Superficial Treatment ... Actually!

On 13th December, 2010 (Monday), consultation was arranged to meet with the radiologists in BCCA. They checked on my chest pain (on the right side) as well as other complaints that I had in recent weeks. They immediately ordered one round of radiotherapy for me. Keep in mind that my appointment started only at 2:45pm and the whole process completed by 4:00pm. I considered this very efficient and again I was treated like VIP.

A new term I learned this time is "superficial". Radiation therapy aims to maximize the number of cancer cells destroyed, while minimizing the damage to nearby normal cells. As low energy x-rays do not penetrate very deep into the body and transmit most of their energy into the skin. These low energy x-rays are often called superficial or orthovoltage x-rays. In my case, using superficial rays can kill cancer cells inside my ribs (near the surface) and would not harm my organs underneath. I am sure you know what "superficial" means traditionally and generally. When I heard the radiologists said "we are going to use the superficial treatment on you", I asked "Superficial?" He replied positively and affirmatively. (Hahahah!)

Now 4 days after the superficial treatment, I am feeling better and stronger. Compare with the last radiotherapy (also my first) back on 18th March, 2010, rather than a square shape with a few crosses for aiming accuracy. This time, as you can see in picture below, is a 18 x 10 rectangular shape and a dotted line at the bottom. After setting the machine and the body at the proper position, the radiation process itself took ONLY 2 minutes and I was done for this time. Unlike last time, which I need to return every day for the week!

The whole treatment left me with an impression ... well ... quite superficial! But I certainly hope Mr Cancer - My Friend is being treated well this time. The chemotherapy will start next week and I will be using a different drug. Stay tuned and I will share with you more new terms that I learn in the process!

 

The Key Five Contributors

 

In the past few days, I continuously receiving greetings and blessings from friends and relatives. Of my spines and skeletal bones are still under stress and I am still under the medication of pain-killer (morphine), and like most of you said correctly, I still need to be caution about what I do and eat. BCCA is going to monitor my blood indicator and another CT-Scan in two months' time. Only then I can be ascertain that my condition is stable. Again, even if my condition is stable, I still need to be caution that now I have cancer with me and I need to learn how to live with it (and be prepared that it will come back any time as per it's wish). 

In summary, there are five key contributors in my so-called "recovery", or I prefer to call it "improvements":

1) A positive attitude: This is of prime importance. To me, this one stand out significantly. Imagine no matter you are sick or not, if you are having a positive attitude, everyday of yours will be happily lived. This positive attitude can also be contagious and very powerful.

2) The diet change: As recommended by another cancer survivor, I adopted the "alkaline" diet, i.e. to drink a lot of fresh juices and eat mostly (fresh) salad. It is important to avoid red meat and seafood with shell. In a reduced amount, I do eat fishes and white meats. White sugar should be avoided.

3) The health supplements: After careful selection, I decided to take ONLY multi-vatimins and YunZhi (Oncozac), to help on my immunology system. 

4) Appropriate exercise: Keep yourself active and move your muscles whenever you can. Even if you are immobile and confined to the bed, you can still move your muscle one by one and keep them active and keep the blood circulation.

5) Qi Gong: I didn't believe in this in the past. But this time I learned it. Basically, it is about relaxation and breathing. It's a very natural activity that most of us can do with ease and it really helps. It also help you mentally (as it's also like meditation).

In future postings, one by one, I shall share with you my experience on above in details. The objective is to provide you with some reference in case you may be interested in them. It's also good for those who are healthy as in my opinion, they are also useful for preventive purpose. 

Wish you and your family all the best and good health!

Canada Day!

Yesterday I called up BCCA to check on my CEA (tumor marker) reading, and as expected, it is now at 71, versus the highest at 1400 and at 290 a month ago. This result re-affirmed the CT-Scan report done on 22nd June, 2010. It's a miracle! To tell you the truth, I am still digesting this piece of news. It's strange, isn't it? I have no problem facing death, and now my report showed that most of the cancers are gone and I have issues accepting it as-is.

A good friend of mine was joking me that I should asked the doctor if they have made the mistake in my first scan, which clearly no mistake were made, the bone-scan, the two CT-Scan (one in the brain and one in the abdominal cavity), the biopsy and finally the MRI, etc. Then, another CT-Scan on 28th April, 2010 which showed that my body conditions was worsen than in end February (which I did not report it in this detail in my Blogger), which lead to the decision of stopping my traditional chemotherapy and switched to the second line treatment, i.e. Tarceva. But reading the latest CT-Scan report again and again, I really learned some new vocabulary, the words are all meant for similar meaning: disappeared, relief, no longer seen, replaced, decreased in size and now challenging to see, compatible with healing, unremarkable, not identified, etc. No matter what words are used, important is the message!

