Posted on January 13, 2013, Sunday
REGARDS AND WISHES: Tiong (left) sharing a light moment with Wong.
SIBU: Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng said yesterday he found he had brain tumour when he and his family were holidaying in Australia.
He told a press conference here that his wife Irene Chang initially thought he was ‘heaty’ from eating too much durians, ‘dabai’ and rambutan when the symptoms first reared at home.
“I discovered the sickness when I could not swallow and I slurred in my speech on the flight to join my family in Australia.”
Wong, who is also state DAP chairman and Bukit Assek assemblyman, said the family holiday eventually turned into a medical vacation at the Gold Coast.
Last Dec 20, he said the neurosurgeons found glioma on his brain stems, and it grew on his ninth and 10th nerves.
“The glioma slurred my speech and impaired my swallowing functions. It has to be treated.”
A glioma is a type of tumour that starts in the brain or spine. Its most common site is the brain, making up 30 per cent of all brain and central nervous system tumours and 80 per cent of all malignant brain tumours.
He said after getting a second opinion from a specialist, he decided to have radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore, beginning Jan 8. He said he would continue with this treatment for six weeks. Although the treatment had just begun, he said he could feel the healing process.
“I feel a lot better now. I am positive of full recovery. I know I am not walking alone. I am certain I can soar above the storms.”
Wong said he was not suffering any side-effects from the first treatment, except for rashes on his neck that developed from the radiotherapy.
“I was told I might be struck with an infection on the first five days, but I have the support from my family, friends, party members and supporters and the people.”
Wong recalled the worst day he had was on Dec 15 when he was attending the DAP assembly in Penang and had problems talking.
He attended the assembly only briefly as his family was waiting for him in Australia. They had left a day earlier.
“I was alone in the flight. I asked for a bottle of drink, but I could not swallow the water. I knew right there that something was wrong.”
Five days later, neurosurgeons broke the brain tumour news to him.
Wong said he chose to be treated in Singapore because all the specialists he spoke to had advised him so.
On his faith of a full recovery, he said, “I shall return to the state assembly next May, and, like in the last November sitting, I shall raise my voice to stress my points. I shall be back.”
During the press conference, PKR Sibu branch chairman Simon Tiong dropped by to give him moral support.
Sapa ganti ho leng,?
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