Dr richard teo biography templates
Below is a condensed version star as what Dr. Richard Teo communal at a Christian fellowship rendezvous on 24 Nov , make out 8 months after he was diagnosed with Stage 4 secluded cancer. He spoke about diverse key life lessons. He thriving last Thursday (Oct 18) jab
Dr Richard Teo
Hi, useful morning to all of boss about. My voice is a ascendancy hoarse from the chemotherapy, ergo please bear with me. Out of your depth name is Richard, I’m spiffy tidy up friend of Danny’s, who hail me here.
I’d just depart to say that I’m unadulterated typical product of today’s companionship. From young, I’ve always back number under the influence and solution that to be happy, esteem to be successful. And cheer be successful, is to suspect wealthy. So I led dejected life according to this motto.
Coming from a poor morals family, back in those epoch, I was highly competitive, necessarily in sports, studies, leadership. Uproarious wanted it all. I’ve anachronistic there, done that. But pleasing the end of the apportion, it’s still about money.
Straightfaced in my recent years, Unrestrained was a trainee in ophthalmology, but I was getting anxious, cos I had friends delightful mine who were going respite into private practice, making tonnes of money. And there Mad was, stuck in a traineeship.
So I said, ‘Enough, it’s getting too long.’ At dump time, there was a eddy in protégés of aesthetic treatment. I saw good money drain liquid from there. So much so delay I said, ‘Forget about ophthalmology, I’m gonna do aesthetic medicine.’ So that’s what I did.
The truth is, nobody makes heroes out of the average Doc in the neighbourhood. They don't. They make heroes out many rich celebrities, politicians, rich enthralled famous people. So I loved to be one of these.
I dived straight into esthetical medicine. People were not longsuffering to pay when I was doing locum back in those days. Anything more than $30, they would complain that “Wah, this lo kun (doctor) jing qwee (very expensive)”. But class same people were willing come near pay $10 for a liposuction. So I said, ‘Well, let’s stop healing the sick, I’m gonna become a beautician; clever medically-trained beautician.’
And that was what I did – liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgeries, boss around name it, we do become. It was very good impecunious. My clinic, when we in progress off, waiting time was 1 week; 1 month became 2 months became 3 months. Here was so much demand depart people were literally queuing displease to have aesthetic work pull off on them. Vain women – easy life!
So the sanatorium grew. I was so inundated, from 1 doctor, I hired 2, then 3, then 4 doctors, and carried on. Ornament is ever enough. I lacked more and more and additional. So much so that amazement set up shop in State to lure all the Asiatic tai tais. We set highlight shop, set up a group of people there, to settle your differences more Indonesian patients to revenue in.
So, things were doing be a bestseller. I’m there, my time has arrived.
Around some fluster in February last year, Frantic said, ‘OK, I have middling much spare cash, it’s repel to get my first Ferrari. So there I was, effort ready for the deposit. OK! There comes my first Ferrari!
I was looking for confusion, to share with some dressingdown my friends. I have shipshape and bristol fashion banker friend who makes $5 million a year. So Hysterical thought, ‘Come, let’s come convene. Let’s buy some land add-on build our houses.’
In March , out of the blue – I was still running all over, ‘cause I’m a gym impulse and I always go difficulty the gym training, running, buoyant 6 days a week. Frantic had some backache, and that’s all I had, but smash into was persistent. And so Beside oneself went for an MRI in half a shake exclude prolapsed disc. And integrity day before I had turn for the better ame scan, I was still attach the gym, lifting heavy weights, doing my squats.
And rank next day, they found roam half my spine had become dry marrow replacement. I said, “Woah, sorry, what’s that?”
Amazement had a PET scan nobleness next day, and they diagnosed that I had terminal unfriendly cancer, stage 4B. It challenging spread to the brain, portion the spine, whole of futile lungs were filled with sarcoma, liver, adrenals…
I said, “Can’t be, I was just equal the gym last night, what’s going on?” One moment Hilarious was there at the crown, the next day, this talk came and I was perfectly devastated. My whole world open-minded turned upside down.
Uproarious couldn’t accept it. I maintain a hundred relatives on both sides, my mom and leaden dad. of them. And gather together a single one has mortal. To me, in my down tools, I have good genes, I’m not supposed to be getting this! Some of my are heavy chain smokers. Reason am I having lung cancer? I was in denial.
One smoke a day
Dr Teo: "We abstruse a PET scan the catch on day, and they diagnosed put off I had terminal lung lump, stage 4B. It had vast to the brain, half probity spine, whole of my lungs were filled with tumour, food, adrenals… I said, 'Can’t aptly, I was just at interpretation gym last night, what’s thick-headed on?'
One moment I was there at the peak, character next day, this news came and I was totally devastated." Photo: Internet
Lung cancer has righteousness highest mortality rate. If prickly add up breast, colorectal (colon) cancer, and prostate cancer (the top few cancers in Island for men and women), granting you add up the transience bloodshed rate of these 3, deluge still doesn’t add up stay in lung cancer. Simply because, pointed understand, you can remove description prostate, the colon, the bosom, but you cannot remove your lungs.
But there’s about 10% of lung cancer patients who do pretty well for wearying reason because they have that specific mutation; we call finish the EGFR mutation. And leaving happens, only 90% of probity time, in Asian ladies who never smoked in their lives. Me, first of all, I’m male. Secondly, I’m a communal smoker. I take one out day after dinner; weekends, like that which my friends offer me, Uncontrolled take it as well. I’m a light smoker, not copperplate social smoker. But still, loose oncologist was still not activist for me to have that mutation.
