Acupuncture

Acupuncture

I'm wondering how many of us actually tried acupuncture... or tried & continue the therapy?
The mediocre thought which comes to our mind will be needles poking all over the body.

While I was doing my chemotherapy, one of my good buddy introduced me to to a Chinese practitioner whom specializes in acupuncture & herbs medicine. Heard that he was good & many people actually come from far away places to see him.
I have even met Datuk David Arumugam of the famed Alleycats at the center earlier this year.

Dr Zhang Jie

Lady Dr Zhao prepared my herbs

When I first met the doctor, he told me very frankly that he will not be able to help to kill the cancer cells directly. However, he will be able to promote the well being of the body(sleep/rest) & digestion in order to have the body antibodies to fight the cancer cells on its own.
He also did say that nowadays, herbs & other eastern medical practices are being used as a supplement to the western medication.Its widely accepted in China.



He had also explained the basic of our food to the human body functions... basically if we eat a good balanced diet, the nutrients, chi enerygy & everything good will be channeled to the main 5 body organs.
But if we do not, it will cause ailment like fatigue, diarrhea, constipation & even cancer.

Balance Diet Distribution Chart

If you notice, a numeric accompanies each basic food (grain = 1 , meat = 2, vege = 3 & fruits = 4).
The middle box (no. 5) is the distribution point. If this box functions properly, it will channel the nutrients/chi enerygy to the organs.
Eg. 1(grain) + 5(distributor) = 6 (organ) ; 4 (fruit) + 5(distributor) = 9 (organ)

BUT if the distributor is not functioning well, it will cause improper channeling to numeric like eg. 7.8 & 8.2 which are neither in the box of 7 nor 8 nor 9.
This will in turn cause illness in our body.

On my 1st chemo, I had quite a few side effects which really gave me a hard time.
Nausea, muscle & bone pain, fatigue, loss of hair (including facial & pubic hairs), sense of cold(especially the feet), very airy stomach (the air just won't stop coming out from the mouth & fart), vomiting, urge to eat certain food (just like pregnancy), inflammation of the gum caused by wisdom tooth (one of the most painful experience as the whole left cheek was swollen 1wk after chemo), platinum taste on all food & water ( I really really hate this taste), insomnia (wake up & walk around the house), diarrhea & low level of white cell counts/platelet & haemoglobin.
Sounds serious as it seems, but eventually I got used to it by the 3rd cycle.

Cordyceps

Then, I started attending the acupuncture sessions & taking the herbs.
Don't expect immediate effect !
Chinese medication takes time to produce the desired result.
The needles were.....honestly painful.
My most relaxing acupuncture session was last week, 2 wks after my ops.
I guess the pain on the chest was not comparable to the needles. I slept halfway through the extra long session ( 1.5hrs. Normal is abt 45mins)

Powdered Herbs Diluted in Hot Water

It promotes good blood circulation, better digestion, better sleep, better toilet habits & channeling the chi energy into the right area.
Apart from this, I was asked to sleep early, preferably by 10pm & wake up early.
I have to eat my breakfast before 8am, morning toilet routine & taking brisk walks in the morning.
He have also introduced taking cordyceps as a supplement. It helps to strengthen the body for the ops & the chemotherapy. 
Last of all, to take the herb medication on time.



Of course there is always the PROHIBITED list of food.
Take a look into the below. Anything which is cooling to the body is a NO.
I'm also advised to stay away from dairy products for the time being.

List of Prohibited Food

Honestly, initially I was pretty skeptical but glad that I went for it.
Overall, it helped to improved my overall condition, & also contributed to a part of my very positive result in my fight against cancer.
If you have ailments, you can really consider it. It works.
Let me know if you are interested in it. I can introduce the acupuncture doctor & the centre to you.

Till then. Thanx for the time in reading my blog.

Substance X

SUBSTANCE "X"

Before I move on, substance X is just a replacement name for the REAL SUBSTANCE which I believed had helped me on the road to recovery.

Its a traditional herb well known among the chinese medical practitioners.

In view of insufficient proofs & conflicting medical healing properties, I shall keep it anonymous.

