Life must go on

Previous entries were about friends' passing and infact two more losses along the way since my previous post - my tafsir ustaz passed away because of liver cancer and quite recently arwah Afzal of hogdkin's lymphoma. Al-Fatihah to both.

Those who are gone, are surely gone, we will follow suit, only Allah knows when. For those alive, life must go on...

I'm doing perfectly fine, a bit busy with my PhD work, hoping to finish off soon.

While being busy, I never fail to take a break. We drove down to JB during the third weekend for our friend's wedding. Met some friends, most of them plummer than before :-) Too much of good Malaysian food eh!

Had few chances of fishing too, caught a few too.

Al-Fatihah to my primary school friend

Another friend passed away last weekend of BC. She was my ex-primary school friend and I haven't seen her since I left primary school. I got the news from my ex-classmate, had I known earlier, I would have gone and visit as I was at my hometown during the weekend. My friend has no idea of when arwah was diagnosed with BC. All the she knew, arwah has no kids of her own and had three adopted children.

Thinking of arwah, I'm thankful of what I have - I have the facilities as well as the knowledge as to how to make myself better - my ceragem, my internet and the things that I could afford to buy or to consume.

I have started taking the apricot seed that my sister bought from MAHA last week. It doesn't taste that bad although it's a bit bitter, I can just snack the seeds around 5 at a go, several times a day. So far so good, no throbbing feeling. On top of it, last week I brought the ragi for tapai, and so happen my mum's ubi kayu or carsava is ready for harvest, and I now have plenty of tapai ubi to enjoy...

Will be going back to my hometown again this weekend, hunting for jelawat. My husband has learned a technique to catch the fish last weekend and eager to try it this weekend. In the meantime, I should go and finish off my work, my supervisor is visiting this Wednesday...

Al-Fatihah to my friend's sis

My friend sent me a text this morning to inform about her sister who passed away last Friday of BC stage 4. I blogged about her last April, apparently she did not last long even though she had several series of chemo, as the cancer has spread to her lung. Few days prior to her death, she was on oxygen support.

One of her daughters is now suspected of having an active cancer cells as there is a lump in her breast. Wow, this is kind of scary! Maybe I should review my current condition. As for my latest alternative treatment, so far it has not shown any drastic improvement yet. But the scanning method has found other problems on other organs which I presume if it is not treated would be the next target for my cancer cells. Those are the thyroid, upper back, large intestine and my gallbladder which has shrunked. I'm not surprised as way back in my early years, I often had pain at the abdomen - wind, gastrics and of related. Hopefully by six months all of these will be cleared through this alternative treatment. As for my Qur'an recital, it's at Juz 28 now, quite a speed as my best record was when I was performing my Haj.

Talking about Haj, another friend of mine has just returned from performing her Haj and she brought back for me Morhabshi (Myrrh) - never heard of if but as I googled, I found that there is a therapeutic value of it too. Known as kemenyan bunian to the malays, more info copied here from wiki:

“Myrrh is the dried oleo gum resin of a number of Commiphora species of trees. Like frankincense, it is produced by the tree as a reaction to a purposeful wound through the bark and into the sapwood. The trees are bled in this way on a regular basis. The principal species is Commiphora myrrha, which is native to Yemen, Somalia, and the eastern parts of Ethiopia.”

How do I take it? I can either swallow a tiny bit (the size of pepper seed) or mix a raisin size of Morhabshi into hot water and drink when it's cooled. Since it’s available already, I should give it a try, who knows it would be good for me as I strongly believe that everyone has a unique chemical reaction in his or her body; what works on me may not work on you and vice versa.

Somebody left a comment on my blog, pointing to videos of treating cancer with vitamin C. I am tempted to try too. The vitamin C is infused directly into the vein for the body to generate hydrogen peroxide which is believed to kill that cancer cells. As I googled, over here, vit C treatment is often used for better skin complexion and for having glowy appearance. Maybe I should try this too. I can get two effects at one time – kill the cancer cells and have a glowy complexion as well :-)

I have yet to try the apricot kernel, the source of B17 which can also cure cancer. Yesterday I accidentally watch the repeat of Halal Bio on Astro Oasis about the B17. Well, could this be a sign for me to take the B17? I’ve been wanting to go to MAHA to get a good deal of the apricot kernel, so far has not materialized. Actually we tried to visit MAHA last Sunday but the crowd was unbelievable and we ended up in Putrajaya. I have one more chance to go tomorrow but then again, my supervisor is coming for a visit next week and I have lots to prepare for the meeting…

Alhamdulillah, another birthday…

A bit uneasy about the number? 44 or “Si Si” in chinese language means mati or dead. Too early an age to die eh? Not too soon I hope. Don’t know how true or sahih it is, but as long as we can recite the At-Taubah ayat 128-129, it’s not time for malaikat maut to get us yet. Got this from one of the comments on friend’s FB.

