Singer Isabella expressed her feelings about battling stage 4 colorectal cancer and her husband, who has dementia.
On the 19th episode of MBN 'Exclusive World', singer Isabella told the story of having to part ways with her husband, who has dementia.
On the show, Isabella hid all the remote controls in the house from morning, saying "An important person is coming, so I'm hiding what needs to be hidden. It would be a big problem if the remote controls are around," and while putting away a box containing medicine she said, "This is the medicine I take but he eats it all. He has no sense and just eats it. There was even a time when a big problem happened," which aroused curiosity.
After finishing securing the house and going out, Isabella went to a nursing home to meet her husband, who has dementia. He said he had been at a care center and moved to the nursing home about 10 months ago, and he was becoming more like a young child with each passing day. Isabella, who takes her husband home from the nursing home every weekend, wanted to correct his unfamiliar habits but found it difficult. In particular, his dementia symptoms had worsened to the point that he didn't recognize the house they had lived in for 10 years and would pass by it without noticing.
Isabella tried to create new memories as her husband lost his, but it was not easy. Caring for her husband was no different from looking after a young child, and she often found herself struggling with him over remote controls and food, which he was obsessed with.
Isabella said, "There was strong opposition to our marriage. I was in my mid-30s, there was a 10-year age gap and I was divorced. For about 15 years his words were slurred, but even when told to go to a dementia center he wouldn't go. Then about six years ago he began acting strangely. He didn't know how to tap a bus card, his memory worsened and he showed abnormal symptoms. When we went to the hospital he was diagnosed with severe dementia. I never thought my husband would go to a nursing home so quickly," she said sadly.
As her husband lost his memory of people and even forgot the word 'mother', Isabella feared she, his wife, might be forgotten next. After spending time together, Isabella sent her husband back to the nursing home. She was heartbroken each time she parted from her husband, who didn't want to be separated. Isabella said, "Looking at him now, my husband looks fine and handsome, and I'm sorry to send him away like that, but as his dementia worsens it's unbearable. Thinking about all these things makes me lose my balance, so it's upsetting," revealing her inner feelings.
After sending her husband back and returning home, Isabella's heart ached even more. Looking at photos taken with her husband, she said, "We spent nearly 30 years together, and suddenly we had to part forever. It was too hard to bear that loneliness." Isabella, who cares for her husband, has also been fighting cancer for three years. She said, "My husband was an architect, and when things were going well he went bankrupt. Afterwards, he sold cheap clothes in Dongdaemun and clung to survival, but when he felt something wrong with his body and went to the hospital he was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. He had 12 rounds of chemotherapy and fought the disease for a full year with 30 rounds of radiation as it progressed to stage 4. He has follow-up scans every three months and a tumor was detected in his right lung. He also had lung surgery. They cut it out and he had 12 rounds of chemotherapy. I don't know how he endured it," she revealed.
Cheered up by a guitar club her older brother organized, Isabella met her husband and apologized, saying, "I scolded you a lot and I'm so sorry. I feel bad thinking about why I was like that then, so I want to say I'm sorry. I hope you recover quickly and come home. I'm really sorry about that time."
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