Assuring a fellow survivor

I received a call from a cancer survivor 2 days ago. She was referred to me by my friend. During her chemotherapy I had kept off and on in touch with her. However lately, of course as I have been busy I could not find the time to catch up with the development of her treatment. In fact… I had not spoken to her for a few months.

So when I saw her “miss call” I was truly surprised. I called her back and found out she was doing the marking for her radiotherapy in the general hospital. She has just completed her chemotherapy. She called from the hospital to ask since they did the tumour marker and found nothing alien, must she continue with the radiotherapy. She further added that she was told earlier that she had to have 15 sessions of radiotherapy but now has been increased to 20 sessions.

Of course, I told her that she must have radiotherapy and complete all the 20 sessions. I assured her that all of us have after going through both treatments and have managed the side effects of the treatments. I convinced her that she should not have second thought about it but should complete all the treatments. She also wanted to know which side I had my radiotherapy treatment as hers was on the left and she was worried about her heart. I told her not to worry about her heart right now but deal with her cancer first. She told me she needed some one to talk too and she thought of me! Yap… I know how important it is to talk to another fellow survivor in times when you are not sure of what to do.

I do remember reading that somewhere that measuring of tumour markers in blood as a screening tool, is not conclusive evidence of the existence of cancer.

It also brought memories of the marking session and followed by the radiotherapy treatment we all had to go through.

Relay for Life-Part 2

I know it has been almost two months...but i only had the time now to posts the Relay for Life pictures. Surprising i had an anonymous blog visitor who asked me about the photos and i thought i better get down to serious business of posting them.
Here they are...

Second day of the relay Sunday morning...I am with two of my friends (One of them a survivor and another volunteered all the way from Ipoh).

Some of the enthusiastic survivors who still looked fresh and energetic on Sunday morning.

We started walking under the drizzle. I am with my mother and Datin Dr Dharmalingam. They both were given rain coats and i went looking for an umbrella.

The crowd focused at the stage for the finale of the relay for life on Sunday morning. There was a sense of achievement and pride felt by the participants as they have contributed towards the success of the event.

Young and old participants continued walking on the track filled with so much energy. I take my hats off for all those senior participants! The sun was really hot that day.

These ladies are the Pink Challengers from the Breast Cancer Welfare Association. They are the adventurous women who continue to take part in dragon boat races. Hip- Hip Hurray for them!

Just before the start of the event on Saturday, the was a heavy down pour with thunder and lighting...but this did not damp the spirit of all those who were there. The merriment went on with dance and music while waiting for the sky to be cleared.

I snapped this photo of the stage at the end of event. Before this there were activities at all times on the stage, performance by the music bands or dancers....

The palm prints of the survivors who came that day. I cannot seem to spot mine. Ha...Ha! Mine and my mother's prints are somewhere on the cloth.

These are tents made available for participants to spent the night on the field. While some caught up with sleep, others joined the activites on the field.

Ha.. I found a picture where a volunteer helped me to press my palm hard on the cloth.

International Conference On Survivorship And Supportive Care in Cancer

The BCWA is organizing the International Conference on Survivorship and Supportive Care in Cancer over the weekend from 10-12 August 2007 at Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur. The theme of the conference is “Enabling Survival-Promoting Early Intervention and Care”. The conference is held in conjunction with 1^st KL International Congress on Breast and Colorectal Cancer.

Many foreign and local speakers ( including cancer survivors) will be delivering their speeches on a myriad of topics from treatment, to supportive care to benefit finding after cancer. I was hoping to go for this conference but my job schedule does not permit me to do so. I initially planned on going on Saturday and Sunday, then found out there was a family function to attend to on Sunday. That why sometimes it is good not to be working as it would allow one to attend events and seminars at our leisure. ..Ha…Ha!

I am sure the conference will be a success and hope I will be able to attend events like these the next time they are held.

Mammogram cartoons

My…My!

I have not blogged for so long. Actually I have been very occupied lately. Firstly my department manager resigned and then my weekends are busy doing this, like any other Malaysians

During this period of silence, an email was forwarded to me on Mammograms. Although the message at the beginning was a reminder to have mammograms done but it was followed with some disgusting cartoons about ladies having their mammograms done. The cartoons were poking fun of women’s breasts after having the mammogram done...the different shapes and so on.

I personally was upset when I received it. For many those cartoons may have brought about smiles or laughter as they may be considered humorous. But to me it was totally distasteful, my colleagues too agreed with me. I not think the message to have mammograms done, would reach any one who reads them.

I also read an article which stated a research was done among women, where the study concluded that a diet extra heavy in fruit and vegetables was not better than one with the standard recommended amounts in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer. Well for me everything in moderation is important. Sometimes it is really difficult to follow the recommended diet, most probably being Asians our servings are less. Anyway I can’t eat much at night either. As I usually have my dinner before 8pm, I find stomach discomfort on the days that I have my dinner after 8pm.

Recently, I got inspired when an anonymous person left a message in my previous post and a friend of mine who got hold of “The Journey” said it was wonderful via sms. It was a great feeling after reading the succinct comments.