Jiang Yuting was going to the bathroom once every seven to ten days.
She assumed it was constipation, took laxatives and signed up for high-intensity weight training to try to shift what she thought was belly fat.
The swelling was not fat. It was a 19cm ovarian tumour, roughly the size of a seven-month pregnancy.
The Taiwanese pianist and internet personality, known online as Teacher Jiang, has 341,000 Facebook fans and 309,000 Instagram followers, built through a humorous approach to classical music.
She revealed her cancer diagnosis at a recent health conference in Taiwan after going into remission.
‘Why did you only come now?’
Jiang said her body had been showing signs for some time. Her lower abdomen was visibly swollen and the constipation was chronic, but she attributed both to digestive issues and a need to exercise more.
She was lifting heavy weights in the gym while a tumour the size of a melon sat in her pelvis.
When the condition worsened, she saw a gastroenterologist. The doctor’s reaction was blunt: “Why did you only come now?”
The tumour had been compressing her intestines, which explained the constipation entirely. The laxatives had been treating a symptom of something far more serious.
Jiang joked afterwards that her ovary was “as strong as her willpower”, given that it survived high-intensity weightlifting without rupturing. She acknowledged she was lucky.
Surgery and remission
Doctors made a 12cm incision below her navel to remove the tumour completely.
Her right ovary and part of her peritoneum were taken out during the operation, and the tissue was sent for testing. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is now in remission.
Her message to other women
At the health conference, Jiang directed her advice specifically at women living high-stress lifestyles, urging them to pay closer attention to changes in their bodies rather than explaining symptoms away.
“You should be more vigilant at the slightest sign and not delay treatment,” she said.
Jiang graduated from Tunghai University in Taichung with a Master’s in Piano Performance. She built her online following by making classical music funny and accessible. The cancer diagnosis has added a new dimension to her platform, one her audience did not expect.
Why it matters
Ovarian cancer is frequently called a silent killer because its symptoms, bloating, abdominal swelling, changes in bowel habits, are so easily mistaken for something mundane.
Jiang’s story is a textbook example. She had every symptom on the list and still ended up in the gym trying to train it away.
The fact that she is a public figure with hundreds of thousands of followers means her experience will reach an audience that a health awareness campaign might not.
One influencer saying “I thought it was constipation and it was cancer” carries more weight with a scrolling audience than a medical leaflet ever could.
Ovarian cancer survival rates improve dramatically with early detection. Jiang’s doctor asked why she waited.
The answer, that she simply did not think it was serious, is the answer most women would give.
