Love conquers all, even thyroid cancer

Sunday, February 13, 2011

LOVE, so goes a line of a song, comes from the most unexpected places.

Randolf "Randy" L. Cañedo met his future wife at the civil registrar's office in Davao City. He was passing by the office when a beautiful girl caught his attention. It was a case of love at first sight.

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"She was very attractive, the cutest girl in the office and was so nice to everyone. She got this sweetest smile. Her sweetness was overflowing and her soft voice always echoed in my ear," recalls Randy, who works at the dxAB, an AM radio station of ABS-CBN Davao.

Rolyn Dumandan, the girl who captured his heart, remembered the day they met for the first time. "It was a casual introduction," she remembered. "After that, he did not stop visiting our office. As days passed by, I found out that he was a nice guy and he was very smart too. I liked talking with since he almost knew anything. Aside from that, he was also very sweet and responsible. He had no vices whatsoever. He was the kind of man who respects a woman through and through."

Before she knew it, Rolyn was gradually falling in love with him. The feeling was mutual.

After years of dating, Randy finally proposed and popped up the sweetest quote every woman desires to hear from the mouth her beloved: "Will you marry me?"

"Of course, I was so happy," Rolyn says. "I felt like I was the happiest woman in the world. Although ecstatic, I was also nervous because I knew I was entering another stage of my life, that of being married."

On March 8, 2000, the two finally tied the nuptial knot. "I was the happiest man in the world," Randy points out. "I felt like I have everything already."

One year later, Rolyn got pregnant. The couple was very glad that their union would be blessed by a child. But happiness never meant to last.

"Happiness is always accompanied by sadness and problems," Randy says. "We cannot measure real happiness unless we experience hard trials in life."

Rolyn was still pregnant when she noticed that her neck was swelling. She always felt nervous and would just suddenly tremble every now and then. She also said she couldn't bear too much cold.

"At first, I did not consult a doctor believing it was just a simple illness," Rolyn recalls. "But the truth is, I was too scared to see a doctor because people I talked with told me I had to undergo an operation."

Aside from the fact that operation entailed a huge sum of money, "it was also dangerous." So she opted to see an albularyo (quack doctor).

Six months after their son was born, Randy forced Rolyn to consult a doctor. "I knew in my heart there was something wrong with my wife," he says. After several tests, the doctor told them she had thyroid cancer.

The thyroid gland secretes thyroid hormones, which control the speed at which the body's chemical functions proceed (known as metabolic rate). Thyroid hormones influence the metabolic rate in two ways: by stimulating almost every tissue in the body to produce proteins and by increasing the amount of oxygen that cells use. Thyroid hormones affect many vital body functions: the heart rate, the respiratory rate, the rate at which calories are burned, skin maintenance, growth, heat production, fertility, and digestion.

"The cause of thyroid cancer is not known," writes The Merck Manual of Medical Information. "Rather than causing the whole thyroid gland to enlarge, a cancer usually causes small growths (nodules) to develop within the thyroid. Most thyroid nodules are not cancerous. Nodules are more likely to be cancerous if only one nodule is found rather than several, if the nodule is solid rather than filled with fluid, if the nodules is not producing much thyroid hormone, if nodule is hard, or if the nodule is growing quickly."

The couple was devastated. "Upon hearing the word cancer, I was weakened," Randy claims. "I felt so hopeless and helpless. First, I didn’t have any idea about what thyroid cancer is. Second, cancer is scary; it only made me think that I was going to lose my wife."

To Rolyn, hearing the word cancer means death sentence. "I couldn't understand my feelings that very moment," she recalls. "All I was thinking was my newly-born son and my husband. I have cancer and if I am going to die I won't be able to take care of my family and even cannot see my son growing up. There were lots of questions in my mind. What will happen to me? Am I going to die? What will happen to my son and husband once I'm gone?"

Like most cancer patients, Rolyn was in complete denial. The doctor advised her to undergo an operation but didn't listen to her. The couple went to see another doctor for a second opinion. The diagnosis was still the same; however, the doctor gave her some medications hoping the drugs would cure her cancer. Until finally, the day came for her to undergo radiation therapy.

Two weeks after the radiation therapy, Rolyn was isolated for three days in a hospital room. Then, there was a month of isolation at home. "The doctor advised my whole family to stay away from me for awhile during the therapy process because it was too dangerous for them to be exposed to radiation," she says.

But the stubborn Randy didn't heed the doctor's advice. "I had to support her in anything," he says. "I wanted to let her feel that I am always beside her no matter what. I slept near her in the same house with only wall apart, which ws against the doctor's recommendation. I didn't care anymore, because all I was thinking was to be near her in cases she needed me."

Despite the radiation therapy, the cancer metastasized in Rolyn's ribs. She had to undergo a second radiation therapy, this time with higher dosage. "It was of the same procedure but getting harder and harder for me. The therapy was really painful and draining us financially."

Although the disease torn them apart, love kept them together. "I love my family so much," says Rolyn. "I love them more than my own life that's why I made them my inspiration through all the hard trials we were going through."

In addition, they did not overlook to ask help from Someone Up There. "I never ever did forget even a single second to look up and pray hard to our Almighty," she says. "I know everything is possible for God. And God is so good all the time."

And God smiled at her. "The result of my second radiation therapy was positive," she said. "Thank God, there was no longer cancer cells in my body. However, the doctor still warned me to be extra careful because anytime the cancer may return. But I still went into continuous treatment and medications just to make sure that I'm totally healed. I had total body scan procedure and radio iodine diet every after three months. Today, I'm having these procedures only once a year."

Both were 24 when Rolyn was diagnosed of having a thyroid cancer. Now, 34 years, the wife is healthy as ever. "Don't ever lose hope," Randy advises to husbands whose wives having cancer. "Show her how much you care and love her. Do everything for her to make her feel loved. Support her all the way and rest assured, she will give you something in return, life and love. If faith can move mountains, love can cure cancer!"