It started quietly — just an intermittent pain in my upper abdomen and some unexplained weight loss. Back in July 2022, when I was 46, I noticed these changes but brushed them off, telling myself it was nothing serious. I kept going, kept living, until my body refused to let me ignore it any longer.
By May 2023, I could no longer eat without vomiting. Every meal became a battle. When I finally went to a local hospital in Malaysia, the diagnosis hit hard: a gastric tumor. The doctors recommended surgical resection followed by traditional chemotherapy. I had done my research. I knew the risks of surgery, and I had heard enough about the heavy side effects of conventional chemotherapy. Deep in my heart, I knew that was not the path I wanted to take.
My daughter Hana refused to give up. She searched relentlessly online and found St. Stamford Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou. She reached out to their Malaysia office right away, explained my condition, and within a short time, the team had already communicated with doctors at the hospital and offered preliminary treatment suggestions. That response gave us hope — and we came to Guangzhou.
When I first arrived, I was weak and unable to eat properly. The MDT team at the hospital conducted a thorough examination and confirmed my diagnosis: Stage III gastric cancer with perigastric lymph node metastasis. They crafted a treatment plan specifically for me — a combination of interventional therapy and targeted therapy.
Before my first procedure, the doctors sat with us and explained everything clearly and calmly. Interventional therapy works by guiding precision instruments through a small skin puncture deep into the tumor, delivering anti-tumor drugs directly while blocking the blood supply feeding the cancer. Less trauma, fewer side effects, and a highly targeted approach. When I heard that, something in me relaxed. This was the treatment I had been hoping for.
Gradually, with each session and every follow-up, I began to feel like myself again. I started eating without discomfort. My strength returned, and people around me noticed I was looking more radiant. I even joined a Dragon Boat Festival activity the hospital held — a moment of joy I never expected to experience in the middle of cancer treatment.
To every cancer patient still searching for hope: do not stop looking, and do not give up. There are gentler, more effective options out there. I am living proof of that.