A bit relax

Kids are on year end school holiday and I'm a bit relax for not having to drive them to and from school. They are now at their grandmother's in my hometown while my eldest is still struggling for her SPM. It's just the two of us at home, enjoying the privacy of our own home. A good therapy don't you think? :-)

I thought I'd have to present my progress at a colloquium tomorrow but that too will not happen as they are not able to slot me in. They are arranging a special one in January when my supervisor from UK will come down and visit me here. Still long way to go huh. In the meantime, I'd just continue with my current work, hoping to strike an idea on my next project.

We will be celebrating another Eid (for Haj) this Friday. This Eid will forever touch my heart as it reminds me of my own experience performing the Haj 11 years back. I have recently added a link to this blog by a guy who is working there and he is giving current updates on what's happening there. Few friends of mine are performing their Haj this year, at least I know what they are up to.

Other than that, I'm hoping to get the cendawan susu harimau (mushroom) from a friend. Recently my sister called to inform that the mushroom (or its scientific name Lignosus rhinocerus) can help cure BC. It's quite expensive though. I thought it should be as the mushroom is a scarce resource as it is believed that it grows on the spot where the tiger milk spilt. One has to go to the jungle to get it, of course risking his life too. But I heard in a recent biotech conference that they are trying to culture and mass produce the mushroom with the help of biotech. I hope it will materialize and by then, the mushroom would not be so expensive thus, there will be hope for cancer sufferer like me.

My green project is well on the way; yesterday I bought one more soursop small plant to be planted at my mum's. The seller assured that it will bear fruit in a year. So soon? I hope it's true! Since its now a rainy season, the brinjal seeds that I planted have grown and ready to be transfered to a bigger space. The asparagus seeds have not shown any sign of growing. I guess I have to get my supply of asparagus from the market huh :-)

All in all, I'm feeling great - having good appetite, good sleep and nothing to complain about. And for that, Alhamdulillah...

Chemical Hazard - Paracetamol

I'm having a bit of a period pain but I don't dare taking panadol, following an email that I received recently about the chemical hazard of paracetamol. Even doctors don't dare to take panadol when they encounter pain and resort to alternative medicine instead. Why? Because panadol is toxic and can damage our liver. Once taken, it stays in the body for at least 5 years! Huwwwwaaa, what have happened to all the medications that I have taken so far...

If you have migraine or headache, it is because of the imbalance of positive and negative ions in the brain cells. The remedy is to dilute 1:1 or 1:2 of an isotonic drink with water. For example, dilute a cup of isotonic drink with one or two cups of water and drink it. I have never tried it before and will experiment it when the need arises. I seldom get a headache as I'm wearing a magnetic bracelet and I guess it has sorted out the imbalance. Another tip is to soak the feet in warm water to let the blood flows to the feet.

Last week my friend called asking for suggestions for her unsettled flu/cough/asthma. Her chinese friends have asked her to go and get sengseh (chinese medicine) for that. I remembered an email of a chinese medication of swine flu. Since it is within the range of respiratory area, I suggested to her the star anise, the base formulation for tamiflu. Boil 9 star anise with 6 glasses of water in an earthern pot for 30-40 minutes, until 4 cups left. She called me again last Thursday, telling me of her experience. Being a bit more creative, she added ginger to the formula, and she is much better now. Jokingly, I asked her to add some curry, put some chicken into it, and there you go - ready to eat with rice :-)

Curry sounds tempting. My husband is on his way to a fishing trip again. Pray that he will get lots of fish this time so that we can have fresh fish head curry again as per picture below.

Yummy eh...

Diabetic is more serious than cancer?

I was watching MHI while having breakfast this morning. There was a session about diabetes to commemorate the world diabetic day this weekend. There were two invited speakers for the session and to my surprise, one of them mentioned that diabetic is more serious than cancer. Walla! At least there are more serious diseases than what I'm having now. So, why worry? I've never checked my insulin level, I hope it's still at a normal level. I know of a few friends who are diabetic. Well, I guess we have to take care of what we eat huh. I never knew that diabetic can affect the heart too, I thought it will only affect the eyes and the kidney, on top of cutting off fingers or foot when it turned black and can't be cured anymore.

Speaking of cutting, last Friday, I went to visit my friend who has recently been diagnosed with BC. The lump was quite big and since it is quite aggressive, she has no choice. It has been a month since the operation and her hand still felt tight. She is not able to drive a car just as yet because of that. The scar is also not a pleasant view and I felt my stomach squeezed by looking at it. As long as I can stand it, I'd rather go for alternatives and not put my self on the OT bed. That is really scary...

Happy birthday to me...

How young? Well, a man that I met while eating at a warung(eating place :-) last weekend thought that I was 35. What a compliment - I look 8 years younger! I told him my eldest is already 17 and he really didn't believe it.

