Diagnosed with cancer: a sudden shock

In December 2023, I started coughing up blood and felt a lump in my neck. At first, I paid little attention to it, but as the symptoms aggravated, I decided to check it out at the hospital. However, the unexpected thing the doctor told me was that it was cancer!

The news came as a bolt from the blue and struck me. I thought that having cancer meant “not long to live”. But my family kept encouraging me firmly: “Your mother-in-law got cervical cancer in 2018, and after successful treatment at St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, she’s been quite healthy till now. And the treatment process was not painful, we believe you can beat lung cancer in the same way.” The inspiration from my family and the successful treatment experiences of my family members gave me great confidence that cancer is not incurable and that I can return to health just like my mother-in-law.

Smooth admission: attentive support from the International Service Center

Due to the frequent coughing blood, I became depressed and fearful, resulting in no appetite and gradual weakness. With the help of the Jakarta Service Center in Indonesia, we had a teleconsultation with an oncologist and then my anxiety and fear were greatly relieved. The oncologists told me that in their experience, many patients like me had lung cancer with metastasis and had a high survival rate, so there was no need to worry too much. They also suggested I apply interventional therapy, which is a safe treatment method that delivers anti-tumor drugs directly to the inside of the tumor through a catheter, precisely killing the tumor cells without harming other tissues.

Jakarta Service Center assisted us with all the formalities of going abroad for treatment, including visa and other matters, to ensure that my family and I could go abroad for treatment smoothly and quickly. With confidence, in February 2024, my family and I came to St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou. The multi-language translation service provided by the hospital allowed us to have no language barrier in our daily life and treatment.

You can get back to health even if you have cancer 

Minimally invasive treatment: fast recovery and high quality of life

After a series of examinations, the MDT told me that I was initially diagnosed with a malignant tumor in my left lung, accompanied by metastases in both lungs and multiple sites. They formulated a personalized treatment plan for me based on the pathology: interventional therapy and cryotherapy. Interventional therapy mainly works to eliminate the tumor in the lungs, followed by metastatic tumors in other parts of the body.

After the first interventional therapy, my symptoms of coughing up blood gradually disappeared. I felt much more energetic, and my appetite improved significantly. After several interventional therapies, the mass in my neck was no longer palpable, and a CT scan revealed that the tumor in my lungs and other metastases had shrunk to the point of almost disappearing. Additionally, my tumor markers had returned to normal. I was elated that St. Stamford had truly helped me regain my health, as well as my mother-in-law's. 

The MDT informed me that all of the tumors were now nearly inactive and that only cryotherapy would be needed for follow-up. The cryo-balloon procedure will effectively freeze the primary tumor in the lower lobe of my left lung, causing it to necrose and ultimately stop growing and metastasizing.

During the treatment, I didn’t feel obvious side effects. What’s more, I was able to live a normal life after the treatment, even taking walks with my family. Besides, I also managed to quit smoking and drinking and started to pay more attention to my health and diet. Cancer has made me love life more and I realize the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Anti-cancer angels: support from family and warmth from hospital 

I am very grateful to my wife and brother-in-law for being by my side and giving me endless support throughout the entire treatment process. The medical staff at the hospital gave me great care. Especially Director Ma and the MDT, who developed a personalized treatment plan based on my condition to ensure that every step of the treatment would yield the best results. I am very grateful to them and hope that God will reward every one of them

A picture of my brother-in-law, my wife and me

I hope through my story, I can inspire more cancer patients to face the disease bravely and seek advanced treatments actively. Cancer is not scary, the key lies in choosing the right treatment methods and maintaining a positive mindset.