Feeling Good even with cracked lips

May 15 (Day 13 of cycle 2)

This was a "Feel Good" day and I indicated such in the daily medical journal.
My blood test did not indicate any further decline in WBC though it did not register a jump either. It will take a while for the boosters to "work" and y system will also naturally try to repair itself between now and the next cycle.InsyaAllah if I eat and rest well, my next pre-chemo FBC would indicate a good count, enough to proceed to cycle 3. I can't wait for my chemo to be 50% complete!





.......................Hairy Rambutans........................

Up till now, I still have a few survivors on my scalp, the die-hards of my last hairdo. I am leaving them there until the end of the 2nd cycle just to see if the WMDs will wipe them out. I will shave them off or at least trim them neatly so that I will not get the flattened look whenever I remove whatever headgear I was wearing. My head actually looks like a huge rambutan, though not as appetising. In fact not appetising at all...

I have been lucky to be spared really serious mouth ulcers or sores so far. I am indeed glad that prior to chemo, I managed to get all outstanding dental work done. It took BC to finally get me off my butt to get a root canal job done. During chemo and radiation, no dental work is advisable due to the risk of infection and tissues not being able to heal as quickly. Radiation will also expose me to some radioactivity and too bad if I get a toothache because I will not be able to have any tooth extracted, it seems , until after a year post-radiation. That is why dental hygiene is so important and extra care required during chemo and radiation.

I have never flossed so much in my life. From a once-a-day flosser, I turned into a 3-4 times a day flossie. Paranoia? No, just being cautious, especially when I get all kinds of fibres trapped inbetween my teeth after turning extra carnivorous (all the beef for red blood) and herbivorous (all the fibrous and dark green vegetables and fruits) for fibre and also blood. However my mouth/lips are not used to the extra "torture" of having flossing activities done more than once a day, so the outer corners of my lips suffer! I now have little cracks that sting if I smile too widely or laugh too much. I try to fix this with the sweet glycerine borax solution that my Mum used to apply on us when we had ulcers. If that doesn't work, I will need to mention it to my doctor . It has just started, so it is still at a tolerable stage, and I hope it will not escalate into something really painful.

Other than that , I am feeling really good, and cannot believe that just a few days ago I felt like covering my head with a paperbag or putting it under a pillow so that I can doze off to forget the fatigue. However chemo fatigue is not something that you can sleep through. It is something "designed" I think to slow you down because chemo patients really need to slow down and rest during the time when the WMDs hit, just as a built-in "protection(?)" in case accidents happen.

Just like what happened last week. I was tired, but because I was determined to get up and about, I drove out to get a few things from the shop. When I got home, I parked the car by my front gate, parallel to the road in front and got my stuff in. When I woke up the next day, the car was missing, it wasn't where I had parked it! I tried to recall if I had given it to my sister-in-law to drive it and I just knew that it couldn't have been because she was not in town.

Puzzled I walked to the front gate trying to remember where exactly I had parked and at the same time, concerned that maybe someone had stolen the old jalopy. THEN I SAW IT !!! Right infront of my neighbour's front gate, at least 2 houses away and it was kissing another car! A lemon-green Myvi was facing my car and thank God for that. Otherwise it would be kissing the other neighbour's Merc!

What to do but to ring the bell and apologised to the neighbour ( first time we spoke even though we have been neighbours for yonks). Thank God he found it quite amusing. When I reversed my car, we discovered that his son's Myvi was torn in places and the plate number was crushed. I offered to pay for the damage. He said that's fine, he knew a workshop that can repair the damage inexpensively. I will still insist to pay for it once I know that he has got the job done. He asked me if I had forgotten to pull up the handbrake. I did set it on, but it seemed that it wasn't all the way up as it should have been although I knew I applied all my might. So, another thing for me to watch out for the next time I park my car during chemo fatigue. I have been driving for almost 30 years and this is the first time something like this happened. And thank God it is within the neighbourhood.....

My friends NMN, RN and JA dropped by at different times in the evening and they were quite amused to see me back to my "normal" self although I sounded really down just a few days earlier, personally and blog-wise. It was nice of NMN to bring me a supply of ginger from Janda Baik, organically grown. JA dropped by on the way to pick up her daughter, and she brought some vegetables from Kucing, the Sarawak Midin and Pucuk Paku which she had asked her colleague from Kucing to buy.

I hope the ensuing days will be the same if not better. My brother will go back to Melaka after spending a couple of days here. He has indicated that he is game to join me for the Relay for Life event on June 2. Good.