When I was on my 1st chemotherapy process, one of my good buddies called me on one of those nauseous side effects afternoon.. I wasn't in much condition to talk nor to have my brain work but I'm glad that I did.
He heard about my condition & he wanted to help in my recovery, in whatever way possible.
He told me that there is a substance which will be able to eliminate the cancer cells.
Yes, you heard me. Eliminate the Cancer Cells.

All the while, I thought it was only the western medicine & our own body antibody which were able to ward & kill the cells. For Western medicine, it kills not only the cancer cells, but also the good cells. That's why you can see a cancer patient being so weak everytime after running a  chemotherapy session.

The white blood cells, platelets & hemoglobin will all drop to a level whereby we cancer patients are to avoid getting sick & going to crowded areas. If we get a cut, it will take a much longer time to stop the bleeding & to heal.  I had this experience when my body was so weak that the bacteria attacked my weakest point.... wisdom tooth.

Back to substance X. After the call with my buddy, I was not content & find it very hard to believe. Its like using my life, as well as my beloved family to gamble on something which I had not heard off, nor any medical proof of its miracle properties. On the 1st try, I have told my buddy that I will consider this option.

After a couple of days, another buddy of mine called & spoke to me about the same substance. He said I should really give it a try. There's no harm trying out whatever options as long as it heals my cancer. After a length of words, I still told him that I will consider it. Then, it was like suddenly, this buddy sent out a mass sms to all my other buddies & shared with them about my condition. They were doing a fund raising activity & had come up with a sum of money to get this substance X.

A capsule of Substance X

When my buddy sent the 12 capsules to me & told me how to consume it, I was awed by the price it carries on each capsule. Small as it is, I am to consume 5 capsules every alternate days, followed by the remaining 7 capsules every week.. These capsules are said to be sufficient & will help in my healing.

On my first capsule, my body excretion was very smelly. The urine was dark brown & don't bother asking about the passing motion. I believe it's enough to topple a herd of cows down.
As far as I know, there wasn't any other side effects.

Honestly, there is no way to trace the effectiveness of substance X.
But I believe it had helped when I went for my CT scan right before the 3rd chemo cycle. The result was very good. It showed that tumour & the lymph node have been reduced to 1/4 of the original size. The doctor said the result was impressive but in truth, I know substance X had helped.
Of course there are also other precautions like acupuncture, chinese herbs, morning brisk walk & early sleeping patterns.
Overall, it had helped me more than I thought.
In short,  miracle works in many ways & I believe this is one of the many miracles which I had come upon.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the below buddies whom had worked & contributed to my recovery. You do not know how much it meant to me. Guys, I owe you one.

Thank you so much....

Lim Kian Koon                          Yam Voon Foong

Yan Kai Hoe                               Cheah Wei Meng

William Chan Kai Wah             Edward Lee Chun Yok

Benny Cheong Chee Khan    Melving Chong

Kenneth Leong Wai Noon      Eric Chen 

Terence Toh                               Wee Chin Bee

Foo Chiew Wai                          Ryan Long Hian Yee

My Operation in Singapore

My Tag

Mt Elizabeth Medical Centre

8 Mar'11
It's exactly a week after my operation at Mt Elizabeth Hospital by Dr T. Agasthian.
I had my white chest slit open, rib bone cage sawn half, the fragile windpipe cut & reconstructed, rib cage closed with tiny binding wires & my chest sew back with a long 1ft slit... body feels just like a Frankenstein.

8am - Before Going to Ops

Yeah, sounds like I went through a lot.
But I amaze myself judging by the rate of my recovery..... a week ago, I was in the operation theater for 4+ hours.
I came to Singapore very well prepared for this operation. Waited so long for it. After weeks of chemo, exercising & protecting the health of my body.


Come the day of the ops, both my wife & buddy, Yap Chee Send had accompanied me since 6am at the hospital. My special thanx to GH Ye (Han)  for sending me down to the hospital so early in the morning.
The moment I see anesthetist injects into one of my three IV(intravenous) lines (needle for injection, 2 on my left hand & 1 on my neck), I set myself to go through this courageously & I will see them all again. That was the promise to myself. I have set my subconscious mind to determine for any fight if it were to head my way.

