Booster # 2

June 5 (Day 13, Cycle 3)

Ijan returned to Kampung today and I dropped him off at the Bangsar LRT for his onward journey to Pudu Raya for the Masjid Tanah bus. I went to the medical center for my second booster shot just before noon.


When I reached the Chemo daycare center, I bumped into an old, old colleague from the MNC I used to work for. It was a pleasant unpleasant surprise, that we both are undergoing treatment for the same problem, and the best part of all is she and her husband are living in the same neighbourhood as I am. What a small world. She looked good , with a smart wig and all, and after 4 cycles of AC and now a weekly low dosage of Taxotere, she appears to be coping very well indeed with the side effects.


She said the same thing about me, that I looked fine for someone after 3 cycles and getting gastritis, thrombophlebitis and sore mouth. We compared notes on our treatment and side-effects. She is very lucky indeed that she did not have to experience thromboflabitis even though she does not use a chemoport. But then again, her drugs were not manually administered but wee administered via drip method.


I made a point to discuss this with the Onco nurse and will probably mention to my Onco on the next visit before my 4th cycle is carried out. She said that as my veins have shown indication of being weak and "collapsing", we will need to make sure if manually administered, it has to be done at a slower rate and increase the amoutn of saline to flush through at the end of the drug administration.


I am trying not to think about chemo ports and blood transfusion right now. I went to the supermarket to stock up on beef bones (with marrow) to be turned into soups and broths for consumption between now and June 14th, the next chemo date.


My friend SNA came to sleep over so that she can join her nephew, who lives nearby , for a trip to Singapore tomorrow. My sis-in-law and nephews dropped by when I was out at dinner. As Kakak was around and let them in, they waited until we got back. They were planning to visit my dad before the school holidays are over and I wanted to send over some red dragon fruits which is my dad's flavour of the month.


The Neupogen finally did result in a slight back/waist ache. I should have taken the pain killers after all, but I believe it will pass and if I don't jump about too much, it would be manageable. Insya Allah, we'll see......