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r. Henry Vu hated his occasional nose bleeds. They were as annoying as the smog he thought caused them. He figured the Houston air and pollution wreaked havoc on everyone’s sinuses, so why should he be any different? Eventually, the bleeding became more frequent and even more annoying. Between the single father’s hectic work schedule as an anesthesiologist in the Texas Medical Center and spending time with his young daughter, he didn’t have the patience to deal with this problem. But a conversation with a colleague stunned him, and the 44-year-old Vu started paying attention. While working in an operating room one day, his nose started bleeding heavily. He asked a colleague to check him out. The biopsy result shocked him. He had nasopharyngeal (nose) cancer. The annoyance had become his worst nightmare.“Initially, I didn’t believe the biopsy. This kind of cancer is common in Chinese men, and I’m Vietnamese, so I thought it was a mistake,” Vu said.
Dr. Mas Takashima WWW.METHODISTHEALTH.COM
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 4 䡲 37
