KUALA TERENGGANU - A former cancer patient shared the bitter story of being divorced by her husband because she lost one breast after undergoing surgery to prevent the disease from spreading seven years ago.
The 54-year-old woman, who only wanted to be known as Mimi, said that the decision to remove the breast was following doctor's recommendation because at the time she was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
However, the decision taken was against the wishes of her then husband who wanted her to use traditional medical methods.
"I agreed with the advice of the doctor who asked me to undergo surgery to prevent cancer cells from spreading. However, my husband at the time did not want me to remove my breast.
"Even when he didn't allow it, I still went ahead with the surgery because for me trying to save lives is more important," she said when met by reporters after the presentation of Advance Support Assistance for the Family Support Division (BSK) of the Terengganu Syariah Justice Department here, on Thursday.
Mimi claimed that her husband, who was angry with her actions, filed for divorce after she underwent the surgery.
"Before the divorce, he once said that people with breast cancer like me can only live for a year.
"I said death and marriage are all at the will of Allah SWT. I am grateful, after seven years of surgery, I am still breathing," she said.
She added that she also suffered from several other illnesses including depression due to emotional stress from her ex-husband.
The mother of four now lives with her second child and admitted that her life was calmer after the divorce.
Meanwhile, another 47-year-old woman claimed that her ex-husband was negligent in paying child support for their three children and was in arrears of up to RM10,000.
"For child support, only RM300 a month. The rest I take care of it myself because when we got divorced, the children were still small.
"RM300 is not enough to cover living costs including sending the children to nursery. But even that he (ex-husband) cannot pay.
"I am reminded of the painful test that I have to go through as a single mother. I am grateful because my children are grown up. They are all in high school and I have built a life with my new husband," she said.