Tales from the Practice of Medicine: The Case of Nancy (Part 4): Chemotherapy

Yu Lin

PureInsight | April 7, 2003

[PureInsight.org] Although Nancy had already been through the ordeal of having her breasts surgically removed, she experienced her real tribulation in chemotherapy. In the first week of the chemotherapy, she lost her full head of hair. The morning after her chemotherapy began, Nancy found her blond hair all over the floor and bed; only very little hair remained on her head. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw what looked like her grandfather—a bald man with unkind eyes and an aged face. The image in the mirror shocked Nancy. When Nancy finally realized that it was her face that she saw in the mirror, she decided that perhaps what had caused her plight had been karma created by her ancestors. She did not know her grandfather very well, but she knew that he had served in the army and had killed many people. She felt like a fish in the nether world that was trapped in a net and was soon to be carried up to the water's surface.

Although no doctor had complete confidence in the healing efficacy of the chemotherapy, no doctor recommended against Nancy's having the chemotherapy treatment either. All her doctors knew that the side effects of chemotherapy may feel even worse than death, but no one had any better solution for a less painful cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy requires a series of injections of chemotherapeutic medicine into the body. The medicine kills both cancer and normal cells. After each chemotherapy treatment, the number of both red and white blood cells in Nancy's body was reduced to a minimum. Only a few days after the count of red and white blood cells increased, she had to have the next chemotherapy treatment, until the blood cell counts were again reduced to a minimum, at which time the chemotherapy had to stop. Repetitive chemotherapy like this had caused her health to deteriorate until she was nearly dead.

Nancy could not eat because she would vomit. She could not stand up because she would feel very dizzy. She could not stop the chemotherapy because that might have given the cancer an opportunity to thrive ferociously. However, she could not afford to have more chemotherapy because her red blood cell count was too low. Any more chemotherapy might have claimed her life.

Nancy is still battling with cancer the best she can. Her chemotherapy is still in progress. If she can survive the chemotherapy, what awaits her will be radiotherapy and laser treatments, which could potentially be a new round in her battle of life and death. If Nancy survives the laser treatment, will she finally be able to live the rest of her life peacefully? Her doctor said that all the treatments together would give her only a 30% of chance of survival.

To be continued…

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2003/2/14/20382.html

Add new comment