In an old lane in Hongkou District, Shanghai, lives 92-year-old Grandma Liang. Hardworking and kind all her life, she is a universally recognized gentle elder among her neighbors. However, an illness two years ago cast her life into darkness—she was diagnosed with gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. At first, Grandma Liang only occasionally felt a slight choking sensation when eating; her family thought it was just ordinary indigestion and did not pay much attention. But as time went by, her symptoms worsened, and even drinking a mouthful of thin porridge became extremely difficult.
After the diagnosis at a local hospital, her family was filled with anxiety. Considering Grandma Liang’s advanced age and her inability to withstand the trauma of surgery and chemotherapy, they opted for conservative treatment and first tried four months of TCM conditioning. Unfortunately, her condition showed no significant improvement. In June 2024, doctors recommended radiotherapy in the hope of controlling tumor progression. After 25 sessions of radiotherapy, Grandma Liang’s white blood cell count plummeted, her body became even weaker, and she could only barely sustain herself with white blood cell-boosting injections and medications every day. Watching the once vibrant elder waste away day by day, her family was heartbroken yet helpless.
Just when the whole family was in despair, an old friend of Grandma Liang brought hope. This friend had experienced a similar situation personally and recommended Jiaozuo Zhonghai TCM Cancer Hospital to them. Clinging to their last glimmer of hope, the family took Grandma Liang on the long journey to Jiaozuo, Henan, and found Director Zhang of the hospital.
Director Zhang carefully inquired about Grandma Liang’s condition and listened patiently to her suffering. At that time, Grandma Liang could only barely eat liquid and mushy foods, with a severe sense of obstruction when swallowing; she also frequently spat up sticky phlegm, and her weight had dropped by nearly 10 kilograms. Director Zhang knew well that treatment for such an elderly patient must be extremely cautious. Based on Grandma Liang’s physical constitution and condition, he formulated a personalized treatment plan: on the one hand, using the hospital’s proprietary Chinese medicine Chuye Powder to unblock the esophagus, relieve choking, regulate the body and strengthen vital qi to consolidate the root; on the other hand, combining it with a low dose of oral capecitabine to mildly inhibit tumor development.
"Let’s try it for 10 days first and see the effect," Director Zhang said gently. Though uneasy, the family had no choice but to trust him.
To everyone’s delight, only 10 days after taking the medicine, Grandma Liang’s condition improved significantly! Her choking sensation when eating disappeared, swallowing became much smoother, and she could even slowly eat some soft, cooked noodles and porridge. What made the family even more excited was that her spirits lifted, and the long-lost smile reappeared on her face.