I’m on an alternative spiritual (prayer) treatment at this moment – on top of the zikir, it will be more effective if I could recite the whole Qur’an within 10 days. The race is on, and for this whole week, I’m working from home so that I can complete my mission. Long way to go, as I have just reached Juz 8…

Kids are not schooling today as they are off for Deepavali. The little ones are busy drawing cards for me, the boy is out looking for a gift for me and the big sister is busy in the kitchen baking cake. What a nice feeling, having someone to bake a cake for me during my birthday.

So far no news yet about the seabuckthorn that I enquired. Maybe the softgel is not suitable for muslim’s consumption anyway. Well, there are certainly other alternatives. I read in a self-healing book recently, that the bombay onion (the yellow onion) can cure cancer too. Since my PET/CT scan has detected some kind of activity at the thyroid gland, I read the book again to see the cure for it and so happen the cure is the same as for cancer which is to drink a (Turkish tea) glass (or equivalent to an eggcup full) of the yellow onion juice in the morning and evening for forty days. I have bought the Bombay onion but have no guts to try it out yet. I don’t know whether I could stand the after taste of it :-)

I’m also interested to try the boiled mixture drink of dukung anak, susu kambing, satung and cendawan susu rimau that Dr H wrote in her blog recently. I can’t find those plants to boil yet except for the cendawan susu rimau. I was googling on the satung and came across herbs by khasiat bumi prepared by the orang asli of which among the ingredient are cendawan susu rimau and satung. Since it’s now a rainy season, the product is out of stock. Looking forward to it and hope that it will be available soon. They also produce the herbs for slimming which I would love to try too. Being overweight is the culprit, inviting variety of sickness, so, stay slim my friends…

Results of my medical check up

A year has passed since my last check up and it's time to visit the hospital again to see my progress. I had an appointment with the oncologist last Monday, had my mammogram and ultra sound in the afternoon. One thing good about private hospital, we get to know the result there and then. Based on the report, sadly to say, the cancer is still there, slightly bigger than the last year's.

I was scheduled for a PET/CT scan on Tuesday, reached the Nuclear Medicine & PET/CT Centre slightly before 8.00 am. The reason why I was scheduled this early is the the FDG (Fluorodeoxyglucose) or radioactive glucose that they injected in prior to a PET/CT scan has a timeline and decays every minute. When I reached there, I'm quite dissappointed to know that the FDG has not arrived yet as the delivery man was stuck in the jammed!

While waiting, I had a chat with a lady who was schedule for a PET scan, the fourth time since she was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was quite curious because she doesn’t look like a smoker at all, the husband and the rest of the family don’t smoke neither and yet she got it. She said, there was no sign at all, she seldom had cough or anything with regards to the lung. It was diagnosed when she had high fever, could not walk and the doctor did every test possible until they found the cancer at her lung. She had series of chemos already and the PET scan was to see the progress of it. Pray that she will be free from it, she was such a nice lady.

Back to my story, the FDG arrived at around 9.15 am. Prior to the scan, I had my blood tested for glucose and happy to know that my fasting blood glucose was 4.2 mmol/l. Soon after, the FDG was injected, and I had to rest on bed for almost an hour to let it settled. Lasix was also given to force me to pass urine. I made 3 trips to the restroom, wondering where the urine come from as I had only a glass of plain water in the morning :-)

The low dose 64-slice PET/CT scan went smoothly in a few minutes, though I felt longer as I had to stay still with my arms stretched upward, my muscles still sore because of the weekend activity - too much of swimming at the pool in PD :-) Glad that it’s finally over and I had sandwiches and a glass of milo as a treat.

On the next day, I had the PET/CT scan result. I’m really pleased to know that the cancer has not spread to other parts of the body. What a relief! It means whatever I have done to control it from spreading, works. I just need to do a little bit more of work to totally get rid of it. Certainly not another round of chemo and certainly not a surgery. I’ve seen the sufferings of friends having surgery and I cannot bear the thought of having one myself.

