My hemoglobin test turned around a favorable result. I need not have blood transfusion, at least not yet. And I wish I won't have to. But I still have yet to see if it is inevitable considering the circumstances.
We just had to change my prescription. Looked for a better ferrous sulfate than the one I just finished yesterday morning.
Aside from that, I am on pain management. For pains that are here and there from time to time. I got two meds for pain. Since Algesia could only be taken thrice a day, I need to have another one. That's because sometimes the pain starts to get back even before my next dose.
The weather these past few days has been a blessing. Since I had to spend most of my days lying down, it wasn't so hot for me to have the electric fan going for the whole day. I just needed to turn it on during those moments when it felt like hotter than usual. It's probably what those menopausal ladies call hot flashes. In my case, it gets a little hotter when the pain sets in at its peak. But it's good that it only lasts for a few minutes - five tops.
The Kindle has been a lot of help, too, nowadays. Since I couldn't spend more time on the computer sitting down, I spend a lot of time reading while lying down. This is when the pain is bearable for me to go on reading. Right now, I am reading 'A Game of Thrones' by Georg R.R. Martin and having finished only 7% of the book, I am contemplating into switching to another book. Yeah, I heard this one's a good book (in fact it was the 2011 reader's choice at goodreads.com), but it's just that I'm not a fan of knights and kingdoms. I'm giving myself until I reached 10%, and if it still doesn't make sense, I know it's time to choose another.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Switching to palliative care
I was supposed to have my eighth cycle this January. But I decided to totally stop my chemotherapy treatment.
I made the decision weeks ago, but it was hard to sit down and write about it.
The first thing I considered was of course, my financial situation. But this is not just the issue.
There were a lot more things that led me to this decision. But I'd rather not talk about it yet. There are questions that come along with my treatment. Questions that haven't been answered for a while now. Some of my friends tell me to go to another oncologist for another opinion. But I opted not to. I know what they will tell me. There's no other way but to continue with chemotherapy.
So now, I am under palliative care.
Later today, I'm going for hemoglobin test. If the result is low, I will have to have blood transfusion.
I made the decision weeks ago, but it was hard to sit down and write about it.
The first thing I considered was of course, my financial situation. But this is not just the issue.
There were a lot more things that led me to this decision. But I'd rather not talk about it yet. There are questions that come along with my treatment. Questions that haven't been answered for a while now. Some of my friends tell me to go to another oncologist for another opinion. But I opted not to. I know what they will tell me. There's no other way but to continue with chemotherapy.
So now, I am under palliative care.
Later today, I'm going for hemoglobin test. If the result is low, I will have to have blood transfusion.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Swing!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Pasalubong #54
My BFF and I had our bonding lunch and our bonding window shopping afterwards. I saw this sturdy-looking shredder and it looks okay for doing the carrots everyday. Aside from looking sturdy, it's the cheap tag attracted me. But my BFF paid for it when we got to the counter.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Moments like this
After deciding to stop going through chemotherapy, I pray for more moments like this.
After all those months, I feel so blessed to have friends from everywhere who have been with me all throughout. I hope to have coffee with you guys one time. All of you and I know that this journey wouldn't have taken me this far if not for all your prayers, help and support.
I feel so blessed to still have times like these and be with the people who have been a meaningful part of my life.
*Thanks to all IV-Narra '84 for uploading the pics and to my BFF, Reysie for this wonderful 'collage.'
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
The guy playing piano at the LRT station
Robert Langdon: Take 3
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| Photo credit: goodreads.com |
by Dan Brown
My Rating: ☼☼☼
I asked my Facebook friends which would it be: Dan Brown or Elie Wiesel. Dan Brown won. And I guess it's just right since I've been reading a few holocaust accounts lately.
But I am not really THAT impressed with the book. The plot is the same as that of the past two books, namely: The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.
It's very similar from those of the past two books. The plot goes predictable as you read along. The only thing that you have to watch out is how the puzzle will be solved and what is really the lost symbol - or what are they looking for this time.
But, it just goes like this: an influential person is held captive. The captor wants something. This something needs to be solved and they need Robert Langdon to solve it. Then, again, there's this lady who goes with Robert as he journeys to find and solve the missing pieces. At times, it feels like the lady outsmarts him in more ways.
Then, the climax. They are into this sacred place, with the captor, the captive, the lady and Robert - later on the authorities.
You just have to look for what they are trying to solve this time.
But I should say the concept of the lost symbol is brilliant.
At Calle Arco
I've been craving for mango crepe since I can remember. I think since I came home from Dubai. I used to have it at my classmate's place called 1214, and it was really good.
Now, the nearest, I guess, is at this place.
Thank you, friend, for the wonderful merienda of beef fajitos and mango crepe. I've never been at this place before.
Another first.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
My second book about the holocaust
by Icek Kuperberg
My Rating: ☼☼☼
Photo credit: goodreads.com
This is another account of the holocaust. This time from a man's point of view. But for now, it matters not anymore. Mala and Icek have both been in hell and back. And they have their own stories to tell. But even if it's not the same story, the similarities are stunning.
