The 73-year-old oncologist suffered from cancer and died after fighting cancer for a year. His reflections before his death were thought-provoking

It may be difficult for ordinary people to imagine what cancer patients will experience if they reach an advanced stage. It may also be difficult for doctors who treat patients to "empathize". But there is such a doctor, he deeply understands.

Hua Yiwei is the former director of the First Department of Foreign Affairs of the General Hospital of the Beijing Military Region. He has been engaged in cancer prevention and treatment for 56 years and has performed operations on countless cancer patients.

After suffering from stomach cancer unfortunately, after a year of fighting against the disease, he left with regret, but before his death, one of his words is worth our reflection: "I have done so many surgeries before, but I am very concerned about the postoperative complications. The patient's pain is not deeply experienced. I didn't expect the situation to be so serious, I didn't expect the patient to be so painful..."

1. After becoming a patient, I understand how painful it is to have cancer

When a person transitions from the role of doctor to patient, what does he experience? How will the mentality change?

Hua Yiwei, the former director of the First Department of External Surgery at the General Hospital of the Beijing Military Region, was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer in 2005. After the total gastrectomy, Hua Yiwei developed severe reflux and was unable to lie down at all, only half-recumbent for a long time.

In order to control the spread of cancer cells, he underwent intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy and experienced unbearable pain for ordinary people. Despite this, Hua Yiwei is very strong. In the process of fighting cancer this year, he also constantly reflected on himself:

1. "Even a little stomach is better than a full cut"

In the past, when treating patients, doctors mainly considered removing the tumor to reduce the risk of recurrence, and seldom considered whether there would be complications.

It was only after his own personal experience that Hua Yiwei realized that being a doctor cannot be patronized to treat diseases, but he must also consider the quality of life of patients. Under his suggestion, he also made improvements when performing surgery for gastric cancer patients: it is not necessary to do full incision as much as possible .

2. "Chemotherapy is too painful, I just want to relieve the pain"

After a complete gastrectomy, in order to control the spread of cancer cells, Hua Yiwei had undergone 8 chemotherapy treatments within a month . During chemotherapy, Hua Yiwei vomited badly and couldn't eat at all, all relying on nasogastric feeding tube for nutrient solution.

After chemotherapy, the symptoms still did not improve. Hua Yiwei developed intestinal obstruction in the terminal ileum and became more debilitated.

In order to survive, Hua Yiwei underwent another operation. Unfortunately, a serious infection occurred after the operation, and his body completely collapsed. Tubes were inserted all over his body... At that time, he had only one idea: stop using expensive medicines, No more expensive tests, just less pain.

3. "The goal of the doctor is not to cure the disease, but to treat the sick patient"

Hua Yiwei believes that the mission of a doctor is not to cure the disease, but to treat the patient. As a doctor, you should not only consider the success of the operation, but also the patient's feelings .

If a trade-off is to be made between quality of life and disease, consider which is more beneficial to the patient. Doctors should take the main responsibility, because for patients, because they do not understand medicine, they will think that complications are normal, and in fact sometimes can be avoided.

Second, the pain of cancer, it is difficult to empathize

How much pain does the patient suffer when the cancer has developed to an advanced stage? It may be difficult for ordinary people to imagine...

Regarding cancer pain, Academician Han Jisheng described it like this: swallowing saliva is like eating broken glass slag, the headache feels like being dizzy due to hypoxia after riding a roller coaster for several days, and it takes all the strength of the whole body to defecate...

More than ten years ago, Yu Juan, a young teacher at Fudan University, described her experience of experiencing cancer pain in the late stage of breast cancer in her autobiography book "This Life Is Unfinished": the pain was so painful that she could not move, she fainted from the pain, and thought about the pain. don't cry .

Why is cancer pain so painful? Because it is not only physical pain, but also has a significant impact on the mind and spirit .

In addition, cancer-related treatment can also cause a series of pain, such as peripheral neuralgia, burning pain and so on . Under the influence of physical pain, it will lead to insomnia, fatigue, and further aggravate cancer pain.

And because of the battle against cancer pain, the patient becomes withdrawn and closed. Under multiple tortures, the patient will fall into a vicious cycle of suffering.

3. Cancer pain must not be endured! Timely treatment is critical

Cancer pain must not be endured, and it will not pass for a while, but it will become more and more serious, and finally the pain is unbearable. Statistics show that there are more than 3 million new cancer cases in China every year, and about two-thirds of mainstream patients experience pain, most of which are severe pain .

Liu Wei, director of the palliative care center and day ward ward of Peking University Cancer Hospital, introduced that many patients and their families are worried about drug addiction and have certain concerns about using opioids to relieve pain. In fact, don't worry, China has strict regulations on the use of opioids.

In addition, there are two common cognitive misunderstandings in cancer treatment:

One is that analgesics are only necessary for severe pain. The role of analgesics is to relieve pain and improve function. As long as cancer pain occurs, no matter the degree, analgesics should be taken in time and on time;

Second, long-term use of opioid analgesics can lead to addiction. Clinical medical research at home and abroad shows that the scientific, rational and standardized use of opioids has a very low risk of mental dependence . Therefore, cancer pain should not be endured, and timely treatment is critical.

To fight cancer, it is very important to survive, but it is necessary to consider not only the survival period, but also the quality of life and the feeling of the patient. If the patient is lucky enough to survive, but the pain is excruciating every day, it doesn't really mean much.

References

[1] "["Medicine" represents talents] Hua Yiwei: a person worthy of entrusting life". Qingdao University Medical College Student Union. 2014-11-03

[2] "It really hurts to have cancer! When it comes to cancer pain, the 90-year-old academician also burst into tears! " .Health Times.2018-01-16

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