On Father's Day, he cooked breakfast for his father

It is often said father’s love is as tall and majestic as a mountain and as wide and deep as ocean. Father is accustomed to spend all his life to support his children in a quiet way.

Last Sunday is Father's Day. Children expressed their love for their father in various ways, having dinner and enjoying the scenery with their father…Mr. Yu, 40, expressed his love for his father in his own way. He cooked breakfast for his father on the special day.

Mr. Yu is a fire protection engineer. He lived away from his parents ever since he got married. His family and busy work have gradually drifted him away from his parents. It was until March 2016 when his father was diagnosed with liver cancer did he realized that he neglected his parents. Recently, his father has been receiving treatment in Fuda Cancer Hospital. His father underwent operation on June 17, 2016 and was transferred from ICU to his ward on the next day. As father’s day was approaching, Mr. Yu was considering showing his love to his father in a special way.

In the morning of June 18, Mr. Yu, who seldom cooks, decided to cook a breakfast for his father. Considering that his father was not having good appetite after the operation, he decided to cook porridge fruit salad as breakfast for his father.

He carefully selected several kinds of fruits, including his father’s favorite orange and grapes and then he bought rice and salad dressing in the supermarket. After purchased all food ingredients, he started preparing breakfast in the self-service kitchen at the hospital.

With the porridge cooking in the pot, Mr. Yu started to prepare the salad. Soon, a side dish of salad was done. Mr. Yu seemed to be a little bit nervous to cook breakfast for his father for the first time. As his father was eating the porridge, Mr. Yu started to shell an egg. He immediately helped his father clean with a piece of tissue at the sight of food debris at the corner of his mouth. The simple gesture was a pure display of love. Then, he passed his father the salad. Seeing his father eaten up all the food he prepared, Mr. YU was very happy. 

Mr. Yu said his father was a senior engineer engaged in water supply and drainage and also a big fan of basketball and badminton. In March 4, 2016, his 68-year-old father did examinations at a local hospital due to discomfort in neck and was found to have metastases in cervical vertebrae 5 and cervical vertebrae 6. On March 9, he underwent metastasectomy of cervical vertebrae 5 and cervical vertebrae 6. Postoperative CT scan showed multiple tumors in liver. To seek further treatment, Mr. Yu came to Fuda Cancer Hospital, Guangzhou with his father. His father’s condition gradually improved after underwent NanoKnife and cryosurgery on liver tumors. The thing he felt the most after his father’s cancer diagnosis is that children might neglect their parents, especially after getting married and what we should do is to spend more time with our parents as much as possible.

The father was delighted with the breakfast and care delivered by his son. He said, “My son is really nice. He has been paying my medical bill from the very beginning and I’m even more surprised that he cooked breakfast for me.”

Mr. Yu said behind the camera, “Dad, we will always be with you on the journey of fighting against cancer. We hope you can recover as soon as possible as we still have a promising future to look forward to.”

Laureate of Rank Prize commented that you can entrust your life to Fuda Cancer Hospital

On March 24, 2016, Ms. Lu Mingying, a renowned scientist and Rank Prize laureate was discharged from hospital after receiving comprehensive treatment at Fuda Cancer Hospital for two months. One day before discharge, she put on her scarf and, to express her joy and appreciation, she said good-bye to doctors and nurses who had been taking care of her express “It is the doctors at FUDA that have saved me from the verge of death.” 
 

Xu Kecheng, Chief President of Fuda Cancer Hospital and Ms. Lu Mingying

 

Ms. Lu Mingying and nurses of the 4th ward

One week before her discharge, we visited her. During the interview, she worn the same red scarf. “This is a present from a friend of mine cause wearing red makes me look more radiant.” She felt much betteras she just stooped her oral chemotherapy medicine on that day. She shared with us her experience of studying in UK, her Rank Prize winning stories and her journey of fighting against cancer.

The influence of her father  

Lu Mingying was born in a scholarly family in 1954. Her father Lu Zhongzuo, the founder of vacuum electronic devices major in China, had long engaged in the research of microwave tube and wrote the first batch of textbooks and monographs on microwave electronics in China. “Being raised in such an environment, I developed a keen interest in mathematics, physics and optoelectronics since I was a little child.”she said. Unfortunately, she had to suspend her schooling as the Great Cultural Revolution broke out when she was just enrolled into middle school. Two years later, she resumed her schooling in a nearby middle school. In 1970, Lu Mingying, who just turned to 16, was assigned to a small factory and worked there for seven years.

