Jun Lozada with Fuda Hospital Chief President Xu Kecheng.
But it was not so when a routine check-up last march showed a PSA (Prostatic Specific Antigen) level of over 100 when the normal count is only from zero to four.
Further tests revealed that he has prostate cancer.
The initial reaction was denial and hoping that it would be cured without going through the dreaded surgery and chemotherapy.
A well- meaning relative brought him to a popular and controversial priest who is known to heal sick people.
There he saw the priest’s wealthy benefactors give him “allowance.”
What his relative gave the priest must not have been hefty enough because the “holy man” just touch tapped his shoulder. Not forceful enough to remove the tumor in his body.
His aunt also brought him to “Kamay ni Jesus” shrine in Lucban, Quezon, where one has to climb the more than 290 steps to the statue of Jesus Christ.
He told his aunt, “I have difficulty going up to the second floor of my house. I don’t think I can go up to the statue. I’ll just pray here. Anyway, God said he hears the faithful wherever they are.”
His aunt scolded him for his irreverence but still accompanied him to other faith healers. The last one was in his own place (Lozada was representative of the fifth district, Negros Occidental from 1998 to 2004) in Pontevedra.
There was a guy who heals through water which he claims to have been blessed by a fairy. He sells the blessed water.
He went through the ceremonial “pray over” by the medium, who then spit on the glass of water that he was supposed to drink. Jun ran out of the medium’s house.
Then he learned from a friend about cryo surgery being done by Fuda Hospital.
Fuda Cancer Hospital Chief President Xu Kecheng(2nd from left) and hospital specialists, Chen Jibing, Li Chaolong, ang Niu Lizhi, in a press conference in Guangzhou.
He went there in July and underwent cryosurgery. Last week his latest PET scan showed the cancer is gone.
Lozada was one of those who gave a testimonial on the treatment of being done by Fuda Hospital in last weekend’s launching in Guangzhou of “Guangdong Provincial Light of Life Society for Cancer Rehabilitation,” a support for survivors and their families and International Post-graduate Training for Cancer with Jinan University.
Cryo (a Greek word which means “icy cold) surgery basically means destroying the abnormal or diseased tissue by freezing it under extremely cold condition (in Fuda its’ minus 160 degrees temperature).
Participant doctors said cryosurgery is a treatment for prostate cancer that is done in the United States. What Fuda Hospital did was combine it with Chinese traditional medical practice.
Fuda Hospital owner and Chief ChiefPresident Xu Kecheng calls their treatment the 3C+P. It stands for Cryosurgery (C) – Cancer Microvascular Intervention (C) – Combined Immunotherapy for Cancer (C) – Personalized therapy (P according to patient’s individual condition).
In his speech, Dr. Xu said, “It is difficult to kill all cancer cells in a cancer patient’s body, because 1) Cancer is a systemic disease, and metastasis is an ‘early event’. When 70 percent cancer patients are diagnosed, call cells already exist in their blood and bone marrows. Most of the cancer cells are simply in dormant state. 2) Radiotherapy and chemotherapy kill cancer cells exponentially, that is, only a percentage of cancer cells can be killed. It is impossible to eradicate all cancer cells. 3) Cancer cells are classified as common cancer cells and cancer stem cells. Current conventional therapies (radiotherapy and chemotherapy) are unable to exterminate cancer stem cells. The “silent” or “dormant” cancer stem cells are the sources of cancer recurrence and metastasis.”
Fuda’s treatment, he said, specifically targets the diseased tissue ”conquering the cancerous tumor while maintaining the healthy atmosphere of the body.”
He explained how it is done:
“A special piece of equipment is required for cryosurgery. Under the guidance of CT scan or ultrasound, an ultra-cold knife (fine needle with a diameter of about 1 to 2) is inserted into the tumor. Argon is input under high pressure so that temperature on the top of the knife drops to minus 160 degrees Celsius instantly. Then, helium is pumped in for the temperature to rise. This cycle is repeated twice or three times. In the end, tumor tissues are ablated and thereby killed. “
Fuda Hospital has expanded the use of cosurgery applies to liver cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer, breast cancer, and different soft tissue sarcomas.
Cancer has ceased to be a death sentence with the advances in medical technology. Fuda Hospital has widened the options for treatment for cancer patients with its 3C+P.
Lozada said Fuda Hosptial’s 3C+P is not cheap. Plus since it has to be done in Guangzhou, one’s budget has to include air transportation and accommodation costs.
But it’s life that is at stake. It’s worth everything.