<\/p>\nsentenced to a $30,000 fine,<\/p>\n
<\/a> as the judge noted that his cancer meant a prison term would carry a \u201chigh and increased risk of endangering his life\u201d.<\/p>\n
While bone marrow cancers have been linked to exposure to factors such as radiation or toxic chemicals, most patients \u2013 Mr David Ong included \u2013 do not have any obvious risk factors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say the majority of blood cancers are random occurrences,\u201d said haematologist William Hwang, describing them as \u201cno-fault diseases\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Mr Ong was diagnosed, the average life expectancy of multiple myeloma patients was four years, even with treatment.<\/p>\n
Confronted with his own mortality, Mr Ong recalled that he began experiencing a \u201cdeep sense of grief and anxiety about the future\u201d, worrying about everything from his own health to his family\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I\u2019m a pastor, I\u2019m a man, and men do cry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, he persevered because of a desire to see his only child, Joshua, then aged four, grow up and have his own children.<\/p>\n
Mr Ong consulted Professor Hwang, a senior consultant at Singapore General Hospital\u2019s department of haematology, who said he was inspired by Mr Ong\u2019s dedication to wanting to survive his cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid had a very specific request, and that was to be able to see his son grow up and get married,\u201d Prof Hwang said.<\/p>\n
However, he noted that therapies available at the time made this goal one that was difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor that reason, we did an unusual treatment for multiple myeloma that had a little higher upfront risk, but could potentially lead to long-term survival of a decade or more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This was allogenic stem cell transplant, where a patient receives blood stem cells transplanted from someone else.<\/p>\n
However, the procedure had a higher risk of infections, as well as a higher risk of donor cells attacking the patient and causing complications, Prof Hwang said.<\/p>\n
The more common autologous stem cell transplant, which uses a patient\u2019s own cells, is considered safer, as there is less risk of the immune system rejecting the cells.<\/p>\n
But it could be less effective, as the patient\u2019s cells are less able to fight cancer cells than a donor\u2019s stem cells.<\/p>\n
Still, Mr Ong decided to go ahead with the donor transplant.<\/p>\n
The second-youngest of seven children, Mr Ong said his siblings came forward to donate, and two of his sisters turned out to be matches for the transplant.<\/p>\n\n\nMr David Ong (left) consulted Prof William Hwang, senior consultant of the department of haematology at Singapore General Hospital.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The treatment ahead of the transplant was no walk in the park.<\/p>\n
Mr Ong left his job as a pastor to focus on the treatment. He had to go through two rounds of chemotherapy and full-body radiation treatment, which caused him to lose his hair and vomit regularly.<\/p>\n
Even though the transplant, which took place in June 2005, was successful, he experienced acute graft-versus-host disease, where transplanted cells begin attacking the patient\u2019s body.<\/p>\n
He began experiencing ulcers in his mouth and throat, as well as pain across his body.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pain was really unbearably excruciating, to the point where I really didn\u2019t want to go through the treatment anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He was prescribed morphine to ease the pain, but the situation only became worse when he began experiencing withdrawal symptoms after the morphine was stopped.<\/p>\n
What gave him strength during this time was his family, and friends who would visit and pray with the family for his recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven my son had to hold my hand, (saying), \u2018Daddy, I will pray for you\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For several years after the transplant, Mr Ong had a weakened immune system, and he suffered from pneumonia and other infections as a result.<\/p>\n
Still, the treatment worked, and the cancer went into remission in 2008, though Mr Ong remained in recovery for several more years.<\/p>\n
He wrote about his experience with battling cancer in two books \u2013 Talking The Walk, published in 2008, and Battling Myeloma, published in 2022. <\/p>\n
Following his initial diagnosis, Mr Ong took almost a decade off from full-time work to focus on his recovery, as well as on spending time with his son and his wife Whee Ling.<\/p>\n
He noted that he missed the pastoral elements of the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about giving to other people \u2013 you know, caring for people as a shepherd, in the true sense of the word,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He has managed to fulfil his goal of seeing his son grow up. While the younger man, now aged 24, has not yet married or had children, he recently graduated with a master\u2019s degree from the London School of Economics and now towers above his father at 1.82m.<\/p>\n
Mr Ong returned to work in 2014, serving as a pastor at the Petra Church in Armenian Street, but left in 2020 to set up his own ministry, ministering to the sick as well as providing mentoring for young adults.<\/p>\n
He was struck with another surprise in February 2025 when, during a regular check-up, he was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer \u2013 just a few days after his 93-year-old father died.<\/p>\n
Though he was concerned, his earlier experience prepared him for a second bout with cancer, he said, noting that it equipped him with the skills to cope with the diagnosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are people who are also suffering worse than I am. (Remembering) this helped me not just to cope, but also learn to go beyond my own pain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It is not uncommon now to find patients with both multiple myeloma and prostate cancer, as both cancers typically affect older men, said Prof Hwang.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, many multiple myeloma patients didn\u2019t survive long enough to develop prostate cancer,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
While the disease remains incurable, remission rates for multiple myeloma have risen over the years to more than 90 per cent as treatments improved.<\/p>\n
Prof Hwang noted that while at the hospital for his treatments, Mr Ong would often talk to other patients, as well as staff, to encourage them when they were down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find that patients like him, who are not so much wallowing in grief and sorrow, but who focus on having a positive goal and a positive outlook… they tend to do well,\u201d the haematologist said. <\/p>\n
Mr Ong said one thing he learnt from his experience with cancer was that he could still find purpose in life, even as health challenges meant adjusting his goals and expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn these almost 22 years of my journey with myeloma, I realised that I don\u2019t need to lose the joy of living,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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