The PET/CT scan also detected some activity in the thyroid gland. I’m not surprised as my sisters, one is having hyperthyroid and another one is having a hypothyroid. Frankly, I don’t have the symptoms of hyper or hypo. Of course I need to go for more test to determine mine but I’m not ready to do it at this instance. I began to research on this and found out about Sea Buckthorn oil, believed to help cure many kinds of diseases. Tempting to try and the only drawback is that it comes in a softgel. I’m now contacting the manufacturer to find out what the softgel is made of and whether it is suitable for muslim’s consumption.

All in all, having a PET/CT scan is a worthwhile experience. I understand that it’s not easy to have this luxury as the procedure is quite expensive and to have it at the government hospital, of course the queue is very long. I also get to keep the report with some scanned images printed, as well as on CD. It is interesting to know what’s happening in my body. Hopefully the radiation was really low and did not harm my body...

The song that keeps me going...

It is for the rest of my life, specially dedicated to me by my hubby :-) The lyrics as per below. Coincidently, Maher Zain is on air (on IKIM) at the point of writing.

I praise Allah for sending me you my love
You found me home and sail with me
And I`m here with you
Now let me let you know
You`ve opened my heart
I was always thinking that love was wrong
But everything was changed when you came along
OOOOO

And theres a couple words I want to say

Chorus:
For the rest of my life
I`ll be with you
I`ll stay by your side honest and true
Till the end of my time
I`ll be loving you.loving you
For the rest of my life
Thru days and night
I`ll thank Allah for open my eyes
Now and forever I...I`ll be there for you

I know that deep in my heart

[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/for-the-rest-of-my-life-lyrics-maher-zain.html ]

I feel so blessed when I think of you
And I ask Allah to bless all we do
You`re my wife and my friend and my strength
And I pray we`re together in Jannah
Now I find myself so strong
Everything changed when you came along
OOOO

And theres a couple word I want to say

*Repeat Chorus

I know that deep in my heart now that you`re here
Infront of me I strongly feel love
And I have no doubt
And I`m singing loud that I`ll love you eternally

Repeat Chorus

I know that deep in my heart..

Everyone in the family loves his songs...TQ Maher Zain!

Fasting month is over, Syawal is here

Fasting month went in a bliss, the highlight being the last ten days of Ramadhan. We had the chance to perform tarawikh at Masjid Al-Falah where the jemaah had two imported imams from Mesir, reciting the whole Qur'an during prayers. The khatam doa was performed during the last witir (qunut)of the 27th Ramadhan, and guess how long we stand up for it - 20 minutes :-) You could imagine how we kneal down after the doa. On the night of the 29th, we had another imam from Mesir, the guru of the two imported imams. He was on holiday and was kind enough to lead the last tarawikh for the month. We had another round of 20 minutes of doa during witir... I'm very thankful to have experienced another Ramadhan since I was diagnosed, and I hope I'll get to see more Ramadhans in the future, Insya'Allah...

My BP reading was really good during Ramadhan. What does that imply? Maybe I should fast real often even if it's not a fasting month. My immediate action is to pay back what I missed during Ramadhan and continue with the 6 days sunat Syawal. I also plan to fast every Monday and Thursday and every 13th,14th and 15th of the muslim calendar month. Hopefully I can lose some weight that I have regained during Syawal. My BMI is over the normal range and I need to shed a few kgs to get my ideal weight.

Hari raya was celebrated rather moderate. This year the kids had quite a long school break and we spent most of the time in our hometown. As usual, we visited our relatives, eat lots of ketupat, lemang and rendang as well as raya cookies. I don't really control what I ate as I ate whatever I please. To counter that, I have my baking powder & honey every morning and night, and not forgetting, my mahkota dewa tea everyday.

Latest picture taken during first raya, on the way to my auntie's house. Compliments that I had while visiting relatives - I look a lot younger than my hubby eventhough we are of the same age :-) I guess the extra virgin olive oil has shown its effect, on top of the daily massage on my ceragem. When the blood flows well, and every organ is functioning well, it shows on the face. Put a lot of smiles on it, I sure look a lot younger than my age :-)

Fasting and treating cancer

I'm back at home sweet home, embracing Ramadhan with the family. A little bit better, 13 hours compared to 17 hours in the northern hemisphere :-)

I was wondering on the relation between fasting and cancer - will it be good in treating cancer? We are not allowed to eat or drink anything from dawn to dusk, will it be good in starving the cancer cells? Well, here is what I found out.

