Doctors are happiest to see that their patients are recuperating, especially unexpected recuperation. Recuperation or non-recuperation is not in any way related to the financial position of a patient.
A few days ago, that was on 31st March 2010, I went to the ward and saw a patient chatting excitedly with a doctor. I looked closely and noticed that he was Ali; “Wow! It is so good to see that Ali is alive and fine.” I said. Once he noticed me, Ali made faces and came forward to greet me. Mrs. Ali told me that Ali was getting better each day. The next day evening, I invited the reporter from TV Indonesia and Mr. & Mrs. Ali for dinner. I had a sense of accomplishment when I saw that Ali was eating well. In fact, he ate much more than I did.
Ali is an Indonesian Chinese. Formerly he was a departmental head of an international assurance firm. In 2005, Ali suddenly developed nose bleeding and headache. He went to the biggest general hospital for examinations and was discovered to be suffering from nasal carcinoma over a vast area and it had intruded into his cheek bone. The doctor told him there was no cure and that his life expectancy was, at most, a few more months. Coincidentally, a friend of his was also diagnosed with maxillary sinus cancer; his doctor told him there were very limited options available. They discussed and decided to go overseas for treatment. His friend decided to go to Singapore as he was a rich business owner while Ali decided to go to China since he was a mere wage earner and was not well off. May that year, Ali, accompanied by his wife, came to our hospital. They found it difficult to get used to China as that was the first time they were in China and worse still, they could not speak Mandarin. We gave Ali several types of therapy. Two months later he was discharged and the nasopharyngeal lesions also disappeared.
In 2006 I went to Jakarta. Ali met me at the airport. I asked him how his friend was. He sadly told me that his friend had passed away. He related to me that his friend underwent a major surgery in Singapore and his left eye, left facial bone and some teeth were removed. He was also given chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
I stayed in Jakarta for a week and Ali accompanied me all the time as my interpreter. I visited his house, a small detached house in term of area. In the living room was displayed many baby toys which Ali collected while on duty overseas as toy collection is his hobby. They have a son and a daughter. His son was qualified to enter the best university in Indonesia; however he enrolled into a cheaper university to save some money for his father’s treatment.
The Indonesian’s best-known health magazine published an interview with Ali. This made Ali a household name. Every day he received many calls asking for his advice on their diseases. As a gesture of giving back to the society, Ali would entertain every caller and he has been nicked name ‘Dr. Ali”.
At the end of 2007, Mrs. Ali called to tell that Ali had cancer recurrence with brain metastasis. I asked him to come to our hospital. We gave him whole brain radiotherapy. Spring 2008, Ali came to our hospital again. We checked and found that there was no brain metastasis anymore, but there was multiple lymph nodes metastasis. I gave him combined immunotherapy. At that time I thought Ali’s days were numbered. Mrs. Ali told me they were very thankful to us. Their son had graduated and started working while their daughter was attending a university and would graduate soon. When Ali was discharged, Mrs. Ali hugged me and said, “This is probably the last time we are here.” After that she started to cry. I told her, “This hospital is your home. If Ali departs, do come and work in our hospital.”
For the past two years, I insisted our doctor stationed in Jakarta to continue giving Ali immunotherapy. Ali takes it seriously and he makes sure he is given the injection weekly.
I never expected Ali to live for five more years. He retired a few years back and lived on meagre relief fund. When Ali was sick, Mrs. Ali quit her job to take care of him. While we were providing Ali treatment, we always took into consideration his financial constrains. Fortunately, our inexpensive treatment produced incredible results. One night I had dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Ali. At the dining table, Mrs. Ali suddenly wept and said, “President Xu, I always remember what you told me two years ago: Come and work in our hospital.”