Thao, 36, HCMC, along with her husband, Khang Khuong, 33, have persistently fought against Adenocarcinoma, a form of cancer capable of distant metastasis to multiple organs in the body.

Thao told VietNamNet that at the end of 2019, Khang Khuong unexpectedly suffered from swelling on one side of his cheek. Initially, the entire family thought he had a toothache; however, the tumor subsequently developed rapidly, spreading from the cheek area into the eye socket, advancing close to the skull base, and carrying a risk of affecting the brain.

When her husband received the cancer diagnosis from the doctor, Thao felt as if she collapsed. At that time, Khang Khuong was not yet 30 years old, and their two children were still very small.

After days of breaking down due to the mental shock, she told herself to be strong to step forward alongside her husband. With the desire to keep the father for their children, she sequentially sold two houses to have money for her husband's medical treatment.

Over multiple years, Khang Khuong underwent several treatment courses in Vietnam. Just when it was thought that the disease had been controlled, at the end of 2025, the cancer relapsed for the fourth and then fifth time.

Refusing to give up, Thao researched additional treatment options and decided to take her husband to South Korea.

There, doctors discovered that the cancer had spread to his lungs and lymph nodes appeared. The estimated cost of surgery exceeded VND2 billion. Faced with that figure, Khuong himself wanted to stop treatment, but Thao refused.

"At that moment, I honestly did not know what the outcome would be. I only knew that I had to try at least once. Whether it worked or not, I could accept it. Even if we lost everything, I was willing to do it," Thao recalled.

She said her decision was not driven by blind optimism, but by her love for her husband and their two young children.

The couple returned to Vietnam feeling almost hopeless. With no property left to sell, they parted with their remaining valuables, including watches, jewelry and luxury handbags. Thao also withdrew money from her life insurance policy.

Thao shared her family's treatment journey on social networks and received widespread empathy. Following that, many people sought her out to buy clothes to support her business.

Gathering every small amount of money, the couple had sufficient expenses to return to South Korea for surgery.

Thao recounted that this surgery alone cost over VND3 billion, visits and treatment regimen formulations consumed hundreds of millions more, while radiotherapy costs also fluctuated from VND30 million to VND40 million per day. To date, the total treatment cost in South Korea has exceeded VND5 billion.

The reward

After multiple years of fighting illness alongside her husband, Thao stated that what makes her proudest is having never given up.

"If I had let go that day because of running out of money, perhaps Khang Khuong would no longer be here today. The most recent follow-up visit brought joyful news to the entire family: the cancer cells are currently very well controlled, almost frozen," Thao shared.

Even though her husband's health has declined significantly after major surgeries, she believes his physical condition can gradually recover over time. The most crucial point is that the cancer cells have been eliminated from dangerous positions.

Currently, the family still maintains the treatment process between Vietnam and South Korea. Her husband has accomplished the active treatment phase and is preparing to enter the maintenance phase.

Thao revealed that there was a time when the financial capability got exhausted, forcing her to transfer her young children born in 2015 and 2017 from an international school to a public school because they were no longer capable of paying the tuition fees.

Over the past 6 years, to Thao, the most valuable thing is not the houses sold or the colossal amount of money spent, but that her husband is still present in her life and her children's lives.

"Looking back, I see that decision that day was completely worthwhile," Thao said.

Thanh Minh