Available scientific evidence does not support claims that fasting is effective for preventing or treating cancer.
Practitioners of a type of alternative therapy called metabolic therapy (see Metabolic Therapy) believe the body contains environmental toxins and other harmful substances that can be removed by fasting or detoxifying the body. They claim that fasting allows the body to focus energy on cleansing and healing itself. According to these practitioners, fasting helps the immune system work more efficiently, allows more oxygen and white blood cells to flow through the body, helps the body to burn more fat, helps increase energy, and allows other healing functions to improve. Some supporters claim that fasting by a person who has cancer can "starve" a tumor, leading to cell death.


My personal opinion, it feels really good to fast, so as to relax the stomach for a month. I have done it since I was six and I don’t see any problem in it. In fact, I’m pleasantly surprised that I don’t have any gastric pain even though I had 17 hours of fasting when I was in the UK. Could this be the after effect of the chemo? I notice that I can really eat hot food like cili padi and didn’t encounter any stomach ache or anything. Could it be that the new cells developed have improved my whole body system? Well, I should be really thankful for it :-)

I have one more question that is lingering in my mind – about the dates (kurma) that we often have during iftar. I usually have like 3 to 7 of it during breaking off the fast. It is good in that it will increase the sugar level. But isn’t it food for the cancer cells too? Well, to counter it, I’d have my baking powder and honey during iftar, this will certainly distress my cancer cells :-)

This Ramadhan month is the month of rebuilding our spiritual strength. I haven’t had the chance to join the crowd at the masjid yet. My husband is working and the kids are schooling, so we decided to have or tarawikh prayer at home instead. Day and night I pray that the BC will not recur and I’d be able to live my life to the fullest, amin…

Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

Travelling 10,000km to UK was a fruitful one. On top of conference & PhD work, I had a chance to share my experience at Helwa gathering in Sheffield, during their Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign.

Sheffield is around an hour drive from Nottingham, and last Saturday, my friend drove my there with the help of Tom Tom. Their Helwa group is an active one, with participants more that 20. I'm glad that I could share my experience with them. They were very responsive in terms of probing whatever they need to know about BC. A few worried that they might have the symptom, and my message to them was - get it diagnosed. The sooner we know about it the better.

We had a medical doctor as well in the panel. Hopefully the group got our message - be aware of your body, do self-examination often, eat lots of food which contain anti-oxidants, eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, manage stress, have enough sleep and the most important thing - be happy :-)

Busy juggling

It has been three months since my last post. I am perfectly fine; a bit busy though, juggling with my glass balls. Earlier on busy with cousins’ and neice’s weddings, daughter entering foundation and of late, mum admitted to the hospital for heart problem.

It’s obvious for bloggers, when the blog is not updated for quite some time, one might think that the blogger has moved to another world. It was what happened to the blog that I have always followed – one breast bouncing, am so touched with the demise of the blogger early this week, Innalillah and rest in peace D, you will always be remembered.

Rest assured, I’m perfectly fine; if I’m not, I could not be driving/admitting my mum to the hospital on emergency at the wee hours of the morning – 3.00 am in the morning! I’ve been commuting to the hospital everyday for almost a month now and of course my BP goes up from time to time but I’m monitoring it and taking whatever is necessary to reduce it – hempedu bumi, mahkota dewa and soursop. As far I can stand, I won’t take the modern medicine for fear that I might end up on the same bed at the same hospital as my mum. She is actually diagnosed with tachy-brady syndrome, her natural pacemaker has gone haywire, causing her heart to beat slowly at times, and very fast at other times and sometimes stops for a few seconds. She had an artificial pacemaker installed and in a recovering mode, hopefully be discharged soon. I made my own conclusion that she had too much of medications – for her BP, osteoarthritis, and constant abdominal pain which I guess affects certain function of her heart.

About my cancer, I don’t even feel any throbbing at any parts of my body anymore. My recent discovery – baking powder and honey, has helped controlling it. I ever post in my blog last year that an alternative cure for it is baking powder and the usual practice is to inject it to the lump. Recently I came to know that some consume it by mixing it with maple syrup. Since I don’t have maple syrup here, I replace it with my tualang honey. Every morning I’d mix once teaspoon of honey to a mug of plain water, and add a quarter teaspoon of baking powder to it, stir it well and drink it. Cancer cells are anaerobic, they cannot live in a rich oxygen condition. By taking honey and baking powder, initially the cancer cells are happy to receive the sweets (from the honey) but the oxygen from baking powder will certainly destroy the cancer cells.

