Anthony Taberna and his daughter Zoey (Image: Instagram/@iamtunying28)
Anthony Taberna’s daughter Zoey opened up about her journey battling leukemia, revealing that she is now free from the disease which she was diagnosed with in December 2019.
Zoey narrated how she had been “smoothly” undergoing chemotherapy since 2019 until she experienced pain in several parts of her body in December last year, as per her Facebook page yesterday, July 4. After undergoing tests, Zoey was informed by her doctors that “the cancer cells that were supposed to be long gone, came back in a way more dangerous and fatal form.”
“I had a hard time understanding why this was happening because from the start, my doctors said that this situation was very rare,” she said. “My doctors recommended for us to go to Singapore because medical care is really good there.”
Zoey and her family flew to Singapore in January and stayed there for about six months for her medication. Zoey admitted that she got scared at the time because of the effects the medication would have on her, including hair loss, mouth sores and constant headaches.
Zoey said the support of her loved ones helped her soldier on despite “being in terrible pain.” She then expressed her gratitude and noted that her faith also gave her strength during those hard times.
“I experienced things that, looking back now, even I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle,” she stated. “I’m not gonna lie, there were so many times that I thought that it was the end for me, that my life would end at 13 years old.”
“After 167 long days, we went back home to the Philippines and now I am totally cancer free!” she added. “I would still have check ups and maintenance drug infusions from time to time, but that is nothing compared to what I’ve been through.”
Taberna and his wife, Rossel Velasco, first opened up about Zoey’s condition in 2020. Zoey was first diagnosed with bone marrow disease, which was later confirmed to be leukemia. /ra
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