In a time river, people are sometimes as small as leaves, but people who love life are never small! Amy also loved her life as a flight attendant in Hong Kong though she had been suffering from cancer for 9 years. Her gracefulness and peacefulness left us a deep impression during the interview. "Thanks to their care and encouragement here, I can still enjoy my life. And I want to live more positively! Here, I’m not just a patient but also their family member. They understood my helplessness and made me feel at home." Who is she saying "they"? What is her relationship with them? Let’s read the following warm-hearted story between Amy and the medical staff of Fuda Cancer Hospital affiliated to Jinan University (Fuda).
"A small peanut" brings a big hidden risk
As a flight attendant, Amy lived a busy and funny life. However, in March 2009, she inadvertently found a peanut-sized mass in the outer quadrant of her right breast. Two months later, she underwent a diagnostic resection of her right breast at a local hospital. The pathological report showed invasive ductal carcinoma. After the operation, a mass measuring about 1cm*1cm was still palpable in the area between the right lateral and right axillary fossa, its nature unknown. The local hospital recommended postoperative chemotherapy and endocrinotherapy, but Amy refused for personal reasons. Until May 2014, Amy found that the mass became significantly larger than before with bleeding. At that time, she was still optimistic about her condition, "Maybe the tumor is not removed completely, so it grew again, but I’m reluctant to do chemo, because my friends who have done chemo are painful and weak. As you can see, the result is not good. So I wanted to find alternative therapies."
Treatments all around the world
In December 2015, the mass increased progressively, so Amy had to receive treatment at the local hospital where a doctor told her that the mass increased to the size of 8cm*6cm with poorly defined margin, hard, fixed and easy to bleed. On January 18, 2016, a right breast biopsy indicated invasive ductal carcinoma. Then the local doctor suggested a further scan to see if the cancer spread. If it spread, it was more difficult to treat or otherwise, 4-8 cycles of chemo to make the tumor smaller, and then tumor resection were arranged. Unwilling to receive traditional chemo, Amy consulted a non-profit natural therapy institution in the United States, and planned to go to a nursing home in Hungary or Mexico for two weeks of natural therapy treatment, and then return to Hong Kong for two and a half years of follow-up treatment, but the institution recommended western medicine therapy for the big tumor, first controlling the tumor and then considering alternative therapies. Hearing this, Amy was no longer happy but overwhelmed by desperation and fear.
Sudden arrival of hope
When Amy was immersed in deep pain, a book came to her mind--Nothing by the truth written by Prof. Xu Kecheng, the honorary president of Fuda. At that time, one of her friends called her. After Amy told her friend about her situation, her friend immediately rushed to meet her with printed material about cancer treatments, among which the book Live with Cancer shared the same author of the book Nothing but the truth. What a coincidence! Both books mention many new treatments for tumors in Fuda, such as cryosurgical ablation, interventional therapy, etc. and many successful treatments for cancer patients. Amy agreed with Prof. Xu's anti-cancer concept of living with cancer, and went to the lecture held by Fuda in Hong Kong, after which she decided to go to Fuda without hesitation.
Tumor is shrunk after interventional treatment
When Amy arrived at Fuda, her cancer had developed to a late stage. Doctors here recommended the interventional therapy with drug microspheres to reduce the tumor. Then on March 10, April 7, and May 10, 2016, Amy was given interventional therapy on right breast cancer respectively. Unexpectedly, a chest CT scan on May 30, 2016 indicated that the right breast cancer recurrence was significantly smaller than before; nodular metastases in the right axillary near chest wall were smaller than before, which were appropriate for resection.
In recent years, there have been hundreds of cases in treating advanced breast cancer patients with drug-loaded microsphere interventional therapy. The microsphere will change its shape with the shape of the blood vessel, and after being injected into the blood vessel, it will gradually penetrate into the distal end of the tumor blood vessel, firmly hold the tiny blood vessel group of the tumor, cutting off the supply of oxygen and nutrients, and causing tumor necrosis. Then local high concentration of chemotherapy environment leaves a long-lasting "poisoning" effect on cancer cells. Due to the small amount of chemo drugs mainly concentrating in the tumor, few chemo drugs are left in the whole body. Therefore, it does not cause systemic toxic side effects, greatly reducing the patient's discomfort and benefiting many patients with solid tumor.
Prof. Wang Jiannan showed kind-heartedness
On June 6, 2016, Amy underwent radical resection of right breast cancer, right thigh skin graft and right breast free skin flap transplantation under the general anesthesia. Prof. Wang Jiannan, the surgeon, said the procedure was smooth and no complications occurred. Amy recalled, "Actually, it’s more convenient for me to receive surgery in Hong Kong because I don't need to travel between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. But doctors in Hong Kong said that the tumor had spread to my lymph nodes and collarbone, and cancer cells of the right axillary lymph node adhered to that of right infraclavicular lymph node, which might not be cleared completely through resection at Hong Kong. So they suggested that I go back to the Fuda for surgery." Two months later, she returned to Fuda for re-examination which showed that previous nodular metastasis in right axillary near chest wall had disappeared; previous swelling right supraclavicular lymph nodes were slightly smaller than before. The postoperative recovery was good. “I am very grateful to the doctors in Hong Kong for giving me advice.” What made Amy unforgettable were Fuda doctors. “I am very grateful to Prof. Wang for doing radical breast cancer surgery for me. At first, I thought I could only receive palliative treatment but Prof. Wang cleaned all the visible cancer cells under CT, and took two pieces of skin from my right foot to make skin grafts for my wound. As for the cancer at my collarbone, Prof. Wang suggested another treatment. The most important thing is to remove the large tumor first.” Amy remembered that once, Prof. Wang changed the dressing for her after surgery, and told her that the success of a surgery depended on 70% of what doctors did on the operating table and on 30% of postoperative dressing techniques. She thought it unbelievable that a high-level doctor at Fuda changed dressing for her in such a careful way. This small act moved her to tears and brought her great encouragement and warmth, which made her believe that she could overcome the difficulties. She had learned that an outstanding woman should be optimistic and passionate about life with uniqueness and perseverance in pursuing her dreams.
Sincerity creates a harmonious atmosphere
Now Amy is doing follow-up treatment in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and regularly returns to Fuda for treatment once a month, and now the tumor is well controlled. In Fuda, Amy recently met Dr. Xu Kecheng who gave a piece of kind advice to her--be happy; have a balanced diet; exercise moderately; continue to work. Amy is very grateful to the relatives and friends who support her, and also grateful to all the medical staff in Fuda for their thoughtful care and kind help.
