You’re waiting for a miracle, holding onto hope with every ounce of your being. You give it your all, doing everything in your power. And then, finally, it happens.
Andrea Lim had been trying for a baby for over a year. When she saw the positive pregnancy test, it was everything she had longed for. But just two days later, another test result came in. One that would change her life forever. Andrea was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.
In the span of a week, she had gone from elation to devastation.
Faced with an impossible decision, she had to terminate her pregnancy to focus on her treatment. A choice no one should have to make, but one she was forced into.
Now, at 35, Andrea is turning her pain into purpose, advocating for early detection of breast cancer and supporting others on the same journey. This is her story.
A Call That Changed Everything
Source: Andrea Lim
“I never actually heard the words ‘breast cancer’ out loud from my doctor,” Andrea recalls. Instead, it was a call from the nurse at the breast center. A simple, straightforward message: ‘Your biopsy results are back. The professor would like to see you tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Please bring your husband.’
She knew instantly.
Two positive tests in one week, but only one outcome would shape the rest of her life. The irony wasn’t lost on her. She even joked to her husband that if she had tested positive for COVID that week, she would have completed a hat trick. But humor couldn’t soften the blow. There was no time to fully process the pregnancy before reality came crashing down.
Her mind raced with questions.
What will happen to the baby? Will the three of us survive this? How do I tell my parents? My friends? My bosses, who feel like family?
18 Hours to Pack Up a Life
The diagnosis wasn’t just personal. It had ripple effects on everything she had worked for. Andrea was in the middle of multiple high-stakes deals at work. The world didn’t pause for her cancer diagnosis, and she refused to let it derail everything she had built. So, in those 18 hours before meeting the doctor, she switched to survival mode.
She meticulously handed over her work. She submitted her MBA assignment, knowing that if she didn’t do it then, she never would. In those few hours, she packed up 35 years of effort, sealing it away before stepping into the unknown.
Then, the next morning, she went to the hospital.
Facing the Fight with Family
Breaking the news to her parents was another challenge. Andrea knew she couldn’t tell them about the pregnancy first. There wasn’t time to let them celebrate before delivering the crushing truth.
So, she said it all at once: I’m pregnant. I have breast cancer. I have to terminate the pregnancy.
Her family’s response was strength. Or at least, that’s what they showed her. Her mother, always pragmatic, told her, “If you throw a stone, you’ll hit someone with cancer. It’s that common. It’s like the flu.”
When she learned Andrea’s cancer was hormone-positive, her response was swift and certain. End the pregnancy. No pause, no doubt. Only the purest instinct for survival.
Her father, a man of few words, simply stuck to what he always had. Do you have enough money? Have you eaten? Later, he would add one more question: Are you in pain?
Behind closed doors, Andrea doesn’t know how they really reacted. In front of her, they were solid. No tears, no breakdowns. Just quiet, unwavering support.
On Health Over Pregnancy and Making the Tough Decision for Breast Cancer
One Thursday, Andrea learned that the cancer was indeed real. By Friday, she and her husband had made a decision. There was no room for hesitation. The priority was her survival. The thought of her husband struggling to raise their child alone if she didn’t make it was too much to bear. They’d need to terminate the pregnancy. There was no other choice.
As the clock ticked, everything moved fast. By Tuesday, she was in surgery for a lumpectomy. The following week, results confirmed stage 4 cancer. And so, the decisions became even harder, each one colder than the last. It was after the full-body scan, which required ending the pregnancy, that Andrea’s body and heart were forced into a full sprint of treatment. The next day, she started chemotherapy.
Imagine waking up one day and feeling as if your body had aged 40 years overnight. You stand up, and pain jolts through your bones. Your joints creak, your muscles ache. And suddenly, you’re living in a body that no longer feels like your own.
Source: Andrea Lim
For Andrea, this is her everyday reality. Cancer didn’t just challenge her health, it forced her into medical menopause and a relentless battle against osteoporosis. It meant learning to live with constant fatigue, changing her approach to exercise, and accepting that even the smallest movements required resilience.
Gone were the days of high-intensity boxing workouts. In their place? Long walks, gentle jogging, yoga, and weight training. Each movement is an act of defiance against the illness trying to slow her down.
Walking the Runway of Resilience
But the battle wasn’t over, and neither was Andrea’s strength.
