Theories and more theories ...

Salam to all. Alhamdullillah after giving my beloved family and friends a scare last sunday, I'm back here today updating my condition to all. Yes I did underwent a brain surgery last Sunday. I was told that I had a 4cm x 4cm tumor removed and blood clots cleared from my occipittal lobes.. in an operation that took about 5 hrs to complete.. This was totally unexpected. I never saw it coming at all, as there were no symptoms or signs at all. I only knew that I collapsed in my room that Sunday morning and was minutes later wheeled in an ambulance to the emergency unit of HUKM. And within several hrs after that I was already under the surgeons' knife. Everything was done in a jiffy. My family members hardly had any time to discuss the situation. They have to make the decision as to allow the operation to be done or not there and then itself. The gravity of the situation was such that if I do not go for surgery, I'd remain in the unconcious condition that I went in. If I opt for surgery, I might risk not waking up, meaning I'd be in comma or if I do, I'd be in a vegetative situation. How that for a choice, eh?

The operation was a major one but I was one of the lucky ones that managed to survive it. I did not only survived it but was told by the doctors that I was out of life threathening situation and that in due time, I will be able to carryout my life somewhat 'near normal'.... Alhamdullillah. My gratutitude to Allah SWT and all well wishers who had prayed hard for me. Of course I have side effects of the operation. One of it involves my vision. It's still something not right. I seem to be experiencing some optical illussions and it's giving me headaches at times. Other than that I'm OK. I'm able to walk and fend for myself eventhough I need some assisstance to that. Well, can't complain too much. At least God is still giving me time to spend with my family. And oh Ya. I also have 40 'staples' up on my head now, courtesy of the operation. I have one thing good to say about all this though. I've always wanted to have Halle Berry's hairstyle as in the Catwoman, and because of this operation, now I do! Some even say I looked younger in my new Halle Berry hairstyle. Hahahahaha.. But then my bousterous nephews just say that I looked like that character in the telemovie "Sutun", Drat!

FIY,i will also use all the time I have now to recuperate and try to regain most of my strength and energy back. I want to be able to carryout most of the things tht I used to do as quickly as possible. I do not want to be a burden to anyone.

Regarding my cancer I did get some other new info about it but I do not want to go into details about it. This will also be the reason why you all will not see me updating frequently this humble blog of mine. Only If I had the time and urge to do so, I'll do it if not just rely on the saying that says "no news is good news". Ok bubbye for now and thank you again for kind support and prayers. Only God the alMighty can repay for whatever that you have done for me. Thank you.

Signing off, r2d2.

Plz Pray For My Beloved Aunt

Salam All,

I'm E-Ya here. I'm writing to let all know that my beloved aunt is now fighting for her life in HUKM. On Sunday (June, 7th) at around 10am, I found my aunt lying on her bed and I was so surprised to see her condition. She can't move her body, and can't talk at all. She tried to say something to me, but I can't understand her. My first thought was she might had stroke.

I became panicked when she couldn't respond to me and started to close her eyes. The only thing I could remember was to get an ambulance.

My aunt was admitted immediately to the Emergency Unit, and since it was sunday, I had to wait for two hours and thirty minutes until an Oncologist came and examine my aunt. The Oncologist didn't take a long time to find the cause. He straight away explained that it was not stroke, but it's the BRAIN.

Right after that, my aunt was sent for a brain scan. At around 5.15pm, a NeuroSergeon came to see my aunt and evaluated the result of the scan. As what they expected, they found a tumor (size approximately 4 by 4) and I was also told that they can see blood in the brain. Nothing else I asked to them except what can they do for my aunt.

They wanted to do the brain surgery in order to remove the tumor and the blood. The surgery is to make my aunt wake up again. They explained to me and other family members about the risks. One of the surgeon showed to me there's a blood vessel which is very near to the tumor. I can see it clearly from the image on the computer. If the blood vessel is injured during the surgery, my aunt will not wake up anymore.

It was a very tough decision to be made. Maybe the toughest in my life. I couldn't think of anything at that time, however my heart strongly says to proceed with the surgery.

My mom signed the consent letter, and at 9pm my aunt was sent to the OT. The surgery will take 5 hours.

At 2.30 am, the surgeons went out from the OT and told me that the surgery was a success. It went well, and my aunt was all the time stable during the surgery. Alhamdulillah! Syukur tak terhingga......

My aunt is now in the ICU, and we shall wait for her to wake up. Plz pray that she will be able to recover. Plz pray that she will be able to talk to me everyday like it used to be. Plz pray that she could take care of my grandparents like she always do..........

From the bottom of my heart, I know she's strong. She promised to me that she will fight to matter what!

To all my family members, my aunt's friends, Mr. Ice T and friends, thank you so much for your support and prayers. Hanya Allah SWT yg membalas budi baik kalian.

