Yep, afraid so. Husband is still suffering - the pain seems to be focused purely on the coccyx (the tailbone) and it makes it so hard for him to sit, and even lying down on his side is proving to be painful. It is very hard for him to stay cheerful and upbeat in the face of never-ending pain.... and I feel so lost as there is absolutely nothing I can do to take the pain away :-(. Pain killers are not helping at all, and all we can do is ride it out and hope that the pain will get less and less in the days ahead.
Yesterday we were able to get out of the house, pick up a good friend of ours (Jodi) and go to B'sar Shopping Centre - partly for Husband to be MOVING, and partly, of course, to get some super marketing done... and it was GREAT to be able to catch up with Jodi again as we have not seen her (or her husband, actually) for a VERY long time. We had time to catch up over a cup of coffee, and then we did our shopping and headed home. By the time I got lunch sorted and Husband fed, and was just planning on my swim... it decided to RAIN!!! And, guess what, it rained this afternoon too! I always used to tease Husband that whenever he wanted to go swimming, all he had to do was mention the word "swim" and it was pretty much guaranteed that it would rain that day! Now it looks like I got that jinx too.. just my luck :-p
Husband has spent most of today in bed, trying to get some rest as he did not sleep much last night due to the pain, and, unfortunately, he has not had much rest during the day either for the same reason. We were supposed to go meet up with my brother-in-law this evening, so he could attempt to remove that last stubborn suture, and then we were supposed to all go out for dinner.. but Husband was in just too much pain to even contemplate the drive from Mont'Kiara to PJ, so that plan went out the window.
Well, what can I say? Please keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, and pray specifically that the pain should keep reducing daily. I know your prayers will help!
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Of Pain, and exercise
These last two days have not been so great for Husband. The pain in his back seems to have moved from his lower back to his coccyx, and it seems to be focused and intensified, to the point that the usual pain killer dosage is not helping. He thinks it could be because we did not do our usual "walkabout" yesterday (Monday), as yesterday morning was house cleaning morning.... so now we have a clean house, and an achey Husband... sigh.
This morning I went to the gym in Hijauan, did a 3km brisk walk, followed by a 10 minute relaxed swim in the pool to rest my aching legs! Husband went to the spa hot pool and spent some time in the hot pool to soothe his aching back. He did go into the swimming pool after that, but unfortunately the water was quite cold and it made his back ache even more... sigh. All this was before 10.30am and the pool was still in the shade - which contributed to the coolness of the water!
So, tomorrow we shall first go walkabout in Bangsar Shopping Centre - primarily to get some supermarketing done, but also to get some walking in the building first before the supermarketing! The target is to get home by noon, when the sun is shining full onto the pool, so that Husband can get some time in the sun to warm his aching muscles and bones, and I can swim some laps - target is to swim at least 1km.. which is 40 lengths of the 25m pool (I prefer to say 20 laps, as it sounds less difficult than 40 lengths :-D ).
On Thursday my brother-in-law is going to make one more attempt to remove that last suture from Husband's back... wish us luck for that.. and then Husband and I are taking my brother-in-law and my sis and their two boys out for dinner. Also by Thursday, or Friday, we should have our last guest room furnished - two single beds - and that would pretty much cover all our furniture needs, and we would be all set to host 6, or even 7, guests at any one time! So, friends, anytime you need a break away from wherever you are, you know where you can come!
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY.
This morning I went to the gym in Hijauan, did a 3km brisk walk, followed by a 10 minute relaxed swim in the pool to rest my aching legs! Husband went to the spa hot pool and spent some time in the hot pool to soothe his aching back. He did go into the swimming pool after that, but unfortunately the water was quite cold and it made his back ache even more... sigh. All this was before 10.30am and the pool was still in the shade - which contributed to the coolness of the water!
So, tomorrow we shall first go walkabout in Bangsar Shopping Centre - primarily to get some supermarketing done, but also to get some walking in the building first before the supermarketing! The target is to get home by noon, when the sun is shining full onto the pool, so that Husband can get some time in the sun to warm his aching muscles and bones, and I can swim some laps - target is to swim at least 1km.. which is 40 lengths of the 25m pool (I prefer to say 20 laps, as it sounds less difficult than 40 lengths :-D ).
