From Leukemia to Triumph: The Unstoppable Dancer Who Defied Cancer at 17
▲ “Barbie”, the dancer’s mother in “Beautiful 40 Road”, was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 17 and was forced to drop out of school. Fortunately, she overcame the disease and learned to walk again, and established a happy family of four.
[Beautiful 40 Road/Chen Yiwen/Barbie/ViuTV/Anti-Cancer Warrior/Leukemia/Ballet Dancer]Chen Yiwen (Barbie) has been passionate about dance since she was a child, and dreamed of entering a performing arts academy. However, fate played a huge joke when she was 17 years old. She was diagnosed with hemorrhagic cancer, which completely changed her life. After going through a difficult course of chemotherapy, she not only had to face physical transformation, but also had to learn to walk again. This experience made her think deeply about the meaning of life, and by participating in “Beautiful 40 Roads”, she hopes to help more young people facing difficulties and convey hope and courage.
Beautiful 40 RoadBarbie｜Childhood dance dream
Barbie has been learning ballet since she was 3 years old. Dancing not only gave the little girl with no self-confidence a sense of success, but also helped her find her life goals. “Every time I take the exam, I get good results. Especially when I was in Grade 6, I even got 100 points. It made me think that I should develop in this area, so I have always dreamed of entering the Academy of Performing Arts and becoming a dancer after taking the exam. Member.” In a twist of fate, the 17-year-old middle school fifth-year-old was forced to drop out of school and battled the disease for two years.
▲ After Barbie entered the Academy of Performing Arts, she found that she was not suitable for this environment. The daily pressure made her become more and more fat, and finally decided to give up dancing and choose to become a stewardess. (Photo by Yue Linglong)
Beautiful 40 RoadBarbie｜Facing the fragility of life
One day, I suddenly developed a high fever reaching over 40 degrees, and many lymph nodes appeared in my neck. At that time, both private and government doctors said that I was fine and advised my mother to take me home to rest. Some doctors even mistakenly thought that I was making excuses to skip school. But fortunately, my mother insisted and let me be hospitalized for a full-body examination.
A white car took Barbie to Pao Yukong Hospital. She described that she underwent multiple tests that night, but she only remembered Chen’s mother’s sad face. “Because my ears were bleeding non-stop, the doctor suspected that I might have cancer cells,” she said. It has already hit the brain, so my mother was so scared that she burst into tears. Fortunately, the report said that it was only at the intermediate-risk stage, and you can see if the medicine is rejected. If not, you can continue to treat it.” And she was eventually diagnosed with blood cancer (leukemia). It was a huge blow to their whole family.
Beautiful 40 RoadBarbie｜The imprint left by the treatment
Barbie described that period as really difficult. She went through three phases of chemotherapy. She could still walk in the first two phases, but her hair loss was very serious. “A classmate of mine who loves haircuts suggested that she might as well just shave her hair and cut off her long hair. Donate to those in need.” She spent several years wearing the wig. The chemotherapy process was very painful for Barbie. She often needed injections and even bone marrow extractions. Even though it was painful, she still had to persevere because Barbie knew she had to defeat the disease to survive.
The doctor used a particularly thick needle to perform a bone puncture examination, inserting the needles on both sides of the back of the pelvis. This process left two hole-like scars.
During this period of treatment, Barbie said that one time she had a rejection reaction to the medicine. Her whole body became cold and her lips turned blue, which made Chen’s mother very worried. “The smell of the chemotherapy medicine was also very unpleasant. I could only use lemon to cover up the smell.” These experiences have left a lasting impression on me, but they have also made me stronger.”
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Beautiful 40 RoadBarbie｜Patients pass away one after another
Barbie stayed in the children’s ward of the hospital for a year, during which she could only travel back and forth between home and the hospital because her immune system was very weak. “Every day I wake up, the patients in the same room leave one after another. The youngest is only a few years old. Although it is very painful, it makes me cherish life more.” Fortunately, Barbie finally defeated the disease, and she said it was all thanks to Mom’s persistence and medical staff’s care.
▲ After Chen Yiwen recovered from cancer, he realized that his younger brother had been ignored by his family and felt very guilty. (Photo by Yue Linglong)
Beautiful 40 RoadBarbie｜Re-learning can’t keep up with the progress
After more than a year of chemotherapy, Barbie can finally go home, but that doesn’t mean everything is back to normal. The side effects of the treatment left her so weak that she even had to learn to walk again. Another incident also made Barbie feel very guilty. Because of her illness, her brother lost the care he deserved. “After returning home, the doctor was worried that the germs in the animals would pose a threat to my health, so we had to give away the puppy that had been accompanying my brother.” This incident made my brother very sad, and he was bullied by his classmates because of his bad mood. . It wasn’t until one day that a parent told Chen’s mother that Barbie’s younger brother was beaten at school. At that moment, she realized that the whole family had neglected her younger brother. However, he was sensible and never complained.
For someone who had dreamed of becoming a dancer, this was a huge blow.
Barbie wears a wig and goes back to her old school Chinese Holiness Church Ling Feng Secondary School
As she continued to study, she felt the support and care from her classmates and teachers, who especially felt warm when they prayed for her every day. However, due to long-term treatment, Barbie’s academic performance has not been able to keep up. Every time she takes an exam, she feels very stressed. She was even hospitalized due to a fever during the exam. In the end, she would get a zero score.
▲ During the interview, Barbie often mentioned Nuluozai’s name on her lips. (provided by interviewee)
Beautiful 40 RoadBarbie｜Change runway, get married and have children
After the treatment, Barbie needed follow-up visits every six months. The doctor told me that she would be considered truly recovered if there was no recurrence within seven years. During this period, I kept practicing walking and slowly recovered my walking ability. No matter how hard she tried, she could not return to her previous state and could no longer dance as before.
She resumed dancing with her mother’s encouragement, but after entering the Academy of Performing Arts, she found that she was not suitable for this environment. The daily pressure made her become more and more fat, and finally decided to give up dancing and choose to become a stewardess. “I worked as a flight attendant for eight years. During my career as a flight attendant, I got married, gave birth to children, and became the mother of two children.” However, postpartum depression and claustrophobia prevented her from continuing to work, and she eventually quit her job as a flight attendant. Position.
Fortunately, my husband is a great teammate. He can take care of two children by himself, such as bathing, changing movies, cooking, etc. I firmly believe that not every man can do this.
Beautiful 40 RoadBarbie | Spreading hope through beauty pageants
During this period, Barbie began to think about the meaning of life, so she shared her anti-cancer story with everyone by participating in “Beautiful 40 Road”, hoping to help more young people facing difficulties and tell them not to give up easily. Because as long as you persist, you will be able to overcome difficulties.
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