Workers from the Philippines choose to stay in the UAE, despite being far from family, because the treatment is better and they can continue to earn a living.
One Abu Dhabi doctor said 98 percent of his expat patients who have breast cancer choose to stay.
DUBAI: Dazed and completely daunted, Sharon listened to the muffled words of the doctor informing her that she had Stage 3 breast cancer. “Why only now?” the doctor asked repeatedly, as images of her two young boys flashed before her.
It did not seem possible. With no family history of breast cancer or habits that would place her at risk of developing the disease, she had believed her health was fine. Then one afternoon, while she was in the cafeteria at the university where she worked, a pain shot from her armpit to her breast. Terrified, Sharon booked into a clinic for a consultation.
During the 10-day wait for the results of her tests to come back, the pain got worse by the day. Then came the diagnosis: Advanced stage breast cancer that might have already invaded lymph nodes and muscles beyond the tumor site.
Sharon, a single mother from the Philippines, had moved to the UAE in 2006 to teach at a university in Sharjah, leaving her children to be cared for by others who could provide them with a better life, in common with many others from her country who have chosen to support their families through working abroad.
Yet the strain of being away from family becomes even more intense for those with a chronic illnesses who face hospital appointments alone, sitting in waiting rooms without a familiar hand to squeeze.
Even so, when faced with the difficult choice of staying in the Gulf or returning home for treatment, many expats choose to stay. Sharon was no exception.
