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Cultural differences can hinder tumor patient's care

Hui Li still weeps when he talks about his mother's brain tumor. His are tears not just of grief, but also rage.

Soft-spoken and erudite, Li could not break through the silence mandated by his family's culture. In China, where his mother was blinded by a malignant brain tumor, patients of terminal illnesses are not told of their deadly disease, he said.

Li was forbidden by his father to discuss his mother's condition, and his father would not consider treatments.

Li copes by working very hard. He is still working out his feelings toward his father and the culture that maintained silence while his mother was dying, he said.

He is reticent about having his photo taken. Li said he looks "weird" because he has grown a beard.

"The last time I shaved was the day my mother died," he said, choking back tears.

Stanford Department of Neurosurgery Associate Professor Steven Chang, M.D. said cultural differences do make a difference in treatment choices and communication with patients -- especially among Asian and Mexican cultures, where discussion of serious illness is considered detrimental to the patient.

Four months ago, Chang had a patient whose three daughters and son accompanied him to Chang's office.

While he was talking to the patient, "the daughters talked in the father's ears to drown me out," he said.

"The hiccup that comes up in patient treatment is when the patient must sign the consent form. That's when the family balks and decides to do nothing."

-- Sue Dremann