Vicki Belo says daughter Scarlet was ‘number one secret’ to fighting breast cancer in 2016

MANILA, Philippines – Celebrity physician Vicki Belo shared that she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in January 2016, but the “number one secret” to her recovery in recent years was thinking of her seven-year-old daughter, Scarlet Snow.

In the first episode of NET25’s Korina Interviews, Belo, 65, revealed her diagnosis and explained that she disappeared from the spotlight for two years in order to seek treatment across the globe. 

In Europe, doctors told her to not bother taking chemotherapy, and instead just fix her affairs, as she would “die in two years’ time.” She then went to New York, where she claimed that they “wouldn’t give [her] anything.”

“So what are my chances?’ and they [the doctors] were very quiet. ’We’ll try our best,'” she recalled. 

While undergoing chemo and radiation treatment, Belo witnessed many major events in her life, such as her daughter Cristalle’s wedding, the passing of her 89-year old mother, and her public announcement of the arrival of her daughter Scarlet Snow in a CNN interview. 

“While I was having my interview, hair was falling on the floor. I looked at my people and said, ‘Am I getting bald in front of CNN?’” she shares.

When asked about the secret to her great health and recovery in recent years, Belo tearfully answered: “The number one secret is Scarlet…. I wanna be with her. I don’t wanna leave her so young. I kept praying, ‘Lord, please give me time.’”

According to Cancer Research UK, breast cancer starts in the breast tissue. When it reaches stage three, the cancer spreads “from the breast to lymph nodes close to the breast, or to the skin of the breast or to the chest wall.”

Dr. Vicki Belo is a skin health physician, the medical director of Belo Medical Group, and television and online personality. She has three kids – two (Quark and Cristalle) with her former husband, Atom Henares; and Scarlet, 7, with her current husband, Hayden Kho. – with reports from Manolo Soliven/ Rappler.com

Manolo Soliven is a Rappler intern.