My mum’s recent experience has triggered that I need to take care of my heart too. I had an email recently about the alternative treatment to keep our heart healthy. One cup of lemon juice, once cup of garlic, one cup of ginger, and one cup of apple vinegar, mix them together and heat them up on a moderate heat for half and hour. When it is cooled, mix it with 3 cups of honey, keep it in a bottle and take one tablespoon before breakfast. If there is any blockage, it will certainly clear off. No need for angiography or bypass. Infact, I met my colleague at the hospital who has just had her angiogram and her heart is clear. Two months back she was admitted for short breath and she tried this alternative treatment on top of her Transfer factor and Q10. Don’t know which one makes her heart better, but if there is a cheaper option, why waste…

Below is my latest pic, with my mum. Do I look healthy? I'm and it's the mindset that I should put in, as I'll be flying off to UK soon for conference. Fasting month is around the corner and I'm really looking forward to it!

Get an early diagnosis

I had lunch with my long lost friend last Friday. She has been wanting to see me because her sister has BC. Indirectly, I have become a point of reference when friends and families are diagnosed with BC :-) I'm not a master in it but at least I could provide some advice based on my own experience.

Surprisingly, my friend's sister has not been formally diagnosed before. The symptoms are there but somehow, she did not go and get it diagnosed until recently she had severe back pain that my friend took her to a private hospital to get it diagnosed. Initially they plan for a biopsy to get her referred to a government hospital for further treatment. I then suggested that she went for a CT scan just to know how extensive the cancer has spread. So sorry for them that the cancer cells have spread to her lung and back bones, positioning her at stage 4. She is now awaiting appointment for a chemo. I write about this as a reminder to us - when we suspect something, go and get it diagnosed. The sooner we get treatment be it conventional or alternative, ensures better survival rate.

To those who are wondering on how I have been doing, I'm doing fine with the treatment that I'm currently on. Messaging on the ceragem everyday really helps, I have no complaint on my overall health at this moment. The flow of my qi is excellent but I guess my muscles are not that firm. Last Friday I bought for myself a new goggle and I plan to resume my swimming right after office. With my schedule and the pool's timetable (for ladies), I figure I can swim on Tuesday and Friday. It's enough for an exercise as too much exposure to the clorin is not good for me.

Can't wait to dip in the pool and I hope I can still float. With both original b*****, I certainly won't look odd in my swimming suit...

Goat's milk - regenerating the cells of the body

I recently bought goat's milk for my Morquio children (further info at www.adninaqilah.blogspot.com) following suggestion from a book on natural medicine that I have been reading. The book says for children who don't grow, give them bone-marrow soup to eat and sheep's milk to drink.

While browsing the brochure on goat's milk, I came across one of the benefits of goat's milk and to my surprise, it says, "membantu mengubati kanser..." (helps treating cancer). I was a bit skeptical about it because all this while I thought dairy products can cause cancer and have been avoiding it since. I then sent an email to the company for further clarification. They replied that it doesn't apply to goat's milk as the structure and contents are different from cow's milk. For further info - www.abundalife.com/goats.asp. Since my recent blood test notes that I lack of potassium, I decided to try goat's milk. Besides, it's convenient for me as it comes in sachet, I just need to empty a sachet into a mug and add warm water to it. Walla!

I have added a link on this blog if you would like to give it a try. Frankly, I have no intention on making good money out if it. I've promised myself not to get involved in any direct selling until I finish my study :-) I joined because I'm mostly infront of my computer, and it's convenient for me to order online for my kids' and my consumption.

Linking this to my previous post, I would not try the method of transfering the illness to the goat but instead I consume the produce of a goat...

Conventional or alternative?

When one is diagnosed with cancer, the most important thing is to get a cure for it, the best treatment possible so that life can be prolonged. Some will opt for the conventional treatment; going for surgery, chemo, and radiation. Some will opt for alternative treatment; ubat kampung as we malay say it. Well, which one is better? I'd say it depends on our own personal choice. We human is given the power to choose; and we have the right to decide which is the best for us. After all, we are the one who is taking the risk and consequences during or after the treatment.

There is no right or wrong in choosing the conventional or the alternative. Once again, it's a matter of preference. Personally, I have experienced both and I don't say that conventional treatment is not good; the four doses of chemo that I had must have done its good in shrinking the lump and probably get rid of millions of my cancer cells. I decided on continuing on alternative which has brought me to the state as I'm at the moment.

I'm currently reading a book on self-healing - use the mind to heal the body. I quote herewith caption from the foreward by the publisher, who had vagina cancer and cured in six months using the power of the mind to heal the body :

"I can make suggestions and I can definitely explain what worked for me, but ultimately each individual has to take full responsibility for their selves and know that the course they have chosen is the best one for them".

