It may be difficult for ordinary people to imagine what a cancer patient will experience if it reaches 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, the former director of the First Department of Surgery of the General Hospital of the Beijing Military Region, 56 years of cancer prevention and treatment< /strong>, 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, his words are worth our reflection : “I have done so many surgeries in the past, but I don’t have a deep understanding of the pain of the patients after surgery. I didn’t expect the situation to be so serious, I didn’t expect the patients to suffer so much…”

First, after becoming a patient, I realize how painful it is to have cancer

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

Hua Yiwei is the former director of the First Department of Surgery of the General Hospital of Beijing Military Region. He 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. 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 everything”

In the past, when treating patients, doctors mainly thought about removing the tumor and reducing the risk of recurrence. They rarely considered whether there would be complications.

It wasn’t until her own experience that Hua Yiwei realized that being a doctor can’t be patronized to treat diseases, but also consider the quality of life of patients. Under his suggestion, he also made improvements when performing surgery for gastric cancer patients later: It is not necessary to complete the incision as much as possible. Pain.

2. “Chemotherapy is too painful, I just want to relieve the pain”< /span>

After a complete gastrectomy, in order to control the spread of cancer cells, Hua Yiwei once performed within a month 8 chemotherapy sessions. 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, the body was completely exhausted, and the whole body was full of tubes… At the time, he had only one thought: no more expensive drugs, no more expensive tests, just less pain.

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

< span>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.

When making a trade-off 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, it is hard to feel the pain of cancer

cancer In the advanced stage, how painful is the patient? It may be difficult for ordinary people to imagine…

As for cancer pain, Academician Han Jisheng described it like this: swallowing saliva is like eating broken glass scum, and the headache feels like sitting for several days The roller coaster is deprived of oxygen, dizzy, and exhausting the whole body’s strength…

More than ten years ago, the autobiography of Yu Juan, a young teacher at Fudan University, in “This Life is Unfinished” , described the feeling of the cancer pain experienced in the advanced stage of breast cancer: The pain is too painful to move, the pain is too faint, and the pain is too painful to remember to cry.

Why is cancer pain so painful? Because it is not only physical pain, but has a significant psychological and spiritual impact.

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

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

Third, cancer pain must not be tolerated! Timely treatment is critical

cancer pain must not be tolerated , and forbearance will not pass for a while, but it will become more and more serious, and finally the pain will be unbearable. Data shows that there are more than 3 million new cancer cases in China every year, and about 2/3 of them are Mainstream patients will experience pain, most of which are severe pain.

Peking University Cancer Hospital Palliative Care Center, Day Ward District Director Liu Wei 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.< /p>

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

One is that it is only necessary when there is severe pain Use analgesics. The role of analgesics is to relieve pain and improve function. As long as cancer pain occurs, regardless of the degree, take analgesics in a timely manner;

Second, long-term use of opioid analgesics will lead to addiction. Clinical medical studies at home and abroad have shown that the scientific, rational and standardized use of opioids, The risk of developing mental dependence is very low. Therefore, don’t endure the pain of cancer, and timely treatment is the key.

Anti-cancer, survival is very important, but not only the survival period, but also the quality of life and the patient’s feelings must be taken into account. If the patient is lucky I survived, but the pain is unbearable every day, and it doesn’t actually make much sense.

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