Taiwanese singer-actress Hsiao Shu-shen reveals she has cancer, had major surgery

She was a beautiful singer-actress more famously remembered as the lead in the music videos for Fish Leung's Courage and also Michael Wong's First Time. But drug scandals between 2007 and 2010 landed her in jail.

Now, just when she's planning a return to showbiz, Hsiao Shu-shen has been dealt with a bad hand. 

The 43-year-old suddenly hosted a Facebook live session on Saturday (April 4), where she announced that she is battling cancer and recently had a major operation to remove a tumour and some organs.

Right off the bat, she admitted: "Yes, I'm sick."

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She first noticed pain in her abdomen in late February 2019, though she thought it was just a muscle strain. It was only after much persuasion from her brother that she made a trip to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a malignant tumour spanning 8.7cm on her duodenum.

Shu-shen first underwent targeted therapy, using drugs to shrink the size of the tumour. By September, it had shrunk to half its size, allowing doctors to proceed with an operation.

The surgery, which took place in February this year, lasted over six hours. Apart from having a part of her small intestine and a third of her stomach removed, her gallbladder, bile duct, and pancreatic head were also removed.

She lost 10kg as a result of the operation, and spent two days in the intensive care unit (ICU) and another 20 days recuperating in the hospital.

"When I woke up, I was lying in the ICU. Any tube that could be inserted into my body was inserted — nasal, urinary," the actress shared.

Her husband shared that the sight of her plugged in left him extremely worried. Fortunately, her condition has improved since the surgery.

For now, she requires a check-up once every three months. In the meantime, she has to pay special attention to her dietary requirements — low fibre and smaller meals, small sips of water, as well as avoiding fatty and fried food.

Previously while on a show, her swollen appearance had led netizens to speculate that she had undergone cosmetic surgery. It turned out her swelling was a side effect of her medication, which also caused her to experience irregular menstruation.

rainercheung@asiaone.com