Thriving & Celebrating Life...

Let's talk about Bum-Bum, Ehem!  Let's talk about Coffee Enema! I have struggled with sugar addiction, mood swing, and bloating most of my 30s and 40s. And with the never ending drugs and poison that are pumped into my body regularly, my liver suffers.  I get constipation too after chemo, so toxins are literally sitting in my colon and this affects my entire body. The coffee enema has been around since the 1940s and has endless applications for vibrant health. Palmitates in coffee increase the production of GST (glutathione s-transferese) by up to 700 times. These powerful free-radical-quenching enzymes assist your liver to more effectively detoxify your entire body, which in turn allows your body to function as it was created to, and to heal and recover from all health issues. If you do the research, you will find that many kinds of poisons, like pthalates from plastics, and heavy metals are very difficult to get out of the body. Not only that, but the toxic load in our bodi...

I have never been much of a morning person.  Not even an any day person hahah! But from the beginning of this cancer journey, Azwat pushed me to go out for a morning walk and inhale all the oxygen into the body.  His rationale is cancer can't exist in oxygen.  Makes sense to me. So this would be my routine: 6.00am: Wake up, stretch, day dream a little 6.30am:  Get up, Subuh prayer 7.00am: Get out and walk walk walk, minimum 30 mins.  Can't walk too long as I have to get ready for work.  I'll do longer on weekends. Pre-Covid times, I will walk to this nearby park - Taman Tar.  One round is 3km, up & down hill. Nice park with lots of trees, naughty monkeys and pet dogs.  I even met a pet goat once!  Every morning there will be a group of Tai Chi enthusiasts doing their thing.  Anyone can join them.  Sometimes I join them when I don't have the energy to walk. There were times I was able to run, and happily did 10km around the park....

One of the more glaring side effects from all the treatments I've had is skin breakouts on my face!  Arrrghhhh! I mean, I've never been super vain, but the breakouts was so bad.   Finally I went to see Dr Ting of Ting Laser & Skin Clinic in Jalan Imbi. I read and heard many good reviews on him.  Only thing is, the clinic doesn't do appointments.  It's only walk-ins.   The clinic opens at 8.30am.  I reached there at 8am, and OMG, the queue was already almost 800m long.  So, I got into the queue, once it opened I registered and was told to go for breakfast and back after 10am.  No choice, I need to see the doctor, so no quitting despite my inner protests.   Went to the mamak stall nearby, ate well, full and happy, walked back at 10plus and waited for another 40 mins and I finally met the legendary Dr Ting.   He was very thorough, even with countless patients seeing him.  I was impressed.  I told him my pre...

I got sick.  I think it was because of the tapering from steroids and reaction from the new chemo too. High fever, so had to be brought to the emergency despite my protests.  When I reached the hospital emergency, my temperature was 39C. Doctor that treated me informed that I will be administered antibiotics via IV through my chemo port. And I had to be admitted for the night for observation. While I was in the ward, my breathing worsened. I was unable to go to the bathroom without assistance. Getting there was like a battle, it felt like I have done a 500m sprint! And after awhile, Azwat had to carry me to the bathroom as I was unable to walk. And I was unable to breathe without oxygen too. It's so rapid!  A couple of days later with multiple blood taking for testing. The doctors still couldn't come up with any conclusion on why my condition is so bad.  At 4am of Christmas Eve, I couldn't breathe, even with highest oxygen level. The attending doctor said I must be b...

I was recommended to see Prof Ho Gwo Fuang in UMMC / UMSC to get into his Hyperthermia program. So I went to see him, lucky me as I managed to schedule an appointment with a few days after calling in.   During this period, my breathing was really bad.  I can't walk fast, can't even talk properly without panting.   So when I saw him, I had to tell him about my history, showed him all my scans.  But I did it so badly, as I panting at every word I said.  He looked at my scans and me, and told me I need to be treated for Lymphangitis Carcinomatosis, which basically means cancer has invaded all of lymphatic vessels of my lungs.  He said if I don't treat it now, in a week's time, I won't be able to function without oxygen tank.  And my days are numbered. So yeah, bad news for me.   Azwat said, let's take a leap of faith and go with the Prof.  So I said ok Prof, let's do it.  Let's go with your plan.  He said, ok, chemo star...

Not so good news... I have difficulty in breathing.  I can't walk fast or get excited or talk too loud, or I will be panting.  Went for a Pet scan and lung biopsy.  Bloody cancer has now traveled there.   I am now given steroids and inhaler. Don't like this development, I can't do things I like such as running, cycling or even laugh out loud! And Kadcyla has to stop, and I start new chemo regime - Gemzar & Carboplatin.  And another 10 rounds of radiotherapy  Sigh....

Managed squeeze in a short trip to Cameron Highlands.  I drove while Azwat cycled up. Crazy fella Enjoyed lots of strawberries, fresh cool air, scones, steamboat and a nice accommodation at the iconic Smokehouse Hotel.

Read this somewhere: Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone mar...

In a way I consider myself lucky.  Since young, I never really enjoyed any type of meat.  After being diagnosed with cancer, I read that I have to make sure my body is not acidic as cancer thrives in acidic environment. Meat is acidic.  So naturally, this is the one thing to avoid.  When I was going through chemotherapy, doctors and nurses' advise to me was I can eat anything I want, as I need the energy to fight this.  This is true, I do need the energy but this is also conflicted from what I know my body needs.  I know I can get the energy from a lot of sources other than meat, so I embarked on the no-meat diet from there on.  I doubled up vegetables and had some fish. The menu was simple in the beginning, as chemo killed my taste buds.  The only prominent taste that I could tolerate was sour.  It's not advisable to eat out, so I cooked myself mostly.  Having a typical Asian taste buds, my menu was like this: Brown Rice Porri...

