Anxiety over cancer surgery

Dear Dr. P,

I am a 39-year-old woman from Vietnam and married a Korean man in 2002. I have two daughters; the older one is 9 years old and the younger 5 years old. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer several months ago at a university hospital.

I was able to get my thyroid cancer result in English. It says there that I have papillary carcinoma, a single nodule and it is malignant. The size of this tumor is very small. It is just 0.6 centimeters. In the United States, I heard that the doctors remove these when one is 1 cm or bigger. Doctor, I don’t want to undergo surgery if possible.

I wonder if I can ask your help to talk to my doctor in the hospital and ask if this one is removable through medicinal treatment. I was not able to bargain about this with him last time. I am very ashamed to ask this but I have no other help right now. My husband doesn’t care much and my family is away from me. Begging for your utmost help.

Thank you very much.

Respectfully,

Hi!

I understand your feelings of anxiety and fear about having an operation.

The majority of people have a denial response that they won’t have to face such things when they are diagnosed with cancer. What’s worse, you have two young daughters who still need your care, and your husband is not cooperating with you. I know that you must be really worried more about getting operation because of these challenges. But the first prerequisite step for the successful treatment of cancer is overcoming denial. Cancer is cancer even if it is a small one.

I saw some of my patients who were in similar condition with you, and underwent surgery in the past.

My conclusion is that it will be safer for you to remove your thyroid cancer even if it is single and small. As the old adage “Look before you leap,” you need to prepare an umbrella for a rainy day. Of course, it will be better for you if you recover without an operation. But nobody knows how a papillary cancer of the thyroid might progress.

You don’t have to worry about the result of the operation, because it is a simple and easy procedure. Fortunately, the prognosis of patients who go through thyroid cancer surgery is generally good. It will be helpful for you to combine complementary medicine to promote better health after surgery.

Hello, Dr. P,

I am Korean-British woman who is married to a British husband and we have been living in London for 10 years. I was wondering if you could help me find a good doctor in Korea, because my husband and I have had trouble getting pregnant and are considering IVF (In vitro fertilization).

Not only is the procedure more affordable in Korea but for some inexplicable reason, we believe that I have a better chance of becoming pregnant in Korea; I believe that I will get better care in Korea, that the doctors will have more “jung.”

Does that make sense? Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know, but I wondered if you knew of a hospital with a good reputation for IVF. I have heard of Cha and Maria Hospital. I wondered if you had heard anything about them.

I am getting old, it feels like time is running out.

Thank you.

Dear Sender,

I think it is a good idea to get OB & GY therapy in Korea. Nowadays the infertility rate of Korean women is rapidly increasing, and about 200 hospitals are doing the IVF procedure actively. The technology of IVF in Korea is among the best in the world, and prices are cheaper than abroad — only a quarter of those charged in the U.S. or Britain. Also, the Korean government pays a grant for IVF treatment to encourage Korean citizens to have children.

Among all the hospitals, Cha and Maria are the most famous for IVF in Korea.

If you want to get therapy there, I can help you find a good doctor. Also, there is another option. I know an OB & GYN doctor couple (Dr. Chang and Dr. Koo) who have worked at Cha hospital for about 10 years. They have been running their private clinic for IVF, “Hanna OB&GYN Clinic,” in the Gangnam area since 1994, and have succeeded in having more than 1,500 test-tube babies. It will be suitable for you if you want more private and careful treatment. I wish you could have good result in Korea.

Park Jin-seng is a psychiatrist who runs a clinic for foreigners in Seoul and operates personal therapist forums on www.lifeinkorea.com. Please submit questions for Park to mdoctor@korea.com or call the hotline at 02-563-0678. Those who have their questions selected will be presented with a copy of “Finding Yourself within Love” (Korean e-Book) that he wrote.