Society

Nghe An Oncology Hospital: So that no one is alone in their own pain

Diep Thanh • June 3, 2024 12:09

With the desire to share, encourage, and accompany pediatric cancer patients, Nghe An Oncology Hospital has called for the cooperation of many groups and individuals to carry out many practical and meaningful support activities. That cooperation has multiplied the flames of love in life.

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With the desire to share, encourage, and accompany pediatric cancer patients, Nghe An Oncology Hospital has called for the cooperation of many groups and individuals to carry out many practical and meaningful support activities. That cooperation has multiplied the flames of love in life.

“I want to be cured” - said patient Dao Thi Quynh. Quynh is one of the children who are fighting day and night for their lives with the “death sentence” of cancer. This image was recorded and broadcast in the program “Love for you” organized by Nghe An Oncology Hospital on May 29 - a program dedicated to children being treated at the hospital.

At that event, people could witness many things at the same time: Grief, pain, emotion, pride, sharing, love, resilience, determination... Directly calling for and building support activities for patients, Specialist II Doctor Nguyen Van Huong (Head of Social Work - Communications Department) shared: "In addition to programs for patients in general, we pay special attention and build programs specifically for children being treated at the hospital. Not only fighting with illness, many children also have very difficult circumstances such as being orphaned, parents divorced, poor families... Usually, the number of children is around 30 people. This year, the number of children expected to participate in the program "Love for you" is 29, but near the date, 3 children passed away so there are only 26 left... The battle for the children's lives has never been easy".

On the day of the event, the large hall of Nghe An Oncology Hospital was packed with people. More than half of the attendees of the “Love for Children” event were philanthropists, volunteer groups, organizations, and individuals who wanted to support the program. Among them, there were ordinary people, successful businessmen, monks, nuns, parishioners, Vinh residents, and other regions… They may be different in many ways, but they were all here for one thing in common - Love for children who unfortunately suffer from serious illnesses.

Every time Bui Dai Nghia (Internal Medicine Department 5) comes up to receive gifts from benefactors, below, Ms. Lo Thi Nam - his mother cannot hold back her tears. Nghia is one of the children with especially difficult circumstances on this occasion. Ms. Nam is a Thai ethnic in Ky Son. She and her husband have 3 children, Nghia is the middle son, also the healthiest and most agile child in the family. 2 months ago, from a swelling on his right thigh, the family took Nghia to the doctor and were shocked when the doctor informed him that he had bone cancer. Being a poor household, the family's expenses depend on the work of harvesting acacia, medicine, hospital fees, travel... to treat the disease beyond the family's ability to pay.

“Nghia has only been home for 2 days, but today he is in pain again. He has just gotten a little better, but today he is in pain again. I love him so much, it is so painful, but I always have to act strong and optimistic to encourage him. I am willing to give up everything so that my child can live a healthy life,” Ms. Nam confided.

In response to the concern and sharing of the hospital doctors and nurses, and the benefactors, Ms. Nam added: “This is the first time I have participated in this program and I am truly touched by the concern and encouragement from everyone. We have received both spiritual and material support, from free daily meals to medical expenses, travel expenses… Without that companionship, my children and I would have been extremely struggling and lonely…”.

Sympathizing with Ms. Nam, seeing her children smiling on stage, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong (Quynh Luu) shared: “Accompanying my children to receive treatment for a whole year in the hospital, going through 4 rounds of chemotherapy, I have experienced many events like this. For us, that support is extremely meaningful. Seeing the children happy when receiving sharing and care, we are also somewhat comforted.”

With 12 groups and individuals participating in this year's "Love for Children" program, each child patient receives an amount of 3 - 5 million VND, depending on the level of difficulty and is given directly by the benefactors. One of the special things about this program is the participation of many children, children of benefactors and members of volunteer groups. Some are still in kindergarten, some are in primary school, secondary school, and there is a group of young people who are students of FPT Polytechnic College.

Sharing at the program, Ms. Bui Kim Chi - representative of the BNI iNNO Chapter Business Connection Organization said: "We are grateful to the doctors and hospital leaders for giving us the opportunity to demonstrate our community responsibility to those in difficult circumstances. At the same time, we also encourage children of members of the organization to participate in the program so that they can learn to sympathize and share the pain of others."

Love and compassion are kindled from such simple lessons.

To spread the sharing more widely and call for more cooperation from the community, Nghe An Oncology Hospital has built many practical and effective activities. From here, love continues to be extended.

The hair donation program for cancer patients is such a program. The program is jointly organized by Nghe An Oncology Hospital and the Cancer Patient Support Fund - Bright Tomorrow, with the support of 20 hair salons nationwide and the participation of hundreds of people inside and outside the province. Organized before the International Children's Day on June 1, in this program, the "main characters" are the children with the happiness to be given.

