Thanks to your prayers the rest of the chemo was uneventful. I was given a pint of blood and discharged Sunday afternoon, as expected. My body will continue to get weaker over the next couple of weeks (this is normal). I will most likely get blood and platelet transfusions every week, and I will be susceptible to infections. After my body hits bottom, my bone marrow will slowly produce the blood that is needed, and things should get back to normal over the next few weeks. Yay! We're getting to the end of the journey!
The flu season is still underway, so please pray that my family will be protected from the flu and H1N1 virus, and that I will be protected from any form of infection. My family and I truly appreciate your prayers.
Two of my dear sisters came over from Manila and Toronto to visit me for a couple of days. It is such a nice treat! As usual, my girls were showered with many toys and gifts. They had so much fun they nearly forgot all about homework! I can understand how difficult it is to resist such enjoyable distractions. Katie said they were in "toy heaven". :-)
It is my past my bedtime, so I will keep this short tonight. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am out of the hospital and doing fine. I will most likely not be able to update my blog until a few days later. I would like to spend as much time as I can with my sisters, then take care of stuff that has accumulated while I was in the hospital in addition to things I had already put off.
Thank you for your prayers and may God bless you and your family!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
2/18/2010 - Round 5, Day 2
The anti-nausea drugs I was given knocked me out during the chemotherapy. I slept very well through both doses of the chemo. It was uneventful so far. My next round of chemo will start in a couple of hours. Hopefully, it will be as uneventful as the previous round of chemo.
I made a mistake in my blog a few weeks ago when I said my BMT doctor was having second thoughts about giving me a BMT. I was so happy to hear the good news that I didn't bother to ask why. When I did, it turns our it was just a miscommunication. When the doctor said she was having second thoughts about the "bone marrow", she meant "bone marrow biopsy", but I took it to mean "bone marrow transplant". Aw, shucks! She had wanted to give me a biopsy before my next round of chemo, but decided not to because I seem to be doing very well. As you know from my last blog, the doctor actually wanted me to have a BMT even without a perfect match. I still don't think it is the right thing to so at this point.
Another installment on my healthcare tips:
- Stress is a killer! Excessive and chronic stress can cause cancer, heart disease and a host of other diseases. No surprise there, right? What I didn't know was that when we are stressed, it suppresses our immune system. Ever wonder why we get sick more easily when we're stressed?
- Exercise. Yes, I don't like it either, but exercise is a stress buster and it allows us to get rid of toxins through perspiration. Oh, no! I hate sweating! I used to only exercise in an air-conditioned room, and if it was not cold enough, I would even turn on a fan just so I won't get sweaty. I guess I better get used to getting sweaty - yuck! For those who have exercised long enough to like doing it, more power to you! To the rest of us lazy bones, it's never too late to start.
- Prayer and meditation does wonders for stress management. Letting go and letting God take care of all our cares, meditating on His word, coming to His presence and basking in His love, and learning to manage our thoughts gets rid of stress like no medicine can. Wish it was that easy, right?
- Here are some verses that may help:
Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things."
Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
1 Peter 5:7 says "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
The Bible is chockful of prescriptions for stress management and healthy living. Isn't it ironic that we will follow our doctors' prescriptions to a T, but ignore God's commenadments? Sometimes we act as if we are doing God a favor in following His commands. What I have realized is that God's commandments are not only there to take care of our spiritual health, but also our physical health and happiness. God wants to bless us more than we care to be blessed. We often ignore His commands and wonder why He doesn't bless us more. We forget to seek and follow His will for our lives and we wonder why bad things happen to us. Yet, we don't wonder why someone would jump off a building and die. God is a loving God, but He is also a just God. He is quick to forgive but He does not take away the consequences - think of David and Bathsheba, their son had to die.
Now, if we can just take God's prescriptions as seriously as we take our doctors' prescriptions, our lives will be a lot less stressful and a lot happier and maybe even more prosperous.
That's it for tonight. I am starting to feel the effect of the pre-medication. My mind is slowly shutting down. I will be in dreamland in 5 minutes.
Thank you for your continued prayers and may God bless you and your family.