Lu Mingqi, Lu Ming’s elder sister, noted, “Before the college entrance examination system was resumed in China, my sister had never quit learning. She worked during the day and studied at night”. It was with her persistence that she made her way into the Department of Electronic Engineering of Nanjing Institute of Technology (currently Southeast University) in 1977.  

Lu Mingying (R) and her elder sister Lu Mingqi

In university, Lu Mingying met her life partner - Wang Guoyu, her classmate. In her memory, they spent most of time doing research in the lab instead of going dating. Upon graduation from university, Lu Mingying was accepted into the postgraduate program of Southeast University while Wang Guoyu was accepted into the postgraduate program of Tsinghua University. They got married after finished their master degree. In 1984, they had their fist child. Later, Lu Mingying served as a lecturer in Southeast University while her husband also chose to work as lecturer in the same university.

Studying in England 

In the end of 1980s, digital camera was very expensive and it cost thousands of dollars to buy one. The main reason was that the imaging sensor of digital camera was very costly. Even researchers in Japan, Europe and America were not able to tackle the difficult problem.

Wang Guoyu and Lu Mingying, who were then studied in the University of Edinburgh, were enrolled into an experimental group in 1987 and 1989 respectively. They joined two professors of the University of Edinburgh with a clear purpose, that was to develop new imaging sensors. They put forward a bold proposal, which was whether common semiconductor integrated circuit can be applied to imaging sensor as it can greatly reduce the cost of imaging sensor.

After years of unremitting efforts, they successfully applied common semiconductor integrated circuit into imaging sensor. The technological innovation has brought about great changes. The cost of imaging sensor reduced by one third; imaging sensor can be mass produced; the price of digital camera fell from several thousands dollars to around 10 USD. In 2002, the technology began to be applied to Nokia mobile phones and widely has been applied to mobile phones since then. Mobile phone photographing has become an easy thing. It has turned from a luxury to popular consumable goods. “The 50million chips for mobile phone photographing produced every day are using our technology.” Lu Mingying said proudly.

A surprising award

The application of common semiconductor integrated circuit in imaging sensors is an epoch-making shift in the industry of digital camera. The four researchers including Lu Mingying were awarded the Rank Prize in 2008.

Established in 1972, the Rank Prize is one of the top science awards in England in recognition of researchers who have made tremendous contribution to the fields of optoelectronic science and nutriology. It is reputed as the Nobel Prize in the fields of optoelectronic science and nutriology. As of now, only a few Chinese, including Charles Kao, the Father of Fiber Optic Communications and Yuan Longping, the Father of Hybrid Rice, have won the Rank Prize.

“It’s really surprising”, Lu Mingying said when she delivered her acceptance speech. It turned out that in March 2007, Lu Mingying received a letter, asking if she would like to participate in the selection of the Rank Prize. “The scientific research achievement was made over 10 years ago. We almost forget about it.” The couple felt that it must be someone who was playing tricks with them so they did not pay any attention to it. Shortly after that, Lu Mingying received a letter from her previous supervisor, asking if she had received an invitation letter for the selection of the Rank Prize. It was until then did the couple realized that it was not a trick.

“I was so surprised and excited”, said Lu Mingying. They had invested so much time and efforts in order to overcome the technical difficulty. It was really a surprise for them to finally get the recognition after over 10 years. 

Facing up to the devil of cancer

In December, 2015, Lu Mingying started to feeling unwell and often had lower abdomen pain. She had thought it was just urinary system infection and took a lot of antibiotics but the symptoms showed no remission. In December, she come to China for an academic conference. Her husband insisted that she should do a  physical examination. Ultrasound result showed that there was a tumor sizing 7x8cm in liver. The doctor said that she was at advanced stage and an immediate CT scan was suggested. Further examinations proved that she was suffering from cholangiocarcinoma with metastases in bones, lymph nodes and abdominal cavity.

