Finale: The Oncologist (III)

...Read this entry first if you haven't before proceed to this one.

The doctor went out for her boss.

5 minutes later, THE ONCOLOGIST stormed inside the room. With the doctor too. Suspend..suspend..
(from what I understood, the 1st doctor we met is not an oncologist, probably MD doing Masters in Oncology, I assume)

SCARY! That's the only word I can described about her.

Why? She's been in and out of our room seeing the nurses/docs and asked them questions in an angry manner. The first time she 'terjah' inside our room and heard her talking to the bunch of docs, I was so relived that we didn't see her.

From what I understood she was stressed because she has to cover an absent Oncologist. Wallahualam.

But that was then. Now she's attending us. She's the boss the previous doctor was looking after.
Erk.

The O (bercakap dengan nada memujuk), "Makcik, kenapa makcik taknak buat chemo? Chemo ok makcik. Makcik mana ada tua lagi, baru 56 tahun. Makcik, 76% peluang untuk hidup lebih 10 tahun kalau buat chemo. Ni bukan paksa ya, tapi saya nak makcik buat chemo dulu, lepas tu radio dan hormon 5 tahun. Lagipun cancer makcik dah Stage 2B, dah merebak kat lymp nodes. Ni (refer to Lab report) kata dah 6 dari 15 lymph nodes makcik buang hari tu dah ada cancer. Kalau tak buat chemo, cancer ni boleh merebak ke tempat lain" (Taktik menakutkan patient telah digunakan dalam seminit pertama consult patient..mcm mana la tak penuh bilik chemo tu aku tengok, semua dah ketakutan, courtesy of their own Oncologist...)

"Kalau makcik umur 80 tahun, ye laa dah tua. Kalau patient umur 80 tahun, kami pun tak bagi chemo. 80 tahun kan, dah lama hidup, ok la tu. (Oh aku sakit hati dengar this part, it's like them who dictate who should live and who should die!) Ni makcik baru 56 tahun. Boleh hidup lama lagi ni. Makcik kerja lagi ke?"

"Haah, cikgu," I said.

"Ha, ok tu. Kami boleh bagi ubat {READ: TOXIC CHEMO DRUGS. Sumpah dia tak mention the word drugs at all. AT ALL ok!} yang lagi bagus untuk makcik."

(Sbb mak buat chemo kerajaan yang bayar, so they can fork out the money from government and give mak more expensive chemo drugs)

"Chances survive lagi tinggi by 4% makcik."

(aku sudah mahu muntah when she said this. 4% increment only?! This is what happened when MDs quoted numbers given by Pharma companies, the % are relative numbers, not absolute numbers, to know more how these companies get the numbers, ask dr-google or read Healing Cancer Inside Out book by Mike Anderson, page-12&13. Ok, ralat: Not all MDs believe the feeble numbers fed by the giant Pharma companies. Thanks to many2 MDs around the world who speak up and educate layman like me by writing books/blogs on frauds that linger in Medical Society)

"Makcik, dalam Oncology ni 4% increase ni be-saaaarrrrr.

(she stressed the word be-saaarrr. I puked.)

"Makcik buat chemo 6 kali je. 3 kali yang pertama government cover, lagi 3 makcik bayar dulu. Takpe nanti boleh claim. Memang sakit sikit la awal2 tu tapi tak pe nanti makcik boleh claim semula."

(Ingat cakap sakit sbb sakit chemo, rupanya sebab kena bayar)

After she finished ‘pungpangpungpang’, I took the podium and said, “Back to what you’ve said earlier; doctor kata bukan paksaan kan? (to do chemo, radio etc)." The O didn't look at me. But she was about to say something but the word stuck at her kerongkong.

Aku sambung, "Ok, saya faham, cadangan doktor for the best interest of the patient," I'm almost lost in my own words.

Suddenly the room were full with people and I don’t know where the came from. All eyes were on me except for the O. The O stared at papers on the table.

"Ok doctor, macam ni..Mak has discussed with her anak-anak. We agreed not to do chemo. What ever the consequences are, kami akan tanggung bersama. At the end of the day, semua org akan mati. Everybody will die. My mom chooses to have a peaceful death. Itu pilihan mak. Hope doctor can consider her choice, patient’s choice. Jadi mak saya tak nak buat chemo, so can you prescribe her Tamoxifen instead?”

The oncologist senyap, and then angguk. “Ok, boleh. Tapi kalau lepas ni berlaku apa2 pada makcik, makcik jangan salahkan hospital pulak ye.."

"Tamoxifen is not as effective as chemo. Less than 50% success rate.” (You think my mom will swallow the Tamoxifen? Come on...Muka dia sungguh tak puas hati but I'm glad she said OK. Alhamdulillah)

“Ok2. Kami tak salahkan hospital,” I was overjoyed hearing her said that. Mak tersenyum lega.

The O, "Ok, saya bagi hormon untuk 3 bulan, lepas 3 bulan datang semula untuk check-up ok."

To cut the story short, mak was given MC for another 3 months.

Soon we left the room, kami anak beranak berpelukan depan pintu. Terharu. Masya-Allah. Alhamdulillah. Allah selamatkan mak from the death sentence from the O. Allah makhbulkan doa mak, doa Yan&KakSu yang baru balik Umrah last Sunday, doa Imah Epoi dan doa semua yang berdoa. Alhamdulillah. Tak terkata perasaan masa tu.

"Akak pun tak tahu dari mana kekuatan datang nak cakap mcm tu mak. Doa mak ni.." I said and we walked out of the Oncology Unit.

That very day, I’ve made my mom really proud.

Alhamdulillah.

*Disclaimer: Aku bukan anti-doctor, medical establishment, medical students, my brother Epoi who is studying medicine, my specialist-SILs, etc. Some medical intervention in curing diseases are crucial, nonetheless, current practices in the lucrative-cancer-industry are truly barbarian. I can't let my mom be a victim. Would you? Wallahualam. Hanya Allah Maha Mengetahui.

Ya Allah Ya Qawiyy, kekuatan ini dari-Mu dan bila2 masa sahaja Engkau boleh ambil dariku. Berilah kekuatan untuk kami menghadapi dugaanMu ini. Berilah kesembuhan kepada emakku, Ya Allah, janganlah Kau uji kami dengan perkara yang tidak sanggup kami hadapi. Amin Ya Rabbal 'Alamin.

Image from: http://www.naturalnews.com