Cancer patients may face setback in sharing experiences on social media

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Sharing their experiences and treatment on social media can be a setback to some cancer fighters and those suffering from other chronic illnesses as comments and replies from the netizens can be hurtful and weaken their fighting spirit.

A cancer survivor, James Oh said the social media platform could become toxic and give negative impact on such patients.

“Sometimes cancer fighters like to share their updates, either during treatment or when they are in the ward, on the social media, but it gets various accusations from netizens and that can dampen their spirit.

“To me, this should not happen. Instead, the people should be courteous when they talk, even on social media,” he said when met after the launch of his book titled ‘Cancer: My Wake Up Call’ here.

Oh, who had stomach cancer, also advised cancer patients not to spend too much time sharing their experience and treatment with netizens on the social media, but to spend more time reading about cancer to better understand their illness.

The father of three, who was diagnosed with third stage stomach cancer last July, said he began distancing himself from anything negative since being diagnosed with the illness and became closer with cancer patients and survivors.

“I began writing the book when I was getting about 12 types of treatment. I took me about nine months to finish writing the book,” he added.

Oh,  from Penang and currently undergoing traditional acupuncture therapy as part of his treatment, said the  97-page book was about his life journey after being diagnosed with cancer and the treatment he went through. It is priced at RM50 each and is now available at all book stores.

Meanwhile, National Library (PNM) director-general Datuk Nafisah Ahmad said iPNM had agreed to purchase 509 copies of Oh’s book to be distributed to rural libraries nationwide.

“The sharing of experience by James is useful for us all. No matter what the illness, we have to be strong,” she said, adding that PNM now had 892 book titles on cancer.

-- BERNAMA