My First Book

This book was launched on 9 January 2009 to mark the 100th day of my father's death. First Publication: 2 January 2009. Reprinted on 3 February 2009. Sold out on 5 June 2009 A copy of this book was sent to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in order to account for Cancerstory.com becoming a dormant website. However, Prime Minister Lee's motivational message to cancer patients remained intact on the dormant site. Please "click here" to read it. I am glad that Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and ITE College East accepted complimentary copies of this book. Hopefully it will provide some helpful materials for their nursing courses. Indeed, I am glad to receive orders from doctors and health care workers in public hospitals that give me hope of possible "reforms" in public hospitals.

Endorsement

"I empathise with Ms Lee Soh Hong's loss of her father. Objectively, it was a combination of factors: human factors, system factors, and disease factors. These factors may be beyond the individual provider's control. Nevertheless I read from her book three messages for all health care providers and hospital administrators in Singapore and indeed worldwide to take note and put on their dashboards for continuing attention. These are:

(1) Hospitals must spend resources and enforcements to control deadly hospital caught infections. Patients are dying because of superbugs.

(2) The hospital system of care of multiple doctors for very sick patients cannot result in optimal care. Some reforms appear necessary.

(3) Communication of news of great impact to patients needs to be more sensitive.

And all these flowed from the experience of her father's last illness."

A/Prof Goh Lee Gan
Head, Division of Family Medicine, National University Health System
Associate Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Mr Srinivas Bhakta, Mr Ravinder Singh, Ethel Fong, Soh Ying Zhi, Hong Kai Wei, Melissa Teo and Soh Wai Ming for their kind assistance in making this book possible.