I made a mistake in my blog a few weeks ago when I said my BMT doctor was having second thoughts about giving me a BMT. I was so happy to hear the good news that I didn't bother to ask why. When I did, it turns our it was just a miscommunication. When the doctor said she was having second thoughts about the "bone marrow", she meant "bone marrow biopsy", but I took it to mean "bone marrow transplant". Aw, shucks! She had wanted to give me a biopsy before my next round of chemo, but decided not to because I seem to be doing very well. As you know from my last blog, the doctor actually wanted me to have a BMT even without a perfect match. I still don't think it is the right thing to so at this point.
Another installment on my healthcare tips:
- Stress is a killer! Excessive and chronic stress can cause cancer, heart disease and a host of other diseases. No surprise there, right? What I didn't know was that when we are stressed, it suppresses our immune system. Ever wonder why we get sick more easily when we're stressed?
- Exercise. Yes, I don't like it either, but exercise is a stress buster and it allows us to get rid of toxins through perspiration. Oh, no! I hate sweating! I used to only exercise in an air-conditioned room, and if it was not cold enough, I would even turn on a fan just so I won't get sweaty. I guess I better get used to getting sweaty - yuck! For those who have exercised long enough to like doing it, more power to you! To the rest of us lazy bones, it's never too late to start.
- Prayer and meditation does wonders for stress management. Letting go and letting God take care of all our cares, meditating on His word, coming to His presence and basking in His love, and learning to manage our thoughts gets rid of stress like no medicine can. Wish it was that easy, right?
- Here are some verses that may help:
Philippians 4:8 says "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things."
Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."
1 Peter 5:7 says "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
The Bible is chockful of prescriptions for stress management and healthy living. Isn't it ironic that we will follow our doctors' prescriptions to a T, but ignore God's commenadments? Sometimes we act as if we are doing God a favor in following His commands. What I have realized is that God's commandments are not only there to take care of our spiritual health, but also our physical health and happiness. God wants to bless us more than we care to be blessed. We often ignore His commands and wonder why He doesn't bless us more. We forget to seek and follow His will for our lives and we wonder why bad things happen to us. Yet, we don't wonder why someone would jump off a building and die. God is a loving God, but He is also a just God. He is quick to forgive but He does not take away the consequences - think of David and Bathsheba, their son had to die.
Now, if we can just take God's prescriptions as seriously as we take our doctors' prescriptions, our lives will be a lot less stressful and a lot happier and maybe even more prosperous.
That's it for tonight. I am starting to feel the effect of the pre-medication. My mind is slowly shutting down. I will be in dreamland in 5 minutes.
Thank you for your continued prayers and may God bless you and your family.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
2/16/2010 - Round 5, Day 1 (Last Round!)
Belated happy Chinese New Year! May we all have a healthy, happy and prosperous year of the Tiger.
Belated Happy Valentine's day, too! It is very nice to have a day to celebrate the people we love. My husband and I went to our favorite Japanese restaurant. We have not been there since I got sick, so we both missed it quite a bit. Although I am no longer neutropenic, I didn't want to take the risk of getting bacteria, so I had to jealously watched my husband enjoy his delicious sashimi while I enjoy my cooked dishes - must be love! :-)
My blood count steadily went up since I last wrote. The blood test last Friday confirmed that my body is ready for the next round of chemo. However, the doctor suggested that I have a bone marrow transplant instead - yikes! The doctor had said that she will only do a BMT if there is a perfect match, but now she's thinks the 90+% match that we now have is good enough. I did not like this change in her position. Apparently, the chances of getting a perfect match is getting slim, because they have gone through the best possible matches from the national registry. I am still not convinced that I should go through a BMT, especially when there is no perfect match for me, so here I am having my last round of chemo.
I am so excited about getting to the end of this journey that I have been planning our family celebration once this whole thing is over. We will have a short family vacation when the kids go on spring break to celebrate my healing. I also wish I could get on a private jet and visit everyone who have supported us during this journey. It will be so nice to personally thank all of you. Besides, that will be a great reason to travel the world! Now, that will be a journey I would totally enjoy! Okay, time to wake up...
I also spent much time these days reading up on how I can reduce the chances of having a relapse and how to live a healthier lifestyle. So far, it has been quite interesting, and shocking sometimes. Some of the things I read I have heard countless times from my mother - "Drink more water", "Eat your vegetables", "Go to bed early", "Be kind to yourself (I tend to overwork)", etc. I am blessed to have a mother who is health conscious. My father died when we were still young, and the thought of leaving 7 orphans behind should anything happen to her motivated her to keep herself healthy. Now, I find myself in a similar position. The thought of leaving my 2 little girls without a mother is motivation enough for me to live a healthier lifestyle.