To participate in the program, Tran Thi Ha and Nguyen Thi Bao Tram took the bus from Anh Son to Vinh at 4 am and arrived at the hospital at 6 am. Ha said: “I learned about the program from my daughter. She wanted to donate her hair to children who unfortunately have cancer. Last year, my daughter and I went all the way to Hanoi to donate hair, but because it was so crowded, we couldn’t do it. In order not to miss the opportunity like last time, in this event, my daughter and I were determined to arrive very early.”

The program attracted the participation of nearly 1,000 people, including many teenagers and children. Most of them learned about the program through social media channels and grew their hair for a long time to fulfill their wish to donate their hair. The hospital acts as a bridge, connecting the love between people and cancer patients in general, and children in particular.

Accompanying the program in many provinces and cities, Mr. Nguyen Van Chien (hair salon owner in Hanoi) said: “Nearly 700 sets of hair were donated - I was really surprised by the number of people participating in hair donation in Nghe An. Nghe An Oncology Hospital has done a very good job of preparing and promoting the program and the program has had a positive impact on the people. I believe that from those impacts, the hospital's social work will spread more and more, calling for more support for cancer patients”.

After the success of the first program, Dr. Nguyen Van Huong, Specialist II, said that starting from this year, the hair donation program for cancer patients will be held once a year at the hospital. The time of organization is early summer, so that all the children who wish to participate in the event can easily arrange and travel.

“The doctors at Nghe An Oncology Hospital have supported us a lot in the process of building the program. Accordingly, they always advise us to support cash so that patients can cover the cost of treatment according to their needs, and always ask us to hand it directly to the patients. This is very meaningful, firstly so that we can understand and sympathize with the patients better and the patients can feel the heart of the giver, and secondly to create prestige and transparency for the program... Every time I participate in the program for the children, I am very moved. The strength and resilience of the young warriors remind me to live better, work harder, and do more good deeds" - Mr. Nguyen Bao Nam - a member of the Nam Dan volunteer group shared.

Nghe An Oncology Hospital is one of the few hospitals that has built a Social Work - Communication department to ensure the hospital's social work operates most smoothly. The correct viewpoint of the hospital's leadership team has brought timely support to patients.

Dr. Pham Vinh Hung - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Deputy Director, Chairman of the Hospital Union shared: “Cancer patients, in addition to having to cope with pain, psychological worries, pessimism, and depression in life, also have to bear a huge economic burden, which is the cost of treatment. Sharing and gifts are a great spiritual “medicine” that contributes to encouraging and helping patients being treated at Nghe An Oncology Hospital to ease part of the burden to continue treatment and overcome the disease. Thereby, spreading the message of love, solidarity, “the healthy leaves cover the torn leaves” and giving more strength to all other patients who have been and are fighting cancer”.

Concerned with the disadvantages and misfortunes of cancer patients, Specialist II Doctor Nguyen Van Huong proactively proposed to take on the role of Head of Social Work - Communication Department. From this role, Doctor Huong took advantage of all relationships and opportunities to seek support from philanthropists, calling for the cooperation of groups and individuals. “Every year, our hospital organizes at least 3 programs for pediatric patients, on the occasion of International Children's Day June 1, Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year. To maintain and develop support activities over the years, we pay special attention and listen to the wishes and circumstances of patients. Only when we really talk closely with them, sympathize and listen to them, can we understand what they need most and what is the most appropriate way to support them. From that reality, we proactively seek suitable units and individuals to accompany us. Free meals, haircut programs, support packages, blankets, shirts... are all given in the same way" - Dr. Huong shared.

Always calm, always talking about the collective and always staying out of the souvenir photos, both Dr. Hung and Dr. Huong hesitate to mention their personal roles in social work activities. However, anyone who has directly participated in the hospital's programs will easily feel that the thoughtfulness, kindness and exemplary nature of these doctors is a solid support for all activities, a role model for all other members. Even when they are very busy with professional work, they always try to be present to encourage, to remind, to grasp the patients' thoughts, always keep their phones open for patients to call at any time... Thanks to that, the program is always complete, all patients receive equal attention, benefactors are respectfully recognized, nurses and other doctors are always ready to join hands, the hospital's programs are increasingly influential...

We need hearts and examples like this in places of much pain, so that no one will be alone in their own pain.

Over the past 5 years, Nghe An Oncology Hospital has mobilized and received 8,618,891,000 VND from thousands of individuals and groups, supporting 41,192 patients. In the first 6 months of 2024, the amount of cash mobilized was 1,027,000,000 VND, supporting 1,570 patients.