Wandering in the vast darkness

017 A Mild Illness

More than three years ago, my usually lively daughter Qianqian started having frequent nosebleeds and a loss of appetite. She even stopped wanting to eat KFC, which she used to love.

Cao Fang took her to the hospital for a checkup. After various tests and examinations, the doctor solemnly told her the results. Cao Fang felt dizzy and almost fainted.

She sat on a chair in the hospital corridor and dialed Yu Wenhao's number. When the call connected, she felt as if her heart and throat were blocked by something, and she couldn't say a word.

Yu Wenhao called out "hello" on the other end of the phone, but there was no response from Cao Fang. Finally, his daughter Qianqian picked up the phone and called him "Dad."

Yu asked Qianqian what was wrong, and Qianqian said, "Daddy, I'm sick."

"Where's Mom?" Yu asked.

Qianqian said, "Mommy is crying."

When the call came in, Yu Wenhao was in his office. Cao Fang and Qianqian were having a check-up at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital's Qiantang branch.

Yu Wenhao felt a chill run down his spine. Cao Fang was crying, and he immediately sensed that his daughter's illness was no minor one.

Yu Wenhao ran to the main gate, not even having time to go to the garage to wait for his car. He saw an employee riding a shared bicycle and called out to him, "Let me use this." He then rode the bicycle to Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. The four-kilometer journey took him more than ten minutes to complete.

Yu Wenhao found Cao Fang and Qianqian in the corridor. When Cao Fang saw him, she hugged him tightly and burst into tears. Qianqian was frightened and started crying too.

Yu Wenhao took a look at Qianqian's medical records and test results, and it was a complete shock.

The two sat in the corridor for more than two hours. Cao Fang had cried all her tears, and Yu Wenhao felt utterly hopeless.

Qianqian was a little over four years old at the time, not quite five. She was still confused about what had happened, only knowing that she was sick. But this wasn't the first time she had been sick; she had been to the hospital many times before, getting injections and IV drips. She didn't understand why her parents were so upset this time.

She nestled gently between them, glancing occasionally at her mother and then at her father. When she looked at her mother, her eyes were red, and she gently patted her head. When she looked at her father, his eyes were also red, and he gently patted her head as well.

Finally, Qianqian couldn't hold back any longer and said to her mother, "Mom, I'm hungry."

Yu Wenhao and Cao Fang then realized that it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon, long past lunchtime.

Yu Wenhao said to Cao Fang, "Let's go. This afternoon I'll ask someone to pull some strings, and tomorrow we'll go to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University to see a specialist. Maybe they've made a mistake here."

Cao Fang knew that the test results in her hand were all generated by machines and printed by computers, not by the naked eye of a doctor, so how could they be wrong? Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital is also a large hospital, like the First and Second Affiliated Hospitals of Zhejiang University, and belongs to Zhejiang University. The equipment here might even be the same as that of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University. The possibility of making a mistake is too low.

But Cao Fang was unwilling to accept this outcome, so she nodded.

The three of them finished their meal near the hospital. Yu Wenhao was worried, so he didn't let Cao Fang drive. Instead, he drove Cao Fang's car to take them home, and then he took a taxi to his workplace.

Upon arriving at his workplace, Yu Wenhao went to see General Manager Qu and explained the situation. General Manager Qu helped him find a reporter from Hangzhou Daily who covered hospital-related issues, and they contacted Professor Zheng from the Department of Hematology at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University.

The results of their follow-up examination at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University were the same as those at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital: Qianqian had chronic myeloid leukemia. Professor Zheng reassured them that it wasn't so scary, as there are now many more ways to treat leukemia, and targeted drugs are very effective. Most importantly, the cost is not like before, when just taking imatinib would cost more than 300,000 yuan a year.

"Imatinib is now covered by medical insurance, unlike in the movie 'Dying to Survive.' In total, you will only need to pay about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a year out of pocket, which is enough to control your child's condition," Professor Zheng told them.

Of course, the 20,000 to 30,000 yuan that Professor Zheng mentioned only applies to their hospital. Only after actually getting sick do people realize that money isn't really money; it's like water flowing out, constantly gushing away. Many who can't even get into the isolation ward, those waiting hopelessly outside the ICU, are people whose money has run out and whose savings are depleted.

Qianqian was diagnosed with leukemia. Under current medical conditions, there are three main treatment options for leukemia: chemotherapy and radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and bone marrow or stem cell transplantation. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the most traditional and direct treatments, and are often the only option for patients whose genetic testing indicates they do not meet the criteria for targeted therapy.

This treatment, besides causing the patient unbearable suffering and making them wish they were dead, could at most prolong the patient's life by a few years. Yu Wenhao and Cao Fang couldn't bear to see their daughter suffer like this, nor were they willing to give up, so they did not agree to choose this treatment plan.

Qianqian was fortunate; after genetic testing, she was eligible for targeted therapy. Professor Zheng immediately proposed a treatment plan for her, recommending imatinib, a targeted drug produced by Novartis in Switzerland specifically for chronic myeloid leukemia. However, targeted drugs can only alleviate and control Qianqian's symptoms and prolong her life; they cannot cure leukemia.

After controlling the mild symptoms, the next step is to consider bone marrow or stem cell transplantation, which is the only possible way to cure leukemia.

The first step in bone marrow and stem cell transplantation is matching. At the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, they first produced Qianqian's "Matching Report". The matching report is divided into high-resolution and low-resolution, also known as high-match and low-match. Yu Wenhao spent more than 3,000 yuan of his own money to do a high-match test for Qianqian.

Then Yu Wenhao and Cao Fang each spent more than three thousand yuan to do high-level matching to see if their bone marrow matched Qianqian's.

In an HLA typing report, if all ten allele numbers match, it is called a full match. If only five or more allele numbers match, even nine, it can only be considered a half match.

The test results left Yu Wenhao and Cao Fang very frustrated; they and Qianqian were only partially compatible.

Professor Zheng told them, "It's not surprising. Usually, the match between parents and children is only half-matched. The probability of a full match is like winning the lottery. I'll put you in the database."

The so-called "registration" refers to submitting a matching application to the China Marrow Donor Program (CMDP) and the five major cord blood banks across the country to search for a suitable match.

What followed was a long and agonizing wait. After almost a month, Professor Zheng sent Yu a WeChat message to tell him that there was news from the bone marrow registry: four matches had been found for Qianqian.

"Very good!"

Yu Wenhao was in a meeting at the office building when she received the WeChat message. General Manager Qu was speaking. Qianqian is saved! Yu Wenhao was overjoyed and couldn't help but shout, startling everyone in the meeting room.

Everyone stared at him blankly, and even President Qu was puzzled. Yu Wenhao quickly explained to President Qu and the others that he had just received a notification from Zhejiang University First Affiliated Hospital that Qianqian had found a match.

When Mr. Qu and the others in the conference room heard the news, they were all very happy for him.

President Qu waved to Yu Wenhao: "Go on, go on, go deal with your matter. What are you still doing in this meeting? Hurry up and go! You're just wasting your time!"

Everyone in the conference room laughed, and Yu Wenhao laughed too. He quickly stood up and left the conference room.