With the first book that I read, 'The Bleeding Sky,' I was half-believing that it really happened. I remembered making a note: "I thought that 'digging your own grave' was only at the movies... until I read this book." And what this book did was to confirm everything that Mala told. They both have been to Auschwitz, although Mala's account was more detailed. I assume that she must have stayed there longer than Icek. But again, it matters not.
Icek was only seventeen when the war broke out. Just like the others, he was transferred from one camp to another from time to time, including Auschwitz, which they considered the death camp. His ability with metal works gave him extra food to stay stronger - and therefore to stay alive. He was lucky to have a boss who was kind enough to do things for him that any ordinary German of that time wouldn't do for a Jew. At the point of almost being totally blind, his boss saved him from sure death. Because during that time, as Mala said in her own account, "if you're not fit enough to work, you're not fit enough to live."
The one thing in common with Icek and Mala is that they are both lucky. I wouldn't say that they are both knowing for there are a lot of instances that the stroke of luck saved them both from sure death. The other thing is their unbelievable fight to stay alive.
They risked their lives in order to live.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
My high school classmates
We were forty-nine in our section: IV-Narra Batch 1984. But these were the only ones who made it last night. Some were out of the country. One was leaving out of the country yesterday for a job project. Others have other matters to attend to.
I wish there were a lot more who made it.
But it was really, really fun!
I wish we can do this more often.
A list like no other
Post-It found hanging up at the desk of a co-worker who recently lost his long battle with cancer.
Original photo found here: http://imgur.com/gallery/6cu0m
More stories here: Ten Most Powerful Cancer Stories and Photos of 2011
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Mala's dreams vs reality
The Auschwitz Camp Entrance (Image from this site)
Her sunset and mine
as told to Louis Brandsdorfer
My Rating: ☼☼☼☼
"Toward the evening the sky took on the same color as the fires. Everything took on that color, the sky, the buildings, even the ground. Just before the sunset the red in the sky would deepen to the color of blood. I imagined the sky bleeding. I imagined the heavens suffering with us. To this day, a red sunset reminds me of the bleeding sky of Auschwitz."This is the first book that I read about the Jews. Mala, one of those who survived the war, tells the story to her daughter, and the quote above moved me very much. I am so thankful that I see 'red sunsets' in a totally different light.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Landslide at Pantukan, Compostela Valley
Cats Catch
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
What Pip and I have in common
DudayMind: Post #6
[This is a late post. I didn't want to post something like this at the start of the year so I waited for a few days.]
This happened on the morning of the first day of the year.
There was a sound just outside our gate and then someone said, "Mamasko po."
I looked out the door and saw two teens - about 13-15 years old - and I was surprised. They were holding a box that I'm sure holds what they have collected and about to collect.
I was surprised!
I almost answered, "Ang lalaki 'nyo na!" But I held back and kept my mouth shut. Instead, I said, "Sa iba na lang, mga totoy." and watched them as they turned around and walked away.
Three houses after, they still didn't get anything.
Yes, I was still watching them. I guess I was trying to find out if they could get anything from my neighbors. And I admit that I was sort of happy that they didn't. That's because I was thinking it would discourage them from doing it again. Or maybe right at that time, probably think of going home and stop what they were doing.
I walked back inside the house and back in front of the computer.
Several hours later, I couldn't get over those two teens. So, I got my notebook and pen and tried to write about them so that I could post it later on this blog.
I was thinking that they were too old and too big and too strong to ask for alms or beg for money - even if it's just for this season. Naiinis ako kasi ang lalaki ng katawan nila.
But as I sat down and began to write, I started to have another thought which is more appalling than the first.
"Should I (or you) be at least thankful that they are asking for money instead of taking the streets and start robbing? Or mugging people - like what happened to my sister last year - in the middle of a dark street or even in broad daylight? Or snatching jewelries and mobile phones while we ride jeeps and buses?
I feel sad because this could be true.
Because right at this moment, if those kids didn't 'hit their quota' that day, they would probably be thinking about doing either one of these things as I write this.
Monday, January 2, 2012
London's Fireworks 2012
There's Dubai's Burj
I got Dubai's fireworks link yesterday but I got tired watching somewhere at 4:30. It gets to be predictable at about that long. I don't think it's anything different from the fireworks when it was opened. The only thing different I think is in what part of the building the next sequence will come out. But just the same, you'll know that it will only come out somewhere on the building. The music is somehow connected with the sequence of the fireworks but there is a LOT more room for improvement.
Sidney's, they say, cost 4 million pounds; I've seen it through the end but couldn't bring myself to watch it again. I think there were only a few songs and it's not as lively as London's. There were several 'launch stations' along the river so the shots has to be wide. It's really no problem for tv cameras but if you're watching on the ground, your view gets to be limited. But it's really no problem because the other launch stations along the river are in sync with each other. The highlight I guess was when the fire seems to be flowing from the bridge down to the water. But that's all. It's not as spontaneous as London's.
But I got to watch London's fireworks four times already as of this writing. The choice of songs were great and the fireworks are in sync with the music. The sync of the fireworks and the music is very good. It didn't bore me for the whole twelve minutes. It is more spontaneous than Australia's and I get to wonder now which is more expensive. But it doesn't matter which one costs more. I was more entertained London's.
But with regard to the venue, I find the Burj
*Thanks to my friend Cristy for posting the video above on her Facebook wall.
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