MANILA -- FOR families of Filipinos living with cancer, sometimes crying and giving up are the only options left. While others, who can afford, take a lease on life through various treatments, some just wait for time to run out.
They stop living, frozen with uncertainty, unable to do even the least significant because they become stuck with anxiety, fear and depression.
Cancer is the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Philippines after diseases of the heart and the vascular system (Philippine Health Statistics 2009). Among Filipino men, the six most common sites of cancer diagnosed in 2010 (Globocan) were lung, liver, colon/rectum, prostate, stomach, and leukemia. Among Filipino women, the six most common sites diagnosed were breast, cervix, lung, colon/rectum, ovary, and liver.
According to a recent study conducted by the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Human Genetics, National Institutes of Health, 189 of every 100,000 Filipinos are afflicted with cancer while four Filipinos die of cancer every hour or 96 cancer patients every day. Its toll on lives is likened to two coach buses packed with passengers crashing every day.
Cancer is a national health priority in the country with significant implications on individuals, families, communities, and the health system.
In the words of Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston, “cancer affects all of us, whether you’re a daughter, mother, sister, friend, co-worker, doctor, or patient.”
Cancer is often a disease that lasts a long time with many years of treatment. Sometimes, people close to the patient are very involved at first, but grow distant as the treatment goes on over months or even years. It’s understandable though that they can become “burned out” when supporting a person with cancer.
Kim Digal, in his early 20s, however, regularly accompanies his 69-year old father, Eddie Digal, for his local chemotherapy at the Fuda Cancer Hospital in Guangzhou, China.
Eddie, of Sultan Kudarat in South Cotabato, was first diagnosed with colon cancer some years back in Mindanao. He went under the knife and had six cycles of chemotherapy. After a partial remission, the cancer metastasized to his liver (Stage 4).
In the Digal family’s search for options, they found what they consider to be one of the best cancer treatment options available. Less than two hours by plane from the Philippines is the Fuda Cancer Hospital, which has become a treatment home for more or less 700 Filipinos with cancer. He is now on his fifth local chemotherapy. Unlike the traditional chemotherapy, which travels throughout the entire body, this treatment delivers doses of chemotherapy right into the liver through the hepatic artery (the main source of blood supply for liver tumors).
A tertiary cancer hospital, Fuda operates with international standards and is accredited by the Joint Commission International – a golden standard of medical service worldwide.
Established in 1998 by FUDA president, Dr. Xu Kecheng, it was selected as the National Key Clinical Specialty (Oncology) in 2010. It highly focuses on research and application of advanced clinical procedures and on meticulous patient care.
According to Dr. Mu Feng, Fuda vice president, the medical facility is different from other hospitals because it is focused on seeking methods to detect stages of cancer and other kinds of cancer that are more difficult.
“We use the minimally invasive treatments and some special techniques so that (a) patient can benefit from our treatments even if they failed in other hospitals,” said Dr. Mu, a cancer surgeon and a minimally invasive oncologist.
Fuda Cancer Hospital, he said, is special and is flourishing because it uses a special technique to treat a special group of patients.
Cancer treatment at Fuda varies from patient to patient. Here, multi-disciplinary teams work to personalize treatment for every single patient. In the past two decades, it has been actively promoting minimally invasive treatments, such as Cryosurgery, Nanoknife, Brachytherapy, and Combined Immunotherapy.
“This group of patients is different from other groups. Our hospital is focused on minimal invasive abrasion, with a therapy that has less side effects,” said Dr. Mu, who admitted to have been diagnosed with a non-aggressive thyroid cancer last year.
Fuda Filipino partner, Dr. Michael Hernandez, said doctors’ aim is to give cure to any disease or illness.
“If ever cancer cure is not achieved, there is FUDA for patients in late cancer stage,” he said. “It offers two things – cure and prolongation of life. It isn’t prolongation of poor quality of life but prolonging with good quality of life.”
“It is not prolongation if the patient is in severe pain, no appetite and bedridden. Prolonging good quality life means the patient is productive, not in pain, has good appetite, gets normal hours of sleep, and enjoys time with loved ones,” added Dr. Hernandez, an oncologist surgeon at St. Lukes Hospital.
Like Eddie, more than 10,000 cancer patients from over 90 countries picked their option. It may be not an easy way but the option offered by Fuda Cancer Hospital gave them an extension of “good quality” life with their families while others are grateful for a “new” life.
True enough, cancer patients and their families may be facing a mountain but they have several options.
To quote Armenian-Russian writer Vera Nazarian, “You can climb it (mountain) and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.”
Living in a world of "wait and see" is difficult. It pays to say yes to what can be done and take an active part in loved ones' health and lives. (PNA)
