Doctor with over 20 years of dedication to cancer patients

The tireless journey to bring life back to cancer patients

For more than 20 years dedicated to the work of treating and saving people, Master, Doctor, Thai Doan Cong has successfully operated on thousands of cancer patients, bringing health and joy to countless patients. Behind the happy smiles and grateful eyes of patients when they are accurately diagnosed and successfully treated, are the hardships and worries that doctors have to face.

In recent years, the number of surgeries at the General Surgery Department of Cua Dong General Hospital has increased rapidly. In 2024 alone, the department performed nearly 8,000 surgeries, of which about 30% were major surgeries for digestive cancers. A surgery usually lasts 2-3 hours, with difficult cases lasting about 5-7 hours. For each surgery, the doctor must always be highly focused, careful, and meticulous in every step.

Doctor Cong shared: “When choosing the profession of a surgeon, I was mentally prepared for the pressure. Because every time I hold the scalpel, I am fighting with the patient for life against the “death god”, and all the patient’s relatives also put all their faith and hope that the surgery will be successful. Therefore, I must always try my best, use all my energy to perform the surgery as best as possible. When the surgery is over, I am still worried because I still have to monitor post-operative complications”.

During his years of dedication to his patients, Dr. Cong cannot forget the cases that he promptly detected early and brought the patients back from the "doors of death". Most recently, he and his team successfully detected and operated on an elderly patient, Mr. NTĐ (91 years old, Hung Nguyen - Nghe An), who had colorectal cancer and many underlying diseases. Although the surgery was challenging, with careful preparation and support from the anesthesia and resuscitation team, the surgery was successful; helping Mr. D. soon return to normal life.

“Support” for cancer patients

Having cancer is often a big shock to the patient and their family. Whether surgery is effective or not depends largely on the patient's mental health. Besides the family's support, doctors and nurses are the ones who inspire and support patients in their journey to fight the disease.

“The most difficult thing is to be close to, explain, and encourage young patients, or those with young children, who have many plans in life. In these cases, I have to understand the patient's situation, encourage them to gradually accept the situation, consider this as an incident in life that needs to be overcome, cancer is not the end, avoid pessimism, giving up, and despair" - Doctor Cong shared.

“At the age of just over 30, as the breadwinner of the family, when I discovered I had rectal cancer, my family and I considered it an “incurable” disease. But after meeting Dr. Cong and receiving his detailed advice and explanation, I gradually regained my faith and hope for treatment.” The story of Mr. NQT (32 years old) in Ky Son, Nghe An is also the story of many patients and their families about Dr. Cong, who is both dedicated and talented.

5 years ago, Ms. NTT (81 years old, Cam Xuyen district - Ha Tinh), through examination, discovered that the patient had a sigmoid colon tumor. Although the patient was old, after assessing the local lesion, no metastasis, the patient's health was guaranteed, Doctor Cong decided to perform surgery to remove the tumor. After surgery, 5 years have passed, her health has gradually stabilized, living happily, thanks to the care of relatives and more than anyone else, thanks to the correct treatment regimen, timely spiritual encouragement from a compassionate and responsible doctor.

Following the doctor to the examination, we clearly felt the closeness between the patient and the doctor. With new patients, he spent more time encouraging them and discussing surgical methods. With more serious patients, with longer treatment times, whenever we met him, we could freely talk and joke.

He almost remembers all of his family circumstances, his illness, and the handshakes and pats on the shoulder from Dr. Cong have also helped motivate patients to feel secure in their treatment. And to give patients more motivation to treat their illness and feel secure in their treatment, he often tells real stories about people who had cancer like them but recovered and are living healthy lives.

Pioneering new methods in cancer surgery

At Cua Dong General Hospital, in addition to treating patients, Dr. Cong also participates in scientific research, pioneering the successful application of new surgical methods, notably: Complete laparoscopic surgery to remove the stomach, D2 lymph node dissection to treat stomach cancer, colon resection, D3 lymph node dissection to treat colon cancer, transanal rectal resection (TaTME) to treat rectal cancer, treatment of inguinal hernias and abdominal wall diseases, resection of abdominal tumors...

Working with hundreds of cancer patients for more than 20 years since leaving Hanoi Medical University. When asked about the pressure of work, Dr. Cong humorously shared: “Only with passion and love for patients can one pursue the specialty of gastroenterology. Having to regularly face nerve-wracking surgeries lasting 6-10 hours, not to mention having to monitor the patient until they are stable after the surgery, can one feel somewhat secure. That is the reason why today many medical students tend to choose departments with high surgical "productivity" such as: trauma, urology, cosmetic surgery... Meanwhile, our gastroenterology specialty is increasingly less popular because the surgery is tiring, the income is low, it is hard work and the risk is high.”

For Dr. Cong, his greatest “asset” is the phone book containing the names of thousands of cancer patients, who have contributed to motivating the doctor to research new surgical methods and impart spiritual “medicine” to cancer patients over the years. “There is no greater joy than seeing your patients recover and 5-10 years after treatment, meeting your patients again still optimistic and full of energy,” Dr. Cong shared.

With recognized professional capacity, Master, Doctor, Doctor Thai Doan Cong was appointed to the position of Deputy Director of the Hospital. In this role, he and the Board of Directors implemented many solutions to develop the hospital, helping Cua Dong General Hospital become one of the prestigious medical facilities in Nghe An and the North Central region.

The Certificates of Merit from the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Health are proof of Dr. Thai Doan Cong's meaningful contributions to the medical industry in recent times. But above all, the trust and love from patients is the most noble reward for his tireless efforts throughout his career of treating and saving people./.