“It was the first time I’ve heard of this term and I had no idea what it is exactly. I searched on the Internet and learned that cholangiocarcinoma cannot be easily treated.” In the face of the unexpected disease, Lu Mingying did nor show extreme sadness and despair as other cancer patients. She did not She was so emotionally peaceful when she was telling us her story.

Some doctors suggested her to do radiotherapy and chemotherapy first but she declined. She kept on looking for new and mini-invasive treatments on the internet. One day, she accidentally read a piece of news, saying that cholangiocarcinoma can be treated with NanoKnife. “I saw a light of hope after I read the news”. At first, she chose to go back to England for treatment. She consulted a renowned Nanoknife specialist from the Medical School of Imperial College London. However, it would take long time waiting for NanoKnife in England. She chose to go back to China for NanoKnife for fear that her condition would progress. 

Getting to know FUDA by virtue of NanoKnife  
  
Lu Mingying set her mind on the new technology of NanoKnife. She searched about NanoKnife on the Internet and finally traced down to Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital. After learned that FUDA had completed over 70 cases of NanoKnife, she decided to come to Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital for treatment. 

Her sister said, “Before we come to FUDA, I went all the way to a major hospital in Xi’an cause I read from a newspaper that the hospital has completed successful cases of NanoKnife. I even consulted a specialist about my sister’s case but the specialist said the tumor was too big to be ablated. ”

In January 13, 2016, Lu Mingying was admitted into Fuda Cancer Hospital. Due to rapid disease progression, she was too weak to walk upon admission and she had ascites and fever. “From the first day that I was admitted into the hospital, I have had the feeling that it was right for me to choose FUDA. All medical staffs, from the president to doctors and nurses have been very nice to me. On the second day of my admission, Xu Kecheng, the Chief President of FUDA, Niu Lizhi, the Executive President of FUDA and other experts made rounds and they gave me a lot of encouragement. I felt assured. I’mconvinced that I could entrust my life to FUDA. If FUDA cannot do any treatment for me, I won’t be treated in anywhere else.”

In the following days, Lu Mingying received comprehensive treatments, including photodynamic therapy, NanoKnife, iodine seeds implantation therapy, etc. “It is the doctors at FUDA that have saved me from the verge of death.” Lu Mingying said. 

After two months’ treatments, she has built up more and more confidence in FUDA. Where does the confidence come from? First of all, it comes from the excellent skills of the doctors. They have been very patient in explaining to me the upcoming treatment and I’m very clear about the possible side effects; secondly, it comes from the “green therapy” offered by FUDA. The green therapy, or minimally invasive treatment, has inflicted no pain, which accords with my concept of treatment; thirdly, the confidence comes from the humanitarian service provided by FUDA. Doctors, nurses and cleaners always greet patients with smile. I have been feeling very comfortable for the last two months.

“One of my supervisors died of brain cancer. I thought how nice it would be if he had been treated at FUDA. That’s why I want to share my treatment experience and feelings with other patients so that more patients can get to know FUDA and gain survival benefits here. ”

Pancreatic Cancer Patient’s Life Being Rescued by Nanoknife Therapy at Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital

On 29th February 2016, sunshine drove away the gloomy and the dark. After having nanoknife (irreversible electroporation) therapy, Mr. Qiu was going to leave hospital with heat full of hope. Looking back on the eight months of fighting against carcinoma of pancreatic head, he was filled with emotion. When Xu Kecheng, chief president of Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital visited him, Mr. Qiu said sincerely: Thank you for making me not afraid of cancer anymore. I am confident to get back to health, because I receive correct treatment here.
 

Chief president Xu Kecheng (left) was visiting Mr. Qiu.


Mr. Qiu was thanking Doctor Shi Hongxia (middle).
 

Confront with carcinoma of pancreatic head
 

Mr. Qiu comes from Hong Kong. He is a 65-year old man with a pair gleaming eyes. He sat in front of me with a smile on his face. No one will think he is a cancer patient who has held on to fight against carcinoma of pancreatic head for 2800 days and nights.

Dr. Niu Lizhi, president of Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital said that carcinoma of pancreatic head is malignant tumor. Eight months ago, Mr. Qiu was overwhelmed with sadness by the diagnosis.

