Humanities Endless Devotion in Yuli Narrated by Feng-Kang Chang, M.D. Dept. of Family Medicine, Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital My life as a doctor was rather more complicated than others. At the age of 18, I left China with the army and came to Taiwan. Rather than simply being a soldier, I soon decided to become a military doctor in hopes of being able to help more people. During that period, I served in the war area, Wu-Chiu, in Kinmen. I also joined a medical backup team to offer medical help to the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War. I learned to seize the moment after going through all those harsh and difficult moments. Because of those experiences, I decided to devote all my medical expertise to helping the remote mountain area where medical resources are scarce and inadequate. Every now and then, when I remember the past, I feel thankful to all the people who helped me, the Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital, and everyone for giving me the chance to serve them. 1949 was a year of utmost confusion for China as the civil war reached its peak and sparked fire. I still remember the scene on April 22nd. It was like the end of the world. Everyone was running to get out, and I was lost in the crowd and left my hometown with no chance to say goodbye to my family. Later I joined the army and arrived in Taiwan on May 1st. I lost contact with my family ever since. Forty years later, I found out that my mother had rushed to the Railway 10
Station to say goodbye, only to find that I had already gone. Neither of us had any idea that we would lose each other forever. Due to my own interest and the need of more medical staff in the army, I received medical training for a year and half, and, in 1953, I was assigned to serve in the military. I later passed the entrance exam to enroll in the medical school of the National Defense Medical Center (NDMC) for 4 years of formal education in medicine, and finally became a certified Medical Doctor (MD). After graduation from NDMC, I was assigned to serve in the Wu-Chiu garrison troops in Kinmen. Wu-Chiu is composed of two small off-shore islands of only 1.2 kilometer square in size. I was the only doctor there among the troops and a few local residents. I had to take care of every medical need on the islands, ranging from complicated newborn deliveries, surgical operations and amputations, etc. I even served as a legal medical examiner for soldiers died on duty. Though the work was very heavy and challenging, I accumulated abundant experience that cannot be learned from textbooks. Feng-Kang Chang began his medical career after attending the training class for military medicine. This photo was taken when he was a lieutenant medical official. Dr. Chang (second left) had joined the medical team that offered support to the local medical group during the Vietnam War. His teammate, Yu-Lin Chang (first left) is beside him (he has the same name as the president of Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital). This photo was taken at the airport of Phan-Chie in Vietnam. (Photo offered by Dr. Chang) 11
Humanities Dr. Chang and his family took this picture in front of the Taipei National Palace Museum in 1980. From the right are his wife Pi-Yun Tsai, youngest son Chia- Ping Chang, Dr. Chang himself. I remember especially one case during my practice on the island. One day, there was a patient with acute appendicitis. It was extremely urgent, and I had to perform the operation alone. I remember that, in the middle of the surgery, the anesthetic was wearing off. I had to take off the surgery gloves quickly and injected him with the anesthetic again. I not only had to deal with the enormous challenge of the operation, but also the adverse environment. The operation room was in a military bunker in which the water would leak from the ceiling now and then. Despite these conditions, the operation went quite well and the patient gradually gained back his health. My medical service overseas was hard to forget as well. During the Vietnam War in 1970, I was ordered to join the medical backup team in Vietnam. We confronted many moments of life and death due to the war. It was on March 31st when the communist soldiers attacked a little village that we were visiting to provide medical care. We quickly hid in the stair well of the dormitory, holding our breath so as to not make any sound. We heard them searching outside the building. The enemies were so close that we could clearly hear their conversation and footsteps. They passed us in their search, however, and we were lucky enough to get away. After retiring from military service, I started my new life at Hong De Hospital, the former Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital, in 1997. I chose to stay after the Tzu Chi Foundation took charge because of the fact that the Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital would be a community clinic. It offered not only medical treatment in the hospital but also community outreach 12
medical service. I was in charge of the holiday outpatient clinic and physical examinations. I remember someone once asked me: Don t you ever rest on holidays? But I felt that I should be there for those who needed me, no matter what time. I was quite comfortable with my work at the holiday outpatient clinic. In addition, I was actively involved in the community outreach medical service since its start on May 4th 1999. I befriended many people. I remember I would get up at 5 or 6 o clock in the morning for the community outreach service, then had to rush back to the hospital afterwards. Though there was little time for breaks, I still enjoyed my work and the time I spent with my co-workers and the patients. I wanted also to share two unforgettable rescuing experiences. The first one took place in 2000 when Typhoon Xiangsane hit. When we heard the news that the rescuers from the fire department of Taipei were trapped in the Siouguluan River during a drill, my colleagues and I set off right away in the middle of the night. We drove along Rui-Gang freeway against the strong wind and heavy rain, as well as falling rocks. After weathering much danger, we were finally able to accomplish our mission and got back safely by noon the next day. Thanks to the blessing from Buddha! Through this experience, I realized the importance of the emergency rescue service offered by Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital for the remote areas. Dr. Chang usually spends his Wensday afternoons to visit patients and the needy. He s been to 47 southern Hualien County villages while serving in Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital. Photo shows Dr. Chang and community volunteers visit a villager. 13
Humanities The elderly in villages welcome Dr. Chang as an old friend. Photo shows Dr. Chang checks the aboriginal grandma s health. The second experience can be traced back to August 2001 when another typhoon - Toraji struck Taiwan, which triggered mud slides at Kuang-Fu Village. Many of the residential houses were buried under the mud in one night. The thickness of the sliding mud looked well over two to three stories high. Many villagers had passed out after watching the mud consumed their families, and were sent to our temporary medical clinic. But this kind of trauma could not be healed by any medicine. The Tzu Chi volunteers distributed basic supplies for living and offered emotional comfort. Little by little, we were able to help the villagers recover. In addition to emergency medical service, the activity I participated most frequently at the Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital is the outreach or home visits. In January 2001, we began to offer free medical clinics to the Gu-Feng village in Juoshi through a cooperative effort with the Tzu Chi International Medical Association(TIMA). The fact that the villagers couldn t get medical treatment because of poor economical and transportation conditions really surprised us. It was only half an hour by car between downtown Yuli and the village! We therefore decided to put the village on our weekly home visit list. I remember one time we visited a sick old woman who had been laying in bed for years in Yuli Township. When we entered her house, a putrid smell hit us. We were sad to see bedsores covering over half 14
of her back; her family members had mental retardation problems and were unable to take care of her. Another man in Chang-Liang also had been laying in bed for a long time after a stroke. His living environment was really poor, therefore we sent him to the hospital for medical treatment. During the cleaning process, we realized that he had not been washed for years and little maggots were emerging from the wounds. Cases like these are common in the communities, and are the reason why we insist on home visits. I have served at Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital for eleven years thus far, and it has become my second home. I witnessed the growth of Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital over all these years, which has been made possible by countless generous and caring people. Many patients have become my best friends, and my colleagues are like my family. I would never leave the hospital if it were not for the fact that my physical conditions are worsening. Even after I got cancer and developed retinopathy, I had not planned to retire. But because my vision is becoming weaker each day, I have no choice but to retire. I heartily appreciate our president Yu-Lin Chang, all my colleagues, and the local residents for giving me support and the opportunity to contribute my expertise in medicine. After retirement, I will join TIMA and continue to serve through the free medical clinic. Dr. Yuh-Lin Chang(left), Superintendent of Yuli Tzu Chi Hospital, represented the hospital to show gratitude to Dr. Feng-Kang Chnag on his retirement. 15