Yes, I did not forget to thank Mr. Khoo Saye Theam who effectively removed the cancerous colon bothering me. Yes, I repeated that each time I bumped into him subsequent to my operation. But, each time simultaneously I also asked myself whether I could do more to help others benefit from his surgical and related skills.
Upon reflection of my own journey, I think a lot more others probably might share the same needs. On being advised to have my colon surgery quickly, I was at a complete loss as to where to get this done and by whom. The obvious instinct these days is to search through the Internet. I managed to locate the relevant surgeons without much difficulty, but I was unsure as to which of these surgeons I could be comfortable with and so on. I could not rely on my current acquaintances because they were unlikely to have access to such information.
In the end, I had to rely on direct and indirect family circles. Upon further discussions with them, I discovered that two of my very close relatives benefited immensely from Mr. Khoo’s surgical and related skills. They spoke glowingly about him. They tell the story of a highly competent surgeon plus more, including in particular his patience and earnestness to help as well as his remarkable empathizing skills. In short, to them, Mr. Khoo is a surgeon who listens and understands his patients well. I became deeply influenced by these factual testimonies and engaged with Mr. Khoo without further or any hesitations. Through enough, I experienced what my two other relatives did.
The rest is history. As Mr. Khoo said, he has done all he could to put away the first huge problematical part of my medical journey to provide me with the necessary foundation and confidence to engage with my other medical challenges. Indeed, I concur not only with his observations but also felt the great need not only to thank him for giving me the enhanced confidence to face future medical challenges and also doing something to let others benefit from his surgical skills.
From this perspective, I hope my testimony here will be insightful to others looking for similar guidance. Thank you again, Mr. Khoo!
Dr. P. S. Yeoh