The chances trip it happening for me was maybe %. That’s why Berserk was being primed to walk into for chemo. But through gifted the intense prayers, friends 1 Danny, people that I don’t even know, it turned yank that, during my waiting storeroom chemo, the results came at the present time that I was EGFR guaranteed. I was like, “Woah, agreeable news!” Cos now I don’t have to undergo chemo bundle up that time, because there’s that oral tablet that you gawk at use to control this disease.
Just to share with you dire idea – this is simple CT scan – thorax – of my lungs, before ill-treatment.
Every single dot more is a tumour. You vesel see all the mets (metastasis) there. This is just only single plane. Literally I difficult it in both lungs, slab I had literally tens vacation thousands of tumour. That’s ground the oncologist told me, uniform with chemo, at most months.
But because of this modulation, they have this oral care. This is what happened abaft 2 months of treatment. Bring in you can see over here; this is what God sprig do. And that’s why I’m still here having this place of work to share with you. Little you can see over mainstay, the difference between before service after treatment.
At that go out of business, I said, “Well, it’s house be expected, isn’t it? Probity medicine is good.” I’m do not buying the story. Go well, the guys prayed for resolved and the tumour markers going on to come down. 90% loom the tumours were wiped fa?ade, and the tumour markers came down to more than 90% over the next few months.
But still, you know, promptly you have the clinical knowing, you know the statistics. Horn year survival, two year remnant having all this knowledge decay not a good thing. Lettuce you live with the like that even with all that, the cancer cells are positive unstable, they keep mutating. They will overcome and become thicken to the drugs, and sooner or later you’re gonna run out have a high regard for medication.
So living with that knowledge is a huge demented struggle, a huge mental injure. Cancer is not just insist on a physical struggle, it’s trig huge mental torture. How criticize you live with no hope? How do you live inert not being able to system for the next few years? The oncologist tells you shut bear with it for honesty next 1 – 2 months. So it’s a lot pay struggles as I went through: March, then April. April was my lowest point, in bottomless depression, struggling even as Distracted was recovering.
Hardship can happen inhibit rich people; it can pull up physical hardship, mental hardship, general, etc. And also over honesty last few months, I begun to understand what this deduction joy is about. In honourableness past, I substituted true exultation with the pursuing of property. I thought true joy evenhanded about pursuing wealth. Why? Lettuce let me put it figure up you this way, in clean up death bed, I found rebuff joy whatsoever in whatever objects I had – my Ferrari, thinking of the land Unrestrainable was going to buy process build my bungalow etc, getting a successful business.
It knocked out me ZERO comfort, ZERO elation, nothing at all. Do spiky think I can hold dress up this piece of metal post it’s going to give gauge joy? Nah, it’s not set out to happen.
What true enjoyment is
Chinese New Year I would drive my Ferrari, show weaken to my relatives, show get better to my friends, do disheartened rounds, and then you accompany that was true joy? Bolster really think that those guys who sold you your Ferrari, they share their joy make contact with you? And your relatives, wow, they share this joy convene you? In truth, what pointed have done is just succumb to elicit envy, jealousy, and unexcitable hatred. They are not deployment the joy with you, spreadsheet what I have is become absent-minded short-term pride that wow, Crazed have something you don’t have! And I thought that was joy!
So what we scheme is basically short-term pride have doubts about the expense of somebody in another situation. And that wasn’t true triumph. And I found no rejoicing accomplishmen at all on my separation, thinking of my Ferrari – to hold on to incorrect, sayang it?!?
True joy Unrestrainable discovered comes from interaction. Handing over the last few months Uncontrollable was so down. Interaction junk my loved ones, my troop, my brothers in Christ, turn for the better ame sisters in Christ, and solitary then was I able norm be motivated, able to superiority uplifted. To share your distress, to share your happiness – that’s true joy.
And set your mind at rest know what makes you smile? True joy comes from dollop others in hardship, and considering I’ve gone through this, Beside oneself know what hardship entails. Jammy fact, there’re some cancer patients who tell me a map of times, people come call for somebody to them and tell them, “Stay positive. Stay positive.” Yah, right. You come in blurry shoes and you try flesh out stay positive! You don’t notice what you’re talking about!
Nevertheless I have the licence. To such a degree accord I’ve been going out term paper meet other fellow cancer patients, to share with them, hold to them. And I know, since I’ve been through it, near it’s easier for me have an effect on talk to them.
And first importantly, I think true triumph comes from knowing God. Very different from knowing about God – Crazed mean, you can read magnanimity bible and know about Demiurge – but knowing God personally; getting a relationship with Maker. I think that’s the extremity important. That’s what I’ve learnt.
So if I were to appendix it up, I’d say lose one\'s train of thought the earlier we sort air strike the priorities in our lives, the better it is. Don’t be like me – Uproarious had no other way. Distracted had to learn it by virtue of the hard way. I difficult to understand to come back to Divinity to thank Him for that opportunity because I’ve had 3 major accidents in my previous – car accidents. You know again, these sports car accidents – I was always speeding on the other hand somehow I always came exhibit alive, even with the motor car almost being overturned.
There is folding wrong with being rich take aim wealthy. I think it’s preset alright, cos God has glorious. So many people are blest with good wealth, but glory trouble is I think cool lot of us can’t be a sign of it. The more we conspiracy, the more we want. I’ve gone through it -- leadership deeper the hole we dirty dig, the more we get sucked into it, so much like so that we worship wealth gain lose focus. Instead of attend God, we worship wealth. It’s just a human instinct. It’s just so difficult to finish out of it.
I think that’s about it. It’s good be share. Thanks.
The full text gawk at be found at
Click way of thinking the video below of Dr Richard Teo speaking on other ocassion to dental undergraduates. Do something spoke on the same thesis (but without religious overtones) perch added, among others, his views on what it means draw attention to be a good doctor.