Now and again, there comes along a story buckingtthe trend. We too often hear of ordinary folk suffering, unable to pay their hospital bills. It’s hence heartwarming to relate a moving story of courage, care and generosity in Jiangsu.
Last month, the Hematology Department of Changzhou No.2 People’s Hospital received a package from Henan Province. It was found to contain a silk banner on which was neatly written, “To the doctors of the Hematology Department of Changzhou Second People’s Hospital, Jiangsu Province: ‘Careful and loving, warming the heart, first-class medical ethics and medical skills’. From Cao XX and his family”. It was dated May, 2024.
It is not uncommon for hospital departments to receive such silk banners. The nurse who opened the package casually took a photo and posted it in the Department’s WeChat group, asking which doctor had treated this patient, so as to make a record.
Unexpectedly, no one came forward. The doctors shook their heads and said that they had not come into contact with a patient with this name recently. This confused everyone. From where did the silk banner come? Did the patient themself make a mistake? In addressing the unsolved case, messages in the group filled the screens of all.
Staring at the name on the banner, an ancient, vague memory eventually came to Yang Jianhe, Chief Physician with the Department. He thought to himself, “Is it her?”. It could not be. After all, it was 14 years ago.
As Sina has reported, it was the late autumn of 2010 when a young woman named Xiao Cao walked into Yang’s clinic. With the pure-white environment seemingly making her nervous, she told Diector Yang that she’d had a fever for a while and felt uncomfortable everywhere. In pain, she decided to come to the hospital. When Yang heard this, his heart tightened. Her symptoms sounded too much like leukemia.
Sure enough, after examination, Xiao Cao was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). A rare disorder indeed, only 600-800 individuals develop the condition in the USA annually. But unlike most forms of leukemia, APL has in fact a very good prognosis; the high cost instead is a heavy burden on the patient’s family.
At that time, Cao was only 23 and had just had her first child. It had been the happiest moment of her life. When she learned of the diagnosis, her spirit was shattered, not only out of fear, but also because she knew too well she could not afford to treat the disease at all.
Her family was not well off; her husband an ordinary worker. Neither had medical insurance. Cao’s mother was far away, and it was even difficult to find money for the trip. But come she did, to sit by her daughter’s bed every day and cry.
And that’s when the Hospital itself stepped in. While actively treating Cao, the Hematology Department of Changzhou No.2 People’s Hospital also tried every means to raise money. It reduced some of the medical costs, staff raised funds and the Department director at that time solicited donations from society’s more caring.
In this way, Cao’s medical costs for an entire year were almost completely covered. But her treatment did not go smoothly, with repeated infections and effusions occurring. Through joint efforts, Cao was to overcome the many difficulties and usher in her dawn of victory.
Now, her second baby is 5 years old. Time may have passed but Cao has always remembered the warmth and help given by the Hematology Changzhou No.2 People’s Hospital.
Cao wanted to do something to express her gratitude but it was not until the family had a more stable life in recent years that the idea to send the banner flashed through her mind.
Speaking by telephone, Cao’s family said, “If it weren’t for the help from that Hospital, we wouldn’t be living our current life. We didn’t have a good life before and didn’t think about these things. Now things are going better, and we look forward to saying thank you to the doctors again”.
