Still Around....

There were no postings over the weekend (Day 4 and 5) due to quite an active stream of visitors and no more nausea! Infact, my appetite returned with a vengeance and I was able to retain most of what I fed on. I was therefore busy planning what to have for meals and craving for things that I really shouldn't be eating like gulai lemak cili api and asam pedas ikan parang....drool. Of course I managed to exercise self-discipline and kept to prescribed food (healthy soups with plenty of green vegetables, fruits and nuts). How come the books I read and my Oncologist did not indicate that cravings and a good appetite would be additional side effects ?

Just in case someone thought I might have expired since there were no blog entries since April 13, I will update my experience over the last 3 days:

Day 4 (April 14)


I decided to shake out of myself after 2 days of retreat in my bedroom when the nausea was at its worst. Although feeling much, much better than the previous 2 days, I was cautioned to take it easy and to rest indoors if possible. That was exactly what I did. I took a nice leisurely shower, washed my hair ( which I have styled short 2 weeks earlier to get used to the "less-is-more" look) and put on something light as it was beginning to feel like a very warm day.

Breakfast was oats, an assortment of fresh fruits to bulk up my empty stomach and Milo. I spent the morning reading, listening to some upbeat music and was actually thinking about lunch, tea and dinner. My sis, niece and brother went over to Yatra with M.Chik for their Mamak breakfast as they have only a few more days to enjoy roti canai, thosai, murtabak before flying back to the UK.

ZA, a buddy from school came by with a shopping basket of organic produce, God bless her. We caught up on events and had a good many laughs over some common episodes that we shared. The beauty and strength of our friendship over the long years is based not on the frequency of our get togethers, but more on the quality of the "catch-up" times when we do. As with some other friendships, although there is no obligatory schedule of keeping in touch, we are always aware of significant happenings that would trigger the need to.

While my niece was at her Violin class with Dominique in P.Damas, my sis treated herself to a pampering at a Spa nearby to rid herself of the travel fatigue built up during her inward journey here. I rested at home and decided it was about time that I get cracking on my insurance claims for the medical expenses incurred so far.

I AM SO GLAD I TOOK UP HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE!! Otherwise, God forbid, Financial Cancer will not make it a pretty scenario. Everyone needs and should try to get a decent Health/Medical Insurance coverage and although it may seem petty at a time when you thought you were at your prime(no known ailments or chronic diseases), it is always a prudent step.

I just want to "repeat-one more time-again" that I am glad that I made the decision to take up additional coverage, given the direction that health care costs are heading towards - up and up! And as new treatments and cures are being researched and launched,we can expect that these future costs will escalate even more. I am not sure which is more scary, a disease and all its nasty pain and suffering or the inability to cope with the costs of treatment ( both financial and emotional).

My meals for the day were so satisfying . I tucked into soto ayam which was so tasty and nutritious, topped up with a super helping of beansprouts. I drooled looking at the side sambal of cili padi and kicap but managed to abstain, just a teenie weenie dip with one of the prongs of my fork into the sauce. Dinner was a lovely white fish soup with Choysam and fried Kai Lan. So far so good, up to then my tastebuds seemed to function normally and I did not have metallic or chemical taste in my mouth. If there was, I would attribute it to the Kai Lan which normally has an interesting but healthy bitter aftertaste anyway.

Luckily I managed to keep all the food in and by the time I went to sleep, I was really eager to wake up the following day to see if my colon would be active during the night!
p.s.
The temptation for the day was the impromptu Durian Party in the patio! My sis craved for durian when she spotted a stall selling some along Jalan Sri Hartamas. When RJ and son came by to drop off a container of Air Zam Zam, she was sporting enough to go with her to get some. They came back with almost a dozen good ones ( they better be good at RM12 / kg!) and the night air was heavenly scented with the smell of finger licking durians! Thank Goodness I was past my nausea stage or else the heavens will break loose as well.

It was such a nice warm feeling to see my friends who were visiting that evening and my two closest siblings having quite a party. RJ,M,SMM,UZZ,UZ, were enjoying the durians, not crouching by the roadside like true connoisseurs but upright and standing in my front porch with Blackie the domestic-stray cat trying to get in their way. In order not to be "kempunan" my sis pinched a small knob for me to "rasa". It was soooo goooood, but common sense prevailed, so that was it, not even a bit more. Durians are supposed to be "heaty" and I wanted to avoid an all-out confrontation with the WMDs. I must check with my doctor whether it is lethal to consume durians while on a chemotherapy regimen. Just because it is not cautioned in the Mayo Clinic Guide doesn't mean that it is okay!

