Kuala Lumpur. Munirah Suhaidi was diagnosed with bone cancer on her right thigh in July 2007 after an iron bar fell from her double-decker bed and hit her. Despite having cancer, the feisty 18-year-old decided there and then that she would fight the disease and win. And win she did, not only beating the cancer cells, but also acing Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination last year, scoring 9As. The sweet success after the examination was a big encouragement for the gutsy girl to beat bone cancer. Her mother Noraini Ahmad could not accept the fact that Munirah had cancer as there was no history of cancer in the family. Initially, Noraini did not want her daughter to undergo chemotheraphy because she had heard about the terrible effects of chemotherapy on the patient. They have tried to see bomoh, seek alternative therapy and spend about RM10,000 buying supplements but it did not work.
Finally, Munirah decided to go for chemotherapy as she did not want to die of cancer. She underwent three chemotherapy sessions to reduce the swelling on her right knee. The side effects were horrible. She vomited, felt dizzy, had severe stomach ache and lost all her hair. Three weeks after the last session, she underwent a five-and-a-half hours operation to remove cancerous bone and replace it with an implant. Eighteen days after her operation, the doctors told her to get up and walk and she did it on her own. Six weeks later, she was readmitted to hospital for antibiotic treatment as she suffered an infection on her knee.
Munirah had skipped school for six months last year as she was in and out of the hospital. She went back to school but she was way behind as the teachers had already started teaching the last chapters of the subjects. She started taking tuition classes for eight subjects and studied for six hours every day to catch up. For Munirah, her mother was her motivation for studying hard. She is also grateful to her stepfather, Zainordin Mat Noh, who cooked for her and got things done for her as she could not walk during that time.
Munirah hopes to be an inspiration to her three younger brothers and will be registering for matriculation classes at a college in Perak. Her ambition is to become a doctor specializing in cardiology because she is very interested in how the heart works. Describing herself as an ordinary girl who was “a little bit crazy”, she said she would not allow the bad experience of cancer to beat her.
Finally, Munirah decided to go for chemotherapy as she did not want to die of cancer. She underwent three chemotherapy sessions to reduce the swelling on her right knee. The side effects were horrible. She vomited, felt dizzy, had severe stomach ache and lost all her hair. Three weeks after the last session, she underwent a five-and-a-half hours operation to remove cancerous bone and replace it with an implant. Eighteen days after her operation, the doctors told her to get up and walk and she did it on her own. Six weeks later, she was readmitted to hospital for antibiotic treatment as she suffered an infection on her knee.
Munirah had skipped school for six months last year as she was in and out of the hospital. She went back to school but she was way behind as the teachers had already started teaching the last chapters of the subjects. She started taking tuition classes for eight subjects and studied for six hours every day to catch up. For Munirah, her mother was her motivation for studying hard. She is also grateful to her stepfather, Zainordin Mat Noh, who cooked for her and got things done for her as she could not walk during that time.
Munirah hopes to be an inspiration to her three younger brothers and will be registering for matriculation classes at a college in Perak. Her ambition is to become a doctor specializing in cardiology because she is very interested in how the heart works. Describing herself as an ordinary girl who was “a little bit crazy”, she said she would not allow the bad experience of cancer to beat her.
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