Thursday, May 9, 2013

God bless your soul, Cai Austria!

I just learned today that a former student of ours passed away last night. I have few memories of Cai Austria mainly as she was a student in a couple of subjects I taught quite a few years ago. She was an advisee under our group so I was partly involved in supervising her undergraduate research. It was almost right after graduation that we learned she had a rare cancer, and she went through a very challenging treatment for the cancer. We learned later that she survived this battle with the help of relatives and friends who encouraged her to fight and to live. She was pronounced cancer-free for a time until one check-up detected a new growth of the same rare cancer. This time, I recall that the location was much difficult to treat but she was brave and strong enough to meet this new challenge face to face. I believe it was her strong faith that was keeping her alive, and that she would likely 

From the messages posted by her friends and batchmates at UP, I can tell that Cai was well-loved and shared a lot of happy times with her friends. She will be missed by many and I could only agree with a couple saying "mabuti at makapagpapahinga na siya" (She would finally be able to rest.). It is not everyday that we know someone who was cancer. We read about it in the papers and the internet. We see people who have it featured on TV. But it is not until we know someone who has it that we are able to really have a "feel" of the disease. [It was about a decade ago that I learned my sensei had cancer and passed away quietly, apparently deciding to only get treatment for the pain and choosing not to go through chemo.] In Cai's case, she fought the good fight and her faith never wavered as she decided she would survive.

May you rest in eternal peace Cai, our Kanser Waryor, we know that you are now in the loving arms of Our Creator!

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