Vegetarian for a month.

I am vegetarian for a month of Purattasi (tamil calendar month) which started on 18 September 2007 and will end on mid of October 2007. This month is considered a very auspicious month by the Tamilians and special prayers are offered to Lord Venketeswara.

All of us in the family are vegetarians and stick to strict vegetarian diets. We not even consumer any food that has traces of egg.

Special prayers are held on Saturdays at home and after the prayer we all have a authentic
meal served on banana leave.

Although on vegetarian diet, I have never lost weight during this month…because I am hungry often and end up munching a lot.

That is why I went on Sunday to the Pasar Ramadan in my neighbourhood and indulged on variety of traditional malay delicious. This included my all time favourite chicken satay and popiah basah among other things. The food looked oily but what the heck it has been some time I had all these items.

I don’t know about other survivors but I think I am loosing control of my so called planned diet of less sugar, fat and oil. I admire those who have cut down on these and have the discipline to follow their strict diet. I have not been taking my fruit + vegetarians juices.

Sometime I reminder myself about the diet sometimes I tell myself what the heck!

Breast Health Trainer’s Workshop

I attended the Breast Health Trainer’s Workshop at Johnson and Johnson Medical Malaysia, Wisma Zuellig last Saturday. Supporting partners for this workshop were, Johnson and Johnson Medical, College of Radiology and BCWA.

The workshop was conducted by Dr Evelyn Ho, President of the College of Radiology, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia. About 30-40 women attended this workshop. She gave a comprehensive presentation on various topics. The session started of by everyone introducing themselves. Then I found out there were ladies (who are volunteers) from the Breast Cancer Support Society Kluang, Breast Cancer Support group from Segamat and the rest of us survivors from BCWA. When it came to my turn for introduction, I said I had my own blog. And was I surprised when a lady from Segamat said she had read my blog and left a comment. Wow! Then I discovered it was Maria who left a comment on my previous blog. What a small world it is!

The workshop started as 2.30 pm and ended at 6 pm. The workshop covered a spectrum of topics of breast anatomy, breast self examination, support and counseling. The topics also touched on symptom, diagnosis, screening and testing. I came across mammography tomosynthesis which is being tested in some centres in Malaysia.
Towards the end of the session, we were all divided into groups to test our skill if we were to present a breast self examination talk in front of a group of women.

Breast models with other brochures and postures were handed over to the support groups from Segamat and Kluang. I must take my hats off for these ladies who came all the way from Johor in their learning new skill to be better volunteers and support providers.

Well I look some pictures, which as usual will post later!

I got a call from my friend over the weekend wanting to know whether I was alright as she has not seen a new posting for almost 2 weeks. Oops!looks like a lot people are there to monitor whether I am actively blogging!

My mother celebrated her 63th birthday early this month. Suddenly birthdays have become a must celebrate event for us and not to let it pass without being noticed.

I had time to catch of with another friend of mine who is also a survivor. She has not joined any support group but in her own way she is giving back to society. She give support to others who are diagnosis with cancer referred by family, friends, colleagues or people her neighbourhood. Giving back to society is important and it can be done it so many ways.

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.

THE JOURNEY-Newsletter by NSCM

A copy of “THE JOURNEY”, the newsletter published by NSCM was sent to my office recently. My colleague brought it to me immediately. A few minutes later when I had the chance to look at it I was surprised to see my picture….hei! What am I doing! Ah!...it was picture take during the fashion parade held in conjunction with the NCSM’s Yellow Week 2005 at Suria KLCC Main Concourse.

That was the first time in my life I took part in a fashion show and I must say I had a wonderful time. It was also immediately after I had completed my treatment in August 2005 and this gave me a real image booster. I paraded myself in designer clothes and professional make up… face…ah!....ah! It was really a new experience for me…but have not got the opportunity to do so after that although there were invitations. What to do…as most of the event falls on a working day.

I realized they have also published the article I for the newsletter titled “ My first 2 days of being diagnosed with breast cancer-NCSM’s support”. Looking back, I am really glad the article was published because it emphasizes my favourite message i.e “It is important to open up and receive support when dealing with breast cancer”. It is also good I wrote this article and to have my experience documented. This is because as the years go by, I may forget how I handled the situation during treatment. As it is I always had a problem remembering things! I hope the article will inspire others to seek and receive support when diagnosed with cancer.

About last week I received a call from BCWA about doing a mother & daughter interview for a local woman’s magazine with a wide circulation. The writer wanted to write an article based on cancer in the family. As I had to check with my mom, I told them that my mom is not me and may be reluctant to give the interview. True enough when I asked my mother she was not in favour of it. To be interview is one’s prerogative
and they decision should be respected!

As I looked at “THE JOURNEY” again to write this post, I am glad for all the new experiences gained. After BC , I am game for new frontiers!