Ah Ma, you've got to be strong!

Jamie and I sat outside the oncology clinic, patiently waiting for the arrival of Dr. Teh.

Suddenly, the gynae-oncologist, Dr. Mary, who isn’t really fond of medical students, called us into her clinic. She needed us to be translators and convey her messages to a 75-year-old lady with recurrent endometrial carcinoma (cancer of the uterus) and her daughter, who understood only Mandarin and Cantonese. Heh. That’s when the ability to speak multiple languages stands you in good stead.

The patient was pale (probably anaemic) and emaciated. The tumour was growing at an alarming rate. In view of the advancement and aggressiveness of the cancer, the prognosis of the patient’s condition was rather poor. It had spread to her vagina, it seemed, and was on the verge of distant metastases to other parts of the body, namely the kidneys, bones and lungs.

Surgeries and radiotherapy had previously been done. And the patient was given 2 choices – giving chemotherapy a try or rejecting any sort of medical intervention and let nature take its course. She had reached a stage where the disease was incurable. Chemotherapy would merely have a 20% chance of shrinking the tumour and delaying death. Meanwhile, it’d torture her with such adverse side effects as cardiotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, myelosuppression, nausea and vomiting. And eventually, she’d still die.

Cruel huh?

“Ah Ma, cheer up, ok? Don’t think too much la. Just do whatever you want now. Eat whatever you want. Be happy lo. It helps lessen your pain de.”

“ 顺其自然咯!” lamented the old lady.

Tears pooled up in her daughter’s eyes. She tried to put on a smile that failed to shield the utter grief and helplessness in her. My heart was filled with sorrow and sympathy.

The length of the remnant of the patient’s life is now entirely in the hands of God. Nothing can be done at present, I guess, other than praying for a miracle to occur.

Nevertheless, Ah Ma, you’ve got to be strong, no matter what happens !