Never underestimate a stomach ache!
Look at my subject title.
Really, please do not ever underestimate the level of destruction of a minor stomach ache. Correction: Please do not underestimate ANY kind of illness. If you were feeling unwell, go see a doctor immediately before it get worse!
Take me for an example, I wasn’t feeling the pink of health today due to the crushing pain of my tummy (which turns out to be gastric) and I still naively thought that I could endure the pain while attending an event. How stupid one can get?
I was not even halfway to the event’s location, I was already moaning in pain on the train. By the kind gesture of strangers, I managed to get a seat on the train while boyfriend, who was with me, seemed so worried looking at me. To be honest, there’s really nothing that anyone else can do to ease the pain and torment. No matter how much you groan, the pain won’t go away. That is the worst part.
So we u-turn back and got a cab to the nearest hospital and TA-DA! I was in the A&E department waiting for a miracle to happen and he was stuck there with me for the next 3 hours. By then, I cannot even speak properly but somehow the doctor and nurses managed to piece up what I was talking about. 
Injected with a jab of painkilling liquid, put on the drip and I fell asleep. By the time I woke up and thanks goodness, the jab works and I felt so much better. That kind of feeling is like you are in heavens, you know? Try going through the hell of pain and then the relief of comfortableness. It was the most awesome feeling of being alive.
Called mom to inform her my condition and she freaked out a little. Moreover, she was at my sick uncle’s place looking after him during that time. Even though I told her to rest and there’s no need to come since boyfriend was there looking after me too, she still cabbed down and checked on my condition. Sometimes, I really feel that she is putting too much stress on herself to look after everyone. Sigh.
In any case, please take me as an example and do not ever overestimate your body condition or disregard any illness. Never be so headstrong and stubborn. You only live once.
P/S: My family is going through a lot right now, especially for my uncle. According to my tired and stressed mother who has been looking after him for months now, he might not be able to make it through for more than 2 weeks from now. It is a really depressing news but I guess all of us have been prepared for this day. It’s not a joke to have heart conditions, lung cancer, kidney cancer and kidney failure all at the same time.
Really really really, I urge everyone to take care of your own health!
“I should be feeling lucky that I’m still alive.” — Leonie
A true story from Leonie, a 18-year-old Lymphoma patient.
It is heartbreaking to read through some her entries (via her blog) but somehow, I do feel the strength in this strong-willed girl despite her angst for her “series of unfortunate events in life”.
Here’s one of an extract from one of her recent blog posts: it’s nowhere near over.
“It scares me really that everything is so uncertain. It scares me that I could die and not wake up in this realm again, when I have so much left that isn’t done. It scares me that this stem cell transplant isn’t going to cure me 100%. It scares me that this transplant isn’t the last of my treatment course. It scares me that I’m most probably going to need another six months to a year in getting rid of all of the cancers cells inside my body. It scares me that everything is so expensive, my parents are really financially burdened, and it pains me so badly that I’m unable to work, not even as a simple waitress or a dishwasher maybe to relieve them of this burden.”
“I’m not as strong as everybody thinks I am. I’m trying to be an inspiration to people, to let them know that their lives aren’t bad at all compared to mine, to let them know not to take anything in their lives for granted. But it’s getting hard to remain positive and optimistic.”
“… you have no idea how much I want to live your life.”
I don’t know how you think, but I am pretty sure that anyone and everyone would be afraid of dying; afraid of being a burden, afraid of uncertainty, afraid of leaving with regrets. At least for me, I would be devoured in fear.
It is completely normal to think so.
Even as a bystander, it is already hard enough to look at the patients going through the turmoils. Cancer has been a haunting history in my family too and there is usually no peace period, especially for my mother side.
The very first time that I experience the matters of life and death was when my grandma passed away. I was still in Primary school then and knew nothing about what happening. The heavy smoker; a stern motherly figure; the wrinkles on her hands; the times when all of us (cousins) played at her house; her nailless thumb and etc. She died because of cancer, which one? I can’t remember and I don’t dare to ask. Lung cancer, maybe? She made me a blanket of scraped cloths called bai jia bei（百家被），which is a form of blessing in the old days, before she left.
It was my youngest aunt’s turn. She is blessed and she survived but never the same again. Even though she was slim before she fell sick, the process of treatments turn her into only skin and bones. I can’t explain how I feel whenever I see her, due to her throat, her voice could not convey the same words as us anymore and she can only absorb nutrients through fluids. However, the good thing to know is she has a loving husband who stayed by her through the hard times. Life is like that, isn’t it? You lose some and you gain some.
My youngest uncle, who has kidney failure, have been going through kidney dialysis for his whole life. A very stubborn and quick-tempered man; smokes; but he is a kind man, just like everyone else in the family. I probably understand why he is always so grumpy, because of his illness and… loneliness. He never got married. Every other siblings have their own family and no one is able to be 24/7 by his side, taking care of his emotional needs. And recently, he is diagnosed with cancer. The numerous times of being in and out of the hospital are quite worrying. My mother, who has been taking care of him every now and then, is seemingly looking tired too. He’s still breathing and fighting for his life against the death gods, no one knows how long he could survive.
For some reasons, I didn’t dare to see my uncle. I haven’t been seeing him around for a few months now. Heartless? Maybe. I won’t be able to speak a word because I have nothing much to say or could say. My mom probably thinks I am just a lazy bum (which, most of the time, I am) who doesn’t want to get out of the house because of my rejects.
I do feel bad about it but I just can’t face the awkward moments of being in between “going to cry” and “wanting to say something”. I am scared.
Whatever it is, I just want to tell whoever is reading this:
Life has never given up on you so don’t give up on it.
