This is the end of the book but I feel unsatisfied with what I have expressed, it doesn’t seem enough. It is time for me to say goodbye to you, but it seems that I have not fully expressed my viewpoints.
On April 26, 2012, I was about to send the manuscript to publishers in Taiwan and Malaysia, I went to the capital city of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia where the first Malaysian patient of our hospital came from. Ms. Lin, a secondary school teacher suffered from stomach cancer. She was found to have peritoneal metastasis during the surgery. She visited me the moment I arrived in Sabah. Ruddy face, bright eyes and with a hearty voice of joy, all of which indicated that she was young and healthy. There was another lady who came to Fuda Cancer Hospital for further treatment, Ms. Ma. She suffered from gastric lymphoma, cancer recurrence and with multiple metastases after gastrectomy, she is now sixty years old, but doesn’t look like an old person at all. Compared to seven years ago when she received treatments in our hospital, she is so healthy and looks as if she had never been a cancer patient.
I am very grateful that many impossible things have become a reality. At this time, I accidentally discovered a book ‘The Sketch of Back Massage’, written by the Chinese famous fortune-tellers of the Tang Dynasty Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tianzheng 1300 years ago. The book was hailed as a masterpiece of Chinese astrology. There are a total of fifty-eight predictions, from the second to the forty-second prediction all have come true. The predictive accuracy is stunning. I finished reading this magical book during my flight, with the unexpected predictions hovering in my mind. One realization suddenly dawned on me, all matters in this universe, man and animal, may seem to have their own destinies, it is the ‘Will of Heaven’ that decides your thoughts, decisions, actions and impulses.
It seemed that I have found the ‘answer’. We do not possess supernormal wisdom and ability. There is an invisible force showing the direction and giving us the opportunity. Some patients managed to survive and lead a good life, while some patient’s treatments failed, but why? Perhaps it is ‘fate’.
However such an ending seems inappropriate. Eventually a doctor is engaged in the most realistic work.
I spent my National vacation in Shanghai and finished reading Liang Xiaosheng’s new book ‘Depressed Chinese’, which was composed of prose and essays. According to my understanding, the author may expect our society to be:
Less indifferent and more passionate;
Less ineffectual and more pragmatic;
Less stubborn and more innovative;
Less egoistic and more altruistic;
Less ……
In the fight against cancer, I believe that if doctors are more passionate with detailed planning surely this is after all the best treatment?
With more practical deeds and serious consideration can doctors more effectively prolong life?
With more ‘innovation’ to open our minds can we implement a full range of integrated treatments?
Surely, with more altruism, placing patients first and providing a more selfless service, this will effect a positive change.
As patients,
Less depression, fear, disappointment, complaints and cynicism must be countered with confidence, optimism, harmony, understanding and pursuit.
We, my cancer patient friends, will:
“Let life be beautiful as the summer flowers and death be quiet as autumn leaves.” (quote from Yu Dan).
Chuang-tzu said, “In ancient times, a man of great wisdom did not feel so happy to live, did not feel sad for the dead”. We are all ‘cancer survivors’. The true meaning of ‘following me to fight against cancer’ lies in the process and the moment of happiness. There are storms and blizzards in life, our survival process may be a journey full of adventures, but as long as we often have a beautiful sky in our minds, our fate would be always perfect, the hope of survival will always exist like the sun.
The final draft was finished on December 1, 2012, in Shanghai