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Mr. Zhang is a construction worker from a small town in the north, years of wind and sun, so that his face is engraved with deep wrinkles, but the pair of tired but clear eyes, still reveal simple and kind, Mr. Zhang since childhood poor family, graduated from junior high school to go out to work to earn money to support the family, he is hard-working, excellent technology, in the construction site is very good.
However, long-term high-intensity physical labor and irregular life and rest, Mr. Zhang gradually neglected his physical health, until five months ago, a strange ear discomfort quietly came, at first Mr. Zhang only felt a little swollen pain in his right ear, accompanied by intermittent tinnitus, he didn't care too much about just a small problem caused by a cold, just took some anti-inflammatory drugs and continued to work.
But this "little problem" did not go away quietly as he wished, the earache became worse day by day, the nose gradually lost breath, the frequency of headaches became higher and higher, Mr. Zhang began to lose sleep, irritability, work efficiency dropped significantly, he vaguely felt that something was not right, but he did not want to believe that he was really sick.
Mr. Zhang's wife, Ms. Wang, saw it in her eyes and was anxious in her heart, she persuaded her husband to go to the hospital for examination more than once, but he prevaricated with the reason of "busy" and "wait for a while" and "then say", until that day Mr. Zhang almost fainted on the scaffold due to a severe headache, which scared others out of a cold sweat, and Ms. Wang made up her mind to forcibly drag him to the hospital despite Mr. Zhang's opposition.
In the otolaryngology department of the hospital, Mr. Zhang was diagnosed with advanced nasopharyngeal cancer, he was instantly struck by lightning, his brain was blank, cancer? How could it be cancer? He couldn't believe it, and he didn't want to accept it, tears uncontrollably burst out of his eyes, wetting his weather-covered face.
The doctor sighed helplessly, and said to Mr. Zhang seriously: "Your ears have warned you of physical problems five months ago, unilateral ear discomfort, nasal congestion, headache, plus your age, these are typical early signs of nasopharyngeal cancer, I understand your feelings, but if you can come for an early examination, maybe we can buy more time for treatment, but now it is not hopeless, we will do our best to help you overcome the disease." ＂
Mr. Zhang nodded silently and wiped away his tears, he hated why he was so careless, but he hated himself even more for knowing that there was something abnormal in his body, but he refused to face the reality for a long time, he was remorseful, and secretly vowed to fight hard for his life.
Mr. Zhang's experience is not uncommon around us, many of whom have been rushing for their livelihoods and ignoring health warnings, and many of us have been lucky and ignored the early signs of the disease, but when the disease really came, we realized that the price was too heavy.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is such a "cunning" cancer, its early manifestations, such as ear discomfort, nasal congestion, headache, etc., can easily be mistaken for common diseases such as colds and rhinitis.
According to statistics, about 70% of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage. The 5-year survival rate of advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma is only about 50%, far lower than more than 90% in the early stage, which shows that early diagnosis and early treatment are very important for the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, as a high-risk group, middle-aged and elderly men over 40 years old, especially those with bad lifestyle habits such as smoking and long-term consumption of pickled food, should be more vigilant.
Of course, not every earache and nasal congestion means nasopharyngeal cancer, and many times, they are indeed just minor problems, but the key to the problem is that we must learn to listen to the body's voice, be sensitive to those persistent and recurrent discomforts, and seek help from a doctor in time once the symptoms persist for more than 2-3 weeks, rather than blindly procrastinating and waiting.
At the same time, we should also try to avoid contact with high-risk factors for nasopharyngeal cancer, such as staying away from second-hand smoke, eating less pickled and smoked food, etc., paying attention to keeping the home and office environment clean and ventilated, reducing the inhalation of harmful gases and dust, exercising moderately, eating a balanced diet, and improving our own immunity.
In addition, regular physical examination is also indispensable, many nasopharyngeal cancer patients only find the lesion during the physical examination, the physical examination is like a "system scan" of the body, and some screening items, such as nasopharyngeal endoscopy, are specifically for the nasopharyngeal area, which helps to detect problems early.
Mr. Zhang's story has taught each of us a vivid lesson, he told us with personal experience that ignoring health warnings will only make us pay a more painful price, we can't choose whether the disease comes, but we can choose how to face and deal with the disease, pay attention early, and take precautions, which may be the best thing we can do for ourselves and our families.
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