Source of this article: Time Weekly Author: Guo Zihao
"Since I fell ill, I have never given up studying medicine books on my own. This is my means of changing my destiny, and I do not believe in fate. The person who said this was Li Jia (pseudonym), a cancer woman in her 40s.
In August 2020, she was infected with bronchial tuberculosis and was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2021, after six chemotherapy treatments and multiple hospitalizations.
The side effects of chemotherapy and drugs caused Li Jia to have frequent hair loss, leg edema, and in the worst case, the fingernails of her hands and feet were almost falling off.
But this did not defeat her, in order to restore her physical functions faster, but also in order to better understand what happened to her, Li Jia germinated the idea of teaching herself medicine.
Starting with a TCM conditioning book in the corner of the room, she embarked on the path of learning medicine to save herself.
Li Jiameng had the idea of self-studying medicine Courtesy of the interviewee
Li Jia has successively bought more than 50 medical books, including "Chinese Medicine Chemistry", "Pharmacology", "Acupuncture and Moxibustion Law"... Flipping through, the yellowed pages are covered with marker marks made with colored markers and repeated folding marks.
She told the Times Weekly reporter that she hoped that after she was cured, she could find a Chinese medicine teacher or a Chinese medicine university to learn medical knowledge formally and well.
After falling ill, he became a "school bully"
Li Jia, who is in her 40s, lives in Wuhan, Hubei Province. In the past 40 years, life has been hard, but it has not been alarming.
According to Li Jia, she used to sell various clothing categories in the mall, selling them every 8 days, and needed to learn multiple languages to introduce the goods. "Often when two days a day to dry, a month income of between 4,000-12,000 yuan."
The change began with a visit in July 2020. At that time, Li Jia had a severe cough, and after a series of tests at the hospital, the doctor said that she had bronchial tuberculosis.
"I couldn't believe it at the time, and I had a fight with the doctor, but I had to accept it later." Li Jia said.
People waiting in hospitals Source: Visual China
Bronchial tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease. In order not to affect others, Li Jia quit her job, hid at home, and gradually broke off contact with the outside world.
"I wash all the used cutlery and intimate clothes myself; my brother and sister-in-law want to come to the house and sit down, and I won't let them." Li Jia said.
Li Jia, who locked herself up at home, did not give in to the disease.
While cooperating with the doctor to treat the disease, she bought a copy of "Clinical Tuberculosis" and began to actively learn pathological knowledge, and later bought medical books such as "Virology" and "Bacteriology".
"I began to understand how bacteria and viruses are divided, and how tb bacteria are formed." Occasionally, when there is a physical problem, Li Jia will also use the knowledge she learned from books to prescribe the right medicine.
However, what Li Jia did not expect was that fate made a huge joke with her.
In August 2021, Li Jia had an inexplicable lump on her body, and it was getting bigger and bigger. "Shaped like a cauliflower, bumpy to the touch," she said after going to the hospital for examination, she was told by the doctor that this was a symptom of breast cancer.
"When I heard the news, I cried on the spot and felt the sky falling," Li Jia said.
What Makes Li Jia regret the most is that more than a year ago, she had participated in two cancer screenings (that is, cervical cancer and breast cancer), and the results were abnormal, but she did not care at the time.
Li Jia has successively bought more than 50 medical books Picture source: Visual China
One after another, Li Jia's originally ordinary life was completely disrupted.
Since her illness, she has undergone a total of 6 chemotherapy treatments and countless atomization treatments.
"The body is getting worse and worse, and you have to take a bench with you and take a few steps to rest for a while; when you go to the hospital, you can't even ride a bicycle, you can only sit on it, and slide to the station while pedaling." Li Jia said.
The poor family situation also makes her often feel shy.
Li Jia said that six times of chemotherapy plus surgery fees, in addition to medical insurance reimbursement, she also had to pay more than 37,000 yuan, plus a fixed blood test, nucleic acid testing, taxi and other thousands of dollars. She couldn't get the money out.
Li Jia's father died very early, her mother in her seventies only had a pension of more than two thousand yuan a month, and she did not have a job, and under the reminder of the people around her, Li Jia got help from the fundraising platform.
"Every day is either on the way to the hospital, or staying in the room reading books to study medical treatment." Li Jia said that medical books are obscure and often need to be consulted repeatedly. When encountering proper nouns and incomprehensible words and paragraphs, you need to check online one by one or consult patients.
"I have a disease, and I'm going to learn that disease." I'm a brain-stirrer, I'm someone looking for answers, I'm going to know what it is, I'm going to know why it's so, it's as simple as that. Li Jia told the Times Weekly reporter.
"I haven't been fully sentenced to death yet"
On February 23, a local TELEVISION station in Hubei reported Li Jia's story. After the friends of the cancer group saw the report, they said to Li Jia: "You are on fire! ”
In this 2-minute video, Li Jia wears a pink plush hat and a thick black cotton suit and says to the camera: "I have encountered so many setbacks, through these things (medical skills), I will definitely get better and better." ”
For "going on TV", Li Jia hesitated, she did not want her relatives and friends to see her current state, and she did not even have the courage to watch herself on TV.
"I used to have very white skin, but now with chemotherapy, my face is old and I feel 30 years old. Inside the hospital there was an older (patient), in his fifties, calling me sister. Li Jia said.
"Pink Ribbon" is a recognized logo for breast cancer prevention and control activities around the world Source: Visual China
However, Li Jia finally chose to share her experience.
"I stand up because I want people who are as sick as me to know how to face the disease. In China, there are not a few people like me who rely on self-taught medical skills to fight cancer. ”
Today, Li Jia is already part of a group of 500 patients, and she often records the knowledge that is useful for the treatment of diseases in the book and shares it with the patients in the group.
The medical knowledge she learned not only taught Li Jia to get along with her own diseases, but also helped the people around her.
Because of the side effects of chemotherapy and drugs, Li Jia's stomach, lungs, and liver were affected to varying degrees, and she did not panic excessively, but used the moxibustion method of Traditional Chinese medicine to adjust.
Because of the side effects of chemotherapy and drugs, Li Jia's body has been affected to varying degrees
"I taught myself and self-medicated for a while, and when I went to the hospital for a follow-up consultation, the doctor got my lung CT film and was shocked and said how your lungs have become so good." Li Jia said.
The elderly mother, sometimes unwell, Li Jia learned to use, from the books to find the corresponding solution. "Sometimes I'm a clinical subject myself, and sometimes my mom is my clinical subject." Li Jia said.
What impressed Li Jia was that a few months ago, she met an old man with sudden angina on the bus. "At that time, I immediately helped him press the Inner Gate Point, and soon he was relieved." Li Jia said.
Next, Li Jia will continue to fight the disease, the seventh chemotherapy has not yet begun, before that, she said that she plans to read the anti-tumor drug chapter.
"I still have a lot of books and some courseware that I haven't read, and after learning these, I know how to develop in a better direction." I just want to live, I haven't been completely sentenced to death yet, I'm always looking for opportunities to change my destiny. Li Jia said.