Down, down, down... and UP!

HP and Tony arrived yesterday morning, navigating via Tony's Garmin device - thank goodness for that, because they took the wrong exit from the highway (the NKVE), and ended up going past the PJ Hilton(!!) but the Garmin put them back on track via the Sprint Highway connection from the Federal Expressway.. PHEW!

When they arrived, Husband, who had been lying down after his shower, wanted to get up to meet them ... so he got up, and promptly collapsed! I heard him yell and went to check on him, and found him lying on the floor, leaning against the wall! Talk about being shocked! Dragged him up, walked him into the dining room and sat him down, and got the blood pressure monitor to check his pressure. Man, talk about SCARY (again!) - his blood pressure was at 86/50!! He should have been practically comatose with that low BP! Called the oncologist - he said I should get Husband into hospital... but Husband refused! Called my brother (the doctor) to ask what to do and he says, "No problem, give him anything to drink and add salt into it, and make sure he eats as well", so the whole of yesterday was spent in making sure Husband kept drinking lots of liquids - water, orange juice (with some salt in it), Sprite (also with salt in it, which is good for removing the gas from the drink too!), and fresh milk. Got Husband stable, got him back into bed to lie down for a while, then took Tony and HP shopping for a couple of hours. Got back, got Husband up, got tea for everyone, then practically every hour kept checking Husband's BP... which had gone up to about 95/60 and was holding steady at that, or slightly higher. He also ate quite well at the little get together we had last night, and my brother-in-law and sis and kids stopped by, on their way out to a dinner function, so that my bro-in-law (who is also a doctor!!) could check on Husband as well. Thank GOD for so many doctors in the family :-D.

The get-together was great fun - despite a small 'mishap' where a box of pizza in the oven caught fire (put it out with a wet towel).. :-P. Lots of food, and the company was great. Husband and I definitely enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, and I hope the others did too - Tony, HP, Molly, Efy, Sianny, Jon, Koshu. We even managed to ALMOST finish all the food... which is the first time that has ever happened in any pot-luck that I have organised :-D. Had all the doors and windows wide open - to dispel the smoke from the burnt pizza box and that resulted in a beautiful breeze blowing throughout the entire house. It was so refreshing and cool.

So now have just checked on Husband's BP again - it is 104/64.. which is better (though still a bit on the low side). Everyone has breakfasted (bacon and eggs and toast!), and Tony and HP have left - sigh.. and we are both already missing them... Husband actually came down to see them off, because he wanted to check out Tony's brand new car - which we both agree is a gorgeous car (but then, which Lexus isn't?). Got some really nice features - including a feature that cools the seats (so you have a cool bum)!

Husband is now lying down, but he has been good - breakfast, tea, Sprite, and a walk! Have told him he can rest for a while, and this afternoon we will take a walk around the swimming pool area. As my sister-in-law clearly explained, if he spends all his time just lying down, the intestines will stick together even more, and the discomfort will keep increasing. He has to WALK and MOVE to get his intestines moving more freely within the abdominal region. He is listening to her advice - well, she is a doctor too after all - though he has ignored my exhortations for the past few weeks to get off his butt and walk... sigh...

What else? Oh yes, all the side effects from the UFT seem to have gone (the problems with his stomach discomfort have nothing to do with the chemo at all, that is as a result of the operation in Feb). Interestingly enough though - when my brother first said to drink something with salt in it, Husband's first reaction was to drink 100Plus... and it turns out that drinking 100Plus sets of the tingling in the fingers and toes, and the 'freezing' of the face, and the difficulty in breathing! This is apart from the fact that 3 times in the last 2 weeks he has had 100Plus and then subsequently puked up whatever he has eaten - though, being a typical Husband, when I told him not to drink 100Plus due to the puking, he, of course, did not listen. Now however, realising that the 100Plus gives him that awful side effect, he has, FINALLY, stopped drinking the stuff. Personally, I really dislike 100Plus - I call it frozen sweat :-P. YUCK!

Having Tony and HP over this weekend really helped as well - took Husband's mind off himself, and cheered him (and me) up immensely. (Tony, HP: I hope you guys can come more often... especially now that you can drive up to KL :-D)

Tonight my parents will be coming over for dinner (unless something happens to change their plans). Have asked them to stop by the little rice porridge stall near their home in PJ and bring chicken porridge for Husband, and vermicelli noodles for me, and whatever they want for themselves. The guy who runs that stall does absolutely delicious porridge... and it will do Husband good to have something calming for the stomach, compared to what he had last night!!

That's it for now folks. We still have a long way to go, and I am sure we will face more setbacks, but with your prayers for us, especially Husband, I know we will get through it all.

And, till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!

UPDATE: Monday 13th July: Blood Pressure, taken last night around 10pm, was 125/79.. which is excellent :-D. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes.