Alex’s Son:” Love and company are the best encouragement to my father”.

Alex Chan, a 55-year-old man, who lives in Manila. He used to have a happy life with three sons. However, the happy life was destroyed by a sudden cancer. In April 2015, cough and pain in the left lung drove him to the hospital for examinations. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Considering the side effects of chemotherapy, he just took some herbal medicines instead of receiving the chemotherapy immediately. Nevertheless, taking herbal medicines gave no relief to his condition; his condition became worse and had left pleural effusion. Introducing by a friend, Alex learned that there are advanced minimally invasive therapies in Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou which could help to treat cancer, so accompanied by his families, he went to Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou for treatment.

The doctor first gave him a systemic physical examination after he was hospitalized. The CT scan showed that Alex was suffered from poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of left lung (stage IV) with metastases to pleura and liver. According to Alex’s condition, the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) from Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou specially made him a therapeutic plan: interventional therapy + radioactive particle and chemical particle combined implantation. His son indicated that the diagnosis and treatment in Manila were made by doctor, nurse and oncologist from one department, while in Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, the treatment plan was made by a whole team with doctors from different specialized fields.

On June 9th, 2015, Alex received his 1st interventional therapy. Unlike the multiple side effects of chemotherapy, Alex only felt pain occasionally. Five days after the interventional therapy, he felt no discomfort and could eat normally. His son mentioned that they even climbed the Baiyun Mountain and had a good time with each other. They took a breath of fresh air and strengthened the body at the same time. Later, Alex received radioactive particle and chemical particle combined implantation on June 19th and the second interventional therapy on June 30th. After taking three sessions of therapies, his physical and mental condition turned better.

Alex’s son was being interviewed

Regarding to the treatment differences between Philippine and Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, Alex’s son said that the interventional therapy directly inserts medicine to the cancer, which results in better therapeutic effect and less adverse effects, compared with the normal chemotherapy. He also mentioned that the service of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou was so considerate, as it not only provided free translation and laundry service, but also organized regular travel for patients, which made them feel warm.

It was a long and hard process to fight against cancer. When asked how he gave his father encouragement, Alex’s son answered:” Love and company are the best encouragement, I would like to stay with my father to help him to fight against cancer.” In order to take good care of his father, he took a long vocation to accompany his father every day, and fought against cancer with positive attitude. He thought that other patients in Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou were very nice and they made many friends during the hospitalization. The good efficacy of other patients increased their confidence of fighting against cancer. He also recommended other cancer patients to go to Modern Cancer Hospital for treatment in that its advanced minimally invasive therapies could treat cancer effectively.

*Surgery, in addition to the appropriate chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are effective in treating early cancer, but certain patients in late stage of cancer may not be tolerate surgery well as they can be relatively weak. A combination of carefully planned minimally invasive therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy can effectively reduce the side effects and discomfort of treatment and may help patient get better efficacy.