While cancer may have altered the way her body moved, it didn’t strip her of her will to fight. Instead of surrendering to the weariness that threatened to consume her, she chose to embrace something unexpected: the courage to take center stage.
That stage came in the form of the Courage Catwalk 2025, a runway show where survivors don’t just walk. They reclaim every step they thought they lost.
Andrea’s story didn’t start with fashion. It started in a dance studio, where she first learned how movement could be both an expression and a lifeline. When cancer came knocking, she turned back to dance. This time, not as a performance, but as a way to feel whole again.
“During chemo, I asked my childhood ballet friend, who now runs a dance school, to do a one-on-one session with me,” Andrea shares. “I needed to feel my body again, reconnect with the floor, the air, my breath. The little things we forget when life gets heavy.”
That reconnection led to an unexpected invitation: Would she like to walk in the Courage Catwalk? A showcase of strength, confidence, and survival? She didn’t hesitate.
And in a twist, the event happened to coincide with the very last day of her primary treatment.
First-Time Model, Lifetime Moment
Walking down a runway wasn’t on Andrea’s bucket list. In fact, she’d never done it before. But the Courage Catwalk wasn’t about haute couture. It was about showing up as yourself, scars and all. And alongside 24 other warriors, Andrea did just that.
“It was way more meaningful than I expected,” she recalls. “Not just for me, but for all of us who had fought our own battles and won.”
But the most unforgettable moment? It wasn’t the applause or the cameras. It was a quiet act of camaraderie, one that only a fellow survivor would understand.
Source: Breast Cancer Foundation Singapore
“I had a horrible headache that day,” Andrea remembers. “I asked one of the Breast Cancer Foundation staff if they had a painkiller, but honestly, I should have asked the other survivors first.”
Word spread in minutes. And suddenly, she wasn’t just offered paracetamol. She was given options. “One woman pulled out a stash and asked, ‘What level of poison would you like?’” Andrea laughs. “Paracetamol? Aspirin? Tramadol? Aoxia? Something with codeine? We had an entire pharmacy at our fingertips.”
For some, this might sound alarming. For Andrea, it was home.
“There we were, casually offering meds like mints. But it wasn’t about the pills, it was about how we take care of each other. One painkiller at a time.”
The Emotional Weight of Surviving Breast Cancer
Cancer doesn’t just change your body. It alters your mind, your relationships, and your definition of success. Before her diagnosis, Andrea was someone who thrived on precision. She prided herself on being the one with all the answers at work, always on top of her game. But cancer shifted her perspective.
The pressure to be perfect softened. And in its place, she found acceptance.
Source: Andrea Lim
Mistakes? They didn’t define her anymore. Forgetting an answer in a meeting wasn’t a failure. It was just part of being human.
And what truly mattered? People. The friendships she had built over the years, the kindness she had shown to colleagues, the small moments of connection. They all came rushing back when she needed them most. Her diagnosis didn’t isolate her, it revealed a support system she never fully appreciated before. Her bosses became close friends. Her friends became family.
And through it all, she was reminded of one simple truth: being a good person matters.
The Power of Process
We’re often taught to chase results. Win the race. Get the promotion. Hit the milestones. But what happens when survival becomes the only goal? When success isn’t about hitting numbers but about making it through another day?
Andrea’s journey forced her to reevaluate everything she once believed about achievement. Cancer treatment, she realized, wasn’t just about beating the disease. It was about enduring the process. Because the process wasn’t just difficult, it was brutal. Stripping away immunity, facing endless rounds of treatment, feeling weaker before feeling stronger. It was like climbing Mount Everest, not once, but twice, without oxygen, without gear, and without any certainty that the summit would ever come into view.
And yet, she kept going.
The Marathon That Never Ends
And in one day, her husband introduced her to the concept of the Backyard Ultra Marathon, a race where runners simply go in circles until they can’t continue anymore. The last one standing wins. And in that moment, Andrea saw the perfect metaphor for her battle with cancer.
Source: Andrea Lim
Some days, it feels like she’s just running in loops, fighting the same pain, the same exhaustion, the same fears, over and over again. But the goal isn’t to outrun the disease. It isn’t about winning or finishing first. It’s about showing up. It’s about making it through one more lap, one more treatment, one more day.
Because every time she pushes forward, she proves that she’s still in the race. And that? That is a victory in itself.
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