Cancer couldn’t stop this M’sian dancer from chasing her dreams

Twenty-one-year-old Rhen Teh spends much of her time dancing, teaching choreography and pursuing opportunities in the United Kingdom’s performing arts scene.

The Damansara-born performer is signed with London performing arts agency Hashtag Agency. Watching her move confidently to the rhythm of a K-pop track, few would guess that not long ago, she was facing two serious health crises in quick succession.

At 19, Teh survived a ruptured appendix – only to be diagnosed soon afterwards with metastatic papillary thyroid cancer.

Rather than extinguishing her ambitions, the experience changed the way she viewed both life and dance.

“I was dancing to please other people more than myself. But after what happened, I discovered how much I had taken it for granted,” Teh told FMT Lifestyle.

Her health troubles began in November 2024 when she was studying law at the University of Essex. After enduring severe stomach pain throughout the day, she fainted on campus that night.

“I was having pain in my stomach for the whole day and I didn’t know why. My friends had to call an Uber to take me to the hospital,” Teh recalled.

“I learnt my appendix had ruptured and I had to be rushed into surgery. One of the doctors said it was one of the worst cases of appendicitis he had ever seen.”

Teh spent about two weeks in hospital recovering. The severity of the rupture left her unable to eat for 11 consecutive days, in what she described as the worst pain she had ever experienced.

Just as she thought the worst was behind her, another shock followed. About a month later, Teh received a call from her doctor asking her to come in – and to bring a parent or someone who could provide emotional support.

“I knew then it was going to be bad news,” she said.

A fine needle aspiration – a procedure used to extract cells from a suspicious lump for examination – revealed she had metastatic papillary thyroid cancer.

“I sobbed in my room for a very long time. I thought, how could this happen to me? I was only 19. After the appendicitis, all I wanted was for my life to go back to normal. And now things had changed forever.”

There was, fortunately, some reassurance: her doctor told her the cancer was treatable. She underwent surgery to remove her thyroid gland as well as more than 50 lymph nodes from her neck.

The thought of living without a thyroid and taking medication for the rest of her life initially frightened her, but Teh said the routine has simply become part of everyday life.

These experiences have also drawn her back towards an art form she had once loved deeply. Teh trained in ballet until she was 17 and performed in Malaysian productions including “The Fairy Doll” and “Don Quixote” with the Asia Ballet Academy.

Before falling ill, however, her relationship with dance had become increasingly demanding and self-critical.

“Before, I was very hard on myself. It was always ‘why can’t I get this variation right?’ or ‘why can’t I do this well?’ But after that, I realised how lucky I was just to be able to move,” she said.

Teh no longer shows any signs of cancer and is currently pursuing dance and choreography in London, while auditioning for as many productions as she can.

She has taught her own choreography at prominent London venues including Base Studios, Pineapple Dance Studios and Arc Studios, and recently organised an event that raised more than £300 for a cancer charity.

At the same time, she has completed her law degree, graduating with upper second-class honours.

“Experiencing serious illness changed my relationship with fear and ambition, and brought me back to dance,” Teh said.

“When I dance, I like to channel my emotions and incorporate them into my moves. It feels like I’m making something out of the pain I felt.”

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.