For more than two months now, 70-year-old Francis (Fook Van) Tran has said it is extremely difficult for him to eat anything. He has lost a lot of weight, and prescriptions for probiotics and acid medications have not helped.
During a visit to the emergency room on April 7, the Vancouver Oyster farmer finally learned the reason for his lack of appetite: he has a 10-centimeter tumor and two smaller growths on his liver, probably linked to previously undiagnosed hepatitis. He had contracted the infection decades ago in his native Vietnam.
He hoped to get a quick referral to a specialist and said he had been told that tumors could be treated with surgery if prompt action was taken.
But this week, Tran and his family learned that he would not have his first meeting with an oncologist in Vancouver until June 20, more than 10 weeks after the tumors were discovered.
He told CBC News that if he knew how long it would take, he would raise money to travel to the United States or even Cuba to treat this often deadly cancer.
“I am [feeling] abandoned, “Tran said.
Francis Tran, shown here on a boat in Nanuz Bay with his wife Linda and grandchildren Jesse, Keeley and Annika, is a longtime mussel and oyster farmer at Baynes Sound in British Columbia. (Shannon Tran)
Speaking with his daughter-in-law Shannon Tran at her home in the Comox Valley, Tran said he was concerned about the number of news reports he had recently seen about a shortage of health personnel and a long wait for surgery.
“I don’t know what the government is doing,” he said.
Health Agency takes “active steps”
A BC Cancer spokesman told the CBC that while she could not comment on specific cases due to patient confidentiality, new cancer patients have priority for appointments based on factors including tumor type, stage of the disease, symptoms and treatment options.
The spokesman wrote in an email that the agency was taking “active steps” to reduce waiting times and was currently recruiting new oncology positions funded by the province.
“Some vacancies are already taken, but it will take time to reduce the current waiting time,” the email said.
Shannon Tran points out that her father-in-law’s appointment in oncology was scheduled after daily intercession from the family, incl. opinion she wrote for the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper.
She says she is worried about the prospects for patients who do not have the same support and resources.
“At the best of times, the health workers in our system are so amazing and close to burning out,” said Shannon Tran.
“These are turning into the worst of times, coming out of a pandemic with this backlog. The number of weeks that people have been waiting for imaging, diagnosis and treatment is really piling up and affecting almost every British Columbian in some way.”
“Everyone should go to be tested”
Trans are also concerned about other older British Colombians from Southeast Asia who may not realize they have a chronic infectious disease that could put them at high risk for liver cancer.
When Francis Tran learned that he had hepatitis, he also discovered that his cancer could be prevented with appropriate antiviral therapy.
Tran came to Canada in 1979, one of more than 120,000 Vietnamese refugees who settled here after the war. Hepatitis B has been endemic in the Southeast Asian country for decades – the Vietnamese Ministry of Health estimates that up to a quarter of the population has the disease.
Francis Tran came to Canada as a refugee from Vietnam in 1979. He is shown here in a family photo with, from left to right, his granddaughter Annika, daughter Martha, grandchildren Kenzi, Keeley and Jesse and wife Linda. (Shannon Tran)
Chronic infection with the virus is the most common risk factor for liver canceraccording to the hepatitis B foundation.
Tran said he had at least three friends of similar descent who had been diagnosed with liver cancer in recent years.
He called on Vietnamese immigrants of all ages to be screened for the disease and wanted to see government programs to encourage it.
“I talked to my brother, my sister, my son – everyone has to go to be tested. Just go and check, “Tran said.
Meanwhile, he is still waiting to see a specialist to determine the course of treatment. Tran said he felt a little more energetic these days, something his daughter-in-law attributed to a diet of protein smoothies and liquid food substitutes.
“It’s super awful and disturbing, but he’s really trying right now, in anticipation of treatment, to just stay strong and not lose any more weight,” said Shannon Tran.
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