A lot of my friends congratulated me on this good news, and same time, they also cautioned me on my diet, my rest and my living style. They are still very concerned that one day the cancer will come back to me (and we are going to have the same story all over again)! They promised me to continue their prayers for me and they would like me to enjoy my life much more than before. Gladly and willingly, I accept all what you said and suggested! Please accept my heartfelt "thank you"! Without you, this miracle would not have happened.

It's Canada Day today! It's the same me and in a way it's not the same me anymore, especially when the body was confirmed with cancer spread in a number of organs, and now it is cleared! This Canada Day is the same as before and to me, this Canada Day is not the same as before!

This picture was taken last year in Canada Place on Canada Day. Using a low angle, the illusion is the ladder is a tall one and the clown is performing stunt, but actually the height is no more than a person. This is a good way to train us looking at thing from different angle.

Treasure What You Have ... Treasure Today!

Olivia's posting yesterday touched my heart (as well as many others). It's a simple posting but yet it's the true feeling that touches people. Treasure what you have (and not to complain what you don't have) and treasure today (to the fullest).

On the Father's Day, the Life-O-Life Team still went for their Sunday cycling gathering, this time in Iona Beach. We met at their coffee break location and took the below photo ... pretending that we joined the cycling gathering as well. David, Frankie and Clement bought their new bikes the day before and it's the very first time the bikes were tested on the actual road conditions.

Then, Leo bought our family the lunch. It's summer holidays and Leo is working his summer job nearby. He is good in making his savings and if he would like to be an accountant, he should be able to do his financial planning (and saving) well. Being a father, I am very glad that Leo knows early the importance of making a saving and financial planning. Olivia is also cautious in her spending, except that being a girl, and guess it's more in the genes, that girls need to keep the balance of being trendy (and good looking) and controlling her budget. She is also fond of the latest tech gadgets, such as iPhone4. These toys can be very expensive.

After the Sunday evening mass, Esther and I were invited to join a social gathering (on Father's Day) and by the time we got home it was kind of late. Olivia showed me what she wrote for me and I immediately asked her if she would like to publish it on my Blogger. She accepted and then posted it on the Blogger.

Today's afternoon, I am returning to BCCA for the CT-Scan. This result will show if my body conditions have improved or not, and if the new drug has worked magic on my body. The consultation will be done on 28th June with the chief oncologist, which I would then know the result of the CT-Scan result performed today.  My feeling is good though I cannot be too sure about what's inside of me!

Like what Olivia said: "No matter what happens in the future, no matter what the test results might be, we will get through them together. Good or bad, happy or sad, we will stay strong, as a family."

What Is Going To Happen? (An Update!)

Canucks of Vancouver is going to meet up with Blackhawks of Chicago this evening in Vancouver for the third game of the Second Play-Off. Canucks were doing well in the first two games. Anything can happen this evening and no one know for sure yet if Canucks can win in their own turf, and then also this coming Friday, and then possibly this Sunday (in Chicago) and it is going to be really fun! Let's continue to cheer them up and looking forward to watch more games this season! Certainly, I do hope Canucks can make history, i.e. the Stanley Cup final! Everyone is aware that this is a controversial issue and I better keep my mouth shut from here.

Back on my update: I returned to BCCA for routine consultation early last week in order to assess my body condition for the second round of chemotherapy. Most of the indicators were okay except that certain (unexplained) side effects and "stresses" of my body did not give the doctors much comfortableness. Therefore, they decided to order for more checks, e.g. X-ray, additional blood check and CT-Scan, etc. This Monday (3/May), my chief oncologist was consulted and after some good discussion, we decided that I should stop my (first) chemotherapy treatment and proceed with the second line treatment, which involves an oral drug called Tarceva. It is a new drug and the side effects, mainly skin rash, apparently is quite tolerable. I started taking the (new) drug yesterday morning and now under careful monitoring of the side effects (as I joined the clinical studies of same) and all I can say is "So far I'm doing fine!" As the pain management is still a critical issue for me, especially this directly related to my body condition and living quality, I am working on it carefully. So far, I am still on long-acting morphine twice a day!

Esther and I visited Save-On Food in order to explore if there are any new food items that we can try on. We bought a few new items and then starting yesterday, we started the experimenting of mix-and-match! Tastes and choices of food definitely improved (or at least widened).

Nothing can stop us to learn and to improve! Provided we are willing and we are eager to take the first step (of learning and improving), there are a good chance that we can make certain things change. There are always risks attached to the "trial & error", like one of the soya sausage that we bought was of extremely bad taste and we decided to throw it away. It costed us $4 for the pack, which is a calculated risk that we can afford to risk and waste! But this risk (or waste) should NOT be laid in front of us as the obstacle for us NOT trying to improve. No pain, No gain!

I personally find this exploration and improving process very enjoyable and the return/reward is well worth it! My dear friends, please take special note that you don't need to be a cancer fellow to think like me. Being an ordinary person, I encourage you to strive for learning and improvement everyday! It's fun and it's very enjoyable!