Ok, maybe bumming around suits me better. Haha. But it's going to be a new department and new colleagues. I hope it's going to be fun. And I am sure I will be busy tomorrow answering all the "how are you feeling" questions and "you had lost weight!" exclamations.
Ah well. But after work there's KTV! WHEEE! Normal life, HERE I COME!!
I even went shopping yesterday with my colleague to get new working clothes. Cut my hair short to fight the warm weather too. I look uber bishie (hamsome~!) now. *ish very buah hiao bai*
We even caught Elmo and Cookie Monster having a secret affair at NYDC! Hehehe
I LOVE GREAT SINGAPORE SALE!!! Think next week I wanna go shop for more clothes. All so much cheaper than before! I am happy~~
Going to enjoy every bit of being normal for now.
For 2 weeks later it's back to poking flesh, blood drawing, drug infusing days.
Flora came to visit me on my 2nd chemo and she brought me delicious STRAWBERRIES! You know strawberries are my FAVOURITE! And it's not the normal strawberries ok, it's the BIG BIG ones! Really big, fragrant and JUICY! But I didn't eat much in the hospital. I am not supposed to eat any fruits without peeling them. And since I can't peel strawberries... But I still has 2 of them that day. It's just too irresistable.
Yummy strawberries
I brought them back home anyway and use the knife to cut off all the skin before I eat them. Haha! Thank goodness Flora bought me BIG BIG strawberries, so after 'skinning' the strawberries, they are still a big piece left for me to eat. So yummy! I really love strawberries so much. Which is so unlike my character, because I am so un-feminine and people always associate strawberries with girly girls. *giggles girlishly*
Anyhoooo, I am also going to show you guys the soft toy my 2nd nephew gave me. It's a cute little doraemon. My nephew is only 3 and half years old and is such a darling. Go around 'flirting' with all the nurses and the nurses will always come up to tell me how cute he is. He sure will grow up to be a ladykiller next time. Haha. This doraemon acts as a wrist rest for me to rest my arm and wrist. My nephew (my brother and sis-in-law actually) got for me to rest the arm with the port (the needle used deliver the drip and chemo drugs) and it is so useful, even nurses asked me to use it.
This pic is taken while I am having chemo and you can see the tube is protruding out. When the houseman (practicing doctors that just came out from med school) was putting the port into my left hand, he told me that the tube might protrude out but it was ok, because I can pretend I am ultraman and go "tui tui tui"! Hahah! This silly houseman really made the sound "tui tui tui" to me! And for goodness sake, he is even younger than me! Treating me like a big kid! Too bad he is not going into pediatrics cos I think the kids will really like his goofiness.
Once, I was just lying on my (hosp) bed and minding my own business when something rolled from outside all the way into my room and under my bed. Then this houseman walked in and started searching for that 'thing'. After asking, that 'thing' was actually the front piece of his stethoscope, the part used for listening to heart beats, and it actually came loose and fall off!! How funny can he get!
So it is like everytime I get admitted to SGH, I will surely have some housemen stories to tell.
First time was the houseman from hell that couldn't draw my blood and hurt me so much, he caused me to hyperventilate. 2nd was the houseman who did not listen to instructions and after telling him to avoid inserting the needle on my joint, did it anyway and caused me to not be able to bend my left arm for 5 days straight. And now, I had an ultraman wannabe for doctor. Haha. With housemen like this, how bored will you get in hospitals, really?
YEAH! It was a first feast after 2nd round of chemo. After looking at reviews from hungrygowhere.com I decided to give Tetsu a try! Tetsu specialises in tonkatsu, which is a deep fried breaded pork cutlet. I tried the tonkatsu in Tokyo when I was there 2 years ago and the taste still haunt me till now. The one from Japan is SO SOFT AND SMOOTH! OMG! It's so heavenly and you just wonder how did the Japanese do it!?
And so after reading pretty good reviews from hungrygowhere (You can read the review here), I decided to give it a try as I was really craving for a proper piece of meat after 1 week of hospital food that can still make me nausea till now.