Mr. Qiu once worked for a grand theatre. He has a filial daughter. He should have enjoyed the happiness of family. Unfortunately, on July 2015, Mr. Qiu found himself becoming thin and losing 10 kilograms without cause while suffering from abdominal pain. Mr. Qiu didn’t pay attention on it. After two months, he had diarrhea three to five times a day on average. On 11th November, he went to local hospital for examination without company of family.

After examination, Mr. Qiu was diagnosed as carcinoma of pancreatic head. PET-CT shown that was a 6.5 cm * 4.4 cm lump. Mr. Qiu said, he was so sad and shocked for knowing that carcinoma of pancreatic head is hard to treat, which made him felt death was approaching him.

Doctor of Hong Kong thought it took big risks having whipple surgery (pancreas duodenectomy) and advised Mr. Qiu to take biliary stent and bypass surgery. But Mr. Qiu refused. After taking chemotherapy twice, abdomen MRI scan showed the lump on pancreatic head reduced to 4.6 cm *3.9 cm. However, after having chemotherapy, he developed red rushes, itching, myelosuppression and hair loss etc. Chemotherapy was so painful that Mr. Qiu was urgent to find a suitable treatment plan.

I found proper treatment here luckily.

“Fortunately, when I failed in seeking treatment, my daughter took part in the lecture delivered by Mufeng, vice president of Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital. She learnt about the most advanced ablation technique nanoknife therapy (irreversible electroporation) which can ablate targeted tumors and apply to pancreatic cancer. My intuition told me that Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital will be my savior.”

On 17th February, Mr. Qiu was admitted to Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital with being diagnosed as cT4N1M0 stage Ⅲ of carcinoma of pancreatic head. Soon, president Niu made a rigorous treatment plan for Mr. Qiu. It’s irreversible electroporation (nanoknife therapy) for carcinoma of pancreatic head treatment. On 23rd February, the operation was conducted smoothly and patient’s blood loss was just 2ml.

For more understanding of Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital and the successful completion of nanoknife surgery, Mr. Qiu began to see hope. Remind of the period of having chemotherapy, I was often weak and tired at that time. But after nanoknife surgery, my psychological condition became better, and I became happier gradually. Mr. Qiu’s daughter said: “After nanoknife surgery, my father was better obviously. His psychological condition was improved. The confidence and encouragement of fighting against cancer were boosted.”

Mr. Qiu said, it’s unfortunate to have carcinoma of pancreatic head, but I was lucky to have advanced nanoknife therapy with good therapeutic effects in the fight against cancer. And he was said emotionally: “I sincerely appreciate Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital. Thanks Dr. Niu Lizhi for performing operation for me. I also want to thank Doctor Shi Hongxia and nurses. The medical condition and environment are satisfactory and comfortable.”

In the afternoon of 29th February, chief president Xu Kecheng, Doctor Shi Hongxia and other medical workers visited Mr. Chou for he was going to leave. He expressed his gratitude again: I will come to have re-examination. It’s you who teach me to never give up at any time.
 

Photo of Mr. Qiu (middle), President Niu Lizhi (No.3 from right) and treatment team

Ms. Xu's Story

On December 27, 2015, Madam Xu, a pancreatic cancer patient from Shanghai was discharged as her condition has improved after received meticulous treatment at FUDA. The daughter of Madam Xu said with great relief, “Seeing that my mom has improved both mentally and physically, I would like to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Niu Lizhi and Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital.”

President Xu visiting Madam Xu

In mid June, 2015, Madam Xu had intermittent dull pain in upper abdomen and aversion to greasy food. On June 30, she had yellowing in whole body skin and in sclera and was hospitalized in a local hospital. The impressions of CT scan were as follows: a space-occupying lesion about 3cmx2cm in size is detected in the neck of pancreas and is found to have invaded lower segment of common bile duct; intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts dilation is detected; an abnormal  enhancing lesion is found in outer right lobe of liver. The attending doctor suggested operation but Madam Xu declined and just took traditional Chinese medicine for anti-cancer treatment. 