Day 5 (April 15)

My favourite day of the week, Sunday. The norm is to meet up with some friends for a long early morning breakfast at a favourite Mamak stall, buy all the Sunday papers, do my weekly grocery shopping back home to dig into the papers while the part-time Kakak comes by to spiff up my place for the week.

As I must avoid crowded places and generally try to relax while my bone marrow takes in the impact of this first round of chemotherapy, I stayed in while my sister and co. did their roti-canai round. They brought back the Sunday papers and everyone was plastered onto the sofas reading. Pak Long and Mak Long who live nearby, dropped by. It was very nice of them to offer to get their maid to cook my meals and have the meals sent over everyday.

I was torn between giving in to my cravings and observing the "pantang" of no spicy food. A true blue Melayu ( and orang Melaka too) can only survive for 2 seconds without cili and spices in their food. Maybe my nausea was also due the withdrawal of spices and my system is reacting bodily to it? PSJMS opined that I should follow my urgings so that I can satisfy my cravings. But of course everything in moderation. TKL, a friend I made via the Cancer network, held fast to the rule of mild food only, and absolutely NO belacan, ikan kembong and cili.

So what is a Cancer-inflicted Food Lover to do? My friends who were around that night conferred that it should be okay to follow my heart, head and stomach, just this once, before my mouth gets riddled with sores and ulcers, if I am unlucky enough to get them. Once in agreement, SNA,SMM and my sis went to Bangsar to get some Assam Laksa, which should be nutritious as it is a fish-based broth, and came with it's assortment of vegetable trimmings and laksa noodles.

What an adventure they had, getting the Laksa! They locked themselves out of the car, and to cut a long story short, had all the men in white ketayap from the Bangsar mosque and every Tan, Wong and Ramasamy from the Nightmarket nearby coming over in droves to their aid! I could still picture them, 3 damsels in distress, very hungry, and all these guys with an assortment of "tools" trying to pick at the car lock! One of them did get the doorlock to the MPV to snap open, just by using a screw driver, within a few minutes. Everyone was happy there was a champ among them but my friend was so pleased and relieved that all she could say to thank him was "Wah....you sudah biasa curi kereta ke?"!!!! That must have been the greatest compliment ever given in this chic neighbourhood of Bangsar.

All's well, that ends well. RJ from Subang Jaya came by and joined us as we tucked into our Laksa buffet-style at home with little Ms Jannah playing the theme from "Titanic" on her violin for some atmosphere. The soup-drenched laksa tasted good enough to satisfy my taste buds, which I suspect have started to be affected by the chemo drugs. I am very thankful though that I do not have a metallic taste in my mouth, YET.


Day 6 (April 16)

I was up bright and early and after Subuh, prepared breakfast while my guests slept on. They must have stayed up late to read after I retired.

Today was a really good day. I was able to update "FG" for "Feeling Good" in the journal given to me by a doctor to track down my progress and experience.
I felt so good that , Syukur Alhamdullillah, I was in the mood to eat out!

This was going to be my sister's last night in KL before she and her daughter return to London after a week here with me. My brother, who went back to Melaka to check on our cats, came back inthe afternoon to join in the dinner that I was planning for the night. I was praying hard that my good feeling will last and that the nausea would not come back.

The nausea didn't return, just like what the Doctor and everyone said. I have now learnt to trust and not be sceptical of the feedback and input from others about the disease and its treatment. Thus inspired, we agreed on Restoran Muhibbah, at TTDI . The food there was good, service speedy and very clean compared to similar restaurants in the same league. I love the way they do their vegetables there and we ordered loads. All I could do was just drool when everyone else was enjoying their buttered prawns, lala and cockles. Nevertheless I did justice to the Steam Siakap and the 5 or 6 very exquisitely done stir-fried dark green vegetables "that were good for me".

Another good day, Syukur Alhamdullillah. May the mouth blisters be forever forestalled and that my immunity will not be hammered by the WMDs. If I continue with this hearty appetite and feed my body with an abundance of nutrients from freshly prepared (not processed) food and fruits, Insya Allah my blood count should be good enough to allow me to recover in the last week just before my second round of chemotherapy.

Syukur Alhamdullillah , ya Allah, for your blessings and belas kasihan to enable me to face this challenge smoothly and without hiccups. Amin.