Hug Mission

Well, if you weren't affected by the volcanic-ash incident then you're lucky! I'm not the one traveling but my pre-chemo appointment at the hospital yesterday, has had to be postponed to Friday due to a shortage of staff. Bummer. Anyway, ...

I woke up on Monday morning and had a great idea (ouch!). Must be the result of an overdose of fresh air (on the Dartmoor lakes where we spent the weekend fly-fishing) and the glorious sunshine (hahaha! Jack went to work with a somewhat red nose that morning!).

Since the start of my communication in January, when I was first diagnosed, I've been receiving numerous responses from friends all around the world.  I am very touched by everyone's kind words of wisdom, encouragement and prayers.  All your messages during these past few months have been received with great appreciation.  I want to give everyone a hug - but I won't be traveling for quite a while.  A reply email or even a hand-written note just doesn't seem to convey my heartfelt gratitude.  And so, I've decided to send my little Buddy around the world to my friends, one by one, to deliver a hug from me!  It will involve your participation with a fresh A5 or A4 envelope plus cost of postage to the next hug-recipient.  To avoid unforeseen circumstances that may lead to misuse of the contact list (and to add to my excitement of being able to monitor Buddy's whereabouts on a daily basis), I will email the onward address to Buddy's current host.  Here's how it will happen:-

1) You will receive Buddy together with my notebook in your post/mail
2) Please write a message and sign the notebook
3) Allow Buddy to deliver my hug and a snuggle to you and your family :)  Please, please do not leave Buddy unattended with your little children or pets (dog, cat, snake, etc) while he is in your care
4) You can email me updates while you're hosting Buddy, or even a photo of yourself with Buddy
5) Email me to obtain Buddy's onward destination if you haven't already heard from me
6) Please put Buddy and my note book in a fresh envelope with the correct details and the appropriate postage for him to reach his destination

For this project, Buddy will have to cover the east and west coasts of the United States of America, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, China and the United Kingdom. I wonder how long it'll take and what state Buddy will come back to me in...

N.B. If you do NOT wish to play host to Buddy for whatever reason (no worries!), please drop me a line as soon as you've received this email.  Hosts are kindly requested to avoid keeping Buddy for more than a couple of days. He mustn't overstay his welcome and more important - he has an important mission to accomplish for me!

I will delve into my Christmas card list for your snail-mail addresses.  When I've exhausted my address book, I'll email for your individual postal address.  I'm REALLY excited now! Hope you are too! :)

Jack’s Birthday Present

So cute or what? It is NOT a mouse. It is a hamster (as the lady in the shop corrected me). There wasn't much available with "40" and so I bought this cute little thing with a "4" and did some DIY by sticking a mini Cheerio cereal on the end :) Jack loved it!

Hope not too many of you have had to change your travel plans due to the Icelandic volcanic ash. TGIF. Enjoy the sunshine! :)

Two Weeks Gone

Where have the last TWO WEEKS gone?  I recall the excitement of finding my Hotel Chocolate Easter Egg from Jack under the stairs in, what I call the "Harry Potter" room. Half the shell of the egg is kept in a jar, but the cute chocolate-coated biscuits inside disappeared very quickly ... burp! (Excuse me!)  Jack's mum and dad got us each a polka-dotted chocolate egg and plus a Lucy Lamb (Easter chocolate range from M&S) from my colleague! So, we had a very egg-citing Easter weekend watching the Malaysian Grand Prix (finally - way to go Vettel!) over a constant flow of toasted hot-cross buns! And who would have guessed that a horse with the name "Don't Push It" and paid 20-1 odds, would win the Grand Nationals last Friday? I did :) A GBP2 bet on either way paid GBP54! Actually, I might consider a career as a professional punter ... (joking lah!)

I want to thank all your emails and text messages during this past two weeks when you haven't heard from me. Apart from having to concentrate on nursing our nasty colds and coughs, we have life-impacting decisions to make - a position that we'd rather not be in. Life has not been the same since our initial meeting with the chemo specialist on 1st April. Dr Osbourne first explained that she is ordering an MRI to confirm that a cyst on my liver is not cancer. I have no knowledge of any cyst on my liver till then. (Should we ask for a PET scan instead so we can be absolutely sure???) ... Worrying ... Within minutes, everything else paled against the list of possible side effects - from mouth sores to heightened sensitivity to cold, and bone diseases to bringing forward menopause; of which the one that threatens fertility caught our full attention. We asked for more time to consider our options. We were reminded that chemotherapy is most effective between the 8th and 10th weeks post surgery. Our hospital liaison was most helpful and promised to secure soonest appointments for an MRI, and another to see a fertility specialist.

The MRI appointment took place last Thursday on 8th April. Jack was comatose from Night Nurse for his cold, and so I took a bus to the hospital. I was so proud of myself :) I was in the MRI tunnel for more than 30 minutes. A dye was induced intravenously for the second half of the scan. When the nurse removed the drip needle from my arm after the whole procedure, my blood just shot out of my arm and created quite a mess around the room. Another nurse helped me to the changing/waiting area with my basketful of belongings. The sight of my blood-stained gown and the streak of fresh blood down my arm were enough to bring on such jaw-dropping expressions from those waiting for their turns to be scanned...

An appointment with the fertility specialist never came through, but a letter did arrive with the suggestion of using "donor eggs" when we are ready to conceive. (Shock) (How does using someone else's eggs be considered having one's own child? That's 50% at best!) In short, my eggs are not worth harvesting and freezing due to my age :( In view that menopause might set in before I can have a chance to recuperate after the whole course of chemotherapy (standard course is 6 months), chances of having our own child is looking remote :((  It doesn't matter that I don't look and behave my age, nor how healthy and active I was before the diagnosis ... Divine intervention is our only hope.

And so, at our second meeting with Dr Osbourne yesterday, we confirmed that I would take the oncology team's advice and proceed with chemotherapy. There is an opportunity to punt (seriously) for a shorter 3-month course - the Scot Trial, which is a research conducted nation-wide to prove that a 3-month course of chemo treatment is just as effective as the standard 6-month course. I have signed up to participate, and will know if I am lucky to be randomized for the 3-month course after my pre-chemo tests on 27th April. Meanwhile, the first cycle is scheduled for 4th May. Because it's Jack’s 40th birthday on Wed 21st April, and my doctors are very nice to accommodate my request for a week free of hospital appointments :)

We are still struggling to come to terms with our decision, and so your continued prayers for both Jack and myself during this time are most appreciated.

The weather in the southwest continues to be sunny :) Here's wishing you a very pleasant weekend, wherever you are ... (ok. who's going to win the Shanghai Grand Prix this weekend?)