On Thursday my brother-in-law is going to make one more attempt to remove that last suture from Husband's back... wish us luck for that.. and then Husband and I are taking my brother-in-law and my sis and their two boys out for dinner. Also by Thursday, or Friday, we should have our last guest room furnished - two single beds - and that would pretty much cover all our furniture needs, and we would be all set to host 6, or even 7, guests at any one time! So, friends, anytime you need a break away from wherever you are, you know where you can come!
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sleep, glorious SLEEP!!!
This is another 'quickie'.
For the first time in 3 months, Husband managed to get 4 hours of SOLID SLEEP last night before he woke up, switched to his other side, and then got ANOTHER 2 hours of sleep. Hey, that is even better than he used to sleep on most nights BEFORE all this started :-D.
I think that this indicates a slight reduction of the pain, to an extent that the pain killers he takes at night, which are slightly stronger than the ones he takes during the day, are now sufficient to deaden the pain.
This definitely uplifts the mood further! Thank you, all of you, for your constant thoughts and prayers. I know it is working, and I know it will continue to get better.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY.
For the first time in 3 months, Husband managed to get 4 hours of SOLID SLEEP last night before he woke up, switched to his other side, and then got ANOTHER 2 hours of sleep. Hey, that is even better than he used to sleep on most nights BEFORE all this started :-D.
I think that this indicates a slight reduction of the pain, to an extent that the pain killers he takes at night, which are slightly stronger than the ones he takes during the day, are now sufficient to deaden the pain.
This definitely uplifts the mood further! Thank you, all of you, for your constant thoughts and prayers. I know it is working, and I know it will continue to get better.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Chemo #2 done
The last few days have been pretty busy - or rather I have been dragging Husband out of the house every day to get him walking. Have not been taking him walking OUTSIDE - it is too hot and too tiring for him... instead we have been going to various shopping malls. It is airconditioned, we can wander at a comfortable pace, and when he gets tired, we go sit down at a cafe or coffee shop or restaurant and have a drink and (depending on what time it is) a meal. On Thursday we were at Ikano Power Centre (where IKEA is) and, would you believe, we wandered around there for more than 3 hours!! Then, in the evening, went over to PJ, to our house there, to meet my brother-in-law (who is a doctor) for him to take out the sutures from the plastic surgery site on Husband's back. He managed to get all the sutures out EXCEPT FOR ONE. We can't find the knot to cut. It is well hidden under the flesh which has joined back nicely... sigh... He will try again in a few days time.
Apart from that, yesterday was chemo#2. We left home at 10am, and were in Melaka city centre (where the hospital is) by 12.15pm. Registered, went straight to the lab, and they took 2 vials of blood from Husband to run a series of tests. The oncologist wants the same tests conducted every single time we go for chemo, so he can track kidney function, blood stats, etc, to be sure that everything is normal. So far, so good - except, of course, for the cancer marker which is still high. The doc did say that he did not expect it to start going down till after the 3rd or 4th chemo at the earliest.
Met my brother and sis-in-law for lunch at the hospital - canteen food, not too bad - and then relaxed for a while in my brother's clinic while waiting for 2pm when the oncologists clinic would re-open (all the clinics are closed from 1 - 2 pm for lunch). We were at the oncologists clinic promptly at 2pm, but had to wait till close to 3pm before they could start on Husband, as there were quite a lot of people there for chemo that day. The procedure is - first they take the weight of the person. Based on the weight, they will calculate the drug dosage required, and then it is mixed in a special machine, then they connect it up to the patient via an IV. I have to say - Thank God we decided to have the chemo-port implanted, it makes it so much easier to have the IV connected - no need to poke and prod trying to find veins to connect the IV to. Also, since the chemo-port leads directly to the heart, the chemo is delivered directly to the whole body each time the heart beats. A very 'efficient' method of delivery.
