Not too much right now, which is kinda good too :-). We have spent time with Tony, with Peng, with Cathy. I've had time to meet up with Hadar and Bilal. Husband and I have run a few errands..... and I guess that's about it!
This Thursday is blood test day - we are driving to Melaka late morning, arriving at the hospital by mid-afternoon, going straight to the lab so they can take the usual 2 syringes full of blood for testing, and then heading over to my brother's place, as we are staying the night with them. The blood test results will be sent straight to the oncologists clinic once they are ready... so we don't have to wait around.
Chemo is on Friday, so we will head back to the hospital early morning, and check out the blood test results - and KEEP OUR FINGERS CROSSED THAT THE CANCER MARKER HAS GONE DOWN DOWN and DOWN! To be honest, I don't know what we will do if it has not gone down. The thought is really quite scary! Please keep Husband in your prayers that there is a good result, as it will cheer him up if the marker goes down and, in the last few weeks, there has been very little for Husband to be cheerful about :-(.
OK, stop, let's not go there - it gets too depressing to continue in that vein. Let's just hope for the best this week.
I will update the blog after we are back from chemo, so, till then folks, keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers and stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Have you ever heard of a 'pain-killer patch'?
I hadn't, before last Wed, and then my brother (the doc) had a discussion with the oncologist and Husband was given two of these pain-killer patches to try out. One patch is supposed to be stuck onto the chest or back and will remain effective for up to 72 hours! For the first application, it will take anything from 6 - 12 hours for the effects to be felt. I figured this would be a brilliant way for Husband to handle long distance drives (assuming the patch works), and would make it possible for us to make the trip to SG that we have been planning for so long and keep on postponing as Husband just cannot sit for 4 hours in the car!
So, anyway, after much argument, I forced Husband to allow me to apply one patch on him at 10pm last night - there are side effects associated with these patches, and I want to see if he gets any of these side effects NOW, while we are in KL in easy reach of our doctors, rather than sticking the patch on him the night before we go to SG and then he gets hit with weird side effects while we are in SG and I have no recourse to any doctor!!!
The patch is really tiny. Not much bigger than my thumb. I stuck the patch on Husband's back, on the right side, just below the shoulder, and (just in case) put a layer of water proof plaster over it. He still had to take his pain killers for last night, as the patch would not take affect until this morning anyways... SO, it is now 11 hours later - AND YES THE PATCH HAS TAKEN AFFECT!!
Yes, he can still feel some pain in the usual lower back area. BUT, it is completely bearable without need for any other pain killer, and at least will be a good reminder for Husband not to do anything stupid when he walks (like doing the pas de deux, as he says!). It has also made him rather light-headed!! You know the feeling you get when you take one of these extremely strong cough mixtures which have the warning "May make you drowsy, do not drive...."? Yep, that is exactly how he feels. Told him it is just as well that he is not doing any driving nowadays anyway!
Now we have to see how long it will take to wear off. Theoretically, the effects should last 3 days (72 hours), so that would take us through to Thursday night. That should also give us time to see if Husband gets any of the side effects associated with this patch (breathlessness, nausea, constipation). Fingers crossed!
If all goes well, we may yet make our trip to SG after all!
That's the news for today. Keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, that the cancer can be destroyed.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
So, anyway, after much argument, I forced Husband to allow me to apply one patch on him at 10pm last night - there are side effects associated with these patches, and I want to see if he gets any of these side effects NOW, while we are in KL in easy reach of our doctors, rather than sticking the patch on him the night before we go to SG and then he gets hit with weird side effects while we are in SG and I have no recourse to any doctor!!!
The patch is really tiny. Not much bigger than my thumb. I stuck the patch on Husband's back, on the right side, just below the shoulder, and (just in case) put a layer of water proof plaster over it. He still had to take his pain killers for last night, as the patch would not take affect until this morning anyways... SO, it is now 11 hours later - AND YES THE PATCH HAS TAKEN AFFECT!!
Yes, he can still feel some pain in the usual lower back area. BUT, it is completely bearable without need for any other pain killer, and at least will be a good reminder for Husband not to do anything stupid when he walks (like doing the pas de deux, as he says!). It has also made him rather light-headed!! You know the feeling you get when you take one of these extremely strong cough mixtures which have the warning "May make you drowsy, do not drive...."? Yep, that is exactly how he feels. Told him it is just as well that he is not doing any driving nowadays anyway!
Now we have to see how long it will take to wear off. Theoretically, the effects should last 3 days (72 hours), so that would take us through to Thursday night. That should also give us time to see if Husband gets any of the side effects associated with this patch (breathlessness, nausea, constipation). Fingers crossed!
If all goes well, we may yet make our trip to SG after all!
That's the news for today. Keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, that the cancer can be destroyed.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Friends have come, and gone...
... and we miss them already! Tony and Peng - come back again ... SOON! We love having you here, and only wish you could stay longer :-p. (And, Peng, I hope and pray that your Dads' chemo goes smoothly, and that he responds well to the treatment!)
Husband was not able to join us as much as he would have liked to (as he really enjoys their company), as he was (and IS) in a lot of pain. All down to the pain-causing aspect of the Erbitux! With all the pain he is going through with this drug, it better WORK! Or else Husband is going to end up more despondent than ever :-(.
My #1 niece (my brothers oldest daughter) celebrated her 21st birthday on Friday - and MAN, that makes me feel so old! I still remember, like it was last week, holding her in my arms when she was just a few hours old... and now she is TWENTY-ONE? Where did the last 21 years go?
And my #3 nephew (my sisters 2nd son) celebrated his 8th, or is it 9th, birthday? OK, that still sounds young, so it doesn't make me feel so old :-D.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (slightly belated) to both MIRA and STEPHEN, and may you both enjoy many many many happy years ahead of you.