Tetsu is located in Tanglin Mall, 3rd floor. The deco is really beautiful, made up of mainly wood and has a really nice enclosed area for diners of 4 to 8. Really good for groups of friends to go.
I had Rosu Katsu, which was recommended by hunrgygowhere reviewers
While my mum has the duck noodles
Personally, I think the Rosu Katsu is too over hyped. It is too hard for my liking and is definitely no way near as nice as the one I had in Japan. In fact, I can't really remember if the Rosu katsu in Tonkichi is better or not. Maybe I should pay Tonkichi a visit soon.
My mum's noodles, on the other hand, is DELICIOUS! The noodles is a little like udon but not as hard. it's really soft and chewy and full of taste! I will definitely order that when I go back to Tetsu. Actually, their fried beef on a stick is also pretty good. The batter is soft and crispy and fried just nicely. :)
And after main, we had dessert, Japanese green tea mochi!
This mochi is unlike any mochi I had eaten before! It is so soft and chewy. The softness is just nice and the green tea fragrance and sweetness is just nice. Extremely delicious!
Hehe, overall I would recommend my friends to give it a try. But the next time I go, I am sure I will order noodles instead and had ala carte fried stuff instead.
PostNote: I know some people feel that you shouldn't eat fried stuff after chemo, but seriously, I feel that we can eat everything, just in moderation and don't over binge it. Cos this meal left me extremely happy for hours to come. ^_^
Decided to have a new template cos the previous one seems so dull and I attribute that to my lack of comments in my blog.
Haha. I am also waiting for Josef to supply me the Wonder Women banner so I can put on my blog as an official Wonder Woman. Haha.
Feeling much better today. No feeling of nausea and my back don't hurt to much either. I'm going to have tonkatsu later! Will post some pic up when I am done. :p
I had just finished my round 2 of chemo and although it is a tougher fight than round 1, I still manage to finish it with gusto (and vomiting of a few times, feeling nauseous for 2 days and tired even till now). Haha.
I was extremely excited that a friend I had not talked to for a really long time is now working in Mayo Clinic. Mayo is an extremely famous health institution in USA and is one of the top researching institution for leukemia. They are the one that came out with the idea that green tea pills can control CLL after phases of clinical trials. My friend, Carolyn, had spoken with the haematologist in Mayo and helped me asked about stem cell transplant, to do it now or wait. And after hearing their answer, I chose to wait. For I believe that there will be another form of cure in years to come.
True enough, when I was surfing CLLforum.com, a forumer told me that Dr Tom Kipps from Mayo has started researching on genetic treatment for leukemia and this is what he said about it.
Tom Kipps: I am very excited about the ability to use our own immune system to recognize and destroy the leukemia cells. I've been excited about that prospect for some time, but in more recent times I think that there may be some developments that may make it more practical and more feasible for more patients, and I think that we have to look at the issue of transplantation where patients have achieved curative treatment when they've received a transplant because the graft can sometimes recognize and destroy the leukemia cells. That can also be achieved by not having a transplant by just activating our own immune system, and I'm very excited about this because even the most resistant leukemia cell that's resistant to all different drugs is still very sensitive to being killed by cytolytic T-cells in the immune system.
If they can come out with this treatment in a few years time, I will not have to go through stem cell transplant anymore. Stem cell transplant, though is the latest "in" thing, has it's own problem, especially the Graft vs Host Disease (GvHD), which will happen when your donor's immune system starts attacking your own immune system and even your own organs as it sees them as foreign bodies.
With genetic treatment, GvHD would not be a problem as we are using our own immune system (T cells) to fight against leukemia cells. Gosh, it will be such a break through and I really can't wait for this to become successful.
There's always light at the end of the tunnel and I am slowly approaching it. Living is wonderful and to be alive is happiness. People won't know this fact till they have went through some form of life threatening issues, and it is only after that will they truly admire the beauty of being alive.
Tomorrow I'll be going for my round 2 of FCR. It's emotionally draining on me, even more than the first round. Getting very tired of all the poking of needles into my veins and drawing of blood everyday for 1 week and every week for 21 days.
