Day +209

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday…

On Sunday, I also visited an AML friend who was doing his maintenance chemotherapy in UH. This man is very stubborn according to his wife, but very interesting to me. His wife complained to my eldest sister that he always think that he is the cleverest guy in the world and often scolds his wife stupid. :-(

His disease relapsed one year after completing his chemotherapy treatment. After this, he returned to UH to complete one cycle of chemotherapy and then ‘cabut diri’ (run away) from the remaining cycles of chemotherapy. When I first met him in UH early last year, he said, “Doctors warned me that I would relapse in 3 months time if I do not further my chemotherapy treatment. You see, I am still fine after 3 months.”

He told his wife he would like to fight the disease by his own. These include taking herbs and health products and practicing some alternative health approaches. He told me he even drank his own urine at one point of time. He never stops drinking Yantuo soup until now.

Unfortunately, these practices failed to keep his disease under control and he experienced 2nd relapse 8 months later. He said, “I surrender! I would do whatever doctors say now.” He is awaiting of bone marrow transplant but his brother whose HLA possibly match his is now working in Canada and the worse thing is that this brother told him that the appointment to draw blood for HLA typing there would take another 6 months time. This makes him really worry.

Based on my experience, the HLA typing can be done very quickly in UH (Not bad, Malaysia! :-)). “Why not ask your brother to come back here to do the HLA typing?” I asked. He said his brother said that he is subjected to heavy pressure there because he is handling a big project in Canada. They lost touch for almost 20 years and according to him, the bond of brotherhood is no longer there :-( What can be said?

So don’t exhaust our energy in our job until we forget the need to foster a closer relationship with family members and friends. We need each other.

See you next post :-)