Viral Jakbar woman gets lung cancer in her 20s, at first just complaining about the flu

Jakarta –

The viral story of a woman in West Jakarta who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, even when she was not yet 30 years old. Jennifer Kencana only realized that something was wrong with her lung condition after she complained that several symptoms were not getting better.

“At first I had a cold, but then after the flu subsided, my right chest started to hurt when I took a deep breath,” he told detikcom on Tuesday (8/10/2024).

“The pain doesn’t go away,” said Jennifer, stressing that the diagnosis was received in June 2024.

The 28-year-old woman admitted that the doctor’s diagnosis surprised her because she felt that she was not an active or passive smoker. However, doctors emphasized at that time that there were several factors that could trigger lung cancer, including genetic history.

“And I happened to be genetic,” he said.

Jennifer’s life has changed since she was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. The doctor even said that the growing cancer cells had spread to other parts of the body.

“My life has changed since June 2024, I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and it has spread to the spine and thigh and there is fluid in the lungs, amounting to more than 1 liter, I cannot believe at all. I got to know this at the age of 30 years,” he continued.

Jennifer then underwent standard radiotherapy and intensive treatment to remove lung fluid and also underwent targeted therapy. According to him, those times were exhausting.

He could hardly move his body until several nurses had to carry him.

“Because what I knew at that time was that my body was very sick, short of breath.”

“My radiotherapy journey did not always end smoothly because there were several times when my body was in so much pain that I could not move and could not stand the pain, and so the action was finally suspended,” he said.

It is thankful that, in the past few months, it has gradually improved. Jennifer can return to her activities even if she is restricted from doing strenuous activities.

“But now I use targeted therapy for lung cancer, so I take medicine every day. There is no chemotherapy,” he said.

After being diagnosed with lung cancer, Jennifer was only allowed to eat chicken and fish. He was asked to avoid all grilled and fried foods.

(naf/kna)