TO be diagnosed with breast cancer is awful news, no matter at what age. But when you're only 26 years old, there's an element of surrealism to it. When Rosalind Ng found out that the lump in her breast was cancerous, she was immediately scheduled for a mastectomy - within a week.

'I remember wondering how this was going to affect my lifestyle or the way I live,' says the former fashion merchandiser, now 35.

She recalled how everything moved so fast the minute her biopsy test returned positive.

She'd discovered a lump in her breast, and since it didn't seem to get smaller or go away after a while, she went to see her family doctor about it who then referred her to a specialist.

A biopsy was taken and as she was diagnosed as being in stage two of breast cancer, a mastectomy was recommended. 'I didn't smoke, I liked vegetables and rarely ate deep-fried food, there's no family history . . . so there's no one reason why I would get breast cancer,' she recalls. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy then followed after the operation at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, during which Ms Ng experienced nausea and loss of appetite. 'But I was lucky that I only had a little thinning of the hair,' she recalls.

Thereafter, it was five years of being on tamoxifen medication, and since 2005, she's been past the 'danger zone'.

But it was only after 2005 - five years after her cancer was first diagnosed - that she could talk about it and share her experience with others, says Ms Ng, who joined the Breast Cancer Foundation's Paddlers in the Pink dragon-boating team that year.

'On hindsight, I wish I'd joined a support group earlier even though I had very supportive family and friends,' says the 35-year-old, adding that when talking about breast cancer with other survivors - they could really share the experiences they went through. She is the youngest to be diagnosed with breast cancer in her Paddlers group, since the majority of breast cancer survivors are above 50 and some are in their 40s.

Ms Ng's outlook on life now is to go out and enjoy life. 'If you catch yourself saying 'I wish I could do that,' then it's a worthwhile pursuit. I try not to delay a lot of things nowadays, and I think life experiences are very valuable.'

Which is why she and her adventure instructor husband of eight years, Poh Yu Seung, are in South Africa this weekend, taking part in Enduro Africa '08, an eight-day cross-country motorbiking charity event. The couple are the first and only South-east Asian participants joining some 90 other riders for the 2,400 km off-road ride.

'I'd always loved motorbiking, and it's great that we can do it for charity as well,' she says, adding that she and her husband have raised close to $25,000 for child-related charities - Unicef, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Sentebale. The last charity is one set up by Britain's Prince Harry, and Princes William and Harry are taking part in the journey as well - according to a British newspaper.

Ms Ng's passion for bikes are such that she has even spent a year selling Harley Davidson bikes! She and her husband own five motorbikes. Ms Ng's sportiest bike is the Honda Transalp 650cc, while she zips around town in a Vespa.

Ms Ng notes that she's definitely fitter now, post-cancer, thanks to dragonboat training sessions and long-distance motorbiking. And for this South Africa ride, she and her husband were cycling long distances, and mountain biking to build up stamina and to learn to handle rough terrain.

Cancer survivors can live a full life, and Ms Ng is now compelled to share that she's a case in point.

» Rosalind Ng and her husband will be blogging about their Enduro Africa experience. To read up on it, look up http://rosandseungadventures.blogspot.com

This article was first published in The Business Times on Oct 18, 2008.