Plans were already laid out for Malou Fores and her two girlfriends’ European trip when a mammogram she “dilly-dallied” getting showed she had stage 1 breast cancer.
The findings did little to dampen her enthusiasm. Even a doctor-friend who knows about her passion for food and wine prodded her to leave. And so Fores and her gal pals went ahead and indulged in France and Spain.
“While we were there, I actually forgot the pain of finding out I had cancer. It was not just like a breath of fresh air. Seeing all the beautiful places, fresh produce, the best wines in the world in my favorite region in Burgundy. And San Sebastian’s food, flavors and presentation were like medicine. Barcelona’s people were so nice and so warm…” she trailed off.
Fores, owner of several popular restaurants in Manila, already faced a personal crisis when cancer struck.
“I was going through a lot before my cancer, a turning point in my life, and then I found out I had cancer. The doctor said it was stress that caused it. That was end of May 2015,” she recalled.
“Malou, you don’t have to do this with me,” one of her girlfriends said of the trip. But Fores, now 51, packed her bags anyway, because didn’t their plane tickets say they had to fly out by June?
For three weeks in another continent, “wala akong remorse,” she said with pride.
She had been to Europe twice before. But this trip was “curated” by foodies who not only wrote a bucket list of restaurants to try, but also historical places and architecture that she should not miss.
“That’s the kind of person I am. Not pasaway, I just like to enjoy life. I’m very passionate about life,” Fores said. And with a shrug she admitted to smoking while in Europe.
Upon returning to Manila, Fores asked for help from friend Chuchu Madrigal, another cancer survivor, who referred the restaurateur to her New York-based doctors who performed her mastectomy less than a year before.
“After my vacation, I had my weak moments when I’d just cry and be sad,” she said. Good thing son Raul was working as a chef in New York.
Lucky break
Fores said “tsamba” or a lucky break allowed her to fly to New York with her medical findings, land there on a Sunday, talk to doctors the following day and get wheeled into the operating room for a mastectomy three days later.
“Don’t worry, mom. We’re here. You’re gonna make it. This is nothing,” Raul said. Son and husband stayed with Fores while she recovered in the hospital.
Eventually, she learned it wasn’t just stage 1 cancer. Doctors said the cancer had already spread to one of her 14 lymph nodes. One of them suggested chemotherapy as a follow-up.
She finished her treatments by December 2015, but still flies to Singapore every three months for check-ups with an oncologist.
“I think it’s made me a stronger person because having beaten cancer has made me a different person altogether. I live life day by day and I am grateful for each day that comes my way,” Fores told Inquirer Lifestyle.
At present, she is kept busy by her continuously growing assemblage of restaurants and specialty shops that set a higher bar for comfort food.
Mamou, described as a “home kitchen,” still has difficulty accommodating walk-in customers in its branches; Recovery Food, which operates 24/7, does continental takes on pares, adobo and sisig.
I think it’s made me a stronger person because having beaten cancer has made me a different person altogether. I live life day by day
Chef Du Partie, which Fores runs with two partners, offers global cuisine right next to Mamou Too in Rockwell. Fores’ long-standing Blue Kitchen offers regional specialties.
Fores is ecstatic that Raul has now joined her in Manila and is getting ready to open his own restaurant here.
“I’ve slowly gained my happiness. I have five dogs, my son is moving here and I have a new home that I enjoyed fixing. I’m trying to grasp everything I can and hopefully I’ll be happy. I’m very positive I’m going to live long. It’s just that having cancer is a fact I have at the back of my mind,” she said.
Fores said her love for food is one thing that cancer has not changed. Friends and loved ones who have breakfast with her engage in conversations over what to have for lunch.
“If I travel with my in-laws, sometimes, we make reservations in a restaurant even before we arrive in Hong Kong.
“Food is my favorite. My love,” she exclaimed.
Note: Malou Fores and sister-in-law Margarita Fores, both cancer survivors, will walk the runway together during ICanServe’s “Fashion Can Serve” event on Oct. 13 at Raffles Makati.