Season 4: Chapter 12: Epilogue (3)
Hui-Chul first found out about the illness around three years ago.
"It’s early-stage pancreatic cancer. It’s progressed a little because this type of cancer is notoriously hard to detect early."
He had undergone a routine check-up without any particular reason and received a thunderbolt from the diagnosis.
‘Pancreatic cancer?’
At first, he didn’t even understand what it was. He hadn’t shown any symptoms. He thought it was just another type of cancer like thyroid cancer. Something that could be removed surgically, and he would recover quickly.
"What kind of surgery is needed? I have an important tournament..." Hui-Chul urgently asked the doctor, but couldn’t finish his sentence.
"The survival rate for pancreatic cancer is less than ten percent."
"Excuse me?"
"I’m obligated to inform you. If I don’t explain things clearly, patients often don’t grasp the seriousness of the situation."
The doctor tried to follow up with some hopeful information, but a survival rate of less than ten percent already sounded like a death sentence.
"However, survival rates are steadily improving these days. The fact that we detected what’s often called the silent killer this early is significant..."
Hui-Chul didn’t really hear the rest. He returned several times and eventually told his partner about the diagnosis so they could go together. Only during the third visit could Hui-Chul say something.