Indonesian Mother SAIDAH Beats Breast Cancer and Lymph Node Relapse

“After years fighting breast cancer and a lymph node relapse, precise minimally invasive treatment helped me regain arm strength and hope. Never give up on yourself.” — SAIDAH, Indonesia

SAIDAH is a 55-year-old mother from Indonesia who has now spent almost a decade confronting breast cancer. Long before she became a patient known for her courage, she was a mother-to-be forced to choose between her own treatment and the safety of the twins she was carrying. That choice, and the years of treatment that followed at St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, eventually led to her recovery.

An Impossible Choice: Her Own Health or Her Unborn Twins

Back in 2016, SAIDAH noticed a lump forming in her left breast and went for a medical check-up. The examination pointed to a malignant tumor — devastating news that arrived at the same time she was expecting twins. She suddenly found herself weighing two things that mattered most: her own health and the safe development of her babies.

Fearing that cancer treatment might harm the twins’ growth, SAIDAH and her husband made the difficult decision to postpone any medical intervention. Not long after, she safely delivered both children.

By 2018, the lump in her left breast had grown larger, and the skin over it had begun to break down and cause pain. A follow-up examination at a local hospital confirmed breast cancer. The shock nearly overwhelmed her — thoughts of her twins, her husband, and the rest of her family left her in tears for days. Yet it was that same family who became her source of strength, encouraging her to stand back up and face the disease head-on.

SAIDAH sought treatment at hospitals in both Jakarta and Malaysia, where doctors recommended a mastectomy. Uneasy about undergoing such extensive surgery, she and her husband began researching alternative options online. That search eventually led them to the minimally invasive treatment approach offered at St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou. After a remote consultation — supported throughout by an interpreter — in which the hospital’s medical team explained her condition and the principles behind minimally invasive therapy, the couple decided to travel abroad for treatment.

A First Victory Through Precise, Minimally Invasive Care

SAIDAH arrived at the hospital with her husband in September 2018. Detailed testing revealed that the tumor in her left breast measured approximately 12 by 7.5 centimeters, and she was diagnosed with stage IIIc breast cancer (ypT4N2M0) — a condition requiring urgent treatment.

A multidisciplinary team (MDT) of specialists designed a combined treatment strategy: interventional drug infusion together with cryotherapy to target and destroy the tumor tissue directly, to be followed later by a modified radical mastectomy of the left breast with axillary lymph node dissection and radiotherapy to fully clear the cancer.

• Interventional therapy: anti-cancer medication is delivered directly into the artery supplying blood to the tumor, allowing the drug to act precisely on cancerous tissue.
• Cryotherapy (argon-helium knife ablation): the tumor tissue is rapidly frozen into ice, rupturing cancer cell membranes and destroying the tumor from within.

According to the treating physician, Dr. Zhao, the combination of interventional therapy, cryotherapy, and radiotherapy gradually shrank SAIDAH’s tumor while easing the pain in her breast. By the time of her 2019 review, the 12 by 7.5-centimeter mass had completely disappeared — marking her first major win in the fight against cancer.

Returning After the Pandemic to Face a New Setback

Had regular follow-up visits continued as planned, SAIDAH’s cancer could likely have remained under control. However, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented her from traveling back to the hospital, forcing her to rely on local treatment in Indonesia. Because her heart could not tolerate high medication doses, local doctors were limited in how aggressively they could treat her, and her condition did not improve as hoped.

During this period, SAIDAH began experiencing intermittent pain in her left arm, which eventually progressed to a complete loss of movement. As soon as travel restrictions eased in China, she reached out to the hospital’s Jakarta office to arrange a follow-up visit as quickly as possible.

She and her husband returned to the hospital in June 2023. A repeat PET-CT scan uncovered a new metastatic tumor within the muscle group of her left armpit, leading to a diagnosis of secondary malignant lymph node disease. The affected lymph nodes were compressing the nerves in her left arm, leaving it paralyzed with a muscle strength rating of 0 (on a 0–5 scale, where higher numbers indicate greater strength). The one piece of encouraging news was that her breast itself remained clear on review.

Following a thorough evaluation, the MDT team devised a new treatment plan combining interventional therapy with particle implantation to address the lymph node metastasis.

Regaining Strength and Renewed Hope

Over the course of this second round of treatment, the pain in SAIDAH’s arm eased considerably and her range of motion improved noticeably — she regained the ability to lift her arm outward. Subsequent reviews showed the malignant lymph node tumor was well controlled, and the strength in her left arm improved from grade 0 to grade 3. Witnessing this progress, SAIDAH and her husband felt reassured that they had chosen the right hospital for her care.

Gratitude for Her Medical Team and a Message to Fellow Patients

“Seeing my body slowly recover and improve gives me more and more confidence to keep fighting,” SAIDAH shared when reflecting on her treatment journey. She expressed deep appreciation for the doctors and nurses who cared for her with patience and warmth, making her feel like part of a family — especially Dr. Zhao and the interpreter who supported her throughout. She also noted how the comfortable hospital environment allowed her to focus on recovery without added worry.

To other patients walking a similar path, SAIDAH offers this message: “On the road to fighting cancer, the most important thing is not to give up on yourself, to trust your doctor, and to have confidence in yourself.”