Anyway, all done by around 4.45pm, then Husband sat for a while with my brother and sis-in-law, and had a drink and biscuits so that he could take pain killers before heading home (so that his back pain would not be too unbearable). Left the hospital around 5.45pm, and we were home just after 8pm. The pain killers take about an hour to kick in, so the first part of the journey was really tough on him.
What was worse was that, as we left Malacca, while we were still in the 90km speed limit zone, I was driving in the middle lane, at 95km/h, when this AS****E bus driver, in a passenger bus, came right up behind me and started flashing at me to move. I mean - if he wanted to overtake, why could he not go into the right lane and overtake? There were no other vehicles in the right lane - so what was his problem?? On top of which, how fast was he driving, in the 90km zone, that he was going to overtake me when I was driving at 95km? Finally he swung out into the right lane and immediately swung into the middle lane trying to force me off the road! We just got to the 110km zone at that point, so I accelerated and passed him again. I was in the middle lane still, holding steady at 115km/h, and then next thing you know, he accelerated all the way, came up the LEFT lane to overtake me from the LEFT - and my Husband got a picture of the driver making a rude gesture at us (!) - and then the AS****E tried to force me off the road again, so I had to drop back. In the meantime, he got in front of me in the middle lane, and slowed down... so I tried to overtake from the right lane, and he immediately swung his bus into the right lane to try and either slam into my car or force me off the road, so I had to drop back again. I waited until 2 cars came up on the right lane, with enough space in between them for me to cut in between, and that was the only way I could pass him..... He did not try and catch us again after that - I dont know whether he came to his senses or his passengers squashed him, or what... but the rest of the journey was peaceful.
All this happened around 6.15pm, at the 214km mark. The bus company was HTC Travel Services (M) Sdn Bhd, the bus number was either 2168 or 2618. IF THIS IS THE QUALITY OF DRIVER THEY HAVE THEN IT IS NOT A BUS COMPANY THAT I WOULD EVER CHOOSE TO TRAVEL WITH... and in case you are wondering - he was a middle-aged CHINESE man!! Obviously suffering from a bad case of PMS. He WAS BLOODY DANGEROUS. IT WAS SCARY - and it took us both time to catch our breath after that.
Anyway, we did get home safe and sound! Took me some time to label the pill dispenser correctly and sort out all the medication. I have one of these 7-day pill dispensers, and I use 6 of the 7 compartments for just ONE day worth of pills for Husband. Mind you, that is only for the first 3 days. After that it drops to 4 compartments "only" :-). And it isn't a case of just one or two pills in each compartment...
- for days 1, 2, 3: compartment #1 has 1 pill; compartment #2 has 8 pills - which includes 2 pain killers; compartment #3 has 5 pills; compartment #4 has 8 pills (2 are painkillers, again); compartment #5 has 5 pills; compartment #6 has 2 pills (2 painkillers again).
- then from day 4 to day 10: compartment #1 has 7 pills, of which 2 are painkillers; compartment #2 has 2 pills, both are painkillers; compartment #3 has 5 pills, and compartment #4 has 2 pills, both are painkillers....
Today has been a very quiet and peaceful day. Some tidying up of things - particularly in the store room. Husband has made an Irish stew (lamb) for dinner :-).
That's it for now. So, have a good weekend everyone! And, remember... stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Apart from that, yesterday was chemo#2. We left home at 10am, and were in Melaka city centre (where the hospital is) by 12.15pm. Registered, went straight to the lab, and they took 2 vials of blood from Husband to run a series of tests. The oncologist wants the same tests conducted every single time we go for chemo, so he can track kidney function, blood stats, etc, to be sure that everything is normal. So far, so good - except, of course, for the cancer marker which is still high. The doc did say that he did not expect it to start going down till after the 3rd or 4th chemo at the earliest.
