Moneeze Bernardo
- Lung cancer survivor shares inspiring journey to become a doctor on his Facebook account
- Albien Gacias dreamt of becoming a doctor due to his deceased mother and brother
- After undergoing treatment, Gacias returned back to school and studied medicine in 2013
It appears that the #10YearChallenge on social media did not just inspire netizens to share hilarious throwbacks of themselves but to also share uplifting and inspirational experiences online.
One such story is from this cancer survivor who is now a board passer of the Physicians Licensure Examination.
Albien Emmanuel Gacias, 30, wrote on his Facebook post last March 14: “10 years ago ang pinagdadasal ko lang naman ay ang gumaling, wala akong idea na gagawin mo pala akong instrumento para ako naman ang makapagpagaling ng iba.”
A nursing student at the time, Gacias shared his photo in 2008 when he was diagnosed with malignant germ cell tumor, a kind of lung cancer, at the age of 20. Beside him was a recent photo of him wearing a white coat, after passing the board exam last March 3.
He dedicated his success to his deceased loved ones: his mother who succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 2006, and to his brother, who passed away due to an accident in the same year.
Gacias started dreaming of becoming a doctor due to his mother’s illness, which only heightened when he found out that he would be suffering a different form of the disease later on.
He is the eldest in the family and takes care of his four siblings while his father works abroad. He then stopped studying for two years and underwent lobectomy—a surgery to remove part of his lung. With the help of their relatives, Gacias underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He said he lost all of his hair while being treated.
“Ang naisip ko lang po that time ay mag-stop ng studies ko and yung mga brothers ko, kasi I’m the eldest in the family,” he told ABS-CBN News in an online interview.
After undergoing treatment, Gacias returned back to school even while still recovering. He still had regular appointments with the doctor to monitor if there will be a recurrence of the cancer cells.
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“Yung hair ko tumutubo na ulit siya. I tried to be healthy by playing lawn tennis,” Gacias shared. “At first po sobrang mahirap, pero at the end of the day mas lalo akong sinipag mag-aral kasi mas lalo kong na-value ang life.”
With the help of his uncles and aunts, Gacias was able to study medicine in 2013 at the University of Perpetual Help System in Las Piñas. Now, he is among the 1,209 new doctors in the country.
“Sobrang amazing mo Lord! Thank you! I am now licensed to heal,” he proudly declared in his post.
When asked by Rappler for his message to fellow cancer survivors, he said: “Kahit gaano pa kahirap ang mga pinagdaraanan natin, just keep going. And if ever you feel sad, puwede kang umiyak. If napapagod ka, just pause and rest. Basta ‘wag kang susuko at tuloy ang laban. Magtiwala tayo sa plan ni God para sa ‘tin.”
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The cancer survivor also reminded physicians-to-be to study well and to focus on their goals no matter how trying it becomes.
“Magtiwala lang tayo kay Lord…Wag po tayong mawalan ng pag-asa, laban lang everyday,” he said.
The newly licensed doctor’s Facebook post has since gone viral with over 30,000 reactions and 10,000 shares.