Here are some of my first round chemo pix. No face pix though. Just picture of my plug and my 3 chemo drugs, fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab.
Many people have a misconception of chemotherapy. I realised that when I had my first round of chemo. Many of my friends thought I will be pushed to a special room with radiation to be "baked" and injected. My partner say they think it's like putting me in a microwave oven. Haha.
But it is not like that. The nurses will come in with a packet of liquid and just put it in your plug and let in infuse like a drip. That's all. Simple and easy. ^_^
They will inject some anti-nauseua drug (through the plug) before infusing you help you cope better with the to-be side effects. So really, it's not that scary.
If you ever wanna encourage a friend going through chemo, just be as normal as you can. DO NOT be even more hysterical than your friend. Making them calm during chemo is very important. It is really, not as bad as how TCS 8 protray it to be (screaming and crying patient, non-stop vomitting and people laughing at the poor patient who is bald). :)
You know how channel 8 always love to dramatised cancer patients and their whole treatment process? How they love to scare normal people that chemo is actually so super scary and what not?
But hey, I can tell you that chemo side effects are actually very similar to getting yourself drunk. In fact, for some people, getting drunk can actually feel a lot worse than getting chemo.
Main side effect of chemo includes vomitting. But the hospital will usually give you an anti-vomitting pre-medication first before giving you your wonderful pack of chemo water. For mine, it comes in pack of 100ml and 500ml. Wow, just like 1 bottle of yakult and lesser than a pint of hoegardden. The pubs you frequent definitely won't give you a vomitting pill before you starts drowning yourself out in alcohol, right?
Chemo side effects varies from person to person. For some, they dun always feel nauseous. In fact, when I got drunk, I feel 5 times worse than when I had my first dose of chemo. I can puked up to 3-4 times in a night, whereas I only vomitted once throughout my first cycle. And even though I did get a fever, I think I feel a lot worse when I was drunk.
So you know what? Chemo may not necessary be damn scary like shown on TV. In fact, pumping alcohol into your body gives you the similar, if not worse, effect as chemo! So if you really think chemo side effects are scary, then you shld seriously consider quitting drinking. Excessive drinking not only gives you a bad headache and a puking fest, it also embarrassed you in the public, makes your head spin, and gives you a bad hangover. Though alcohol does not make your hair drops, it does gives you an ugly beer belly. So drinkers, save your liver. Dun drink excessively.
My friend, Chua Li Shan is also in it. Do support them and support the foundation. I am still contemplating if I should shave my head. Anyway, I donated. And I hope those that comes here can donate too.
Will be having my 2nd round on the 16th. Contemplating whether to do outpatient or inpatient. Not sure which is cheaper. My only concern is if I do inpatient, my doc won't allow me to go home right after my cocktail. :/
I realised I am really not a blogging person. i dun think I can do as well as Molly or Flora when it comes to encouraging people thru a blog. Heck, my entries are mostly negative, cos I am a person that write more when I am down. How can I ever inspire and empower other young women fighters? How can keep the Wonderwoman's spirit burning with my writing?
So well... I ain't that good with typing out how I feel and advices for people. So if there are really young women fighters out there that need advice and encouragement... well not just drop me a note. We can always talk on the phone. i do better talking. Haha.
And Flora, dun be too pessimistic. *huggles* Optimism is Molly's trademark, remember? And I have decided to keep it a Wonderwomen trademark. Let's face all problems with a smile and a strong fighter spirit!
I was 25 when I was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia on 15th September, 2006. At first I felt lost, I was afraid. But with a lot of support from my family, friends and an online CLL support group, I grew stronger. I am now a CLL warrior, and a WonderWoman fighting against cancer. This is my story.
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia is a blood cancer found more commonly among Westerner males, above the age of 50. I am a Chinese female, and was diagnosed at 25. What are the chances, really? Since then I start buying more toto. Because if I can get such a rare cancer which occurs only 1 in a million chance to someone like me, then winning 1 million dollars doesn't seem like such an impossible dream right? ^_^
Yes, I am positively optimistic. ^_~