That's it for now. Till next time, keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, and stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Husband was not able to join us as much as he would have liked to (as he really enjoys their company), as he was (and IS) in a lot of pain. All down to the pain-causing aspect of the Erbitux! With all the pain he is going through with this drug, it better WORK! Or else Husband is going to end up more despondent than ever :-(.
My #1 niece (my brothers oldest daughter) celebrated her 21st birthday on Friday - and MAN, that makes me feel so old! I still remember, like it was last week, holding her in my arms when she was just a few hours old... and now she is TWENTY-ONE? Where did the last 21 years go?
And my #3 nephew (my sisters 2nd son) celebrated his 8th, or is it 9th, birthday? OK, that still sounds young, so it doesn't make me feel so old :-D.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (slightly belated) to both MIRA and STEPHEN, and may you both enjoy many many many happy years ahead of you.
That's it for now. Till next time, keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers, and stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Friday, October 02, 2009
The pain is baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
It looks like the Zometa painkiller effect has worn off already. The only good part is that the pain has not reached the excruciating levels of last Sun-Tue!! I suppose, for Husband, he is back to his "normal" pain level, elevated by the Erbitux... but it sounds strange to say "normal pain level"! Is there such a thing? All I can see is that he is too tired today to even hit his target of showering before 10am. He is back in bed, hopefully sleeping. And he is targeting that he will be up and about by tomorrow so that he can enjoy Tony and Pengs visit :-).
I have to say that having our friends come and stay (even if it is only a short stay!) really does help - to take Husband's mind off the pain, to alleviate the feeling of 'cabin fever', and he has someone more to talk to than just me :-p. And it helps that Husband and I have been friends with Peng and Tony for the last 11 years, since Tony, Peng and I worked together in SG in the same company. Looking forward to their arrival tomorrow morning :-).
Keep Husband in your thoughts, that he has the strength to withstand the pain, and that the chemo wipes out the cancer.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
I have to say that having our friends come and stay (even if it is only a short stay!) really does help - to take Husband's mind off the pain, to alleviate the feeling of 'cabin fever', and he has someone more to talk to than just me :-p. And it helps that Husband and I have been friends with Peng and Tony for the last 11 years, since Tony, Peng and I worked together in SG in the same company. Looking forward to their arrival tomorrow morning :-).
Keep Husband in your thoughts, that he has the strength to withstand the pain, and that the chemo wipes out the cancer.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Chemo #12 is over
At the last chemo, Husband was administered two drugs - Erbitux first (this is the one that causes pain!!), followed by Camptosar. And the 2 weeks following that he was in a HUGE amount of pain and really suffered.
This time round, in addition to the above 2 drugs, he was also administered Zometa (which is targetted at the cancer in the bones) which he has been having every alternate treatment anyway. It turns out (as the oncologist told us) that Zometa is also a pain killer (!), and it seems to have helped this time round.
Husband just told me he is worried because he cannot believe how OK he feels today, as compared to the last time, when the pain had him (literally) bed-ridden. That is a huge relief to both of us - and I hope that the pain-killing will hold for some period of time. And in case it does not, he has also been prescribed another pain killer to take as and when the Zometa wears off and the pain peaks as it did in the last few days of the last chemo cycle - in addition, of course, to all the pain killers he has been taking anyway!
Fingers crossed folks!
What other news? Oh yes, another friend of ours from SG (MichaelO) came and spent the last weekend with us - and it was a nice relaxing weekend. And, this coming weekend, we have Tony and HP again :-D, which gives us both something to really look forward to again.
My Dad celebrated his 76th birthday on 29th Sept, and my sister and I arranged to meet at Souled Out at Sri Hartamas, for a birthday dinner, after which we adjourned back to our place for birthday cake. Nice evening. Tell you what though - the food and the service at Souled Out are excellent. It is only the 2nd time we have been, and both times we were impressed. Cuisine is both Western and Asian. We would definitely go again. Of course, it also helps that it is literally just across the road from our place, so that if Husband needs to get home fast, it is easy to do!
That's it for now folks. Please continue to keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers that the Erbitux is working and that the cancer will be destroyed.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
This time round, in addition to the above 2 drugs, he was also administered Zometa (which is targetted at the cancer in the bones) which he has been having every alternate treatment anyway. It turns out (as the oncologist told us) that Zometa is also a pain killer (!), and it seems to have helped this time round.
Husband just told me he is worried because he cannot believe how OK he feels today, as compared to the last time, when the pain had him (literally) bed-ridden. That is a huge relief to both of us - and I hope that the pain-killing will hold for some period of time. And in case it does not, he has also been prescribed another pain killer to take as and when the Zometa wears off and the pain peaks as it did in the last few days of the last chemo cycle - in addition, of course, to all the pain killers he has been taking anyway!
Fingers crossed folks!
What other news? Oh yes, another friend of ours from SG (MichaelO) came and spent the last weekend with us - and it was a nice relaxing weekend. And, this coming weekend, we have Tony and HP again :-D, which gives us both something to really look forward to again.
My Dad celebrated his 76th birthday on 29th Sept, and my sister and I arranged to meet at Souled Out at Sri Hartamas, for a birthday dinner, after which we adjourned back to our place for birthday cake. Nice evening. Tell you what though - the food and the service at Souled Out are excellent. It is only the 2nd time we have been, and both times we were impressed. Cuisine is both Western and Asian. We would definitely go again. Of course, it also helps that it is literally just across the road from our place, so that if Husband needs to get home fast, it is easy to do!
That's it for now folks. Please continue to keep Husband in your thoughts and prayers that the Erbitux is working and that the cancer will be destroyed.
Till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!
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