A regular pet scan showed that the cancer has spread to different parts of my body.  To treat this, I changed to a new oncologist as she was very thorough with her plans to treat me. To fight this, I will be on Kadcyla targeted therapy for a long time.  As I am now a Stage 4 cancer patient, there isn't any cure but this treatment is to block the growth and spread of cancer, thus prolonging my life. Kadcyla (pronounced Kad-cy-la), also known as trastuzumab emtansine, is a targeted therapy for the treatment of advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.  This is given to patients that have already received treatment with other HER2 targeted therapies such as Herceptin and Perjeta. Basically Kadcyla is a combination of Herceptin and chemotherapy given as a single treatment. This type of treatment is called an antibody-drug conjugate.  I get Kadcyla every 3 weeks.  And, it's very expensive, even with the special patient assist program by Roche Pharmaceutical.  If I'm...

I went through 33 times radiation treatment.  No joke, it was 33 times - done daily from Monday to Friday. To go through it, I was given a tattoo at the place for the radiation to be targeted at.   The process radiation was super fast.  Everything happens within 30 mins from the moment I arrive, change to the hospital robe, lie down on the machine, stay still, done, change clothes and go.  30 mins tops! First week was easy peasy.  Didn't feel a thing. Second week, I felt tired and hot hot hot! Third week onwards I was seriously fatigued and slowly my skin burnt.   At the end, the pain was unbearable. I was juggling work while going through this.  It wasn't easy. Azwat brought me for a short trip to The Shorea after the end of radiation.  Beautiful place but I slept most of the time. 

I went through Axillary Dissection to remove the cancer cells under my armpit.   Doc removed 30 lymph nodes and 27 were cancerous.   I checked in the hospital on 1 May (labour day!), and surgery was the next day. The surgery took around 5 hours and I woke up with a bag hanging our of my wound to drain the blood.  I had to live with the bag for a week.   Discharged from the hospital after week, rested back home for a month.   I have to exercise my arm daily, and have to be extra careful forever as arm can develop "lymphoedema" anytime as my lymph nodes have been cleared. 

Food is something I love, more of a passion actually.  I love cooking, baking, experiment new recipes, enjoy feeding my family & friends and savour the taste.  Having cancer changed me.  This new chapter of my life has changed my eating habit tremendously. I have read books, blogs, watched youtube, listened to different doctors & nurses, other cancer thrivers, here's what I learnt. One thing to note.  Please eat regularly, do not skip meals.  Remember, you need lots of energy to fight! Sugar is off-limits Sugar feeds cancer.  One of the way to fight this is to starve cancer cells and the best is to cut sugar off completely.  Some say it can be substituted with honey, but it is debatable as honey is high in enzyme and natural sugar.  It is great for cancer prevention but once cancer has surfaced, avoid honey at all cost. Meat is a no-no Cancer thrives in acidic environment and meat is acidic.  It is important to avoid meat of a...

Everyone face different side effects after Chemotherapy.  Mine differs after every cycle. Here goes the list.  I am still going through my cycles, so the list will grow, I'm sure. Mouth ulcers.  Oh boy this is the one I hate.  It's painful even when I open my mouth.  Couldn't talk properly.  Luckily a friend recommended GelClair - a mouthwash specially formulated for cancer patients.  It worked like a charm!   Rashes - I have rashes all over my body.  It appeared bit by bit and one day you realize that they are everywhere!  Only way to overcome it is lots of patience and apply ointments diligently.  I also take drowsy anti-itch pills at night so I don;t spend the night scratching. Pimples - this one is bad for me, I never have pimples this much growing up, so it lowers down my self esteem a great deal.  But again, patience is the only friend I have. Hair loss - inevitable.  2 weeks after my first chemo, I play...

What do I bring to my chemo sessions?  A series of stuff! At least 2 litres of water to get me through the day. Some healthy munchies - steamed sweet potato, organic eggs and almonds will be good A thermos of green tea, this will calm you down A pair of cool socks, coz you might get the chills, and one should only wear cool stuff A nice comfy soft jacket A good book - you will have a lot of time to kill An iPad, or tab (with a good headphone) where you can watch a movie - you will have time for a movie  Lotion to keep your skin hydrated Lip balm - coz you want your lips to be hydrated and look good while pumping drugs into your body of course! A nice calming essential oil that you can smell - great if you have a necklace or bracelet diffuser.  I love Geranium, it makes me feel happy and I always have peppermint with me, just in case I feel nauseous (so far so good)    Wear comfy loose clothes A notebook and pen - so you can write whatever thoughts...

So here's the thing.  I'm afraid of needles.  Really really afraid.  Since I was a little girl.  The thought of having needles poked into me month after month with poison pouring into me gives me the creeps.  I am seriously not looking forward to this.  And I haven't even thought of the side effects!  Man, I have watched countless movies and all those movies with cancer in it is like a bloody horror stories!  And I have some experiences with cancer among people that are close to me.  I know what to expect. It's not going to be pretty. The morning of chemo, I had butterflies in my stomach.  I can't eat, can't drink, can't do anything. Walked into Oncology in a daze.  Saw other patients, all thin and bald.  Is this what I'll become?  The lady next to me was being poked for her chemo, and she screamed.  Seems that her veins have hardened due to the previous cycles of chemotherapy.  That freaked me out, man!  ...