Saving my grandpa

My Grandpa

My Grandpa is an intelligent and mentally strong person presently at the age of 87. He lives in Shanghai with my Grandma, Aunty 1 (my mum’s older sister), and Aunty 2 (my mum’s younger sister).

The Cancer

Over the past month his health has been deteriorating and he has slowly been losing weight. As a result, he was taken to the doctor where several tests were conducted including a blood test. It was discovered that there was an anomaly in his blood so an additional test was performed.

Upon receiving the results from the second test, the doctor became concerned that my Grandpa could have multiple myeloma (a cancer found in the bone marrow). However, the doctor was not 100% sure that Grandpa had the cancer, so he conducted a spinal tap. Whilst the results were being processed, the doctor told my Grandma and aunties that if the test came back positive then Grandpa would have approximately 6 months to live.

A few days later the results came back… It was positive.

It was found that the multiple myeloma was in between being less serious and very serious.

The Decision

Before the results from the spinal tap came back, my relatives and my mum were pondering whether they should utilise Chinese medicine or chemotherapy in order to treat Grandpa’s ailment. My relatives were adamant on using Chinese medicine to offer Grandpa the best “quality of life” from now on. They closed their eyes to any of the benefits of chemotherapy by not even questioning the doctor on the side effects, benefits and added longevity to Grandpa’s life upon receiving chemotherapy.

At the same time, they did not mention to Grandpa that he had multiple myeloma, but only mentioned he had an abnormality of the blood. Before going into the hospital, he said to my relatives that they needed to be absolutely honest with him and tell him everything.

Due to their ignorance to obtain additional facts, my mum was upset at this as well as the fact that Grandpa could potentially be angry for not being told he had cancer when it still could have been treated.

After the results came back, my relatives made the decision that they would use Chinese medicine and consequently he was discharged from the hospital a few days ago.

Help Me, Help My Grandpa

Now that he has been discharged from hospital, my Grandpa will have approximately 6 months to live. I have already buried my other Grandpa and I do not want to bury another just yet.

I presently reside in Sydney and as such I have not seen my Grandpa since the beginning of 2011.

I also believe that Grandpa is a strong-minded person and he will be able to fight through the chemotherapy. Unfortunately, not everyone shares my view.

So I am asking all of you who read this to help me purchase a return ticket from Sydney to Shanghai. Now I would not be here, if it were not for the ridiculously expensive airfares at this time of the year.

When I am back in Shanghai I plan to do two things, which are to at least open my relatives’ eyes to the benefits of chemotherapy and that, if successful, could offer Grandpa an additional year of enjoyment or to at least see my Grandpa one last time while he is still healthy.

I really do appreciate if you could donate for this cause, as my last remaining Grandpa does mean a lot to me.