To mark International Women's Day on March 8, AsiaOne will be spotlighting inspiring women from different walks of life.
Remembering videos she'd come across online on breast cancer and the importance of early detection, she wondered if it could possibly be "something serious". "I thought that if the cancer was terminal and I can't be cured, I would start my own brand," Jamie tells us of her long-held dream. Even when the cancer diagnosis was delivered, Jamie's tears didn't fall. Neither did she feel soul-crushing despair nor the sensation of walls closing in. Instead, she kept looking to her mum, who remained in a state of disbelief.
Only when Jamie was hospitalised — for the first time in her life — last April as a result of abdominal swelling and other side effects from the egg-retrieval procedure did she finally allow the tears to flow. "Because I always prank my friends, one of them got suspicious. I was also laughing at his reaction, so he thought it must be a joke," Jamie remarks with a laugh.Wanting to create precious memories was also why Jamie rounded up her best friends for a special photoshoot.
On the one hand, she thought about others who, like her, may have also found "something abnormal with their bodies", and needed that extra push to seek help early. "When I receive these kinds of emails it actually makes me happy, so that is my joy from sharing," says Jamie."I'm someone who always worries a lot for nothing. And this was the most concrete example that you just have to do it and don't worry too much, because sometimes the things that you worry about don't happen."There are some things, however, that Jamie still finds difficult to share.
Throughout the process, the three friends whom she has known since secondary school kept her spirits up with encouraging words. Doctors had told Jamie that with the gene mutation, there could be "an 80 per cent chance" of cancer recurring in her other breast, which sealed her decision. Other more subtle changes include how she no longer focuses on her weight. "Last time if I put on one or two kilos, I'd go on diet. Now as long as I can eat well, I'm OK."