From small clinic to medical empire

Chapter 93 Diary of Seeking a Doctor [Please recommend!Ask for collection! 】

In the past few days, a serialized diary on Weibo was reposted by many people, and the number of reposts exceeded one million in a short time.

The author of the serialized diary is a Weibo big V, Lao Guo Lvzheng.

It is said that he is a big V, but Lao Guo Legal doesn't have many fans originally, but his diary is very eye-catching.

Because it tells the author's personal experience of seeking medical treatment overseas from the first perspective through live broadcast and serialization.

……

6 month 30 day.

The disease came violently and suddenly, and when the cancer verdict was suddenly handed down, I had extremely complicated feelings for the doctor.

They shattered my beautiful life with their own hands, and put this sad news before my eyes.

But he nonchalantly described to me how high the success rate of the surgery was.

As everyone knows, in their eyes, the 10% failure rate is an unbearable burden of life for every patient.

I don’t know what’s wrong with the medical education in our country. Maybe it’s because of the lack of humanistic thinking and the influence of love and justice, which has trained doctors into machines that can only treat diseases.

Yes, it is a machine!
In the so-called best hospital in China, I saw with my own eyes that they process every patient like a meat and poultry slaughterhouse.

Here, I cannot see the brilliance of humanity, nor the spark of civilization.

What's wrong with this society?
I couldn't help but fell into deep contemplation.

……

July 7RB thought that life was about to be entrusted to others so hastily, but never thought that there was a glimmer of life in despair.

I vaguely remember that at the beginning of April 2017, I enjoyed top-notch Italian food with Mr. Qian Chen, editor-in-chief of Songdu Times, in a landmark building in Lujiazui.

During the meeting, Mr. Qian Chen mentioned that he had suffered from laryngeal cancer, which surprised me a lot.

Because Mr. Qian Chen speaks clearly and eats smoothly, it seems that there is no shadow of laryngeal cancer at all.

It was that time when I asked, let me know, an unknown path to seek medical treatment.

Through Mr. Qian Chen, I met Ms. Song Pingping, senior consultant for the Greater China Region of UCLA School of Medicine.

Now that I think about it, I am very fortunate to have met Ms. Song Pingping, and now I have a turning point.

Facing the diagnosis of cancer, after a short period of hesitation, I immediately called Ms. Song Pingping and asked her about going abroad for medical treatment.

I am infinitely worried about the geometry of the road ahead.

However, Ms. Song Pingping read my examination report. With her rich medical knowledge, she told the truth that my condition was very serious and there were many defects in the domestic treatment plan. She recommended me to go to the United States for medical treatment and told me Foreign doctors have richer experience in cancer treatment.

Faced with this information that domestic doctors never tell patients, I decided to give it a try with the mentality of giving it a try.

……

7 month 5 day.

The beloved wife hurried back to China from Shibuya Starry Night after hearing the bad news.

After listening to the information I had, she expressed her full support for my going abroad for medical treatment.

Therefore, under the recommendation of Ms. Song Pingping, I entrusted Aierkang International Medical Service Company to help me go through the formalities of going abroad for medical treatment quickly and worry-free, and made an appointment with the top three top medical centers in the United States, University of California School of Medicine (UCLA) School of Medicine).

On the morning of July 7, after more than ten hours of flight, I arrived in Los Angeles, USA, and checked into the apartment I booked in advance.

The apartment is a standard American middle-class housing, with a comfortable and quiet environment, very close to the hospital, and the hospital can be reached in 5 minutes by car.

The living facilities near the apartment are also very complete. There is a Vietnamese supermarket here, which is more in line with Chinese people's eating and living habits. There are also local supermarkets such as Wal-Mart and Hyvee.

……

7 month 10 day.

After paying a deposit of about $60, my wife and I came to UCLA Medical Center.

What followed were examinations and seeing various doctors.

The treatment plan can be determined by seeing a doctor in China, but here you need to make appointments with doctors from different departments.

I can't help but feel a little complicated.

The accompanying translator explained to me that the treatment plan formulated at the UCLA Medical Center is the result of multidisciplinary consultation. They work together to formulate the most suitable plan for the patient based on the patient's condition. This will be more efficient and the surgery will be more convenient. precise.

The doctor's lounge at UCLA is filled with the artistic atmosphere of the medieval maritime age.

