3rd day of my second cycle of chemotherapy! Have been getting my daily dose of homemade cold-pressed juice in mason jars, delivered with love by my family members. After all the vegetable (cabbage, carrots, broccoli, asparagus etc) juices, I made a request for a fruit juice! Tonight I was presented with an avocado milkshake (unsweetened soy milk) with a dash of organic maple syrup. Yum!
The ward I'm staying in now is the only one in SGH which is CARPETED hahaha. Just that I wish there was abit more sunlight in the room - my wing is unfortunately facing another building so there's not much sunlight as I'd love to have. But other than that, I've been very well taken care of!
Although last night I gave the nurses abit of a scare when my heart rate was 38... This isn't the first occurrence, and it wasn't physically uncomfortable - as compared to my high heart palpitations which raced my heart rate to 160 before in the last chemotherapy round. There are two reasons that the doctor thought could trigger these abnormal heart rates - my Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (an abnormal electric pathway in my heart) and one of the chemotherapy drugs that I'm on now. Was up at 5am doing ECG checks... Thank God that when I woke up my heart rate was normal again!
On another note - recently I also went on a spree on iHerb.com... Will blog more about that soon (probably a post on my lifestyle changes). Have been snacking on healthy sweet potato and coconut chips, which are really delicious - and supposedly healthy too!
What a positive and cheerful girl you are Amanda! V proud of u as I'm sure yr parents are too! Keep your spirits up and your beautiful smile :) Fighting!
ReplyDelete~ Anna, yr parents' p6 classmate
Hello Aunty Anna, thanks for your kind words :)
DeleteHi Amanda, this is Uncle Dave. Pri school classmates of ur parents, for 5 years. U n family ever visited me n my family, years bk, do u remember? Ur Parents n I n Aunt Anna n many others in our pri school chat grp, concerned, praying, n wishing u all the best in ur fight.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, when ur parents broke the news to us, we were shocked. Now I read ur blog, I realised u r a brave young lady n will battle on strongly. Ur positiveness to face head-on with Cancer n courageously sharing the journey n ur thoughts n feeling , has already won the fight 50%. Pls keep up the positive mindset n continue to battle on bravely. Uncle Dave is confident that u will win the battle.
Uncle Dave Part1
Amanda, Uncle Dave cintinues Part2.
ReplyDeleteDo u know that Uncle Dave is also a Cancer Warrior n Survivor? Not sure whether ur Mom n Dad share with u.
Uncle Dave is a nose Cancer survivor for 12 years now. Nose cancer is a layman term, the medical term is Nasopharyngeal Cancer or NPC. Just took my 'PSLE', ha..ha..I was given a new lease of life, after my radiotherapy (RT) treatment completed bk in Oct'2002.
Uncle Dave had Stage-2 NPC. Went thru a 6-wk RT treatment, n a Guinea pig treatment too, a twice a day RT in last 3 weeks.
Although is different cancers n treatment, the recovery journey is more or less similar.
What u need to focus on is strategy of ur battle, ie to boost ur immune system. The key areas are sleep well, eat healthily, manage stress well, exercise, no worry be happy, mindset change to cherish n appreciate pple n things ie don't take things for granted.
Uncle Dave lives life to fullest everyday. How I do it? Live life like no tmr, in a positive way, by embracing the need to change for better in the right direction, in order to strategize the battle to win.
Everyday is a battle, bcos Cancer will relapse under some circumstances e.g one is stress at work, n not taking care of the immune system for prolong period.
Our immune system in our body, is the best Dr to fight Cancer n it's relapse. Less genetic cause, 95% of Cancer is controllable ie how we manage our immune system.
Uncle Dave hopes u can join the Cancer Supp Grp, whether NCC, NUHS or TTSH. Typically run by survivor volunteers, just like Uncle Dave us leading the NPC Supp Grp of NUHS/TTSH. Cancer treatment n recovery is a integrated process, as the journey is long haul.
The medical professionals can only do so much on the front end, the rest is lots of learning n sharing with Survivors n Caregivers that we better our strategy, thru such Supp Grps.
The Survivors/Caregivers in the grp, do sharing on each others journey n experience, n the emotional n psychological Supp is tremendous. U see Survivors of many years still living life normally, running marathons n climbing mountains. Very motivational n inspiring.
If u OK, Uncle Dave would like to talk to u. U can also call me anytime, n we can talk. Better still is face to face. No worry, u settle down first. Pls get my contact from ur parents.
Uncle Dave Part2
Hi Uncle Dave, thanks so much for your kind words, encouragement and support. For now I'll be focusing on getting well first - but I'll definitely join a support group! Will talk to you soon :)
DeleteOK, Amanda, We shall catch up! u take care!
ReplyDeleteYour work is very good and I appreciate you and hopping for some more informative posts. Thank you for sharing great information to us.
ReplyDeleteOmega juicer