Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - A Singaporean woman recently received a pioneering surgical treatment at the Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH) where 22 uterine fibroids were removed from her body, three of which were measured to be over nine centimeters in diameter. Joined by her husband, who was also all smiles and appreciation, the lady expressed her gratitude at a press conference here.
"You who are in Taiwan are very lucky," the couple said, "to be covered by health insurance and have doctors with such extended skills like none anywhere else."
Leslie and Gene Tan, age 62 and 43, received the life-changing news of Gene having multiple large uterine fibroids during a routine physical examination in 2007. Although uterine fibroids are benign and are commonly seen in middle-aged women, the Tans were still devastated, as they were informed that hysterectomy - removing the uterus - is the preferred treatment, but they wanted children.
Before the couple arrived in Taiwan for consultation with Liu Wei-ming of the TMUH, they spent two years visiting revered physicians in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where the same suggestion of hysterectomy was repeatedly yielded.
As director of the TMUH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Liu is a pioneer in removal of uterine fibroids combined with bilateral uterine artery occlusion, a surgical treatment for uterine fibroids that involves only minimally invasive procedures. Ms. Tan underwent the surgery, where she bled only a little, thanks to the successful uterine artery occlusion, on July 6, and had fully recovered Wednesday.
She was in shock knowing that 22 uterine fibroids were removed from her body. While the biggest fibroids were between 9 and 10 centimeters in diameter and were "as large as mangos," as the couple described the tissues, "the smallest ones were merely pea-sized."
Mr. Tan commended the TMHU medical gynecologic team for supporting them during their decision to undergo surgery and the process of going through such difficult times. As a car dealer who has traveled the world and has experience receiving health care, Mr. Tan said: "The quality of international health care services at TMUH, in its medical professionals, equipment and overall service, has achieved the highest world standards."
That her wish of retaining her uterus for the future possibility of having children has been realized, Ms. Tan said with a broad smile, "As a woman, it is really lucky for me to have met such a good doctor." Mr. Tan echoed his wife and expressed appreciation for Liu's respect for "the sanctity of life" as well as his understanding for their desire to have children, in addition to Liu's non-comparable surgical skills.
"He did whatever he could to protect it," so Mr. Tan described Liu's faith in the sanctity of life. "And we thank him for that."
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