Part of the healing is the prayer that we put forward to God. There are times when we go and seek alternative treatment that the Kiyai put forward the prayer for us. There was a little dispute over this in our yahoogroup as such, it's better that we ourselves pray for our own recovery. Personally I see there is nothing wrong with getting someone else to pray for us. No doubt it's better for us to ask from God ourselves but I do get my friends to pray for me especially when they go for their Haj or performing for Umrah.

Well, actually we can practically do anything to heal ourselves. The most important thing is the belief that whatever treatment that we go for, will do us good. This morning I got a lead from a collegue that there is a Kiyai in Indonesia who does a treatment by transfering the sickness to a goat! Cool isn't it? Well, let me try first and will feedback on this later...

B17 to fight cancer

I was watching Halal Bio on Astro Aosis this morning and the story was about vitamin B17 to fight cancer. Don't I have other things to do other that watching TV! Well actually it was my breakfast time and I usually have it infront of the TV.

I've never heard about vitamin B17 before and having followed the TV program and googling myself when I reach office, I found that vitamin B17 can be found in raw uncooked food. Ranges of food high in vitamin B17 (captured from the internet); Fruits Range - wild blackberry, choke cherry, wild crabapple, Swedish (lignon) cranberry. Seeds Range - apple seeds, apricot seed, cherry seed, nectarine seed, peach seed, pear seeds, plum seed, and prune seed. Nuts (all raw) Range - bitter almond, macadamia. Sprouts Range - bamboo (to my surprise!). Leaves Range - alfalfa, eucalyptus. Tubers Range - cassava (don't know what it is), sweet potato and yams (low).

As for the berries, it's hard to find here unless I live in Cameron Highlands. As for the seeds range, I can find them at the supermarket - next time when we buy apple, eat the seeds as well :-)

Notice that the range of fruits are all grown in western countries. I wonder if there are scientists here doing research on our ulam-ulam to find out the amount of B17 vitamins in our ulam-ulam. If there is, I really like to find out. In the meantime, since B17 is found in uncooked raw food, I should load myself with more ulam-ulam. At present I always have some together with my rice. It's even easier at home as we grow some in our garden. Everytime we have our meal we just pluck some - proven insecticides and pesticides free :-)

In most of the sites that I surf, they are telling about apricot seed or kernel to fight cancer. Some sites do sell the seeds and those in capsule form too. As usual, it's really tempting to try. But I have yet to see the effectiveness of the cendawan susu rimau that I've been taking. Who knows this cendawan might have loads of B17 too :-)

On another note, while I'm on a remission, my elder sister recently found a lump on her breast. I have advised her to go and see the doctor to get the diagosis. It could be or could not be cancerous. As usual she is worried to learn the result and ask for my advise on the cure for it. I gave her the contact number of the organopathy doctor. I wonder if she has already called up the doctor...

What a hassle

I went to a government hospital yesterday to visit my friend who has just delivered a baby. Since I've been wanting to go to that particular hospital to get my blood tested for BRCA, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

While waiting for the visiting hours, I went to the counter to enquire about the procedure if I want to get my blood tested. They told me that I can't simply do the test as it must be ordered by a doctor. Well, I should then book for an appointment to see a doctor. Believe it or not, the nurse wouldn't book me an appointment just because I did not bring any reference letter! She said it's their policy and they have to comply with it. So much so about ISO! In malay the appropriate abbreviation for it is Ini Susahkan Orang. What a hassle, to book an appointment we have to bring in a letter of reference, then, come back the next time for the appointment, then come back in the next few month to get the result. If someone is dying, he or she might be dead the minute the result is out! Well I'm not that patient and as long as I have other options I will not set foot at the hospital again for a treatment unless I'm dying and somebody else admits me there :-)

I'm pretty sure my blood pressure shot up at the hospital yesterday and am pretty sure it subsided the minute I saw my friend with her new baby. She was a tiny baby at around 2.5kg and reminded me of Aina who coincidently accompanied me to the hospital. We had a good chat, talking, gossipping and laughing, you could imagine how havoc it was since I have not met her since I left the UK.

What an experience I had yesterday...There is also a good thing happened though, while I was waiting for the GL from my employer, I came across a phamplet about khairat kematian for staff, and I fill in the form on the spot to allow them to deduct RM2 of my monthly salary for it. It is actually a compensation scheme meant for the beneficiary incase we died. As to date, for every death, they are able to give away RM23,000, quite a lot of money eh! I'm lucky to be in an organization with thousands of employees and to date, the participation for this scheme is approaching 20,000. If you are reading and you happen to be in the same organization, feel free to join as we never know when we will die and little compensation for our loved ones when we are gone will certainly help...

