Beyond surviving, living

MANILA, Philippines - Businesswoman Ludivina Katigbak-Espinosa (Ludy), widow of the late Masbate congressman Moises Espinosa, was 41 when she was first diagnosed with cancer of the ovary in 1976. The youngest of their six children, Mark, was then only four years old.

“It was my husband who felt the lump. We were having our siesta (afternoon nap) when he noticed a hard mass inside as he pressed his fingers against my lower abdomen. I didn’t think anything of it. I was healthy, or at least I felt healthy. I was slender, but never sick,” Ludy recalls.

Nonetheless, she decided to go to Manila to consult a doctor. The biopsy confirmed a malignancy. She was immediately scheduled for surgery to remove her ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. The doctors found the cancer to have already crossed to the lining of her liver. They could not touch it for she would have bled to death. Final diagnosis was ovarian carcinoma, stage 4. Based on statistics for similar cases, she was given two months to live.

Crestfallen, Ludy and her family decided to fight it out and she started intravenous chemotherapy followed by immunotherapy and hormonal therapy. Her medicine were not even available in the Philippines yet and had to be bought from Japan, France and the US. She was a very compliant patient, admired by her doctors for her obedience to their instructions and determination to get well.

With children Mar, Veronica, Maloli, Mate and Mario.

“When they told me I couldn’t go out, I didn’t. I didn’t see any movie for six months, the whole time I was under treatment. I prayed hard. I prayed for all my doctors, that the Lord guide them as to the right way to go. Until now, I do that. I pray for my doctors. I was very worried about what would happen to my children. They served as my motivation to fight cancer,” she says.

She won the first bout with flying colors. Subsequent tests showed no need for further treatment.

In 1988 or 13 years after that first diagnosis, the cancer returned. There was a tumor in her duodenum, the first section of the small intestine nearest the stomach. Her doctors advised her to go to the US because the cancer was more aggressive than the last time.

“I told my oncologist, ‘You made me well the last time. Make me well again.’ I was willing to go through all the recommended treatments. I was determined to live,” Ludy says.

And live she did. She underwent another operation to remove the mass and another set of chemotherapy sessions.

Although she survived cancer twice, what she feels as the worst of her trials was yet to come.

In March 1989, just after her last chemotherapy session, her husband was assassinated at the Masbate airport.

“I was bald from the chemo treatment so I wore a wig during my husband’s funeral. There were so many who came to condole with our family. I was in mourning and yet, I kept on thinking to myself, I hope my wig doesn’t fall off in front of all our guests,” Ludy recalls with wry humor.

The Espinosa’s last family picture taken before eldest child Jun (third from right) was killed in Masbate City

The loss of her husband was harrowing. But Ludy was about to face even greater trials. In 2001, it was her eldest son Jun who was killed in Masbate in another politically-related incident. It was a setback that all the more reinforced Ludy’s will to live a full life.

She focused on further growing the family businesses that she had taken care of from the beginning of her marriage.

Today, at age 75 and just recently receiving a pacemaker for her heart, Ludy is enjoying the love and support of her remaining children: Mario, a businessman; Maloli Supnet, a PR practitioner; Mate Estrella, a dentist; Ve Cabalinan, a dentist and entrepreneur; and Mark, an entrepreneur; and 13 grandchildren. She continues to be an active and productive businesswoman, giving valued services to the people of Masbate through community broadcasting, property rentals and cattle farming.

The many trials that have come her way served to strengthen Ludy’s resolve to stay positive, to live simply and happily in the service of others.

Her advice to those newly diagnosed with cancer: “Have faith in the Lord. Don’t get depressed. Pray for your doctors and be a good patient. Follow your doctor’s prescriptions. Up to now, even when I am cancer-free I still live a very healthy life, I don’t stay up late and I never abuse myself. Be strong, stay positive. Know that by God’s grace, you will prevail.”