergoing surgery. "It was a relief – we are grateful to God for a second chance," she says.

The experience has also changed the couple's attitude towards life. Like many cancer survivors, they have learnt to slow down and enjoy their new lease of life.

"We are not too ambitious about what we want to do," says Jung Lie. "Before, if we were at home during the weekend, we would be cleaning up the house, doing this and that. Before we knew it, the day would be over.

"Now, there is no pressure. We take things more lightly. We appreciate life more now."