CHAPTER 45

Original written: 2001-03-02

Published: 2025-05-07

When people reach middle age, they will always encounter relatives or friends suffering from cancer. This time, I was the protagonist and was very lucky to be safe. The biggest difficulty was to go through the surgery.

In late July of the millennium, the day after the annual Walk with the Dragon held by the S.U.C.C.E.S.S., I was resting at home. At 5:15 p.m., my family doctor called and said there was an emergency and asked me to see him the next morning. I immediately agreed.

I was told by the doctor and that a routine ultrasound scan at the end of June revealed some small stones in the gallbladder and some fleshy particles on the inner wall of the gallbladder. I need to be referred to a specialist for follow-up. However, there is nothing abnormal with the liver, which continues to have mild inflammation.

A blood test and computer scan were arranged, and the report showed that there were four polyps in the gallbladder, the largest of which was nearly one inch in diameter. I asked the gastrologist if the polyp is cancer, there should be some signs. The doctor replied that it should be so. Since I ate and slept well, I don't worry much. I live my life as usual, and I don't think too much.

After consulting with colleagues at St. Paul's Hospital in the city center, the gastrologist recommended that I have my gallbladder removed to prevent future problems, and I readily agreed. I thought it was a minor operation, perhaps minimally invasive, and could be arranged to be performed in a hospital near my home. I expect to be on sick leave for a week at most. Later, the family doctor clarified that because the operation might involve the pancreas, it had to be performed in a large hospital, so it was still scheduled to be performed at St. Paul's Hospital by a surgeon.

I met a surgeon in late January and realized that the matter was not simple. It turned out that among every 100 gallstone patients, about two people would develop polyp due to the friction of the gallstones. The polyp can cause cancer. If the cancer cells spread to other organs, the chance of recovery is slim. The mortality rate of gallbladder cancer ranks fourth. Because the liver and gallbladder stick to each other, in order to prevent cancer cells from spreading to the liver, in accordance with the principle of "cut more and release nothing", the part of the liver covering the gallbladder needs to be removed at the same time.

The surgeon ordered: "Perform the surgery in a week and take at least a month off." I received this news on the second day of the Lunar New Year, and this New Year has not been an easy one. I immediately arranged my work and family matters. A few days later, I caught a cold, had a fever and coughed. I reported it to the doctor, and she decided to have the surgery as scheduled. I believed that delay was not good.

The operation lasted three hours. The oblique wound on the right abdomen was nine inches long and I was expected to be hospitalized for five days. The doctor said the operation was very stimulating, and I got a big gallbladder. She had all the parts removed that needed to be removed. I recovered well and was discharged from hospital as scheduled. One week later, I went for a follow-up visit on Valentine's Day.

During the visit, the doctor asked, if there is one piece of good news and one piece of bad news, which one would you hear first? My wife replied: "Please tell us the bad news first." "The test report confirmed that one of the polyps in the gallbladder did contain cancer cells. The good news is that it has been removed." The doctor is very humorous. I held my wife's hand, and my heart sank, as if I had taken a big step forward, only to look back and realize there was a cliff behind me.

(Postscript: Lun was 14 years old when the surgery took place. When he was in his 30s, I accompanied him to see a surgeon in his 40s and told him about his family’s medical history, including the surgery I performed more than 20 years ago to remove gallbladder cancer. Before leaving the clinic, he said that I was the first patient in his many years of medical practice who had lived for so many years.)