Met my brother and sis-in-law for lunch at the hospital - canteen food, not too bad - and then relaxed for a while in my brother's clinic while waiting for 2pm when the oncologists clinic would re-open (all the clinics are closed from 1 - 2 pm for lunch). We were at the oncologists clinic promptly at 2pm, but had to wait till close to 3pm before they could start on Husband, as there were quite a lot of people there for chemo that day. The procedure is - first they take the weight of the person. Based on the weight, they will calculate the drug dosage required, and then it is mixed in a special machine, then they connect it up to the patient via an IV. I have to say - Thank God we decided to have the chemo-port implanted, it makes it so much easier to have the IV connected - no need to poke and prod trying to find veins to connect the IV to. Also, since the chemo-port leads directly to the heart, the chemo is delivered directly to the whole body each time the heart beats. A very 'efficient' method of delivery.
Anyway, all done by around 4.45pm, then Husband sat for a while with my brother and sis-in-law, and had a drink and biscuits so that he could take pain killers before heading home (so that his back pain would not be too unbearable). Left the hospital around 5.45pm, and we were home just after 8pm. The pain killers take about an hour to kick in, so the first part of the journey was really tough on him.
What was worse was that, as we left Malacca, while we were still in the 90km speed limit zone, I was driving in the middle lane, at 95km/h, when this AS****E bus driver, in a passenger bus, came right up behind me and started flashing at me to move. I mean - if he wanted to overtake, why could he not go into the right lane and overtake? There were no other vehicles in the right lane - so what was his problem?? On top of which, how fast was he driving, in the 90km zone, that he was going to overtake me when I was driving at 95km? Finally he swung out into the right lane and immediately swung into the middle lane trying to force me off the road! We just got to the 110km zone at that point, so I accelerated and passed him again. I was in the middle lane still, holding steady at 115km/h, and then next thing you know, he accelerated all the way, came up the LEFT lane to overtake me from the LEFT - and my Husband got a picture of the driver making a rude gesture at us (!) - and then the AS****E tried to force me off the road again, so I had to drop back. In the meantime, he got in front of me in the middle lane, and slowed down... so I tried to overtake from the right lane, and he immediately swung his bus into the right lane to try and either slam into my car or force me off the road, so I had to drop back again. I waited until 2 cars came up on the right lane, with enough space in between them for me to cut in between, and that was the only way I could pass him..... He did not try and catch us again after that - I dont know whether he came to his senses or his passengers squashed him, or what... but the rest of the journey was peaceful.
All this happened around 6.15pm, at the 214km mark. The bus company was HTC Travel Services (M) Sdn Bhd, the bus number was either 2168 or 2618. IF THIS IS THE QUALITY OF DRIVER THEY HAVE THEN IT IS NOT A BUS COMPANY THAT I WOULD EVER CHOOSE TO TRAVEL WITH... and in case you are wondering - he was a middle-aged CHINESE man!! Obviously suffering from a bad case of PMS. He WAS BLOODY DANGEROUS. IT WAS SCARY - and it took us both time to catch our breath after that.
Anyway, we did get home safe and sound! Took me some time to label the pill dispenser correctly and sort out all the medication. I have one of these 7-day pill dispensers, and I use 6 of the 7 compartments for just ONE day worth of pills for Husband. Mind you, that is only for the first 3 days. After that it drops to 4 compartments "only" :-). And it isn't a case of just one or two pills in each compartment...
- for days 1, 2, 3: compartment #1 has 1 pill; compartment #2 has 8 pills - which includes 2 pain killers; compartment #3 has 5 pills; compartment #4 has 8 pills (2 are painkillers, again); compartment #5 has 5 pills; compartment #6 has 2 pills (2 painkillers again).
- then from day 4 to day 10: compartment #1 has 7 pills, of which 2 are painkillers; compartment #2 has 2 pills, both are painkillers; compartment #3 has 5 pills, and compartment #4 has 2 pills, both are painkillers....
Today has been a very quiet and peaceful day. Some tidying up of things - particularly in the store room. Husband has made an Irish stew (lamb) for dinner :-).
