When a CEO faces terminal cancer: tens of millions in medical bills, and what it taught him
Facing serious illness, many people are torn between enormous medical costs and their own emotions. What happens when that test falls on a CEO used to marshalling money and resources in business?
This episode of Pills and Bills welcomes entrepreneur Jawin (Wang Chun-chieh), who sold a start-up to the hypermarket chain RT-Mart, has helped drive corporate mergers, and now chairs his own group of companies. At 47 he was diagnosed with a rare, advanced lymphoma and travelled to Hong Kong for eighteen months of treatment. He shares, candidly, what it was like to face very high medical costs, cross-border treatment decisions and the question of life and death.
A difficult diagnosis and a choice to be treated abroad
It began with an abnormal lump on his jaw. Over six months in Taiwan he went through several hospitals and repeated tests, enduring persistent fevers while the cause remained unclear. His disease turned out to be an extremely rare extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKT), which made diagnosis hard. Through a series of circumstances he moved to Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong and chose to stay in its British-model system for concentrated treatment.
Unlike the familiar single-attending-physician model, Hong Kong's public hospitals use multidisciplinary team reviews and strict clinical governance, which gave him comprehensive care. Over eighteen months of inpatient treatment, including multiple rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, the total came to roughly NT$50 million.
Separating emotion from reason
With self-paid costs running into the tens of millions, Jawin adopted a strategy of keeping emotion and reason apart. He accepted that he had neglected to buy private insurance, and handed financial management to a partner he trusted so he could concentrate on every step of treatment with his care team.
For the big medical decisions, he says, the factors that matter most are transparency of information, the cost of time, and the value of life. Instead of spiralling into 'why me', turn attention into concrete action:
- Record the small goals you complete each day;
- Exercise moderately to maintain physical function;
- Support your treatment with a positive outlook and scientific information.
Rethinking what life and health are worth
After the illness, Jawin overhauled his once high-pressure, irregular routine, dropped bad habits and put far more weight on physical and mental balance. The experience made him rethink the priorities of work and life, and showed him how much family support and social resources matter in filling the gaps.
Serious illness needs a financial foundation behind it. But a rational approach, sound judgement about information, and hope for the life ahead are what carry patients through the lowest points.
Pills and Bills unpacks the real problems that begin after diagnosis, every week.