On the third day, we flew to Medan at the North Sumatra Province, Sumatra. In 2004, on the invitation of the secretary of Indonesian Chinese Chamber of Commerce, North Sumatra Province, We, Dr. Niu Lizhi, Mdm. Lin, Mdm. Zhang, two Hong Kong ladies and I, came to Medan. Mr. Huang Yinhua, the president of the Indonesian Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and several local Chinese associations jointly organised a grand welcome for us. We gave free medical consultations to several dozens of patients from Medan House for the Poor. Mdm Zhang donated some medicine. We had a vivid memory of the event. In recent years many patients from Medan seek treatment in our hospital and we have made many friends from Medan. During this trip we wanted to meet two patients specifically; they were Mr. Huang, a liver cancer patient and Mdm. Ma Yanli, an ovarian cancer patient. There were stories behind their treatment.
As we stepped out of the Medan Airport, Mr. Huang came forward and took our luggage. I recalled that when he came for treatment in our hospital, his liver cancer was beyond the early stage. His liver tumour was about 7 to 8 cm with AFP about 3000-4000μg/l. Before his admission to our hospital he was treated in an overseas hospital. The doctor there suggested chemotherapy and told him that he had about three more months to live. He and his wife operated a bakery and they had two school-going children. They made arrangement for their bakery business and their two children’s study. Then a friend suggested them to “try” our hospital in Guangzhou. I can still remember his stubborn demeanour when he first came to our hospital; he talked very little and always ignored our questions, probably due to his lack of confidence in us or his ‘giving-up on himself’ attitude. Now, he looked like a completely changed person. He became more talkative. While he was driving, he told us about Medan, the on-going mayor election campaign, his bakery shop and the small town he stayed. But I was much more interested on his health condition. Normally we would judge the condition of a liver cancer patient by his lift, energy, and appetite and body weight. If the patient is in good looks, energetic, has good appetite and has gained weight, this would indicate that his disease is not serious. I was sitting at the passenger seat by the side of the driver. I had a peace of mind when I noticed that Mr. Huang was neither fat nor thin, his cheeks rosy, shinny with few wrinkles and his hands on the steering wheels were not erythema as is always exhibited by cancer patients. Mr. Huang sensed my concern and said, “I won’t be able to accompany you tomorrow as I have a medical appointment in Penang, Malaysia. My AFP count last month was 4.3μg/l.”
At this point I had a great sense of satisfaction. From whatever perspectives, be it my mother’s death from liver cancer, or be it I had liver cancer previously, or be it I have devoted my life on liver cancer research I have a very special feeling towards liver cancer patients. It comprises of empathy, sympathy, gladness and accomplishments. It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon. We were at the outskirt of Medan. Unit after unit of detached farm houses dotted the lush green woods. The beams of sun ray fell on the ground as if they would pierce through it. The thin clouds on the blue sky looked like a young lady in veil. The scenery here is hard to find in Guangzhou which abounds with tall concrete buildings. I wound down the window a bit and a hot and refreshing current of air flew into the car. All of us exclaimed almost simultaneously "How nice this is!"
From the main road, our car went into a busy street and stopped in front of a restaurant. Standing to welcome us at the front entrance was a rugged man. He told us that he was one of our former patients but neither I nor Dr. Niu could recall him. Mr. Huang told us that the man was the owner of the restaurant. Two years ago, there was a small chunky growth in his throat. He went to a hospital in Singapore and was told by a doctor that it was cancer and that section of the throat had to be removed. He asked the doctor if he could talk after the operation; the answer was “no” but the doctor could fix an artificial throat in its place. However, the doctor could not guarantee that there would be no recurrence. He asked the doctor how long he could live and he was told that he would have two to three more years to live. Mr. Huang who is his friend advised him to go to our hospital. Biopsy results confirmed it was not cancer but polyp-like nodule. He was discharged in less than a week and he took the opportunity to go for a tour in China with his wife.
We went into the restaurant and felt rather hungry because we only had a bun in the plane and we did not have lunch. His wife prepared us a sumptuous meal. As we began our meal, three ladies came to our table. I instantly recognized them; they were Ma Yanli, her mother and Mdm. Lo, her aunty. Yanli was more or less the same height as she was a few years ago but she had put on some weight. She looked plump and her cheeks rosy. I remembered several years ago when she came into my office to tell me that she had recovered, I gave her a loving hug. Now she had grown up and it would be embarrassing for me to hug her. She leaned closely on me and called me “Grandpa Xu”. She told me she would graduate from university soon and was looking for a job. My mind recalled a scene six years ago:
“One Saturday night in 2005, Mr. Liao Zhangran called and told me that a seventeen years old girl by the name of Ma Yanli was suffering from ovarian cancer. She went for an operation in Penang ten days ago. As the tumor was huge it could not be resected, therefore she would like to come to our hospital. Mr. Liao asked me to provide her special care as Ma’s family had financial difficulties and they had spent a lot of their money on the surgery. The Medan Swan City Charity Foundation was prepared to help and he asked our hospital to assist in whatever ways we could. The next day afternoon our ambulance fetched Ma from the Baiyun Airport; she was accompanied by her mother and aunty, Mdm. Lo. I learned later than Mdm. Lo was very much devoted to charity works. It was she who asked Mr. Liao to call me for help. At 9 p.m. that night, I went to the ward. I was shocked when I saw Ma; she was a childish girl, her face was very pale and thin and she looked depressed. She was lying on the bed with a bulging tummy as if she were pregnant with twins. I tapped her tummy and noticed a huge amount of fluid within the abdominal cavity. At the lower abdomen, I could feel a solid lump as big as a child’s head and the middle of the lower abdomen was a newly suture stitched surgical scar of 20 cm length. From the surgery record and pathology report, she had ovarian cancer with grade II- III differentiation.”
I switched on my computer and found the photos of Yanli taken in 2005: photos of her swollen belly, cryosurgical ablation of pelvic tumours and the tumours that were removed. When Yanli saw these photos she was almost in tears. Mdm. Lo who was standing by the side said, “Yanli, it is Fuda that has saved your life. You must thank Professor Xu!”
I looked at Yanli and recalled the scene when I first met Ximei in Zhanjiang on 19th December 2009 when I was determined to save her life and cure her. ximei’s ovarian tumour was at least five times bigger than that of Yanli. The courage that I had then was virtually derived from my experience in treating Yanli successfully. From this prospective, I had Yanli to thank, too.
After bidding farewell to Yanli, we went to Mr. Huang’s house. The fragrance from freshly baked bread filled the air. We took our seats inside the shop. A family photo was on the wall. Mrs. Huang introduced their two sons to us. One of them was working in a big firm in Jakarta and the other was taking care of the family business. Both of them were taller than the father. I asked, “Mr. Huang, both your children have grown up, you must be in your fifties!” Mrs. Huang laughingly replied, “Thank you. We are not that young. My husband is now sixty-eight years old.” Mr. Huang took out his PET-CT films taken three months ago: there was a space-occupying lesion at the right lobe of liver about 3cm long. It appeared to be scar tissues due to cryosurgical ablation.