I'm glad that I've reached this age so far and hoping that there will be many more years to come. Double the age? Who knows... My grandmother died at 80 plus, my mother is still alive at 72.

I've been reading birthday wishes from my friends in yahoogroup & FB and felt so touched reading each and every well wishes. TQ all for the birthday wishes.

What about present? None just as yet but every year, I do buy present for myself. This year I bought for myself a biokitchen compost, a product by biosense. It is actually a container that we can use to decompose our leftovers and with the help of catalyst, will turn the leftovers into fertilizer. The fertilizer will then be used to fertilize my plants. I plan to grow my own vegetables too and let's see whether it will materialize :-)

What does this have to do with my BC? Well, I read a link posted by a reader recently (http://www.squidoo.com/cancernocure) that it helps by not focusing on the cancer related issues. I'm diverting my focus to concentrate on overall health now - eat well, and enjoy life.

The focus and the thoughts should point to health, well-being and vitality, positive affirmation, nature, exercise and fun. Laughing increases the immune system activity immediately.

As for the follow up, the doctor referred me to a breast surgeon. I don't think I'll have the surgery - I ran away from one and I'm not going to volunteer for one now :-) Whether I have a surgery or not, the chances of recurrence are still there. I've experienced it before and I would not be that ignorant to notice any changes in my own body. After all, we are our own doctor.

Coming back to the link mentioned above, I like the ending part :

When we change our thinking, behavior, believe system and the way we treat ourselves and this planet, than there is a cure.

If you believe your disease is incurable, then it is incurable.
If you believe your disease is curable, then it is curable.

I definitely believe that this disease is curable, Insya'Allah...

Menstruating again

Just as I have expected, I'm menstruating again. I had the sign few weeks back and here it is, 5 mths after my last one. I thought I was going through a menopause already :-) Well, am I happy or sad about it? I'd be happy if the cancer cells are all gone and I would not have to go through the aging process too soon. I'd be sad if the cancer cells are still there. I'm ER positive and with the presence of estrogen, it really is badddd. I now have to double dose my lemon grass tea intake!

We'll just have to wait and see whether it's good or bad. My husband is getting the GL for me to go to the hospital soon. In the meantime, I'm tolerating with the backpain, it feels really weird...

HER2 negative ER positive

I went to the GP this morning to get a reference letter to go to the hospital. While waiting for my turn to see the doctor, I read again the report from my previous doctor. To my surprise, I found that my HER2 is actually negative and not positive as I thought so. What a relief! The estrogen receptor is positive which is also a good news. I'll have the endocrine treatment as ER positive will respond well to the anti-estrogen therapies. A quote from a website, "If you have an ER-positive cancer, you may respond well to tamoxifen, a drug that works by blocking the estrogen receptors on the breast tissue cells and slowing their estrogen-fuelled growth".

Well, it doesn't really matter actually whether I'm ER positive or negative as deep down I really hope that I wouldn't have to take any more drugs after this. In actual fact, I decided to go to the hospital just to check whether the cancer still exists. I came to know that a friend of mine, aged 38 with four kids, eldest 13 and youngest 2 has recently been diagnosed with BC and she just had her mastectomy recently.

Well, BC is quite common nowadays. Recent statistics, every 1 out of 14 women in this country are having it. The doctor that I met just now said his wife had it way back in 1996, had her mastectomy and chemo etc and is keeping herself busy, enjoying life. It's a matter of when you discover it and how you seek treatment for it...

Uric acid and urine

I was googling yesterday to find out why I am having this pain on the forefoot especially when I get up in the morning. My personal doctor, my hubby, suspected that it could be because of cold. The body heat is released through the feet when I sleep at night and he suggested that I wear stokings at night. I practise it although it really feels uncomfortable because it is hot here.

Although I wear stokings at night, the pain still exists. Could this be a sign of mild gout? I came across this blog about treating gout and discovered another indicator that is really useful. Gout is caused by a lot of uric acid in the body and it is washed away through the urine. And the indicator is when the urine looks bubbly, it shows that the body has lots of uric acid. Since then, I have been watching my urine to see whether it's bubbly or not :-). My first observation showed that it is not. Coming back to the treatment of gout, the author suggests to drink 2 liters of water everyday. I guess I should drink more water from now on. I used to drink 8 glasses of water in the morning 10 years back, got the idea from circulated emails about water treatment, believed to cure all diseases. I remember I had to stop by at the LRT station everyday to pee before boarding the LRT to go to work in KL.

Drinking lots of water seems like an easy thing to do. I should unpack my ionizer to ionize my drinking water as well. Double the effect, I hope the pain will go away. I probably will try misai kucing tea too, in addition to what I'm taking now. These anti oxidants will certainly be good to cure the cancer...