Have fear. Let fear motivates you. Destroy fear.
You have no idea how lucky you are to be alive.
Beautifully cruel
THE REAL Love Story
Katie Kirkpatrick, 21, held off cancer to celebrate the happiest day of her life. Katie had chased cancer, once only to have it return-to clog her lungs and grab hold of her heart. Breathing was difficult now, she had to use oxygen. The pain in her back was so intense it broke through the morphine that was supposed to act as a shield. Her organs were shutting down but it would not stop her from marrying Nick Godwin, 23, who was in love with Katie since 11th grade.
Nick Godwin, 23, left, takes a moment of rest while his bride Katie Kirkpatrick, right, gets an intravenous procedure to reduce the amount of fluids her body is retaining at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint on January 12, 2005. Nick Godwin who works night shift as a Lapeer County Sheriff's deputy took Katie to the medical center after a night's work, three days before their wedding.
Katie Kirkpatrick Godwin, center, rests for a few moments during her wedding party at Boulder Point Golf Club and Banquet Center in Oxford, MI, on Saturday January 15, 2005. Katie was exhausted. Her face looked as white as her gown.
Five days later, Katie died. She did not let sickness stop her from living, take away the hope or faith that made her believe she had a future. She had a lovely wedding and she had love and she gave love and love doesn’ t die. And that is how Katie beat cancer.
P/S: Nothing else has to be said, their love story is truly touching yet sad. Please let their story serves us as an reminder to love the ones you love now, life is not easy… But when you embrace it; love it and starts to live it, you will find the reason to hold on and smile. Love is more than words.
Have their story touched your heart yet?
Good cause, good freebies! :P
POCC staff are being so sweet, there’s even a thank you message on the letter! <3 I like the appreciation!
Support Power Over Cervical Cancer!!!!
Thanks again to POCC (http://www.pocc.sg/) and ThyDowager (http://www.thy-dowager.blogspot.com) for the tickets. Haha. I didn’t really expect to win it and was quite surprised to find the email from POCC the other day telling me that I will be receiving this. Nice! Oh by the way, I would also like to say thanks to Ju Ann (http://judging-me.blogspot.com/) too. She has been really nice in providing information and stuffs when I volunteered. Haha. *waves hello and bows thank you*
Isn’t this what they called… What good begets good? ^^ It feels so good to do something meaningful and also getting some unexpected rewards. Heehee.
Anyway, for those who STILL don’t know about POCC, it’s a project to promote “Power Over Cervical Cancer” (in short, POCC). Cervical cancer is the fifth female cancer killer in Singapore and every 5 days, there’s one women die because of this cancer. The most stupid fact of all is, this is the ONLY female cancer that can be PREVENTED!
Some tips for everyone (guys can also convey this message to your female friends):
- Go get a vaccine (clinics that provides vaccine for this cancer can be located through POCC website), regardless whether you are a virgin or not. The vaccine will still work.
- If you had sex experience before, remember to go for pap smear every once in 3 years regularly.
- There’s a higher risk of getting this cancer if you… had sex at a very young age (ie. 12-years-old), smoke, has multiple sex partners or suffers Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).
Read more about Risk of Sex in my previous post for more information!
Click the button below to pledge your support too! This cause can only be effective through YOU. Word of mouth is definitely important, spread your message! 
The doctor who wants to barbeque my throat…
Quite some time ago, my flu was so serious that I blew out blood clots (in the phlegm) from my nose the second time that my paranoid mother kept pester me to go to the doctor. I didn’t do it, until that day she fell sick that we went to the doctor together. Talked about my symptoms and the doctor seems to not believe my words when I said I blew out a flesh-like thing from my nose. C’mon, why would I lie about being sick? The thing about young doctors in polyclinics is that their inexperience is just too easily shown.
And guess what my epic mom told the doctor?
Mom: Can refer her to hospital? Our family got cancer history.
Me: … -.-|||
Doctor: I don’t think that’s a flesh but okay… I will write you a referral letter to the hospital.
A month later… I went to the newly opened Khoo Teck Puat Hospital to check up and repeated the same talk to the new doctor (another young doctor but she seems nice and undoubting to me so yay!).
Then… we proceeded to a super gross checkup. There’s this micro-telescope being insert through my nose then went all the way down to my throat to let the doctor see the in-depth details of the system, it looks like something in the picture below.
Image credits: entsinus.com
The process is really torturing, because you have to inhale this super bitter “anesthesia” medicine or something to prevent from feeling the pain but it is so bitter that you will feel like *ewwwww* for the next hour. It’s also not that fun to have an inexperienced doctor to put that into your nose to throat. How did I know the doctor was inexperienced? Because there’s another senior doctor who came in and instructed my doctor what to do. I was kind of freaked out with that fact actually… but it’s okay, I still survived. If only the senior doctor did not joke with me with the following conversation:
Doctor: “Basically, nothing is wrong. But I will give you an one year open date, so if you were to feel unwell again, just come back any time.”
Me: “Oh okay. So there’s nothing wrong with the bloody sinus?”
Doctor: “It might be caused by the thin blood vessels that burst in between when you blow your nose too hard. If you get that again, come back to the hospital and I will help you “burn” the clog away. *imitates burning sound*”
Me: O_O|||
*proceeds to the pharmacy……………*
Oh oh, *out of topic* the pharmacy doesn’t look like a pharmacy at all! It’s looks more like a cafe… hahaha. Kinda cool eh? 
So yeahhhhhhhhhh… My first experience to a checkup alone, kind of interesting and fun in a way. Hahahahaha… But hopefully, I won’t be going back to the hospital since I am feeling better already after so long.
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