Thriving & Celebrating Life...

Krabi is just magical!  I love that it's so close to Malaysia, only 1.5 hours flight and we're there! I've always wanted to go to Krabi, and she didn't disappoint me at all.  Everywhere I looked, simply breathtaking.  Food was amazing, massage of course great! Everyday I would buy fresh cut pineapple and just savour it.  We explored different islands and really, I am just amazed with the beauty. This is the one place I must go back.    

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...