In
June 2013, I complained of gastric pain which lasted for about two weeks. The gastroscopy showed that I had a lymphoma
ulcer in my stomach. This is a rare condition, which while malignant, is less
serious than the common carcinoma stomach. The PET Scan and EUS results
indicated that the tumour was at the early stage 2a. Thankfully I did not
require surgery which would have been quite debilitating. Cytogenetic studies
of the biopsies showed that my diffuse large B-cell lymphoma had none of the
danger markers.
Thanks to God, I have been healthy in
the past 67 years of my life. I was seldom sick, even during my university days
in Bombay. Throughout my working life, I had not taken more than 15 days of
medical leave. I had no diabetes, hypertension or heart disease. My weight has
been rather constant. I eat most everything but I do not overindulge. Although
I did not excel in sports, I played many games and cycled a lot in my younger
days. My father died at the age of 74 from heart attack but my mother is still
around at the age of 93 (I have more of my mother’s genes).
The condition arose just before I
celebrated my 68th birthday (and Fathers’ Day) with my family. My 68th
year began with sad news, but in Cantonese, 68 sounds better than 67!
During my chemotherapy, I had to keep
myself free from infections. I appreciate my clinic partners who had given me four
months of medical leave. No more going to clubs, cinemas, malls, food courts,
or even to church! It was like being under house arrest! No more visitors too.
With modern ways of communication like mobile phone, email and Facebook, I
could still communicate daily with my friends and relatives. I watched the
church service on my Ipad. Thanks to the internet, I was still not cut off from
the world.
I had time to look
through my old records and photos. I was able to write up my reminiscences of
my early childhood, school days, and medical student years in Bombay, medical
career from being a houseman in Penang to consultant in Ipoh, and my services
in the church and Christian organisations. I managed to get my writings written
during my Penang Free School days published into a book “Young Emotion”.
Many
friends and relatives had given a lot of advice to me, some from their personal
experiences. Most of the advice was practical and sensible, like taking lots of
fluids, honey and plenty of anti-oxidants. Some had recommended proprietary
supplements. There were also suggestions on exercises and various alternative therapies.
We really appreciated all the advice and concern. Obviously we could not follow
all the advice except those we thought was appropriate. As a medically trained
person, I had to consider the evidence-based therapies with proper research on
the success rates. We did not doubt that anecdotal cures did occur with
any diet, treatment or exercise. However, most alternative treatments had not been
evaluated scientifically.
As
a Christian, I had to be wary of alternative treatments which may involve practices
from other religions. I needed to be moderate in my beliefs without extreme
views, such as to depend entirely on faith and not seek medical treatment.
After all, doctors can treat BUT
it is GOD who HEALS!
I
consulted Dr S.C. Ng, a leading haematologist from Sime Darby Medical Centre
who prescribed the R-CHOP regime. The drugs (Cyclosphosphamide, Vincristine,
Adriamycin and Prednisolone) had been well-tested over the last 30 years and
are relatively cheap while Rituximab is a new drug (monoclonal antibodies) which
specifically attacks the lymphoma cells and is rather expensive.
I
had relatively mild side-effects from the six courses of chemotherapy. I had
slight nausea for the first few days, but no vomiting. I never had any episode
of fever or infection. I did suffer from herpes zoster (shingles) on my thigh
after the fourth chemotherapy, but there was no residual nerve pain. The hair
on my head started to drop after the second chemotherapy and eventually left me
with just 10% of hair. I had some mouth ulcers but they were not painful. There
were several episodes of leucopenia, but they were corrected with Granocyte
injections. I had no diarrhoea. However as I had to drink a lot of fluids, I
had to wake up often in the night to pee. After several courses of
chemotherapy, the body felt physically weak but I was able to drive and climb
the stairs.
There
had been lots of advice from friends and the internet on the foods to take and
foods to avoid. After consulting my oncology doctors, I had tried to avoid
extremes in my diet. Certainly I needed to avoid outside food as much as
possible. I had missed much of the hawker food especially if they were
spicy. Much of the food was well cooked
at home. I preferred noodles, beehoon and vermicelli, rather than bread or
rice. For the first few days after chemo, I would take porridge with minced
meat and eggs.
I was
encouraged to consume a lot of fluids. For the first few days after chemo, I
would be drinking fresh coconut water, from as a many as three coconuts a day.
Then I drank homemade freshly blended fruit juices twice a day. They would
include varying proportions of apples, guava, carrots, cucumber, beetroot,
pears, star fruit and oranges. I consumed Ensure drinks twice a day and organic
soya milk or yoghurt drinks daily. I drank plenty of plain water in between, to
make up to at least 2 litres per day. Each day, I would eat fresh cut fruits especially
papayas, apples, mangoes, grapes and bananas.
I had plenty of mangosteens when they were in season and some durians as
well.
During
those difficult days, God gave me the gift to write more than ten poems,
expressing my distress and cry to God. Throughout these months, I felt the
reassurance and comfort. A friend gave me a booklet “God’s Medicine” which
consisted of Bible verses claiming healing and health. I had to read out the
verses twice daily.
My
family had been very supportive, especially my dear wife, Nancy. We realised
how great a supportive wife would be, when we were sick! We had been touched by
the spontaneous outpouring of words of encouragement and concern, especially
from old friends of 30 to 50 years! The prayers certainly made the difference.
Prayerfully, I hope to be healed, both
by divine providence and medical therapy. After 70, every year is a bonus,
after 80 every month is a bonus; and after 90, every day is a bonus! To me,
every hour is a blessing from God! In November, The repeat PET scan and gastroscopy
confirmed that the lymphoma ulcer had been healed! I had gone back to work by
then.
I
must thank God Almighty for his boundless mercies in healing me and reassuring
me throughout the four months on chemotherapy.