Talking with the doctors is like talking about Baroque art and Beethoven symphonies with a gentleman who walked out of an oil painting.

I have never seen such a fantastic hospital in China. Perhaps, improving the medical environment is not only material, but also spiritual.

In addition to the doctor's office, there is also a spacious and comfortable waiting room. There are always more seats than waiting patients, and there is no noisy sound.

Most of the time doctors give each patient is more than half an hour, and they need high-quality communication to fully understand the condition.

It's not like the doctors in China who only spend two or three minutes treating you perfunctorily.

I heard that doctors in China have to run all the way to the toilet. When can they take a break in such a quiet environment, communicate with each other about the cases at hand, and accumulate energy for subsequent treatments?
……

7 month 12 day.

In order to ensure that doctors can have new inspection data, UCLA Medical Center arranges necessary inspections in advance before seeing a doctor.

I went to the medical center again and did the necessary image review that day. The inspection process was compact and orderly, and I never encountered the noisy and crowded scenes like Chinese hospitals.

9:00, registration at the International Patient Center of the hospital;
9:15, met with the anesthetist of the medical team, and informed the anesthetist of the basic situation, physical condition, current medication, etc.;
10:50, blood test;

11:15, do PET-CT;

At 14:30, do CT.

Determination of treatment plan

According to the appointment, on July 7, I went to see the medical oncology, surgery and radiation oncology doctors respectively.

Surgeon Robert believed that thyroid cancer had lymph node metastasis based on PET-CT images, making surgery very difficult.

Regarding the reasons for the complexity of the operation, Robert explained as follows: "There was a clinical study comparing two treatments, one group directly removed the thyroid gland as a whole, and the other group performed both thyroid gland removal and neck lymph node dissection. There was a huge difference in survival between the two groups."

Therefore, Dr. Robert thought that after the complete removal of the thyroid gland, I would also need to remove the lymph nodes.

In order to ensure the quality of the operation, he will invite the best cervical lymph node removal surgeon in the world to perform the operation with him.

An appointment was made to see a head and neck surgeon for further examination the next day.

Oncologist Amit Mahipal gave a medication plan. Compared with the domestic medication regimen, there is not much difference in medication, except that the drugs used in the United States are newer versions with lower side effects.

At the same time, radiotherapy is also considered a necessary option for follow-up treatment.

Dr. James Martenson, a radiologist, examined the mouth, neck and anus, explained the principles of radiotherapy in detail, and explained the possible side effects of radiotherapy.

The doctor will give the client proton or ordinary radiotherapy according to the situation.Proton therapy has fewer side effects and is more expensive.

The doctor said that for patients with total resection of thyroid cancer, as far as the data in North America is concerned, the cure rate can be increased by 131% through radiotherapy and chemotherapy with iodine 5.

At the same time, the doctor also arranged for esophagoscopy and gastroscopy and biopsy on July 7, and the results will come out within 17 days.

In the early consultation, my treatment plan has already taken shape.

However, the final plan cannot be determined until the pathological results are available.

In addition, since UCLA Medical Center specially arranged international experts to participate in the operation, my operation arrangement still needs a period of patience.

Although the wait is anxious.

But the humanistic care shining everywhere in UCLA Medical Center made me feel at ease.

Dr. James told me about his research progress in thyroid cancer over the past 30 years.

As a patient here, every medical staff will be patient-centered, precise treatment, comprehensive care, and reduce the side effects of treatment to a greater extent. He will diagnose and treat me like he treats his own relatives, which gives me strong confidence and comfort.

Treatment in the United States is proceeding in an orderly manner.

I even had a dedicated nutritionist who set calorie standards for me and prescribed calorie-increased drinks.

Although it is a drink, it is many times harder to drink than traditional Chinese medicine. The doctor explained that when you drink it now, you will not feel any discomfort in your body except for the bitter taste.

If you lose weight, you will suffer physical pain. You must gain weight and use calories to fight tumors and the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

In short, although the waiting is painful, everything is like the quiet and peaceful air of a European town, leisurely, making people forget the noise and troubles.

It was in such a simple, fulfilling, and safe state that I waited quietly, waiting for the arrival of my exclusive surgeon.

The above is what I have seen and heard during my trip to the United States to seek medical treatment. If there is any new progress, I will share it with you in time.

Love and peace!

(End of this chapter)