SINGAPORE: Each time he sets off on his regular Sunday morning walk with friends, Mr Ellil Mathiyan makes sure to bring along a small backpack filled with several necessities, including a bottle of water and a face towel.
But instead of packing an energy bar for that added boost, he stashes something more essential – an extra stoma bag.
“I can always steal some food from the others!” he told Channel NewsAsia with a laugh.
A rectal cancer survivor, Mr Mathiyan has had to rely on the stoma bag to collect his stools through an artificially created hole in his abdomen since an operation seven years ago. He has to wear a bag for the rest of his life, and carries an extra piece with him daily in case of emergencies.
But that doesn’t get in the way of the sprightly 59-year-old, who walks an average of 10km a day, swims regularly, goes dragon-boating and counts line-dancing as well as zumba among his other regular activities.
“When I tell people I have a stoma bag, they say ‘are you sure? You must be kidding’,” said Mr Mathiyan.
Mr Mathiyan, along with 16 others, will next month trek a combined 1,700km in the Gobi Desert to raise funds for the Singapore Cancer Society.
“It is about challenging myself. I will be 60 next year, so if not now then when? I still have all my faculties about me and I’m fit. And of course, it’s for a good cause – raising money for cancer – which is a big part of what I do,” added Mr Mathiyan.
Mr Ellil Mathiyan exercises on a regular basis. (Photo: Ellil Mathiyan)
Mr Mathiyan has dedicated much of his time to helping those struggling with cancer. He is a volunteer leader in the Colorectal Cancer Support Group at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), chairman of the Semi-Colons Support Group at the Singapore Cancer Society, as well as one of the founding members of the Ostomy Association of Singapore, a non-profit organisation that also provides support for people with similar conditions.
“Whatever I’m doing now, it gives me sense of fulfillment,” he added. “It is as important to me as it is going to be for whoever I’m helping. There’s also some ‘selfish aspect’ to what I’m doing. I feel good doing these things – it’s a big part of my life that I do this.”
So committed to the cause is Mr Mathiyan, a manager at a metal recycling company, that he turned down a full-time position at the firm he currently works at, in order to spend more time volunteering.
“I said I really wanted to do this so I couldn’t do a full-time job,” he said. “My employer, who is also one of my friends, noticed this change in me. He said that I’m looking a lot happier and that I’m enjoying my life. And so he understood, and agreed readily to it.”
BOUNCING BACK FROM A ‘TRIPLE WHAMMY’
Mr Mathiyan, who was diagnosed with rectal and testicular cancer in 2011, has vivid memories of his cancer journey.
Mr Ellil Mathiyan handing out supplies to members of the Gobi trek team. (Photo: Matthew Mohan)
“There was initial shock, numbness and devastation, after the doctor told me the news,” he said. “But what else was there to do? I chose to stay positive and I knew that would help my recovery.
“Most people ask ‘Why me?’ I couldn’t – because I checked all the boxes. I smoked, I drank, I had an unhealthy lifestyle, I was overweight. There was nobody to blame. I had friends who led absolutely healthy lifestyles and had cancer. Then they could ask ‘Why me?'”
Mr Mathiyan had to undergo surgery to remove the cancerous tumor along with his rectum. It was during a pre-surgery scan that doctors noticed a lump on the right side of his groin.
“The che urologist came in and said ‘There’s a lump there, it looks pretty suspicious, do you want us to remove it?’ At that point they didn’t know that it was malignant or cancerous – it was just a lump,” Mr Mathiyan noted.
“I said why not? You buy one, you get one free.”
Days after the successful surgery came the bad news. The lump was malignant.
“My immediate reaction wasn’t as bad as the first time but I felt like a triple whammy had hit me – having the rectal cancer, a stoma, and now I have testicular cancer.”
Twenty-eight sessions of radiation treatment and eight cycles of chemotherapy later, Mr Mathiyan said the doctors declared him cancer-free in late December 2011.
Mr Ellil Mathiyan demonstrates how to attach part of the stoma bag. (Photo: Matthew Mohan)
“The treatment messes up your system. There’s lethargy, irritability, diarrhoea and so on,” Mr Mathiyan recalled. “The only thing good about the colorectal cancer drug is that it doesn’t make you lose your hair. But of course, I didn’t have an issue before that,” he said with a wry grin.
He added: “Relief was the overriding emotion when I was told I was cancer-free. Relief also because I didn’t have to undergo the treatment anymore and (feel) the side effects.”
Mr Mathiyan attributes a large part of his recovery to support from the people around him – his wife and a best friend – as well as his employer.
The “turning point” during the journey though, Mr Mathiyan said, was his discovering of the support groups, first from the UK and then in SGH.
“Number one, I was not alone. Number two, I also realised that there are a lot of people out there who need help,” he said.
The Gobi trek marks yet another chance for Mr Mathiyan to give back.
Part of the Beyond Limits: Braving 1000km of Brutal Gobi Climate for Cancer team. (Photo: Scott Tay)
Organised by expedition leader Scott Tay, the founder of boutique travel agency Beyond Expeditions SG, the group will spend six days trekking a section of Asia’s second-largest desert.
The group is made up of cancer survivors, caregivers, SCS charity athletes and other individuals from all walks of life. They aim to raise S$100,000 for the SCS.
While it has been almost seven and a half years since he was diagnosed, there still remains a possibility of a relapse, said Mr Mathiyan. “I don’t know if it is going to come back – it might. I am mentally prepared. If it comes, we will deal with it.
“Right now, there is an element of uncertainty as to how long I’m going to live,” he added. “So every new day becomes very important – every day that I wake up is a bonus. So what am I going to do with the rest of the time that I have? I can just live, do whatever I want to do and have fun. Or I can reach out to people and do something very useful.”
And that is what Mr Mathiyan aims to do in the Gobi Desert with the rest of the team – one step at a time.
