Talk Shows & Stories : Featured Stories : Kai

Recorded April 13, 2002

Kai Yi Yu: Liver Cancer (English translation of Cantonese-language recording)

Listen With 13 minutes, 46 seconds. (audio is Cantonese-language recording)

I am a cancer patient--liver cancer. My name is Kai Yi Yu. [I am] 66 years old. I am an immigrant from China. I have three daughters. They are all grown now. I live in San Francisco. I was an electrician.

In March 1999, I went to have a regular annual checkup on March 3, and found out that my health was excellent, no problem. And then later in the month, on March 20-something, I discovered--a certain discomfort around the liver area. My stomach did not feel well. I went to see my doctor but he was on vacation. Well, what can you do?

Diagnosed with Late-stage Liver Cancer

I had purchased a ticket to go to visit relatives in China. So in early April I flew to China, as planned, and my wife came with me. After returning to China, my body felt worse and worse. [It] just happened that my 90-year-old mother was hospitalized. After two days, she recovered and was discharged from the hospital, and then I went to Guan Chow. I was walking on the street and was preparing to take some photos, when suddenly I felt pain and couldn't get up. I kneeled down and couldn't get back up. Immediately I went to the cancer hospital.

He [the doctor] said that I have late stage liver cancer, the [tumor] size was 12 by eight cm, and it was not treatable. But I did not know then, when the doctor told my wife, she started to cry, but afterward she pretended [like] nothing had happened, and the doctor did not prescribe any medication except for some pain killers.

After I returned home, I said no, I would not take the pain killers even if it got to be really painful. The next day I went to see a doctor again--to see another doctor, a professor. The professor prescribed a drug that treats liver cancer and cirrhosis. After I returned, I started taking it at noon. I took the drug four times within several hours. The next day I went home and that day I felt a little better. It did not hurt as much when I turned over and I could sit up. After resting for a day, I went back to Hong Kong, and rested for a day--took medicine for three or four days. On my way to the airport, I could sit more comfortably, and I felt more relaxed.

As soon as I came back to the U.S., I went to [the hospital] and did a CT scan, blood tests and a liver needle biopsy; finally confirmed the diagnosis in [China] was correct. The tumor measured eight by 12 cm, and the liver needle biopsy proved it was malignant. At that time my wife and the doctor teamed up trying to ease my mind and told me that it was not liver cancer but cirrhosis--hiding from me. I continued [taking] my medication. He [the doctor] said: "It is untreatable, can't do chemotherapy, can't operate, you can only wait." But I kept taking the medication. I felt better, a little better.

My Condition Improves Using Chinese Medicine

Almost at the end of April, my uncle heard that I had the disease. He was doing business in Peking, and he consulted with many doctors there, and brought back Chinese medicine for me. He said to take one gram a day, but when I saw it, in one day I took four grams. In one month--I finished six months of dosages in one month. I was astonished--after taking it for one week, I was sweating all over. When I went to bed at night my clothes and blanket were soaked through by my sweat. I called my uncle that night and he asked the doctor again three times--three long distance phone calls to China in a row--the doctor said, "It is all right, it can only strengthen your health." Later on the doctor explained to me: "After your cancer cells take in the Chinese Medicine, it's like in the battle field--a war of Pen Yang Chuan, or fighting the Japanese--fighting until the flowers fall and the water flows [Chinese expression], beating up the bad cells. During the battle, your body is beaten by the take-over of the cancer cells, and your anti-cancer cells are already growing stronger, your sweating during the fight is a good sign."

After one week, it stopped--not a drop of sweat and I felt better. After a month and a half I went for follow up. I had a CT scan. He [the doctor] said: "Your cancer cells [tumor] have shrunken significantly." I was really excited. It had not been two months since the discovery and it had already shrunken significantly. I felt much better. My wife told me to do exercise, and I started a morning workout--the exercise. And I continue to keep up the practice. Now I understand that for a cancer patient, those cancer cells, bad cells, are fighting with the normal cells. Strengthening your body is the only way to conquer cancer cells, and you will get better. I am confidant about this. I insist on taking the Chinese medicine continually, and then test it every three months.

End of 1999, I returned to China again. At the time my daughter said, "No, you can't." All my daughters care about me very much. They discussed among themselves. So for the 1999 trip, my youngest daughter escorted me to Guan Chow to seek a doctor's advice, to understand and take care of the situation before returning. After one month, my daughter went home first, and I stayed there for a while, visited doctors and tried to better understand the situation and then went home.

In early 2000, I went back [to China] again. That time my second daughter escorted me back to visit doctors. [We] visited many doctors in Peking and Tien Jin. After all the visits, the opinions of everybody, all the doctors were quite similar. The tumor had reduced to eight by six cm, and I felt much better. In late 2000, I went back again. This time I went alone. I said, "You don't need to go back, don't worry. All of you should stay behind." So I went back with my wife, and in the following years I went back twice a year. I went back in 2000, and in 2001 I went back twice again.

My youngest daughter knows how to comfort me psychologically. So does my oldest daughter. When I came back they took me to visit all the places in the Bay Area and tried to cheer me up. They also took me to Vancouver, Canada and Seattle, and took me to Tokyo, Japan and all the places. I felt quite content. It confirms that my family cares very much about me; my daughters escort me to each doctor's visit and analyze the results with the doctors.

Afterward the doctor said, "Your condition has improved, and it has improved rapidly. You are doing amazingly well after taking the Chinese medicine." Last month the doctor said, "Your condition has improved, and you have been doing well for the last three years. When I teach with students and with the other teachers, I always bring up your example. Everybody is surprised and thinks it is a miracle." In fact within the past three years I have not taken even one pill. I have never had a shot; all I have taken is the Chinese medicine.

The Importance of Diet, a Healthy Lifestyle and Family Support

Now my feeling about treating cancer is this: if you wanted to treat cancer, the most important thing is to be persistent. The second thing is "food treatment" [diet]. It is the kind of food that you need in order to resist cancer, such as vegetables, something green, some thing bitter, drink some green tea, eat less meat--practice food treatment to improve your diet. Certain potent foods you can skip completely or eat less of. For example, I don't eat beef, food that is barbecued, deep fried or preserved. The third point is exercise; exercise is necessary in people's life. So every morning I insist on doing my morning workout for one to two hours. I also take my evening walk for about 40 to 45 minutes.

The fourth most important thing is to live orderly, don't play Mah Jong [Chinese game] all through the night, and have a normal lifestyle. The fifth point is do not over-stress yourself. It doesn't mean not working at all; I still do a little housework, very little. Do a little less and don't over-stress yourself. The sixth point is be happy; don't put yourself into a depression like before. Go out and laugh with friends. Talking and chatting will make the days go by quickly. Don't think too much, don't keep thinking about your illness, and think of yourself as a healthy person.

Another thing is support from the family, the warmness of family. My wife cares for me deeply, and my daughters escorted me to doctor visits, traveled to China with me even though it is so far away, and they are always assessing my condition. She wants to know why I cough. "What's the matter?" she asks me. So my family provides me with the greatest support, and my desire for living has increased.

With these seven points, my body has recovered rapidly. Now I am doing fine. Other blood tests all came back within the qualified [normal] range. I did an MRI in December. It confirmed that it has improved a lot. Two weeks ago I went to see my doctor. The doctor asked me to do another MRI to evaluate the current condition. We will see after that. This is about all for now.

During the whole process, I think for all the survivors, they need to be open and go for treatments proactively, and then they will receive positive results. I hope that if there are other survivors who want to communicate with me, I welcome exploring ideas and sharing discussion.

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