What if we all had cancer cells in our bodies?

Throughout our entire lives, we would have caught the flu bug at least once or twice per year. Each time we fall sick, it’s probably due to the change in weather, the lack of rest, or being exposed to different types of germs.

As my sister had shared before, I work as a preschool educator. Working in an environment filled with germs earlier this month, I fell sick. I lost my voice; my lungs were filled with phlegm and my throat was inflamed.

While on medical leave, I thought about how we tend to fall sick because our body’s immunity has been compromised and we have been exposed to germs in the air. I started thinking, then, how do people get diagnosed with cancer because, unlike the flu bug, cancer cells are not airborne.

According to NCIS, men and women 50 years and above, people with a family history of colon cancer/colon polyps and people with a history of inflammatory bowel diseases tend to be at risk for colon cancer. My sister was 23 years old when she was diagnosed with colon cancer.

She was not considered to be someone who was at risk of colon cancer but yet she was still diagnosed with colon cancer.

So what happened or what went wrong? How did the cancer cells in her body start to grow in her body, attacking her colon at a young age?

Up till today, her medical team then could not give us an answer on how her body started to develop cancer cells at a young age. This April, it will be the seventh year since she passed away, and this December, it will be the tenth year since she was diagnosed with cancer.

For the past ten years, I kept wondering on several occasions why and how the cancer cells appeared in her body especially when cancer cells are not airborne. Was it the food that she ate? Was it her lifestyle? My sister led a pretty healthy lifestyle and  I doubt it was her food intake.

Since her diagnosis in 2015, I came across several different individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer at different points of their lives.

The youngest cancer patient that I know would be my ex-student, Child H. Child H was diagnosed with cancer in 2020, and he was only 3 years old. Child H would constantly complain about having stomach pains and was having a fever off and on for two weeks before he was admitted. While admitted, the doctors conducted several tests and found growth and suspected it was a tumour. Child H was then diagnosed with Neuroblastoma – stage 4 as it spread to his bone marrow and bones. The last that I am aware of, Child H is still battling cancer till today. I taught Child H when he was 2 years old, he may be cheeky and mischievous, but he was a bright child.  Similar to my sister, I could not understand how the cancer cells appeared in Child H’s stomach.

Recently while scrolling Instagram, I saw a story of a friend (let’s call this friend – Feather) being admitted to a hospital and had just completed a major surgery.  I found it a bit odd that Feather was admitted to the hospital even though I have not met Feather recently, but based on his pictures and Instagram stories he seems to be enjoying life and everything seems ok. I contemplated if I should drop Feather a text and send my regards, but I did not want to seem like that ‘busybody’ friend.

A few days passed before I sent Feather a text message and checked that he was fine. While we were texting and catching up with each other, I found out that Feather had surgery to remove a tumour. I was shocked, I didn’t know how to react.

“How could it be? You look fine and you are not shredding hair, nor is there any change in your skin pigment”

Feather and I have a few mutual friends and one of our mutual friends said a similar statement to my sister when she found out that my sister was diagnosed with colon cancer.  I wiped my tears away before I replied Feather and asked “How did you find out and if I may ask what stage is it?”

Feather replied “I found out during a routine full body check that my company organised for all full time staff”  Feather also shared that there wasn’t any symptoms at all. During the routine body check, the General Practitioner felt that there was a lump in the abdomen and was sent for an ultrasound immediately. During the check, the doctors also identified that Feather’s CA19 – 9 level was as high as 600+. CA19 – 9 is marker is associated with cancer in the colon, stomach and bile duct. Elevated levels of CA 19-9 may indicate advanced cancer in the pancreas but it is also associated with noncancerous  conditions such as gallstones or pancreatitis.  Feather was then diagnosed with Stage 1A pancreatic cancer.

Reflecting on Feather, Child H and my sister’s experiences with cancer, it led me to wonder what if we all were born with cancer cells in our body? Unlike my sister whom had some symptoms earlier on , Child H and Feather did not have any symptoms at all.

What if we all were born with xxx number of cancer cells in our body, and these cancer cells were like little time bombs in our body. We do not know when or how, but one day, it will explode and slowly start to form a tumour on one of our organs. 

I guess, we will never know if we are born with xxx number of cancer cells, but it is a possibility that we cannot rule out. The scary part about being born with cancer cells in our bodies is that we do not know when these cells will start to grow and form malignant tumours in our bodies.  

It’s scarier when the tumours are growing in our bodies, yet we are still living our lives as normal, unaware of the presence of the tumour. When my sister started showing symptoms, she was living her life as per normal, going to work as per normal and travelling around the world. Child H was enjoying school like a normal three-year-old when he was diagnosed, and Feather, on the other hand, was adapting to parenthood when he was diagnosed.

Cancer is like a terrorist attack from within. We live our lives knowing that the threat of cancer exists theoretically, but we are not thinking about it, till the day that our lives changed. Just like a terrorist attack, once it happens, cancer will change the way we live for the rest of our lives.

We will never know if we were all born with cancer cells in our bodies, however, we can take ownership of our own lives and start going for frequent full-body check-ups. Full body check-ups are not cheap but trust me the cost of a full body check-up is 1/50 of the total cost of cancer treatment.

It’s been 10 years since my sister was diagnosed with cancer and 10 years since my life changed and I started being more comfortable talking about cancer. My heart aches, each time I find out that someone I know has been diagnosed with cancer (regardless of the age of the patient). My sister didn’t have the chance to get a full body check-up, she only found out about cancer when she went to the emergency department because she puked everything that she consumed including water. (If you have not read about her cancer journey, you may search for the post ‘Hello My Name’s Kimberley and I’ve Cancer’

She didn’t have the chance to continue to educate patients that they were never too young to have cancer, but she left me (she didn’t have much of a choice because I am her only sister) with a huge responsibility to upkeep this blog.

Though I have lost my sister to cancer, I’m still thankful that due to early detection, Child H and Feather are still alive till today.


However, their experiences with cancer will always serve as a reminder that we should not take our lives for granted.

Up till today, it still hurts, and I cry each time I write a new post, but I hope that the readers out there will start scheduling a full body check-up because we will never know if we are all born with cancer cells in our body.

Regardless of the results of your full body check-up, I hope you will continue to live boldly.