Using Chinese herbal remedies or going to Guangzhou
Herbal remedies
Western medicines for the most part attack a particular problem, very specifically, and may do so at a symptom level, with side effects. For example, among the most valuable symptomatic weapons in Western medicine against brain tumour is dexamethosone. This reduces oedema and thus pressure on the brain. However, it cannot be used indefinitely, as its effect will reduce. It does not work to oppose the tumour, however, and its position among steroids also tends to disturb metabolic processes further and enhance the performance of tumours. It also can cause thrush, and thus may need to be accompanied by antifungal treatments, nystatin, etc. Dexamethosone increases the metabolism of the antizeizure medicine phenytoin [Dilantin] and so you need to watch Dilantin levels in the blood to see they don't drop too far. Dex also tends to produce ulcerous conditions in the stomach, and thus it is sensible to use an H2 blocker, such as ranitidine [Zantac] at the same time. Zantac interferes with cytochrome P-450 pathways in liver metabolism, which actually, contrary to the effect of dex, slows the metabolism of drugs. So that will tend to retain Dilantin... So the notion of these as single substance --> single effect becomes somewhat muddied.
Chinese herbal medications tend on the other hand to be very complex, to be synergistic - seeking to work with bodily processes to achieve a balanced effect, assiting the restoration of natural processes and their support to restore health systemically. They are not likely to be as dramatic or prompt in effect; they may be, for some, a valuable adjunct to Western medicine and procedures, but should not be thought of as a complete substitute. Margaret's herbals include factors for killing tumour, and resisting development of tumour, for enhancing the immune system, for reducing oedema and inflammation and pain. Here is one of Margaret's prescriptions from Zhang Bei. It is here for the purpose of illustration. Prescription should be individual.
Quarantine authorities will resist the ordinary person bringing into another country Chinese herbs in original form and there are (small) monetary value limits on export of Chinese herbs from China in personal baggage. The appropriate method for obtaining herbal treatments is via a local Chinese herbal practitioner. In Australia, Robert Yang in Campsie, Sydney tel. 02 9718 5059 has been treating Margaret from June and has been in touch with Zhang Bei in Guangzhou since July.
Going to Guangzhou
The hospital we saw in Guangzhou has experience with foreign patients, but mainly with overseas Chinese, and their numbers dropped after the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98. The have capacity for such patients, and they will have better accommodation for patients after they move into their new building next year.
Guangzhou is an interesting place to visit, but while it is near Hong Kong, and has a similar climate, it is harder for a non-Chinese person to get around. There is very little spoken English. Mandarin and Cantonese are both spoken, Mandarin as the obligatory education language and Cantonese as the local Chinese pronunciation. The big difference between the Chinese written language and English or most other languages is that characters do not denote sounds, they carry meaning. Thus, Chinese from different parts of China who may not understand each other's spoken language, are very much accustomed to conversing in written language, that is, in Chinese characters. So taxi drivers are very much accustomed to taking passengers to a destination on the basis of a written address. Taxis are cheap by Western standards. A 2.5 hour city tour cost us Yuan 117 [Yuan is pegged to US dollar at $1 = Y 8.26 at time of writing, September 2000], about $US14.
The roads can be very crowded, and the traffic unnerving, until and unless you realise that the traffic generally moves very slowly and its grace and manners do not conform so much to the lines on the road as to the way in which fish of all sizes manage to avoid crashing in the fish tank in a dentist's waiting room.
People are generally honest and it feels safe to get around, though you know that you are in a very foreign. As we were leaving an American in the departure lounge went into a panic as he'd lost his video camera. He went back through customs and immigration and found it outside, where he'd left it on a chair in the entrance to the airport, returning marvelling. In that sense, and in the very positive and cheerful way in which visitors are treated these days, Guangzhou can become a really comfortable feeling place to visit.
Accommodation in western style hotels is very good. The Garden Hotel is the nearest to the hospital. It has a very large expatriate community in its apartment wing, so there would be all sorts of people with communications skills and local advice at breakfast. Hotel staff are good at seeing guests into hotels with clear destination instructions. If you can get package fare discounts, good. If you find more modest priced accommodation anywhere, travel times won't be that great; taxis are plentiful and airconditioned.
We were given more rapid treatment than may generally be expected. It was a new experience for them to some extent too. I expect that if people were able to conduct discussions with the hospital by fax in the first instance, their time in Guangzhou could be streamlined. Most overseas travellers to Guangzhou arrive via Hong Kong (less than 2 hours by train) but a sick person would be better off travelling direct to Guangzhou. An airport expansion program is under way. Though the airport is small, we found it still very easy to get through, at the times we travelled (arriving and departing at night). Make sure you request wheelchair assistance in advance, and also while in flight to Guangzhou, and before going to the airport on departure.
The costs of herbal preparations will obviously vary. The cost of a PET scan was Yuan 6000 [$US 750]; the cost of a Gamma Knife treatment will vary upward from around Yuan 16000 [$US 2000]; eight treatments as Margaret had cost Y 24000.
To contact the hospital, the best method might be to write or send a fax to
Prof. Yi-Xin Zeng [surname Zeng]
President
Tumor Hospital
Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences
651 DongFeng Road East
Guangzhou 510060
China
Fax 86 [China] 20 [Guangzhou] 8775 4506