Live life to the fullest

My latest pic - with toman that my son caught..

It has been a year since I was diagnosed with BC. I’m glad and thankful that I’m still in one piece, living life to the fullest. I’m really lucky to have discovered it at an earlier stage, giving ample time for me to decide what’s the best treatment for me.

Looking back, what I have done to combat this BC has really shown it’s positive result. Although I have not done any test to proof that I’m cancer-free, my state of health proves that I’m a survivor. I don’t really care whether the cancer cells still exist, after all everyone of us has the cancer cells in our body. It’s a matter of how we control it so that it will not do any harm to our body which in the end, affects the quality of our lives.

I have tried modern medicine as well as alternative. Personally, I prefer the alternative as it’s less painful. As I have experienced, the after effect of my chemo was not that bad compared to others. But four doses were ENOUGH for me and I’m glad that when I get back here, I did not go to the hospital to continue my treatment. Before I left, the doctor was worried that the lump will re-grow and insisted that I go for further treatment. I’m glad that I did not follow his advise and follow my intuition instead. I’m thankful that the chemo that I had has shrunk the lump and the only side effect that I encountered was loosing my hair. Well, I have a new set of hair now, bushier that before :-)

Based on my research, I found that cancer strikes when the body lacks the immune system. Back then, with less intake of vitamins and minerals and in addition to stress and less water intake (coz’ it’s cold), my cancer cells grew happily. But now, I make sure that I strengthen my immune system and it seems the black seed oil, the extra virgin olive oil, the cendawan susu rimau and ocassional hempedu bumi are capable of doing so.

Cancer cells cannot survive in a state where there are loads of oxygen. I now drink lots of plain water to make sure that my cells get the oxygen needed. On top of that, I massage my body everyday using the ceragem to ensure that the qi flows smoothly; same effect as qi gong :-). Early in the morning, I spend a few minutes in my garden, breathing in and out deeply, infront of my plants that I purposely let them grow bushy. At this point of time, my scented flowers like kasidang and kenanga are blooming, providing a natural aromatherapy for me.

I still drink my lemon grass tea everyday to kill the cancer cells. At times I eat the soursop when I get the supply. If not, I just drink the soursop juice. During this hot weather, I usually have the frozen one, we call it ais krim batang.

The serenity of one of my fishing spot that is simply breathtaking...

Remembering this first anniversary, I pray that I'll be forever healthy and live long to see all my children grow until they are all independent...

Health screening

I went for health screening yesterday. Since it's close to a year anniversary of me being diagnosed with BC, I thought I'd check to see my progress. Avoiding hassle, I just went to our health center at the university. It turned out that they have a very basic health screening process - just checking for cholesterol, blood sugar, renel function, liver function and ECG. I was hoping for BRCA test but no, they are not that advanced yet. I still have to make my way to the hospital for the test.

The doctor initially checked for my blood pressure. True enough - my blood pressure shot up again. She said it's too high that I would have been on medication already. I told her that I constantly check my BP at home and infact I record the reading everytime I check it. My BP at rest is always normal. This made me to conclude that my anxiety rises when I go to hospitals or any health centers. It's the last place where I want to be :-)

The blood result was ready after lunch. I'm quite pleased to receive the result; everything seems ok. White blood count and haemoglobin each is at the normal range, blood sugar is normal, cholesterol is a little bit high but is packed with HDL, the good cholesterol :-) This must be the result of my extra virgin olive oil intake! What it means? It means that chances of having cardiovascular disease is reduced because the HDL particles carry cholesterol away from the arteries back to the liver. On the other hand, the bad LDL carries the particles from the liver and deposit it in the arteries where it causes atherosclerosis and plaque build up. So to those who are reading, would you consider taking the extra virgin olive oil? I have it one tablespoon in the morning and one tablespoon at night. My ECG is also normal and I hope it will continue that way - I don't want to die of heart attack :-)

The result of my urine is a bit unpleasant as the doctor said it's a bit dirty and advised me to drink a lot of plain water. I've been fasting since 10 pm the night before, that must be the cause of it being dirty. I'm a heavy plain water drinker and infact during this extremely hot weather, drinking lots of plain water is something that can't be avoided. But of course, I would have to make frequent visits to the ladies :-)