Day 1 - HDU Unit

I was told by my wife that the operation went very well when Dr Agasthain & Dr Mark Chow were seen talking & grinning to each upon, pushing me out of the ops theater into the High Dependency Unit.
On that day itself, I had only open my eyes for 3 times. First was to see my wife & Chee Seng in front of me asking me everything went well. I was shaking all over at that time. I only had a vague 30sec memory recall on that day.
Second when I open my eyes to see my Cousin Kim & Roy. I just extended to a hand shake & slept again.
Third was when I saw Alan & Felicia in front of me. I waved at them & fell back to sleep again. 
I thank the miracles of the morphine, the pain killer & anesthetics for making all the pain bearable. Not forgetting the nurses whom had constantly taken good care of me during my critical period.

Day 2

On the 2nd day, I was transferred to the normal ward. Thank heavens I was allocated to a 2-person room even though I opt for a 4-persons room. I was bed ridden for 3 days without much movement.
On the 4th day, I attempted to sit up on the bed with the help of the nurses.
Needed to sit up & get some blood running down my head & shoulders. It was so stiff & it hurts especially with the long tube running in my chest while pumping the water out.
Mimiko helped to rub down some of those ache out of the feeble muscles.
Weeks of preparing the muscles was wiped out in just 4-days.
I lost about 2kg just on this ops.

Neck IV Line

Chest Tube

Apart from the big chest tube, I have 2 IV line on the hand & neck, & a urinal tube stuck onto my genitals.
The urinal tube along with the hand IV line was taken out on the 4th day. The nurse was ruthless when she pulled the long urinal tube out.
Believe me, it was definately a sharp pain & not just "going to be a little bit pain" as claimed by her.
Imagine the tube running from the penis hole right into the bladder.... just imagine how long the tube is.
The pain is like scratching your penis onto a fine sand paper. You can even see some dry skin after that on the forehead. Eventually I did ignore the pain as the chest pain was more painful.
The pain struck like a needle across the abdomen till the back of the shoulders.

Day 3

I was able to talk better on the 4th day once the morphine had worn down. The IV line was taken out.
Started to climb out of bed to pee at the toilet. Even though the toilet is located only 7-8 steps away, it took quite an effort to walk there with my chest drain box on my hands. It weights around 1-1.5kg but it was really quite a task to carry it around with my torn chest muscle.
By this time, my breathing got a bit steadier. My lungs & abdomen were weak & couldn't produce the oxygen which I needed. It was like running up a hill & having abdomen muscle cramps after the run.
I even had the experience of having an abdomen muscle spasm on the 2nd nite.
I just can't breathe & made several attempts to cut as many short breathe as possible. Got scared at that time when my body went cold with sweat. Luckily the nurses were able to calm me down & I managed to doze off to sleep.

Day 5

The following days went by as I get lesser sleep & spent more time walking around the hospital & reading a book.
I still need to be careful with my neck & not make any sudden jerks or movement which might hurt the reconstructed windpipe. My head was kept down for the first few days & was very careful with it. If it breaks, it will mean another round of ops just to mend the connection again. With the head bowed, it looks odd & feels just like a turtle.

The Daytime Nurse Team at Mt E

Sometimes, I would just wake up at 4am or 5am to walk around & talk to the nurses.
It seems the nurses were either Malaysians or Filipinos. All of them were very friendly & had helped me alot.
Drinking the cordyceps which my sister had bought for me & forcing myself to have have proper meals, I healed very fast & it feels great upon discharging on Monday, 6days upon my admittance to the hospital.
Being in the hospital is getting on my nerves & my neighbor had given me 2 sleepless nights with self murmuring  in the middle of the night. At one time, I had to get out of the room & the nurses urged me to go to one of the empty beds for 2 hours sleep before the next patient comes. Thank goodness for it.

 

Day 6

Now, I can see the long slit on my chest, with a bit of yellowish bruise on the top which is the most painful part. I hope that it will develop into a good scar to remind myself of the events & continue my drive for awareness.
Still very short of breath, couldn't walk 10m without having my lungs pumping for air. Stamina & concentration are at all time low. The bald head of mine keep spinning at certain times... after watching a bit of TV or lap top or anything which runs in motion.
Its very tiring & I'm glad its over. I just need to proceed with my next challenge.

Fr Left : Audrey, myself, Dr T. Agasthian

Since the 1st chemo & ops went very well, the doctor advised me to for another 2-3 rounds of chemotherapy. He had arranged to meet the oncologist at SDMC again next Friday.
This was rather surprising as I thought all was over. But if it acts as an assurance and my body could take it, why not?
Anyway, I have faced the worst of it. Just a bit more before I can share my experience on this war & proudly say that I had seen it & lived it.

I just booked my flight back on this coming Thursday afternoon. Need to go home & get proper rest.
Can't have it neither at the hospital nor hotel. Kept having fictional dreams which disrupt my night rest.
The body is really drain of energy now. Small coughs & sneeze tears at my chest whenever I have it.
It takes some seconds to calm the pain down.

Right from the start, Mimiko had been beside me to take care of my every needs & I'm very very thankful for all the sacrifices made for me. My son is in KL waiting for us to go home. Both my parents & in-laws are helping me to take care of him during his school days.

My sincere thank you to Dr T. Agasthian whom had given me a new lease of breathing organ in my body.
Not forgetting nurse Audrey whom had helped to arrange the details in admission & discharge from the hospital.
My thanx to Dr Mark Chow whom had administered the anesthetics & thanx to the other members of the operating team during my ops.
Thank you nurses of ward 6A(not forgetting food auntie/lady) whom had see to my every needs during my recovery.

Alan & Felicia

My special thanx to my buddy, Alan Tan & Felicia, whom had helped to cook all the delicious good soup, porridge, tempura for Mimiko right after I was discharged from the hospital.
They have really helped me a lot during this stage and I'm thankful to have friends like them. Couldn't ask for anyone better.

• Chee Seng & sister

Thanx to my school buddy Chee Seng, for being there on the ops day & all the help extended to my wife.
Thanx to my buddy Han for ferrying me to the hospital.
Thanx to my buddy David for the soup & ferrying me to the follow check-up & to the airport too.
Thanx to all the family & friends whom came to visit me during my stay in Singapore.
I'm truly blessed  with so many of you all.

Mimiko at the Airport

Well, Its not exactly a perfect vacation but still a happy "Medical Vacation".
Mimiko loves Singapore as well... so convenient, safe & well oriented with proper planning.
Would surely love to spend a few nites there vacationing again.


Need to rest now.. feel so giddy.

Part 2 : So, What Now? Whats Next?

Wow, its been 11 days now since my last chemo.
I'm feeling a lot better, as long as I continue with my healthy routine.

Now, what do I need to do upon being diagnosed?
First of all, please allow me to share what I had gone through. 

Below is the ordeal of events from the time I got diagnosed.

Dec 17, 9.30am
Went to see Dr Gan Lian Hoe at Columbia Hospital Puchong.
Took a new Xray & CT Scan. 

Dr Jurina Mohd Hassan

Found a growth, a polyp in my windpipe. Just at the junction from the main windpipe to the left/right bronchial.
Referred & met with physician Dr Jurina Mohd Hassan.
Advised to go for  biopsy to check/extract some samples for testing.
If able, will also try to remove the polyp. 
.





Dec 18, 8am
Perform a biopsy at Columbia Hospital to extract the polyp out for checking.
Extracted blood to perform blood test as well.

Just right before going into the surgical room.

Dec 21, 5pm

Met with Dr Jurina to check the result of the biopsy.
Diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma at the junction of the trachea.

Dec 22, 10am

Went to Subang Jaya Medical Centre.
Met oncologist Dr Foo Yoke Ching and asked for her advise. Based on the Xray, CT scan & blood test results, she prescribed what I have & advised to go for PET scan first.
However, not able to perform immediately as the list was full and need to wait till a week later.

The nurses & radiographer at Wijaya Medical Centre

Called to Wijaya Medical Centre & Prince Court. Fastest PET scan is at Wijaya on the following day.

Dec 23, 8am

Went to Wijaya Medical Centre to perform PET Scan
Got the results at 4pm.

