Singaporean singer Joanna Dong suffered a health scare recently and is recovering after a minor operation. The 42-year-old wrote in a long post on social media on June 29 that she noticed bloody discharge from her right breast, so when she went for her regular breast check-up, her specialist recommended some tests and scans. Dong said the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) results were “pretty concerning” and revealed a sizeable area of blood pooling in the ducts on both breasts.
As it looked like it might be DCIS (stage zero breast cancer), a biopsy was ordered. The jazz performer, who found mainstream fame after placing third in Chinese reality TV singing competition Sing! China in 2017, said she and her doctor were greatly relieved to find no cancer, but there were some atypical cells in her right breast. “Just had minor surgery yesterday to have a relatively small segment excised and my ducts removed – I am home and doing great and should make a full recovery really soon,” she wrote.
Dong said she is sharing her experience as she believes talking about breast conditions should be destigmatised by now. “I went through a whole gamut of emotions when my doctor told me in the worst-case scenario it might have been a double lumpectomy or even mastectomy and breast reconstruction,” she wrote. “My heart goes out to anyone who has had to endure that – besides the obvious physical trauma, the psychological relationship that we have with gendered body beauty standar.
