Actress May Phua back on her feet four days after surgery

Freelance local actress and fitness trainer May Phua had recently gone for a cholecystectomy. PHOTOS: IAMMAYPHUA/INSTAGRAM

SINGAPORE - Freelance local actress and fitness trainer May Phua was back on her feet just four days after a major operation.

The 45-year-old said on social media on Tuesday (April 12) that she had recently gone for a cholecystectomy - an operation to remove the gallbladder.

"Painkiller cocktails and bed rest have been my ritual every day since I came home from the surgery," she wrote.

Phua, best known for her role as Xiaomei (Little Sister) in popular Channel 8 sitcom Don't Worry, Be Happy (1996 to 2002), said she had tried to walk and not lie in bed all the time after the operation.

"The past few days, honestly, haven't been easy," she wrote. "I couldn't move without hunching over, carrying my stomach as I take each step."

Two days after the operation, she started walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes, holding her stomach as she did so.

"I couldn't eat a lot as the incision areas on my stomach and the internal swelling prevented the food from going down," she said.

Phua said her body responded better four days after the operation.

"I'm able to squat and walk on the elliptical machine for 30mins without holding my belly," she wrote.

"The swelling is still there but my body seems to be responding. I'm very proud of this tough body."

She attributed the quick turnaround to her daily fitness sessions.

"Our body is our armour, do not take (it) for granted," she wrote. "Care for it, daily."

Phua was diagnosed with a slipped disc several years ago and underwent rehabilitation, which gradually improved her condition.

She had told The Straits Times in October that exercising with her condition was not easy, and she realised that people like her needed help with getting fit.

She took up a personal training course in 2020 and became a private personal trainer after graduation.

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