The very first time in this Blogger, I did not write a posting yesterday! (Did you notice?)
Yesterday was a beautiful day! I was feeling tired (fatigue) possibly due to the side effects of the chemotherapy, otherwise, everything was progressing just as normal and just as fine. After the lunch time, which I had my salad with a new taste of dressing (Range), I went to bed but I was so tired that I almost slept through until 5:00pm when Leo and Irene (my sister) were trying to do the backyard lawn. I woke up by 5:00pm to do my Qi Gong and completed by 6:00pm. Everything upto this point was ... normal!
Then, by 7:00pm, after my daily medication of pain-control, I attended to the dinner table again by 7:15pm when the table is ready. Olivia and Esther are already there when I was approaching. I did not have any recollection of what happened, the next thing that I noticed was ... I was already on the floor (of the dinner table) held tight by Esther while the paramedics surrounded me. The paramedics asked me again and again if I was okay and if I would like to check into the (Richmond) Hospital. (*Apparently, I passed out again!) Then, the next thing I was aware of ... I was inside the ambulance going to the hospital with Esther (and the paramedics) next to me.
From that point onward, I was fully aware about what was happening. They have performed a lot of checks and tests on me (and I am still having my 24-hours ECG with me now as it will need to run until 11:00pm this evening). Other than some blood indicators did not reach the "appropriate range", every thing tested were okay. I was later released from the observation ward back to my Home Care Unit by 11:15pm (11/April, 2010).
Per original schedule, I attended BC Cancer Agency for my 2nd Chemotherapy injection (of the first cycle) this morning. With short notice, the Oncologists consulted me while we discussed at length about what would have contributed to my "pass-out" last evening! There are a few possible reasons, but nothing very concrete, especially in my case. I have had a lot of "cold sweats" (and body shivering) running out of me, which is not a common side effects. It is also possible that my blood pressure may have run up and down drastically, and caused a major deviation between sleeping and sitting/standing and contributed to the "sudden pass-out" while merely standing for more than 10 seconds can be a stress. There are always a third possibility that I did not do enough daily exercise and allowed my body to simply relax (and rest). As result, when my body was asked to stand (to exercise), it did not react properly and caused it to "pass-out"! Etc. Etc.
I am writing this posting to share with you:
1) It's not guaranteed that if you are okay for the morning, you will be okay for the afternoon. Even if you are okay for the afternoon, you will then be okay for the evening. Every moment is different, and we have to deal with it ... well ... differently!
2) You need to take good care of yourself, every little steps, and you must be very self-aware of what is happening to you, and your body, so that you can take good care of it (and to avoid something really bad happening to you).
3) Don't be too agitated if you need to check-into Emergency. Keep in mind that I am a cancer patient and I obviously would need people to take care of. Checking into the Emergency is nothing to be ashamed of (as long as there is a valid reason for doing so).
I do notice that by doing this posting, you may start to worry about me (or even doubting my "strong mindset" may not bring "strong body")! Meantime, I prefer to be honest and straight-forward with you, so that you are better prepared to "deal with" the situation when circumstances arise (like what happened to me yesterday).
Today everything goes well! But like I said, every moment is different, and we cannot treat it the same!
