In October 2025, Emily Koh was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer.
Though she could feel herself growing physically weaker, she didn’t let it dampen her love for travel.
In a Facebook post on Monday (April 27), the 62-year-old shared a series of photos from her recent trip to Chiang Rai, where she posed with monuments such as Wat Rong Khun.
“Can a cancer patient travel? Should a cancer patient look a certain way? Bald? Haggard? Confined to a sterile hospital bed? No. They can be vibrant; they can laugh until their sides ache; they can hike, and they can see the world,” she wrote.
Emily shared that before the illness, travel was her “soul’s language” and something she enjoyed greatly.
However, chemotherapy left her physically debilitated.
Even the simple act of breathing became a luxury I couldn’t always afford,” Emily shared. “Rowing, hiking, skating — the things that once made me feel alive — slipped into the realm of the impossible.”
She added during that period, she was “swallowed by a tide of” grief, confusion and anxiety.
But Emily didn’t want to let the illness win.
“Then came the day I simply refused to stay down. I wanted out,” she said.
Bit by bit, she pushed herself to move and walk more, beginning within her neighbourhood.
“One lap, then another. I just kept walking — walking past the ‘death countdown’ of those first few months, walking through the agonising wall of chemotherapy resistance, walking all the way to this very moment,” she said.
Finally, she mustered up enough strength to go on a trip to Chiang Rai.
“I never thought I’d travel again. I never thought I’d truly make it.
“But as I sat in a garden recently, huffing and puffing with every strained breath, I made a silent vow to the Reaper: ‘Don’t you dare give me an opening. As long as there is a single breath left in my lungs, I will wait for you to blink — and then I will strike back. I will show you exactly what the power of life looks like’,” she wrote.
Despite overcoming the odds, Emily still misses what her life was like before being consumed by illness.
In another post on April 25, she talked about missing how convenient travel used to be before her diagnosis.
“I miss the ease of waking up somewhere new and simply walking out the door — no pills to sort, no careful planning, no quiet calculations about what my body can handle,” she wrote.
“Now, every trip feels like a negotiation. I move slower, think more, rest often. This lingering infection has changed how I travel — but it hasn’t taken it away.”
Despite her limitations, she chooses to view her situation in a different light.
“Travel has become smaller. Softer. A short walk instead of a long journey. One good moment instead of many,” she said.
“And somehow, in choosing less, I notice more — the light, the laughter, the quiet truth that I made it here. Some days, just staying afloat feels like enough.”
Speaking to AsiaOne, Emily said she learned she had cancer on Oct 16, 2025, after two weeks of stomach cramps.
That day, she had visited the polyclinic for a check-up, but by evening, her blood test results prompted doctors to rush her to Singapore General Hospital’s Emergency Department, where she was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer.
“Finding out about the cancer was a shock that left me feeling deeply sad. Going from a simple check-up to a stage 3 diagnosis in a single day is a lot for the heart to hold,” she said.
Emily was hospitalised and required surgery, but due to internal inflammation, the procedure was postponed until Nov 13, 2025.
After undergoing surgery, Emily had a few rough weeks.
“The road to recovery after my surgery was far more difficult than I ever imagined. I spent a week in the Intensive Care Unit struggling with high carbon dioxide levels, followed by a severe wound infection caused by malnutrition that kept me hospitalised until Dec 12, 2025,” she recounted.
Just when she thought that she could finally go home to rest, a pseudoaneurysm forced her back into the hospital for another surgery on Boxing Day (Dec 26, 2025).
She ended her 2025 by starting her first round of chemotherapy on Dec 31.
“A difficult end to the year, but a necessary step forward,” she said.
In February this year, she received a stage 4 diagnosis.
“It was a turning point. Instead of letting it hold me back, I decided it was time to truly embrace life,” said Emily.
Wanting to live the rest of her days to the fullest, she quit her full-time job as an accountant and planned a few overseas trips.
She started with a four-day trip to Genting for a concert.
“It was exactly the soul-nourishing experience I needed. That trip built up my confidence to keep going — next is a journey to Chiang Mai, and after that, I’m setting my sights on China,” she said.
Emily shared that her trips to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai were a lesson in slow living.
“Over six days, I prioritised my peace, taking the time to enjoy every meal and every mountain view. This pace allowed me to connect with the culture in a way that felt meaningful and restorative. It was exactly the kind of travel my soul needed.”
Despite enjoying her trips, Emily did run into some challenges, with the main one being managing her energy levels and staying well-hydrated.
“Because my body is more sensitive now, I had to be much more intentional about what I ate and how far I walked,” she shared.
“It required a bit more planning and selectivity than in the past, but it was absolutely worth the effort to feel well enough to soak in the incredible views of Chiang Mai.”
Emily urges other cancer patients not to give up on life despite the pain.
“Don’t stop living while you are fighting. After my diagnosis, I realised that I still wanted to see the world. Whether it’s a concert in Genting or a trip to Chiang Mai, find what brings you light and go after it,” she said.
“We may have to move at a slower pace and be more selective about what we eat or how far we walk, but those moments of joy are what keep us going.”
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