In good hands
Singapore doctors gave Maria the confidence and care she needed to battle her rare cancer.
Maria Shekhovtsova, a safety engineer who lives in Vladivostok, has been to Sentosa six times so far and loves the shopping in Singapore.
But what she likes best about Singapore are the doctors at Mount Elizabeth, part of ParkwayHealth.
“All the doctors here are real professionals. They explained everything and we can ask any question. It’s the way it should be,” says the 55-year-old.
Maria should know because she’s had two major procedures done in Singapore. In the spring of 2007, Maria suddenly felt very ill and went for a check-up in Vladivostok. Doctors there found blood in her stomach and suspected that something was wrong with her pancreas.
She had to decide whether to go to Moscow for an operation or to go overseas. Her worried family started asking around and one name that kept recurring was ParkwayHealth.
“My brother talked to his friends and his boss,” says Maria’s daughter Natalya, 23. “His boss had come to Singapore for an operation, and he recommended ParkwayHealth highly.”
Other friends also recommended going to ParkwayHealth too. Maria and her family spoke to the representative office in Vladivostok, and decided that Singapore was their best hope.
Maria, her daughter and Natalya’s fiancé came to Singapore in June 2007 where it was confirmed that Maria had a rare cancer near her pancreas. She had an ampular vater tumour, a tumour on the tube that connects the common bile duct to the second part of the duodenum.
On 4 July, Dr Prema Raj, a liver specialist at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, performed a Whipple procedure on Maria, a long operation that began at 9 am and ended at 6 pm.
It was a nail-biting nine hours for Maria’s family.
“When we saw Dr Prema come out with a smile on his face, we were so happy,” says Natalya.
Her mother was able to walk five days later and was out of the hospital nine days after the operation. Maria and her relieved family went back to Vladivostok soon after, and Maria returned to her old job at the research institute.
Unfortunately, when she returned to Singapore for a test in July the next year, a PET scan confirmed that her tumour had returned.
Dr Prema Raj suggested that Maria see Dr Foo Kian Fong, a senior consultant medical oncologist at the Parkway Cancer Centre. He suggested that Maria undergo chemotherapy in Singapore and in Russia.
This was to be followed by concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy in Singapore. She had her first course of chemotherapy in Singapore and two further courses in Russia.
She came back for another check-up two months later, this time with her daughter and son.
The tumour had become smaller, the PET scan showed that the tumour appeared to be inactive; Dr Foo decided that Maria should undergo the planned second phase of concurrent chemotherapy with radiotherapy.
She then went through a course of radiotherapy under Dr Lee Kim Shang, senior consultant radiation oncologist, for six weeks. Another scan confirmed the good news and Maria went home. Although the early signs are good, she will have to keep monitoring her tumour back in Vladivostok.
While she is not quite out of the woods yet, she and her family are very happy with her treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
“The doctors and the nurses are so attentive to every patient,” says Maria.
Natalya speaks fluent English but even so, ParkwayHealth assigned a Russian-speaking liaison, James Tan, to help them settle in. “James helped us to find a place to stay and helped us get a visa for my brother,” says Natalya.
She adds: “Many of our friends and relatives now come to Singapore for their medical appointments because they have seen my mother’s good results.”
