Shaved clean today

Latest x-ray

Did my chemo yesterday. While reading the news of the missing MH370, i dozed off for the entire hour while on IV. This time round, the doctor reduced the dosage as the adverse side effects of the previous chemo were a bit too drastic.

Below are the images of the tumor on the right lung. Latest x-ray (right) was taken yesterday as compared to the CT Scan image taken during the previous visit.

No choice. Haircut.

Before and After

My oh my .............. Hair

Terrible time

After having done the CT scan + blood test + chemo and rested for a day, it was back to office mainly to fill up my time sheet and have a team discussion on Friday.

High fever came and persisted so it was back to Pantai on Saturday for a blood test. Guess what? There were traces of dengue anti bodies. This meant that I had dengue recently which I din even know!

Then came the severe side effects. Lots of wind. Kept burping and farting. Diarrhoea attack. Body aches. Fever. Severe fatigue. Like a zombie. Half dead. Was in bed most of the time.

Couldn't report for work and even had to miss one ACM which was important for me to attend.

Images of CT scan

The tumour on my right lung.

Day 210 (Week 31)

After a 6-week break, I am resuming my chemo treatment but using another drug called TAXOTERE. CT Scan showed that the tumour grew to about 5x6 cm. Cancer marker at 222 U/mL.

After chemo, while standing up and getting ready to leave, i noticed blood on the floor, tray and over my left wrist and sleeve. Apparently, blood was still oozing out from the vein used fot the IV! Nurse Margaret cleaned up the mess.

My usual session took a twist this time round with the doc saying prayer in our presence. He also asked me to read "Psalm 1-21" of the Bible which was supposed to be my assignment for the next 3 weeks...

By the way, I have been taking Porcupine bezoar (in capsule form) for the past week. This "powder" apparently works miracles and is very expensive. Thanks to Arthur (my boss) who bought them from a friend and FOCed to me. Shhh.... don't tell the doctor.

So How?

Got a call from the clinic to see Dr Daniel yesterday. I was told that the ALK mutation tests turned out negative which means that I will not be able to take the targetted drug XALKORI.

So chemo remains the only option but this time on a different drug called TAXOTERE. Side effects will be severe, such as hair loss, numbness of fingers, fatigue ...

Question is when to recommence my chemo. Doc says it's ok to take a chemo break till after CNY.  So we agreed to start again on 19 Feb. Have to take a CT scan as well.

So God help me.

Day 168

Supposed to have my 9th chemo session but the cancer cell has grown in size and re-appeared in the x-ray. Cancer marker increased from 34 to 47 U/mL.

@$&#%^*!?! Bloody hell!

Doc says there is no point in continuing with the ALIMTA infusion as the cancer is now able to resist the drug. Have to try another drug and to do that, need to undergo a further test called ALK Mutation. This drug is called XALKORI which targets the cancer cells and destroys them.
It is in tablet form so no infusion required.

Day 147 8th chemo

The cancer marker went up to 34 U/mL (normal range 0 to 35) although the x-ray didn't show anything visible. Anyway, went ahead with my chemo.

Day 126 X-Rays

Yellow = Tumor (which is now barely visible)
Blue = Fluid (now completely disappeared)

Day 126 7th chemo

No significant change in the size of the tumor noted. I guess that will remain for a some time until the good Lord decides otherwise. Poof! Vanish just like that - now how wonderful would that be!

Blood test showed that white blood cell count doubled. Cancer marker remains the same at 19U/mL

This time, the chemo lasted only 10 mins cos the drug used was only Alimta (the other drug Cisplatin was dropped). Also had a booster jab of Vitamin B. Together with the steroid pill taken earlier, I actually felt as strong as a mule since.

Will update this on a less frequent basis from now on.... Cheers!

Guolin Qigong

There was a celebration that was showed on Chinese television in the eighties. To an outsider it looked just like any other Chinese wedding.  But this gathering was quite unique.  Every person present, including the bride, the groom and their celebrant, the page-boy and every single wedding guest had recovered from cancer through the practice of Walking Qigong. The page-boy survived leukemia, the bride breast cancer and the groom lung cancer.  Their love affair, which took its first step in a Walking Qigong therapy group, walked all the way to the altar.

(Source: http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/walking_qigong).

The above qigong was founded in China by one Mdm Guo Lin who was cancer stricken. Refusing to concede defeat, she researched and devised a way to deal with the cancer which she called the New Qigong. Some called it Walking Qigong and Anti-Cancer Qigong. Now popularly known as Guolin Qigong, it has millions of followers all over the world.

I have heard and read about this powerful qigong therapy and will be signing up for lessons soon. No harm for a 4th stage cancer patient like me to try in addition to the Baduanjin Qigong which I am practicing now. I know will benefit from this.

Cheers.

Day 105 x-rays

Yellow =Tumor; Blue = Fluid

Day 105 6th Chemo

Update:  This is the 15th week. Not much changes this time round. BP is still high at 145/80 (+ - 5%). Must monitor for a while to make sure it doesn't go up further.

Good news:  Tumor size remains unchanged but cancer marker further reduced from 50 to 19 U/ml? Just have to remain hopeful that it will not grow, only shrink. This is supposedly the final chemo session and the critical period is over. But to control the cancer, I will have to undergo "maintenance" for so long as the tumor is still there. That means chemo for life unless (correction : until) a miracle happens... And when that happens, the doc said I will be interviewed by The Star!

"Maintenance" in my case, means still undergoing chemo but this time with lower dosage and only one drug will be used i.e. Alimta. The other drug Cisplatin will be dropped.

Not so good news:  Cost-wise, it's going to set me back by RM10k per chemo (once every 3 week). That excludes consultation and other fees that private hospitals love to charge. Sigh.... How to retire like that!? Must consider other options. 

God throws me challenges every once a while. This is not going to be any different. I will not buckle.