Let's get closer to this episode's protagonist, Mrs. HELEN JEAN RABINSKA, a breast cancer patient with secondary liver metastasis from New Zealand. Let's see how she tempered the resilience of life while coexisting with cancer and dancing with animals, and how she made another determined counter - attack against cancer cells in China.
"Diagnosis, cure, recurrence, metastasis... A 23 - year cancer - fighting journey and an unyielding heart."
My name is HELEN JEAN RABINSKA. I'm 60 years old and come from New Zealand. In 2003, I was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in my right breast at a local hospital. After undergoing an extended resection of the right breast and axillary lymph node dissection, combined with drug treatment, my condition gradually moved towards clinical cure. However, my condition recurred in 2017, and in 2021, the cancer cells in my body metastasized to the liver, and the situation began to get tough again. Although liver metastasis often indicates the advanced stage of breast cancer, I've always believed that cancer is just a "minor episode" in my life, merely a regular challenge.
To this day, I've been living with cancer for 23 years. Previously, I hardly ever mentioned to my relatives and friends around me that I had breast cancer. I didn't want to be labeled as a "cancer patient." The subsequent liver metastasis never made me feel that my life was about to end. I've maintained a positive and optimistic attitude and lived freely, even often forgetting that I'm a cancer patient.
"Cancer won't make me anchor; the medical team has built a new harbor of life for me."
In New Zealand, local hospitals treat tumors and cancers using traditional methods (i.e., radiotherapy and chemotherapy). At that time, my breast cancer was diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma, ER+, PR+, HER - 2 - IV stage, accompanied by metastatic malignant liver tumors. Later, I learned that interventional therapy in China is at the forefront. Eventually, I chose to go to the Yihe International Medical Center of Qianhai Life Guangzhou General Hospital to seek more diverse comprehensive treatment methods.
In the early stage of treatment, the expert team formulated a detailed and diversified treatment plan according to my condition. The medical staff conducted a comprehensive internal discussion and analysis of my medical data over the past 23 years. Even during traditional chemotherapy, they provided me with various drug suggestions, fully respecting my personal expectations and wishes throughout the process.
The interventional medical team held a consultation on my breast cancer with secondary liver metastasis. Eventually, they customized and implemented a refined transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with drug - loaded microspheres for me. The interventional therapy has the advantages of minimal post - operative trauma, safety and convenience. The chemotherapy drugs can directly act on the lesion site, resulting in better efficacy, fewer side effects and faster recovery.
Post - operative angiography showed that the blood - supplying arteries of the multiple tumors in my body were gradually becoming occluded, and the tumor staining basically disappeared. The staining of the normal liver parenchyma was in good condition. After three rounds of systemic chemotherapy and multiple sessions of sonodynamic therapy, I clearly felt that my body was undergoing a life - exploration to decipher the cancer code.
Comparison of tumor images before surgery (left) and during the reexamination half a year after surgery (right)
Receiving treatment with international - level resource facilities and scientific and technological professional medical standards, I felt as if I was in the scenario of Star Trek. A huge force was leading my life towards a more distant future. The environment of the new building of the hospital doesn't have the slightest sense of coldness that a typical hospital has.
Even during ward rounds, there are always at least four or five medical staff members asking me detailed questions. The all - around human - oriented consideration makes me feel extremely warm. The patience and attentiveness of the entire medical team are something I've never experienced in my 23 - year fight against cancer.
"Rescuing animals reflects the mirror image of life. This time, I became the protagonist being healed."
I've loved helping small animals since I was a child. In 2010, I founded the "Animal Rescues and Education Community" in New Zealand, which is dedicated to "animal rescue" work. All the staff in the organization are volunteers, and we rescue about hundreds of small animals every year.
In New Zealand, I'm the "attending doctor" for animals. But this time, the little animals have prescribed an unparalleled "anti - cancer prescription" for me. Qianhai Life Guangzhou General Hospital has a "Cat Healing Space". You can have up - close and personal contact with the animals right outside the consulting rooms and wards, and enjoy the energy field surrounded by vitality.
Even though this life "voyage" has taken me 23 years and tens of thousands of kilometers, I've truly reached the "harbor" of two - way healing here. When my body and mind freely move between the consulting rooms, wards and the cat space, I feel the symbiotic energy of mutual healing between humans and animals.
The hospital's approach is really unique. It's obvious that the hospital director, leaders and all the medical staff here are very compassionate people. They not only care about the patients but also take care of the animals with empathetic actions. This is a meaningful and great cause of life care.
When life meets life, Mrs. HELEN JEAN RABINSKA has found the bargaining chips to negotiate with cancer cells in the pupils of the animals. From reaching out to help the animals to being soothed by the cats during the cancer - fighting days, active treatment, an optimistic attitude and love for life are all her constant companions in the process of successfully coexisting with cancer.
The so - called "advanced stage of cancer" may sometimes only exist in the "medical records". When you love life and are fearless in moving forward, love and vitality will naturally emerge and form a cycle according to the law of conservation of energy, helping you write a life answer sheet that cancer cannot define.