Here are some of the things I learned. Since I am no expert, and even experts argue among themselves, please take all these with a grain of salt.
- Sleep 7 to 9 hours of sleep a day. For those who have a hard time falling asleep, keep the room dark and use natural sleeping aids such as valerian (named after me - ha! ha!), 5-HTP or melatonin. The quality of sleep before midnight is better - I forgot why.
- Drink water. How much? Our weight divided by 2 is the number of ounces we need each day.
- Avoid partially homogenized vegetable/soybean oil. This is a stinker! I didn't know how much of the food we're eating has this ingredient. With my family history of heart disease, I have replaced butter with margarine and real cream cheese with soy-based cream cheese. I have deprived myself of the real thing only to find out the replacement is actually worse. Partially homogenized oils are bad for the heart and can cause cancer - a double whammy! So, I am going back to the real thing, but just limit the consumption.
Oops! Time for bed. I will continue sharing what I have learned in my future blogs. Please pray that my chemo treatment will be uneventful - no nausea, mouth sores or other complications. Please also pray that my family and I will be protected from the flu and cold viruses, and that we will stay positive and happy.
Thank you for your continued prayers and may God bless you and your family!
Belated Happy Valentine's day, too! It is very nice to have a day to celebrate the people we love. My husband and I went to our favorite Japanese restaurant. We have not been there since I got sick, so we both missed it quite a bit. Although I am no longer neutropenic, I didn't want to take the risk of getting bacteria, so I had to jealously watched my husband enjoy his delicious sashimi while I enjoy my cooked dishes - must be love! :-)
My blood count steadily went up since I last wrote. The blood test last Friday confirmed that my body is ready for the next round of chemo. However, the doctor suggested that I have a bone marrow transplant instead - yikes! The doctor had said that she will only do a BMT if there is a perfect match, but now she's thinks the 90+% match that we now have is good enough. I did not like this change in her position. Apparently, the chances of getting a perfect match is getting slim, because they have gone through the best possible matches from the national registry. I am still not convinced that I should go through a BMT, especially when there is no perfect match for me, so here I am having my last round of chemo.
I am so excited about getting to the end of this journey that I have been planning our family celebration once this whole thing is over. We will have a short family vacation when the kids go on spring break to celebrate my healing. I also wish I could get on a private jet and visit everyone who have supported us during this journey. It will be so nice to personally thank all of you. Besides, that will be a great reason to travel the world! Now, that will be a journey I would totally enjoy! Okay, time to wake up...
I also spent much time these days reading up on how I can reduce the chances of having a relapse and how to live a healthier lifestyle. So far, it has been quite interesting, and shocking sometimes. Some of the things I read I have heard countless times from my mother - "Drink more water", "Eat your vegetables", "Go to bed early", "Be kind to yourself (I tend to overwork)", etc. I am blessed to have a mother who is health conscious. My father died when we were still young, and the thought of leaving 7 orphans behind should anything happen to her motivated her to keep herself healthy. Now, I find myself in a similar position. The thought of leaving my 2 little girls without a mother is motivation enough for me to live a healthier lifestyle.
Here are some of the things I learned. Since I am no expert, and even experts argue among themselves, please take all these with a grain of salt.
- Sleep 7 to 9 hours of sleep a day. For those who have a hard time falling asleep, keep the room dark and use natural sleeping aids such as valerian (named after me - ha! ha!), 5-HTP or melatonin. The quality of sleep before midnight is better - I forgot why.
- Drink water. How much? Our weight divided by 2 is the number of ounces we need each day.
- Avoid partially homogenized vegetable/soybean oil. This is a stinker! I didn't know how much of the food we're eating has this ingredient. With my family history of heart disease, I have replaced butter with margarine and real cream cheese with soy-based cream cheese. I have deprived myself of the real thing only to find out the replacement is actually worse. Partially homogenized oils are bad for the heart and can cause cancer - a double whammy! So, I am going back to the real thing, but just limit the consumption.
Oops! Time for bed. I will continue sharing what I have learned in my future blogs. Please pray that my chemo treatment will be uneventful - no nausea, mouth sores or other complications. Please also pray that my family and I will be protected from the flu and cold viruses, and that we will stay positive and happy.
Thank you for your continued prayers and may God bless you and your family!
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