Read today's (21 April 2011) Mind Your Body page 18 entitled "Time difference" written by Dr. Ang Peng Tiam on how one of his patient's early stage lung cancer ended up becoming fourth stage. If it was an early stage, a surgery would do. But as fourth stage, the treatment would have to be either chemotherapy or 'do nothing and wait his time.' In hokkien, it is called 'ta-si'. Due to the advance stage, the lung cancer had spread to many parts of his bones. The reason for the progression from early stage to 4th stage was likely due to the delay in surgery because the patient had sought treatment in a public hospital with a long waiting queue. Mr. Yee, the patient, had a 3 1/2 years-old child indicating that he was very young only. Committing suicide is not an option due to being a father of such ...