Red circles are the tumor

Types of cancer cells. Was advised to perform another blood test just to be sure.

Raced to SDMC to meet Dr Foo YC. again. Was told that the windpipe has a 20mm tumor, with an infected  lymph node right below the lungs.
Options is to remove the growth & perform chemotherapy.
Was advised that there wasn't a specialist here whom is able to perform the surgery & reconstruction of the windpipe.
The closest is in Singapore, Dr T. Agasthian, a cardiothoracic specialist at Mt Elizabeth hospital whom has the experience in this field.

Dec 27, 5am

Took first flight out to Singapore to meet  Dr Agasthian at Mt Elizabeth, as well as Dr. Donald Phoon at  Raffles Hospital.
Consulted the options for the surgery.
Met Dr Donald Phoon to seek 2nd opinion pertaining to my case.
Called to SDMC to set up my 1st chemotherapy on the next day.

Dec 28, 8.30am (1wk after I was diagnosed with cancer)

SDMC South Tower

Went to SDMC to take my 1st chemotherapy.
Finished at 4pm. Went home & to wait for the side effects.

My MRN number at the hospital

My IV line.... got quite immune to needles. However, still painful

Jan 18, 8.30am

Went to SDMC for my 2nd chemotherapy

Feb 8, 8.30am

Went to SDMC to perform CT Scan.
Continue with 3rd chemotherapy at 11.30am

Feb 28, 5am

Going to Singapore to pre-register at Mt Elizabeth hospital.
Check into Value Hotel Thomson & settle Mimiko's transportation woes.

Mar 1, 7am

Admit to Mt Elizabeth hospital and operation is scheduled at 9am


Now, back to the topic. "What do you do if you are diagnosed? "
Upon diagnosis, above all, you need to STAY CALM.
I know its very hard to swallow but the fact is, its in you & it will not go away after a good nites sleep.


1. Get a 2nd opinion
If you have the resources, seek another doctor for opinion.
Its not a matter of trust but it is your life & its in your hands.

2. What is the procedure to get rid of the cancer. 
Surgery follow by chemotherapy or the reverse? Follow by radiotherapy?
Seek the oncologist advise & opt for the best treatment. Time is of essence. 

3. Do you have insurance?
If yes, it will make the burden much lighter. Go & call your insurance company immediately.
If not, you have to make the best out of your available funds.
Might want to consider chemotherapy first. It will kill the cancer cells & stop the spread. It could also shrink the tumor size, just like my case.

4. Start the therapy as soon as possible
One thing I learn about cancer cells, it spreads if you do not stop it.
Therefore, perform the therapies as soon as possible. Stop sitting thinking about death.
Go get your butt on the therapy plan.

5. What is the most important thing to you?
By this time, you should know what is the most important thing to you.
Whether its your husband, wife, son, daughter, GF, BF, pet, car, business, dreams... whatever it is,
 grab hold of it tightly. Let your subconscious mind seep & lock it.
You will need this "thought" in your mind whenever you go to bed.
No doubt sleeping time is the best time to rest your body, but Death also love to play games in our mind.


6. Exercise
Get your sneakers out.
Exercise those sweat out. BUT don't over do it. Don't aggravate those cancerous cell to be more active.

I bought these sneakers just for my morning walk.

Go for a morning walk. Breathe those fresh morning dew.

6. Western Medication + Eastern Medication?
I was equally as suspicious as you when it comes to eastern meds.
Will it help? Well, I can tell you that it does.
I'm going for acupuncture regularly, taking chinese herbs as well.
Honestly, the chinese doctor did tell me that it will not help on my cancer cells, but it will promote better digestion and blood circulation in me. In other words, it promotes intake of food, better sleep & better digestive system which you will be deprived during chemotherapy.

Needles on my stomach

7. Concentrate your fight with cancer. Be a positive cheerful person.

Again, this is your life. Fight it with all your heart, never ever give up. Don't even give a chance to it.

Again, this is your life. You need to control your emotions and boost those good chi into yourself.

Again, this is your life. Many are supporting you, your family & friends. Don't let them down.

