A single sentence from her son, "Make money to support Mom," caused Tian Qianmei to shed endless tears. Photo by Zhu Dingzhao.
Yesterday morning, holding the 3000 yuan donated by hospital medical staff, Tian Qianmei stood at the hospital payment window. When the staff asked her to state the name of the hospitalized patient, her tears came streaming down. On one side was her beloved son, who had just undergone an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant that bankrupted their family; on the other side was her cherished husband, with whom she shared life for 18 years and was just diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. The double misfortune pushed the 41-year-old into the depths of sorrow: she didn't know who to save?
To take care of both father and son,
She runs up and down over 100 floors daily.
"My son stays on the 5th floor, he stays on the 12th floor, every day I run from the 5th floor to the 12th floor, then from the 12th floor back to the 5th floor taking care of them both. Despite going back and forth over 20 times a day, I'm not afraid of this bit of fatigue. It's their eyes that make me not know what to do: should I save my son or him?" Yesterday morning, after a fierce internal struggle, Tian Qianmei ultimately decided to deposit the 3000 yuan separately into the hospital accounts of the two people. And the "he" she referred to is her husband Xue Jiayi, with whom she has lived in harmony for 18 years and was recently diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer.
According to Tian Qianmei, on September 15th last year, her 14-year-old son Xue Tian suddenly developed a high fever that wouldn't subside. She took her son to Zhenjiang where her husband worked to seek medical treatment. He was eventually diagnosed with leukemia and was admitted for treatment at the First People's Hospital of Huai'an City, which was closer to home, to save costs. Faced with over 200,000 yuan in treatment costs, the impoverished couple did not hesitate. They withdrew all the money they had saved over more than ten years, originally intended for building a house, borrowed from the credit union, and received donations from the school and government to raise the funds for the transplant. Next was waiting for a suitable donor bone marrow. Fortunately, through the relentless efforts of the hospital, a matching bone marrow was found in the Jiangsu Province Bone Marrow Bank for Xue Tian in early May. On May 26th, experts successfully performed the transplant surgery on Xue Tian. The couple transferred 5000 yuan as nutritional fees to the kind donor through the bone marrow bank, but a few days later, these 5000 yuan returned to Xue Jiayi's bank card. This good-hearted person, who wished to remain anonymous, learned of the difficulties faced by the Xue family and tactfully refused to accept these 5000 yuan.
For the sake of his son,
The father argues to abandon treatment.
"Who doesn't want to live? But can we afford it? Now the child is still lying there, and I have to spend money again, how will this work?" Yesterday morning, lying in bed, Xue Jiayi helplessly told reporters that when the whole family was happy about the successful surgery for his son Xue Tian, he, who had been coughing nonstop since the end of last year, reluctantly listened to his wife's persuasion and underwent a checkup at the hospital, only to be diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. In fact, he knew there was no need for treatment, but each time facing his wife's heartfelt pleas, he finally decided with his wife to undergo one round of chemotherapy first.
Tian Qianmei told reporters that after her husband learned of his condition, he argued to be discharged from the hospital. Helpless, she invited all the elders from her family to the hospital and knelt before her husband, begging him to let her take care of him well one more time out of respect for their many years of marriage.
Reporters learned from the hospital that currently, four rounds of chemotherapy have been arranged for Xue Jiayi, each costing around 8000 yuan. Doctors said that generally, at least two rounds of chemotherapy are required, and if only one round is done, the effect will be difficult to guarantee. Tian Qianmei told reporters that although her son was insured at school, the reimbursement would only come after discharge, amounting to several thousand yuan. Her husband participated in rural cooperative medical insurance but did not enroll in major illness pooling, so very little could be reimbursed.
For the sake of his dad,
The son cries and wants to be discharged.
With her son not yet recovered and her husband suffering from serious illness, Tian Qianmei, to save the 5-yuan nightly fee for the accompanying bed, sleeps on the floor in the corridor. The patients and medical staff in the hospital's hematology department feel deep sympathy for her. While the medical staff donated 3000 yuan, they also arranged for caregivers to look after her son more, allowing her more time to take care of her husband. Other patients' families also buy her meals when they go to buy theirs.
"This family is truly too hard, too pitiful, it breaks your heart. My two sons visiting me each gave them 100 yuan." Mr. Zhu, who shares a room with Xue Tian, deeply felt and told reporters that Tian Qianmei bathes her son every day and serves her husband upstairs, sleeping at most two to three hours a night. For this reason, all personnel in the ward comforted Tian Qianmei: "You must hold on, if you collapse, the entire family will fall apart."
According to the medical staff, when Xue Tian learned that his father had late-stage lung cancer, he repeatedly cried and wanted to be discharged to save money for his father's treatment. For this, Tian Qianmei even threatened to die if he insisted. Facing her husband with late-stage cancer and her son who just underwent a transplant, Tian Qianmei, who usually made a living by riding tricycles to ferry passengers, told reporters that if her husband had any mishap, she truly wanted to follow him, but seeing her child, she felt he was pitiable too, so she wouldn't give up either her husband or her son. Correspondents Wang Shuwen and Wang Yuling, reporter Zhu Dingzhao.