That's it for now. So, have a good weekend everyone! And, remember... stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
All settled in our new home :-)
Yep, pretty much settled in now.... and we love it - despite the dust and the noise from the construction sites both in front of and behind us! We still have the 2nd guest bedroom to furnish - 2 single beds; 4 bedside tables to get - for the master bedroom and the 1st guest bedroom; some pictures to hang on the wall (ONE picture is up, we got Kevin to help us with that, as it is a 2 - 3 person job as it is VERY heavy!); maybe some plants for the balcony; spare set of curtains; bamboo chicks on the side of the balcony to cut the heat of the setting sun; bamboo chicks at the laundry area - to prevent the clothes from getting wet when the rain comes in!!
Of course, there will always be little bits and pieces that will be acquired over a period of time, but, right now, we are comfy :-D. The spare set of curtains and the bamboo chicks will be with us in about 10 - 12 days time... and the rest we will do as and when we feel like it (or when sufficient number of guests are staying with us that we HAVE to furnish the 2nd guest room)!
So how are we doing otherwise? Well, Kevin has come and gone (left on 4th May), and it was great having him here. He was very helpful in getting things sorted out and put away at home, and in keeping Husband cheerful and positive. Now that he is gone it is just Husband and I again and that is nice too!! We do things at our own pace and take life easy. Husband is still in a lot of pain on his lower back (well, that is going to take several months to sort itself out!!), but he is doing his best to go beyond the pain and stay upbeat. We went to the supermarket today - Husband came along too - and that trip took about 1.5 hours. He was exhausted by the time we got back and put things away, but he is gaining a bit more strength every single day.... so I will be taking him out and about for a little while every day - even if it is only to the downstairs gym to walk slowly on the treadmill!
This Friday we are heading to Melaka for round 2 of chemo. The drive there and back will be tiring for Husband, but we look at it from the point of view that, each time we go, it is one step further along in the fight against the cancer. Today was the last round of chemo pills from round 1.. and it wasnt until about 2 days ago that he started feeling a little bit nauseous. Seems to be OK today though!
My parents are on holiday too. They left yesterday for India, via Singapore. My Dad's youngest brother (who is just 2 years older than me) is having a house-dedication for his new house in Kerala... so all the siblings and their families are getting together for that. They will be back beginning of 2nd week of June. I think this will be the first time in years that all the brothers and sisters (the surviving ones at any rate) will be meeting all together. It should be good fun, but probably very exhausting too!
Enough for now. Keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, that he continues to have the strength to bear up under the pain, and handle the chemo too.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Of course, there will always be little bits and pieces that will be acquired over a period of time, but, right now, we are comfy :-D. The spare set of curtains and the bamboo chicks will be with us in about 10 - 12 days time... and the rest we will do as and when we feel like it (or when sufficient number of guests are staying with us that we HAVE to furnish the 2nd guest room)!
So how are we doing otherwise? Well, Kevin has come and gone (left on 4th May), and it was great having him here. He was very helpful in getting things sorted out and put away at home, and in keeping Husband cheerful and positive. Now that he is gone it is just Husband and I again and that is nice too!! We do things at our own pace and take life easy. Husband is still in a lot of pain on his lower back (well, that is going to take several months to sort itself out!!), but he is doing his best to go beyond the pain and stay upbeat. We went to the supermarket today - Husband came along too - and that trip took about 1.5 hours. He was exhausted by the time we got back and put things away, but he is gaining a bit more strength every single day.... so I will be taking him out and about for a little while every day - even if it is only to the downstairs gym to walk slowly on the treadmill!
This Friday we are heading to Melaka for round 2 of chemo. The drive there and back will be tiring for Husband, but we look at it from the point of view that, each time we go, it is one step further along in the fight against the cancer. Today was the last round of chemo pills from round 1.. and it wasnt until about 2 days ago that he started feeling a little bit nauseous. Seems to be OK today though!
My parents are on holiday too. They left yesterday for India, via Singapore. My Dad's youngest brother (who is just 2 years older than me) is having a house-dedication for his new house in Kerala... so all the siblings and their families are getting together for that. They will be back beginning of 2nd week of June. I think this will be the first time in years that all the brothers and sisters (the surviving ones at any rate) will be meeting all together. It should be good fun, but probably very exhausting too!
Enough for now. Keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, that he continues to have the strength to bear up under the pain, and handle the chemo too.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
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