"Five years ago, I had begun to make the arrangements for my own funeral…"

I felt a sharp pain in my spine one night. As I was brought to the emergency room, I thought it was just an ordinary stomachache. But after some blood tests, I was admitted to hospital immediately. The diagnosis was blood cancer. It was like a death sentence had just been passed on me. I started to arrange the aftermath of my death. Back then, my elder son was just 3, the young one was just an infant. I needed to take care of my wife so I asked my family to help arrange everything with the insurance company.

"Paranoia bred hardship within me and my health was getting worse…"

At first, the chemotherapy treatment failed to improve my situation. The reason for this had to do with me: I was too impatient and nervous. It was not until I learnt to relax and trust the doctor that miraculous healing began to occur. If cancer cells cannot be killed by chemotherapy treatment, there is no chance of getting a bone marrow transplant.

"Physically, I was too weak to even lift my eyelids, yet I remember every caring word that came from my family members and each one made me stronger…"

Chemotherapy treatment involves the use of actual poisons to kill cancer cells, so the side effects can be deadly. Each treatment is like a bet on life and patients need to be very strong willed about it. I was so weak during my chemotherapy treatment that I passed out every time I coughed, I couldn't even lift my eyelids and I was incontinent. My mind was lucid though, and that made me feel even more miserable. However, I was fortunate that my wife and eight brothers and sisters took very good care of me during this time. My mother made red rice congee for me everyday and I exercised my will to swallow the congee as I knew I had to eat it in order to prepare myself for the bone marrow transplant.

"Three of my patient friends at that time passed away because there was no compatible bone marrow available…"

It was truly a blessing to learn that there was compatible bone marrow from my youngest sister and so even though the operation was risky, I embrace the chance. Three of my patient friends lost the battle because of the lack of compatible bone marrow… but my operation was successful, i.e., I was considered fully recovered except for a minor lung problem. Of course I am not as strong as I had once been. I used to be a construction engineer but now I need to look for a new job!

"If I could run the Hong Kong Blood Cancer Foundation, I would…"

There are several issues that still need to be addressed First and foremost, there should be more research done to reduce the cost in healing leukemia patients. It's hard enough to find compatible bone marrow, so financial obstacles should be kept to a minimum. Second, financial support should be made available. For example, patients receiving chemotherapy are too weak to travel by public transportation. Therefore, it would be ideal if there was serviced transportation for the patients.

Finally, there is the issue of the psychological support given to the patients. Blood cancer can striker out of the blue, so one can imagine how hard it is to adapt to the disease both emotionally and financially.