In October, Madam Xu had aggravated symptoms, including intermittent abdominal pain, vomiting after food intake, difficult defecation and etc. To seek further treatment, Madam Xu was hospitalized at Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital in the company of her family members on November 6.

A photo of Dr. Niu Lizhi and Madam Xu

After she was hospitalized into FUDA, Dr. Niu arranged whole-body examinations for her in no time. After learned that Madam Xu has nutrition risk as she had 15kg of body weight loss since her illness, the attending doctor prescribed nutrition support for her.

To further control tumor progression, the medical team decided to perform NanoKnife therapy for her. On November 10, the NanoKnife therapy medical team headed by Dr. Niu Lizhi performed irreversible electroporation (NanoKnife therapy) under the guidance of B ultrasound for Madam Xu as scheduled, two electron-probes were punctured into the tumor in the neck of pancreas for local ablation. The procedure went smoothly. The volume of bleeding was only 50ml during the procedure.

After the procedure, Madam Xu has had a good recovery. She has resumed her good spirit and appetite to some extent and she has also gained some weight. On December 10, the doctor attending to madam Xu arranged immuntherapy for her in order to boost her own anti-cancer immunity. Seeing that her mother’s condition had significant improvement, Madam Xu’s daughter was greatly relieved. She told the writer that they have came all the way from Shanghai to Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital for NanoKnife therapy. “I learned on the Internet that Fuda Cancer Hospital has successfully carried out the first case of Nanoknife therapy for pancreatic cancer in mainland China”. That’s why I decided to bring my mother to FUDA and have a try. The treatment has delivered good curative effects exactly as we have expected.”

According to statistics, the NanoKnife therapy medial team led by Dr. Niu Lizhi has saved over 60 pancreatic cancer patients from the verge of death. We believe that more and more cancer patients will receive benefit from the latest technology in the future.

TIPS: Seven advantages of NanoKnife therapy

Dr. Niu Lizhi indicated that NanoKnife therapy is a safe and highly effective minimally-invasive technology for tumor treatment. Compared with other tumor treatment method, it has the following advantages:

1. Short ablation duration

For solid tumors about 3 cm in diameter, it requires just 90x100milisecond ultrashort pulses. One group of treatment takes less than one minute. Even if there are 3 to 4 overlapped ablation areas, the whole ablation duration will be less than 5 minutes.

2. Preserving important tissues such as vessels and nerves in ablated areas

Nanoknife therapy can protect important tissue structures in ablated areas. Important liver structures, such as hepatic artery, hepatic vein, portal vein and intrahepatic bile ducts can be well protected after being treated with Nanoknife therapy.

3. No heat island effect

Nanoknife System for tumor ablation uses electrical pulses to breakdown cell membrane. The procedure will neither generate energy nor be influenced by external temperature.
4. Thorough ablation with clear demarcation
IRE can perform thorough ablation to tumor regardless of its site, size and shape even if it’s tumors close to vessels or tumor with irregular shape or big size. Moreover, there is a demarcation between ablated area and non-ablated area; therefore, more precise judgment and evaluation can be made for the follow-up, effectiveness and treatment performance of Nanoknife Therapy. Moreover, NanoKnife therapy can exempt the possibility of tumor recurrence after treatment.

5. Ablated area will remain functional

Different from conventional ablation modes, Nanoknife therapy can promote cell death through immunity stimulation. Human body will identify cell apoptosis as normal cell death and then clean apoptotic tissue through cytophagy so as to promote the regeneration and repair of normal tissue.

6. Real time monitoring during treatment

Nanoknife Therapy can be navigated and monitored by ultrasound, CT or MRI. There is only few millimeters of difference in size between ablated areas monitored by ultrasound or CT and that measured in pathological analysis. The imaging can also clearly display unablated residual cancer cells, to which doctors can perform ablation again. Moreover, real time monitoring allows doctors to observe the changes in the surrounding tissues of ablated area and predict the possibility of complications so as to guarantee patient’s safety and quick postoperative recovery.

7. Nanoknife Therapy can be applied to more complicated conditions

As NanoKnife therapy inflicts no injury to such important tissues. It could deliver safe and effective treatment for the tumor which is close to big vessels, bile duct, pancreatic duct and hepatic portal vein, prostate cancer and cancer close to spine.