EnReach Retreat – Enriching Lives

By Travis Loh Kok Wah, Medical Social Worker
Psychosocial Oncology, NCC

In September this year, NCC organized its 2 nd Mandarin EnReach Retreat for cancer patients and their families.

For me, it was both an exciting and nervous experience. I got to meet and interact with patients and their families at the retreat. Being a young man of 27 years old, I learnt a lot about life from these interactions. As the facilitator for the first time in a small group sharing, I experienced a variety of feelings and emotions. One important thing I learnt from these patients was how to first embrace death and then live your life to the fullest. How ironical that death only becomes real to us as we grow older or when we are faced with a life-threatening condition, like cancer. I hope you will enjoy reading what I’m about to share and find it meaningful.

At the 3 days retreat, I heard many participants share how their lives were transformed by their cancer experience. Many have learnt to slow down and ponder over what is important to them in their lives. For some, it may be happiness and good health, personally, for me it is establishing an intimate relationship with my God.

Listening to testimonies from the participants, it reminded me that I should never take the goodness of life for granted. I thank God for all the good things that have come my way but more importantly, I also need to thank God for the struggles I’ve experienced because I believe there is always something new and positive that I can learn from. For some of the participants, their cancer have brought them closer to their families and loved ones.

In the small group sharing, I was touched by the descriptions and expressions of love by the participants in my group. My group members shared on the different types and aspects of love. We all agreed that love expressed in wrong ways could really frustrate a relationship. There are different types of love and ways of showing it. Love between siblings, between friends, husband and wife, between parents and children.

Unexpressed or unspoken love can lead to misunderstanding that a person does not care. I had the challenge of helping my group members realize what truly drive their actions – spoken or unspoken love for one another. It was also a learning point for me, that is to embrace love gracefully.

Being part of EnReach Retreat helped me realize that it is common for anyone diagnosed with cancer to have lots of fear, anxiety and worries. I was fortunate to have the support and encouragement from my colleagues and my co-facilitator to cope with this challenge. Likewise, for those who are walking the cancer journey, the support from family, friends and even healthcare professionals can make the road less lonely and bumpy for them.

It is up to us to make sense out of our own life and live it to the fullest, to seek love and to embrace love.