Celebrate - Remember - Fight Back

Salam to all.

Alhamdullillah my plan to take part in the Relay 4 Life 2009 materialised eventho' I had slight cramps and back pains that day. E-Ya was initially against me going but I said nevermind lets just give it a try. After all this is my first experience joining such event and I want to see what's it all about. So the four of us, - 2 cousins, E-Ya and me set off after Asar, with my cousin Oji doing the driving. When we reached the stadium, parking was not a problem. We managed to get a parking space that's just about 50 meters from the entrance.

Once in the stadium we did not immediately seated ourselves but went on to tour the stadium grounds to see what's available at the many booths set up by various groups and organizations. Then we took a short rest and after that my cousin Oji was already inspecting the food stalls while my other cousin, Intan was busy meeting up with her friends from one of the support group that she joins. Overall I would say the turn out was not as many as I expected, maybe because it was a 2 day event and I was a bit early reaching there. Nevertheless the ground of the stadium was already filled with tents to be used by survivors and and non-survivors who wish to stay the night at the stadium.

At about 6 pm the emcee announced that the Survivor's Lap was about to start and all us survivors were asked to be on the track to start the walk.

I could also see many banners and placards representing either cancer support groups or various types of cancer, but I do not see any banner or placards with endometrial cancer on it, and since I'm not a member of any support group hemm... where should I stand in then? Ah lantaklah I said to myself, join aje mana-mana... tapi punyalah tak perasan rupa-rupanya group yang I join tu the leader was carrying the placard that reads "PROSTATE CANCER!" Hua hua hua. But why la yg bawak placard tu pompuan? No wonder I was confused...

The purpose of the walk is a testimony to signify to the public that there are many people that can survive cancer. The situation was not like 10 or 15 years ago whereby whenever you hear a person down with cancer its practically a 'no hope' situation for him or her. Nowadays cancer patients have several options of treatment that they can go for and it is only them that can tell which is best for themselves.

While we survivors were doing the lap around the track, non survivors who were standing at the sides of the field were encouraged to stick on to us a small encouragment sticker with the word 'Champion' printed on it. Well I had my fair share of stickers given by persons I don't even know who, and to them, my greatest thanks. I really hope that I stand up to the meaning of that word and one day be a champion in battling my cancer. Ameen.

Anyway enjoy the following photos that E-Ya and me took on that day:

Off we go ...survivors on the march

For once, no worried faces - only laughs and smiles ...

Laa ... ni minah kurus mana pulak yg terlepas tunjuk 'peace' ni? Dia silap event ni... This is Relay4Life kak oii .... bukannya 'Peace no War' punya campaign, hehehe...



There was also the participation of people who have helped make this event a success. They comprises mainly of volunteers and donors from institute of higher learning and corporate sectors.

This particular group of guys purposely shaved their hair to show support to us survivors. Salute you guys!

The people from KPJ health group

The two pics above... Survivors? Dunno ...,coz I did not hear the emcee's description of them. But they sure add color to the walk.

Tengah 'Lost in space...' mencari the endometrial Ca group yang rupa-rupanye mmng tak de ...Ishhh!

The highlight of the Relay 4 Life event was the Luminaria ceremony. It is the most inspirational moment of the relay. After sunset, families, friends and survivors will light up candles in paper bags bearing the names of those who had fought cancer. Below are examples of some of the luminarias that I managed to snap before my camera's battery went kaput.

No doubt that day I met a lot of survivors. Some have survived cancer more than 6 or seven years, but there are also some that are new, like me. In my eyes, they are all champions. They have shown that with high spirits and determination, cancer can be conquered.

Perhaps the greatest champion of them all on that day is this 11 year old girl, Nurul Islah Mohd. Shah who hails from Seremban. Much tears dropped that night when she read her journey fighting cancer.

Islah was diagnosed with brain cancer and after undergoing surgery and treatment she is free from it. But with a very heavy price to pay. She now moves around with a walker as a tumour in her central nervous system affects her body’s balance and motor functions. The cancer treatment also leaves her facial expression unchanged. Despite all that, Nurul Islah is optimistic about getting well soon. I hope she does too. Ameen.

Nurul Islah shown here with her sister Hannan

Since the Relay 4 Life is a 2 day event, participants of the event are encouraged not to sleep that night to signify how cancer never "sleeps". But then... even if cancer never sleeps, I do. Cancer patient needs ample rest to build up strength and immune system to fight cancer cells, remember? So off we went back home at about 10 pm... tapi sebelum tu ... kita posing dulu ....!

Isk isk isk ... anak anak sapa laa ni...

and last but not least - Pesanan dari penaja ...

Ingat tu Cik Kiah ...!