Other than that, the renal profile, to find out what's happening in the kidney, showed an ok result except for potassium which is a bit low. Well, it's time to load myself with lots of bananas! And I'm a monkey in the making :-)

I guess the reason why I opted for a health screening was because my husband had his just recently. His result is all alright except that the doctor found lots of diamonds in his bile. If it's a real diamond, I would be a happy rich lady! In actual fact, he has bile stones. I wonder if there is an alternative medicine for it. I don't advise him to go for a surgery mainly because I don't want my blood pressure to shoot up - ha ha ha :-) The fact that I'm a bit worried that the after effect of it, his system will go haywire and he has to really watch out his food intake. I welcome any suggestions on herbs or remedy incase you have any.

On another note, today is our 19th wedding anniversary. Time really flies and it has been 19 years already. Hoping to see the number doubled...

Go fishing

I find it hard to write in this blog lately with my busy schedule and deadlines to meet! The meeting with my supervisor went on smoothly and he was glad to see me looking well. Thank God, I'm feeling good - no complain about health; I have a good appetite, I sleep like a log, I'm enjoying myself, do whatever I please, and go wherever I want. Certainly, I'm not that bad compared to others.

My title might sound a bit fishy but yes, that's what I'm doing every weekend. Usually on Sunday morning just after our morning prayer, we go fishing at Lake Kemendol, around 20 minutes drive from our home. It's not easy to get there as we have to walk a few terrains to get to the lake. My husband thought that it would be a good exercise for me too. True enough I sweat a lot! It's quite tough to catch the fish because they are wild and frankly, I have never strike any. So far, I only caught the small fish which ended up in our aquarium. Even that has a therapeutic value too by looking at the fish swimming. Try it out!

My friend emailed me an article on organopathy, an alternative medicine to cure BC. I have never heard of it before but through the reading, they claim that lots of people have been cured even at a later stage especially those who haven't gone for surgery yet. I google to find out more about it, unfortunately, I can't find any testimony about it. Well, it's worth trying. But the problem is, the clinic in up north and it's quite far from my place. Maybe I can give the doctor a call and explain my situation and see if my friend could pick up the medicine for me.

Other than that, I plan to see an alternative practitioner who use verses from Al-Qura'an as a healing method. I saw him practising it on TV - Astro Oasis (Penawar Syifa'), read his website too and found that he is our senior when I was in secondary school. Talking about my secondary school, today happpens to be our 31st anniversary joining the school. Looks like I only blog on special occassions lately; the previous date was my daughter's birthday. I'll write again on my wedding anniversary soon...

First entry for 2010

Thankful to see 2010! I’m quite busy at this moment as my supervisor is coming to visit me on the 25th. Well, let’s just say that I’m taking a little break :-)

My friend called me this morning, reporting of her gastric pain; she can’t eat anything and when she can, she would have to go to toilet soon after. I teased her that she only called when she’s having pain and needing advice. Few entries back, I was writing about her having asthma and what I advised has really worked on her. Well, well, well, I’m a doctor in the making! Just kidding – maybe a point of reference. I remembered of an email about rice water and since it has to do with the digesting system, I recommended her to try. We eat rice everyday, and it’s easy to just add extra water when we boil it, and scoop some out when it’s boiling. Drink it when it has cooled down a bit. I remember reading about the wonder of this rice water - add a bit of cendawan susu harimau, it will cure asthma as well.

Talking about cendawan susu harimau, I got mine already. A friend of my friend is kind enough to sell it to me. Actually she didn’t want to sell it to me as the thing is so precious and it has cured lots of other illness. Never mind, she knows how the cendawan looks like and will be able to buy it whenever she sees it (usually the native people selling it).

What do I do with the cendawan? Well, every morning I scratch it on a hard surface, a pasu piring, with a bit of water in it, and scratch until the mucus came out. I then apply some on the breasts and the balance, I lick some with my finger. It is tasteless and I don’t mind consuming it. Whether I still have this BC or not, I will still take this cendawan. In order to know the effectiveness, probably I should do some tests one of these days.

This morning on TV3, they were talking about when is the good time to go for medical check up. I know some people don’t bother to go for medical check up for fear that they might be diagnosed with this and that illness. In actual fact, it’s good to detect it early as chances of recovery is very high when it’s at the early stage.

I also get some good tips from the doctor this morning. In order to maintain healthy, do these - exercise, take a balanced diet, have enough sleep and control stress. It seems very easy to say, but very hard to practise :-) The important thing is to continue moving, giving and getting involved…