E-Paper
Sign In
Why Dubai expat who got cancer diagnosis on wedding anniversary chose robotic surgery
Her treatment plan was revised from an initial recommendation of 18 chemotherapy rounds elsewhere to four, reflecting her early-stage diagnosis and successful surgery
- PUBLISHED: Mon 9 Mar 2026, 11:16 AM
When Shabina Chaudhry was told she had breast cancer, it was meant to be a day of celebration. Instead, her 21st wedding anniversary marked the moment her life shifted. “I honestly didn’t react at first,” the Dubai-based educator recalls. “It was when they mentioned chemotherapy that the tears started falling. That’s when it became real.”
At 44, Chaudhry considered herself exceptionally healthy. A science teacher by profession, she had kept up with routine check-ups and mammograms, including monitoring a previously benign lump. But months of intense emotional strain — caring for her mother through a severe psychotic episode in the UK — had left her physically and mentally depleted. “I wasn’t eating. I wasn’t sleeping. I was just praying and crying,” she says. “I went from being very healthy to something in my body just going out of balance.”
Recommended For You
She discovered the new lump shortly after returning to Dubai, feeling what she describes as an unusual heaviness in her chest. Still overwhelmed by family circumstances, she delayed addressing it until she felt she had the “bandwidth” to cope. Within days of seeing a breast specialist, she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in October 2024.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp channels.
Seeking a second opinion
Initially assessed at another hospital, Chaudhry was told surgery would follow a single path. But something didn’t sit right with her husband. “When you’re in distress, you trust the doctor after God,” she says. “But my husband just felt unsettled.”
The couple sought a second opinion at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, where she was referred to breast surgeon Ahmad Matalka. The consultation marked a turning point. “He gave me options,” she says. “The moment I knew I had a choice, I felt calm again. It gave me control back.”
Matalka discussed the possibility of a robotic-assisted bilateral mastectomy — a minimally invasive procedure still uncommon in the region at the time. For Chaudhry, the benefits were immediate: smaller incisions hidden under the bra line, a reduced risk of infection, and faster recovery. “I’m forward-thinking. I don’t scare easily,” she says. “Recovery mattered to me. I’m not someone who can stay bedridden. Movement is healing.”
Though aware that only a handful of such surgeries had been performed locally, and that hers would be the first bilateral case at the hospital, Chaudhry felt confident. “I prayed on it. I had peace about it,” she says. “And honestly, it was the best decision I made for myself.”
Inside robotic-assisted mastectomy
According to Matalka, robotic-assisted mastectomy uses a keyhole approach, allowing surgeons to remove breast tissue through a small incision while controlling robotic instruments that offer magnified, three-dimensional vision and highly precise movement. “The oncological safety is the same as conventional mastectomy,” he says. “But the complication rates are lower, sensation is better preserved, and quality of life outcomes are improved.”
The procedure is suitable for carefully selected patients, typically those with early-stage breast cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ, or those undergoing risk-reducing mastectomy due to genetic factors. It is not recommended for locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer, or for patients where body size or tumour location makes robotic access unsafe.
Since launching the programme in September 2024, Matalka says he has performed close to 50 robotic-assisted mastectomies, with significantly fewer complications compared to traditional surgery. “This requires infrastructure, specialised training and a multidisciplinary team,” he says. “That’s why it hasn’t been widely available in the region until recently.”
Chaudhry’s surgery lasted nine hours. The following day, she woke to devastating news: her father had passed away. “At that moment, cancer became secondary; grief took over.” Instead of being discharged within days, she remained in hospital, supported by nurses, physiotherapists and mental health professionals. “They felt like angels,” she says. “People said the right things, at the right time. I didn’t feel alone.”
Her recovery involved regaining arm movement after lymph node removal, managing tenderness following reconstruction, and later undergoing preventive chemotherapy and radiotherapy. At Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, her treatment plan was revised from an initial recommendation of 18 chemotherapy rounds elsewhere to four, reflecting her early-stage diagnosis and successful surgery. “Chemo was preventive for me,” she explains. “Most of the cancer was already gone.”
Turning pain into purpose
Now 45, cancer-free, Chaudhry says survivorship is still a journey — emotionally as much as physically. But it has also reshaped her priorities. “I don’t believe cancer comes from nowhere,” she says. “Stress matters. Sleep matters. Mental health matters.”
She has since launched an Instagram awareness page ‘khaula with heart n soul’, supporting women across the UAE and Pakistan, where she says lack of screening and awareness often leads to late diagnoses. “In some cultures, cancer is still seen as a death sentence,” she says. “But it doesn’t have to be.”
Her message to women is direct: get screened early, ask questions, seek second opinions, and don’t settle until you feel peace with your care. “Treatment today is personalised. There are options,” she says. “This may be a difficult year of your life — but you will bounce back stronger.” For Chaudhry, that belief has become her new calling. “My aim now is simple,” she says. “To turn pain into purpose — and help other women realise that healing is possible.”