Again, this is your life. Lead a healthy lifestyle. Sleep is the best medicine for your cells to recover.

You ARE what you LIVE. Remember this. 

Part 1 : What is Cancer?

To start off with the 1st topic... what is cancer?

The word certainly strike fear to each of us.... probably due to our very little knowledge about it.
It may not be as bad as you think once you know it.
Understand & whip out a cocktail of remedies to combat it.
I have extracted the below definitions from the website based on Wikipedia & the American National Cancer Institute.
You can clink to the website to understand more about it.
I don't want to bored you with the details.


 

Based on Wikipedia's Defination 

Cancer /ˈkænsər/ (medical term: malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth, invasion that intrudes upon and destroys adjacent tissues, and sometimes metastasis, or spreading to other locations in the body via lymph or blood. These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which do not invade or metastasize.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer

 

Based on National Cancer Institute (US) Defination

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.

Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start - for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in basal cells of the skin is called basal cell carcinoma.

 http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer 

Since trachea(windpipe, the hose which air passes through to the lungs & allow us to breathe) is part of the lung system, I have attached the types of lung cancer.
Even though its a bit a dark, hope that you can view it clearly. 
What I have is squamous cell carcinoma. Its blocking my air passage onto my right lung.

Its about the size of a 20cents coin (20mm).
My lymph node has been infected as well, measuring 22mm. 
This means, the cancer cells had gone into my blood.

I be back to fill in the 2nd topic. 

Intro - My Blog & My Fight With Cancer

Hello There,

I'm Nick fr KL, Malaysia. 

First time blogging & my aim is to share info as much as possible pertaining to my experience on cancer.

While I'm writing this, I've finished my last chemotherapy closed to a week ago & recovering from it. 

Just a couple of weeks more before I go for my ops in Singapore. 

Diagnosed on 18 Dec 2010 with trachea (windpipe) cancer .

I know how devastating it is when you hear these words splat onto your face...
' I'm so sorry to tell you that its cancer.'

' Huh?? Am I dreaming or what? Cancer? Huh????'

Everyone seems to be in shock to hear it & some couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
You will feel lost & probably think of the below.
' Will I die from this? Do I have to leave my wife, my son, my family, my friends... everything?.'

Death never did cross my mind until then.
At that moment, the brain painstakingly works on the maths, what I have & what I need to do to move on.
Our dream seems distant & the mind just wouldn't come drift off to rest.
Dreaded, tired, sad , dissapointed, scared & negative.
But I told myself this,
'Life moves on & I am definately facing this for a reason.'


' Nick, gear yourself up with objectives, polish those sweet thoughts in your mind, put your brain to work those financial maths which seems to follow you like your shadow...........FACE the fact & COPE with it.'

When I got to know what I'd got,  I was searching the web for anything pertaining it. My wife was also desperately digging the vast web with me. 
Conclusion, not many people would like to share their cancer experiences over the web in Malaysia, or rather they are too tired to do it.

Only found Äida, whom had gone through it & shared her therapy experiences in detail. 

You can click the below to view.

http://munirah18.blogspot.com/2010/11/radiotherapy-week-1-and-chemotherapy.html

Below are the events & thoughts which had run within my thoughts.

If you have any suggestions, do drop me a message.
I might change the titles as I move on. 

Events
1. What is cancer? My initial impression was that it kills.

2. So? What now ? Whats next?
2a. Medical Vacation At Singapore (Added in on 11 Mar'11)
2b. The Side Effects during Chemotherapy (Added in on 11 Mar'11)
2c. The Pain during the Operation (Added in on 11 Mar'11)
2d. Your Optimism Gets Twisted Once In A While (Added in on 11 Mar'11)
2e. Substance X (Added in on 11 Mar'11)

3. Family & friends, where am I without them?

4. A Mix of Eastern with Acupuncture & Herbs

5. My source of motivation, comfort & support.

6. So frustrating... choices are limited.

7. Lucky I have I have insurance to help.

8. Options for operations?

9. Like it or not, you need to work your body out.

10. Being bald is not bad , not too bad at all.

I need a nap now. Feels very tired easily & just vomited a while ago. 

Continue as soon as I can.