It is possibly gastritis.......

May 28 (Day 5 of cycle 3)

Terrible day but at least I was forced to rest.


The discomfort in my tummy and the bloated feeling stayed with me all day. As much as I tried to ignore the feeling, I was unable to do much else to distract myself. Kind of hard to relax when I felt as though there were huge angular bubbles ready to erupt from my body. I have read that the chemo drugs can affect the lining of the digestive system and gastritis is a possible side effect.


That's the whole day gone as I cannot see myself going out to manage the errands that I had planned for the day. I was lucky that I was able to have a good shower and felt a little refreshed although the discomfort forced me to stay put on the sofa. Spent much of the day trying to rest, then got up to sort out some personal filing.


It was a really restless day, and I can hear every tick-tock of the clocks around the house and the sound of water dripping from the gutter. I couldn't read much, and jumped from one book to another. I had saved the special NST feature on The Pak Chik Sailors (in the UK)by Kak Teh from yesterday's paper and settled down to read that. I take my hat off to those Pak Chiks and, especially to Kak Teh for her ingenuity in covering their stories. The article made me sad though, how do they feel about being away when the country is about to celebrate 50 years of independence, can they or will they be back here?


My Oncologist wasn't at the Medical center when I called so I consulted the doctor who was standing in for him today. The doctor informed me that I should not feel too nauseous on the 5 th day due to the chemo drugs, and he guessed that it might be gastritis. He agreed that I should try munching some cream crackers and try to release the flatulence. Of course I dared not tell him of the Assam Laksa that I had the day before, which in retrospect could have given me an acid stomach. I was to turn up at the medical center if the discomfort continues tomorrow so that he can prescribe some relief but in the meantime did not suggest that I try anything at home.


I had like 10 errands to do today so they remained on the 'to-do' list for the time being while I sat like a contorted, bloated and bald Cleopatra on the sofa. When Kakak came home, she prepared a hot ginger and gula batu infusion for me to sip slowly and it did seem to help soothe the bloated feeling. I had to rub Minyak Cap Kapak on my temples, behind my neck and on my tummy and just below my rib cage. I should have thought of the Minyak Cap Kapak (MCK)earlier! The kids in our family grew up on that. My late Mum always had that in her bag and everything from a mild mosquito bite to a severe sprain could smoothly be healed when she rubbed some MCK on the problem spot. Even my niece Jannah, looks for MCK whenever she gets bitten by mosquitoes when back on a holiday in Malaysia.


I did not have any appetite for dinner due to the spasms and "memulas-mulas" feeling in my tummy, so I told Kakak that she does not have to prepare any food for me. SM, who dropped by to return a book, suggested that I should at least have a Milo and some cream crackers to help fill up my tummy and reduce the acidity, so I had that instead of a proper meal. I continued to burp a lot, and it made me wonder where all the gas is coming from since I hadn't eaten much at all today.


This is yet one of the down moments, which I know will pass and tomorrow I will look back on today and think "what a fuss for nothing". I certainly hope so. It didn't help that no one has visited my dad since I started my chemo, so I really must feel good very quickly so that I can pay him a visit soon. I have yet to inform him of the real nature of my illness. I will need to do so in a way that will not scare or worry him unnecessarily as I think he may feel a bit lost if he is aware that I am not as readily available as before.