Wek-Wek!

Days 2 and 3 Post Chemo(1)

It has been a challenging 2 days so the accounts which follow will merely record events as they occurred, no ramblings , no wise-man reflections. Just a plain diary of what happened, and probably why they happened.



Day 2 (April 12)

I woke up feeling fine and was pleasantly surprised after the ordeal of the night before. I was therefore up and about, prepared a quick breakfast of ENSURE and a peanut butter sandwich with wholegrain slices. Good enough to start the day. Pleasantly surprised that I felt "normal", I decided to act normal. noticed that the laundry basket was filling up and so decided to run the wash. In the meantime, I read and wrote and generally had a good time sitting up on the couch. Making and answering calls, and texting via my mobile.

By about noon, I felt slightly nauseous. Based on what I had gathered, it would be good to lean back and not move about too much. It did not work and again, before I knew it I was in the washroom, retching, with my breakfast artistically splattered on the floor. I felt much better but regretted the waste of all the nutrients which should have been digested to feed my good cells. I decided to sip some 100Plus and sucked on a piece of sliced fresh ginger to quell the uneasy feeling.

My sister prepared lunch and it was a real effort to put things in my mouth as it made the nausea worse. I am off fish for now so I decided to take in a jar of Haruan essence for the protein ( sipping slowly) and supplemented that with small nibbles of broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. Slowly but surely I managed
to get something in by 2 pm but at 3pm, everything came out as well.

By then I was absolutely tired and spent(the retching was energy-burning, I was perspiring as if I was doing weights or something). I spent the rest of the afternoon lying Cleopatra-style on the sofa as the idea of being alone in my room wasn't too exciting. Everyone else (sister and her daughter) were in the living room reading and snacking and I wanted to be with the "crowd".

I remained there until about 8pm when the urge to retch came back. By that time, there was absolutely nothing in my alimentary system to be expelled out. What came out was something rather vile, and I suspect it could have been my gastric juices as it was clear with a tangy, sharp smell and after-taste.

NK, a childhood friend dropped by after work to see how I was getting on and my brother from Melaka returned to join me again and to meet up with my sis and her daughter, a re-union of sorts. Favourite snacks and food like Putu Mayam with accompaniments, different types of Fried Rice (Kampung,Chinese,Plain) were laid out for dinner but I couldn't even look at the food. JA came by with a 5 litre bottle of oxygenated water. I could not bring myself to eat as the urge to retch was very strong, so I remained on the sofa.

As they dined, I was alternating between consciousness and semi-consciousness, attempting to engage in visualisation to distract my mind from the queasy feeling in my stomach. It worked because my sister gently woke me up about 1 am(!!!) after both NK and JA had left. I climbed slowly to my room and got ready to sleep, thinking if I were to wake up in the middle of the night, I will pray for strength and comfort.

I slept quite well, waking up twice to drink ( I was quite dehydrated after the 3 retching episodes). I resolved to slow down the next day and not move about too much like I had done earlier in the day.


Day 3 (April 13) AND IT IS A FRIDAY too!

Just a short entry for today as it was uneventful, just the way it should be if I behaved. I did not leave the room today, as I have everything that I needed in there. I tried not to move about too much, save for going to the loo. Because I had expelled everything the day before, there wasn't anything to flush.

So today was all about making sure that what I eat will be retained in my system and that I should try to prevent constipation from setting in. My meals were all taken in the room and in bed, just like a patient. Breakfast was oats with milo and syukur alhamdulillah, I managed to keep that in until lunchtime.

Lunch was kwayteow soup with plenty of sprouts and sawi, and that was so sedap! My friend SMM got them from AjiDon Alley at SHC. By that time I was quite ravenous and even without the usual side dish of sliced cili padi, I cleared half a portion. Everyone else had Fried KwayTeow that smelt so good but I knew was a no-no for me as it was rather greasy and laced with cockles and yummy huge prawns. I resolved to retain my lunch as well, and remained on my bed reading. Coincidentally quite a number of friends called me on the phone so I was too busy talking ( and lying propped up in bed) to be entertaining ( or even imagining ) queasy sensations in my tummy.

So far so good, that was very inspiring. Tea was again milo with oat porridge as I needed to bulk up on fibre, and a big green organic apple sliced very thinly so that even my mouth did not have to move that much! After that, the last "challenge" for the day was dinner.

Like an expectant mother I was craving for food! I was thinking about Sup Ayam Kampung. The gingery taste and flavourful chicken stock should be good for me I thought. My brother volunteered to get dinner from nearby Desa Hartamas (Restoran Bistari). He texted us saying no Ayam Kampung, so a non-kampung chicken soup would have to do.

Everyone else had spicy Sup Ekor with bread and I had my mild Sup Ayam. Thankfully it tasted good and I had quite a bit of the soup but did not attempt to eat the chicken pieces. An aunt sent over some pomelos, and 2 huge slices served as dessert to add to my store of fibre and bulk.

Insya Allah so far so good. If I have to remain strapped to my bed so that I will not get nauseous and retch, I am okay with it. It will only be for a couple more days. It seems by day 4 or 5, the nausea should lift and I would be back to normal and can start bounding up and down the stairs again like I normally do.

Today has been a restful day indeed and walking around like a "pengantin" to minimise jolting movements was quite an experience for me. Tomorrow is another day, and Insya Allah it will be better.