After surviving four terminal diagnoses, cancer patient says hope was the strongest medicine

A new book draws its strength from an extraordinary personal record: author Choi Jae-young has survived four terminal diagnoses during 17 years of living with liver cancer.

“Living 17 Years with Liver Cancer,” published by Seoul Selection, begins with Choi’s diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C and severe cirrhosis in 2010. He became a liver cancer patient the following year. His treatment included a nine-hour operation with a low chance of success, as well as liver failure, shock and cancer spread to the lungs.

The book is aimed not only at people with liver cancer, but also at patients with other cancers and the family members or caregivers supporting them. It takes up familiar questions: whether to continue chemotherapy, how to read test results, how much pain and side effects to endure, and how much fear to share with relatives.

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Hope is the strongest medicine.

Choi does not present his experience as a universal answer or promote a miracle cure. He writes about methods he personally tried, including ways of dealing with fever, constipation, diarrhea and anemia, as well as green juice, vitamin C and fermented soybean products used while monitoring liver function. His eight principles include studying the disease, building physical strength, checking progress through tests, managing sleep and emotions, avoiding overexertion, not enduring illness alone, keeping a reason to live and finding emotional support.

His message is direct: people are stronger than they think, and hope lasts longer and has more power than they expect. He says the book need not offer a grand solution. Giving someone the strength to endure one more day, the courage to return to hospital and the will to live through today would be enough.

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Strength to endure even one more day, courage to go back to the hospital, and the will to live through today.