Huong's story begins in her native country of Vietnam. As a mother of two, she worked hard to provide for her family by selling homemade desserts on local streets. Her daily routine was interrupted by feelings of fatigue, persistent cough and shortness of breath. A chest x-ray revealed a shadow, later determined to be a malignant tumor. She had surgery in 2000 to remove the tumor and part of her right lung. Huong's first concern was her family. She remembers running out of the exam room after her doctor, "I tugged his shirt and I asked him what will happen to me but he could not tell me; he told me what to do, to ask another doctor."
At first, Huong spent a lot of time worrying about her prognosis. She also considered the financial costs involved in her treatment and worried this money may be better spent left to her children. However, she quickly realized she owed it to herself and her family to pursue treatment. Huong reflects on her past, saying that when you have lived in a poor country, with war all around you, you learn acceptance.
In 2001, Huong's cancer journey would take her away from her family and her native county to the United States. Her cancer had returned and she needed to have a 2nd surgery and was referred directly to Moffitt. Over the next 2 years, Huong would have two additional surgeries. After her last surgery in 2005, her physician recommended she follow up with adjuvant chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is what Huong had always feared and remembers asking her doctor in a trembling voice, what chemotherapy would do to her. In Huong's mind chemotherapy meant the end. Believing this, she did not want to begin until she returned to Vietnam to see her children for what she thought was the last time. When she returned, she had prepared for the course of treatment that lay ahead. Her trip home put things in perspective for Huong, she had more life in her and she was not going to give up. Huong realized this round of treatment was not a last resort but rather another step in her journey, a journey she was in control of. "I love life and I love my children too so I need to continue surviving."
Huong addresses cancer with the same attitude she addressed all obstacles in her life. "After the war, I worked so hard because I was a mother with two children but we still lived; we still survived." Today, Huong uses those same principles to remain focused on her future. Huong keeps herself busy with school and housework, and is particularly proud of her English studies, "I have no free time to think about my disease." Instead, she pushes forward and recognizes that every follow-up appointment is, in her eyes, a victory. Huong finds joy in making a phone call to her family and friends back in Vietnam and hearing the excitement in their voices when she tells them that everything is still ok. "I stand up from despair. My motto is don't be captured in the disease. There is hope in times of despair."
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