....it's all good....
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Q & A
are U always that positive and optimistic?
sadly, no.
i do have my downtime. when the blues attack, all I wanna do is hide in a corner or curl up in bed and cry my heart out. fortunately, my ‘feel-alive’ days outnumbered the ‘dead-woman-walking’ days.
better still, i have fewer blues attack nowadays.
are U really asymptomatic (no sign of symptom) prior to diagnosis?
i tried to recall in the mind many times of any telltale sign that might indicate my body in such a dire state. i’m clueless. there was no coughing or pain in my chest at all. i can eat so well and i’m concern about gaining weights rather than losing weights at that time. those that see me almost everyday pre-cancer can vouch to that. i think it must be shocking to my fellow colleagues that i took a day off but ended up never return for the next 6 months.
i don’t even feel breathless but that’s probably because i sit on my butt all day long (working-mah). the only indication could be that i feel tired easily but then again, i’m a working mom of 2 young kids with no maid – feeling tired is an understatement, i should be downright fatigue but instead i'm still a hardcore mom, tending to my kids and also the housechores whenever possible. in fact, i feel more of the symptoms now after treatment than before.
during one of the chemo session, i was chatting with the oncologist nurse and she told me about this young man, 26, recently graduated from Med school, got himself a job in a hospital and went for the required routine medical check-up only to find out he has lung cancer (my type), stage 4. it has spread to his liver, bones and brain…according to the nurse, he is asymptomatic. not a clue until the medical checkup.
the nurse said, he look so lost. can you imagine how he feels? i can’t even say i understand how he feels exactly. but try this- close your eyes and imagine this.
a truck run you over, reverse, backtrack to run you over again before dragging you a mile ahead with your loved ones standing at the side watching.
if you don’t feel the slightest fear at all, then you should be listed in the Guinness Book of World Record as the bravest person on earth. the fear at that moment can send you straight into emotion paralysis.
it's really hard to believe he has it in his brain and yet there is no symptom at all. how can this be? no headaches, something or anything? maybe he has at least mild headaches but simply overlook? they said if it’s up in your brain, you should have splitting headaches and even visual impairment.
i didn't have my MRI brain scan because i believe it's not affected and my doc, don't think it's necessary too. i’m not someone prone to headache and i very rarely have it. so far, i don’t have any headaches post cancer but a mild headache now will probably send me running to the imaging department for a MRI scan.
the earlier the cancer are detected, the higher the survival rate but unfortunately, many cases are detected late.
so, please do self examination (for breast) and follow up on your medical check up diligently.
to that young man, I have no idea who you are and where you are but i just want to say, don’t ever give up hope, many have survive against the odds. LIVE STRONG.
how is your hair now?
errr......look like him-lor! hahahaha...
it's about an inch long and sparse. it will take a while before all my hair grow back. i'm ok with that. as cute as the lil fella now - hahaha.
sadly, no.
i do have my downtime. when the blues attack, all I wanna do is hide in a corner or curl up in bed and cry my heart out. fortunately, my ‘feel-alive’ days outnumbered the ‘dead-woman-walking’ days.
better still, i have fewer blues attack nowadays.
are U really asymptomatic (no sign of symptom) prior to diagnosis?
i tried to recall in the mind many times of any telltale sign that might indicate my body in such a dire state. i’m clueless. there was no coughing or pain in my chest at all. i can eat so well and i’m concern about gaining weights rather than losing weights at that time. those that see me almost everyday pre-cancer can vouch to that. i think it must be shocking to my fellow colleagues that i took a day off but ended up never return for the next 6 months.
i don’t even feel breathless but that’s probably because i sit on my butt all day long (working-mah). the only indication could be that i feel tired easily but then again, i’m a working mom of 2 young kids with no maid – feeling tired is an understatement, i should be downright fatigue but instead i'm still a hardcore mom, tending to my kids and also the housechores whenever possible. in fact, i feel more of the symptoms now after treatment than before.
during one of the chemo session, i was chatting with the oncologist nurse and she told me about this young man, 26, recently graduated from Med school, got himself a job in a hospital and went for the required routine medical check-up only to find out he has lung cancer (my type), stage 4. it has spread to his liver, bones and brain…according to the nurse, he is asymptomatic. not a clue until the medical checkup.
the nurse said, he look so lost. can you imagine how he feels? i can’t even say i understand how he feels exactly. but try this- close your eyes and imagine this.
a truck run you over, reverse, backtrack to run you over again before dragging you a mile ahead with your loved ones standing at the side watching.
if you don’t feel the slightest fear at all, then you should be listed in the Guinness Book of World Record as the bravest person on earth. the fear at that moment can send you straight into emotion paralysis.
it's really hard to believe he has it in his brain and yet there is no symptom at all. how can this be? no headaches, something or anything? maybe he has at least mild headaches but simply overlook? they said if it’s up in your brain, you should have splitting headaches and even visual impairment.
i didn't have my MRI brain scan because i believe it's not affected and my doc, don't think it's necessary too. i’m not someone prone to headache and i very rarely have it. so far, i don’t have any headaches post cancer but a mild headache now will probably send me running to the imaging department for a MRI scan.
the earlier the cancer are detected, the higher the survival rate but unfortunately, many cases are detected late.
so, please do self examination (for breast) and follow up on your medical check up diligently.
to that young man, I have no idea who you are and where you are but i just want to say, don’t ever give up hope, many have survive against the odds. LIVE STRONG.
how is your hair now?
errr......look like him-lor! hahahaha...
it's about an inch long and sparse. it will take a while before all my hair grow back. i'm ok with that. as cute as the lil fella now - hahaha.
posted by lisaOne at 11:55 PM
6 Comments:
You struck fear in my heart! But luckily I do not have any brains to speak of, so maybe I am still safe? *in denial mode already*
after hearing ur case...i went straight to the panel and asked him to do med checkup.
hey ..thanks for this post. I think we (your readers) have lots of questions which you've answered! :)
Let's see whose hair grow faster, yours or your son. :P
Think happy thots!
I shudder with fear.. really..
How can one have Stage 4 cancer with no symptoms? It seems possible, but it also mean any healthy walking being can have cancer. :(
Question : It was the x-ray that they did in the anual check up that showed something was not right?
i can imagine how you felt when you found out. i had to have an MRI becoz of the constant bouts of vomitting pre-op and boy was i scared!
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