HanoiReading the medical history of a patient with stomach cancer, Dr. Nam suggested surgery, but the man refused because he thought “if treated, he would die, or even die faster.”
On the night of April 5, doctor Ha Hai Nam, Deputy Head of Abdominal Surgery Department 1, K Hospital (Hanoi), was still struggling with this patient’s medical record to find an effective way to convince him. Two years ago, the patient had surgery for stomach cancer and his health was stable. Recently, the disease recurred, and the doctor agreed with the patient to schedule a second surgery. Currently, the man is 75 years old, but surgery is still the best option to prolong his life.
However, when he returned home, he gathered all his family members to discuss. Everyone advised that intervention would “not give him much longer to live” so he contacted the doctor again to cancel the surgery.
“The previous surgery helped him live well for two years and the prognosis for the upcoming surgery is also very positive,” the doctor tried to explain. In response, the patient said he wanted to return home and take herbal medicine, refusing to intervene because he thought “the surgery would make the disease worse”. Not giving up, the doctor continued to persuade, emphasizing that surgery was the only way to prolong life. In the end, he still chose not to undergo treatment.
Or, an 84-year-old man with colon cancer also refused doctor’s treatment because he was “afraid of going under the knife”. About 5 weeks later, his family brought him back to the hospital in a life-threatening condition, with only a 1% chance of survival, due to a ruptured intestine. At this time, the doctor cannot surgically remove the tumor, nor can he close the colostomy. The patient’s physical condition is extremely weak due to many underlying diseases such as fat metabolism disorders, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer and many other serious injuries. Two weeks later, the family asked to take the patient home.
“Watching patients suffer in the last days of their lives, my concerns multiplied. Perhaps doctors should take additional classes on how to create trust in patients,” the doctor said.
After more than 10 years in the profession, Dr. Nam said the number of times he was rejected by patients was “uncountable”. At those times, the doctor was discouraged, dozens of questions arose in his mind: “Why is modern medicine full of evidence that it can cure diseases but patients still turn away?”, “Why do patients choose to do so?” Traditional medicine, worship instead of treatment according to scientific instructions?
In addition to surgery, many patients refuse to follow the doctor’s instructions. For example, a 55-year-old patient went to the doctor due to choking, chest pain, bloating, occasional nausea, and digestive disorders. The doctor prescribed a stomach endoscopy, colorectal endoscopy and abdominal ultrasound. Two hours later, the family asked to meet the doctor privately, saying the patient refused to be tested, saying “it would be better not to know about the disease so that you can eat well and sleep well, but if you get K then you will be as good as dead.”
Or a 48-year-old male patient, hospitalized due to bleeding, black stools, bleeding difficult to stop, scheduled for surgery. However, the family insisted that they only needed a blood transfusion, “because there is a doctor waiting at home.” This decision stunned the doctor because the patient’s prognosis was very serious.
Doctor Ha Hai Nam is examining a patient. Image: Doctor provided
According to Dr. Ngo Van Ty, Department of Oncology, Hanoi Medical University Hospital, the main reason why patients refuse treatment is lack of understanding, always thinking of cancer as a death sentence, “the more they try to intervene The tumor makes the disease worse.” At this time, they believe in traditional medicine, traditional medicine and advertising from “quacks” to cure diseases. Vietnam is one of the countries with high cancer rates globally, with more than 300,000 people infected, nearly 165,000 new cases and 115,000 patients dying each year. Among them, the rate of patients dropping out of treatment is over 30%.
On the other hand, many people face economic difficulties while the treatment process is long and expensive, making patients easily discouraged. Most classic, traditional cancer treatment drugs, such as chemotherapy, are currently covered by health insurance. However, these drugs have limited effectiveness and many side effects. In recent years, new therapies such as targeted therapy and immunotherapy have been introduced, bringing hope such as curing patients in the early stage, helping patients with metastatic stages have the opportunity to prolong life, but Immunotherapy drugs are not yet covered by health insurance. Only about 10% of cancer patients have access to this therapy, because the drug is too expensive.
Doctors warn that patients leaving voluntarily is a big danger, increasing the risk of death. In addition, most people who drop out of treatment when returning to the hospital are at a later stage, causing money waste and mental fatigue. In fact, medical science has not recorded any cases of cancer recovery solely thanks to traditional medicine or traditional medicine.
“It’s difficult to turn a blind eye to the patient’s wrong choice, but we don’t have much time to convince them to the end, because there are many other patients waiting,” the doctor said and advised the patient to be wiser. Be transparent and responsible for your health. Families need to stay calm and discuss carefully with the doctor so that their loved ones can receive the best examination and treatment.
