Day +483 : Congratulating my wife for the excellent PTK result

I am fine today.

My wife Angela told me happily this afternoon that she scored 4-4 for the government Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan (PTK) or Competency Level Assessment that she took last August. This means she scored highest point for both papers and she will be qualified for grade jump or salary hike with this excellent result :-)

I wonder how she achieved this result as she didn’t prepare much for the assessment; all she did was reading some relevant material a day prior to the assessment.

In fact, she took the same assessment last year and scored 3-3 which qualified her to enter “Time Base”; what exactly “Time Base” means we still don’t know much (blur-blur) :-) But it doesn’t matter as long as it translates to some kind of salary increment. What do you think?

Last year, she thought of absenting from the assessment as she didn’t prepare for it at all. However, one of her close colleagues persuaded her to sit for the assessment. So she went with no preparation at all and scored 3-3 :-)

How she did it? She said she used common sense to answer questions.

I thank God for blessing her with a “common sense” more common than others :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +482 : Witness a marriage at National Registration Department, Putrajaya

I am fine today.

I went to Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) or National Registration Department this morning to witness the marriage of a couple from our church. We just had steamboat dinner on Sunday :-)

This is the first time I visit JPN at Putrajaya and also the first time I witness a marriage since bone marrow transplant. The office there is really spacious; it is more like a shopping mall than office :-)

Luxurious office.

We took a group photo while waiting for our turn (the couple's turn to be exact)
The couple was taking oath.
Taking photo with them after the marriage ceremony.
The husband is from Hong Kong while the wife is a Malaysian. So, this is an international marriage.

Once again, I would like to wish them a happy and blessed marriage!

See you next post :-)

Day +481 : Follow-up

My Blood Count Today:
Red Blood Count (HB) = 148 (Normal 130-180)
Platelet = 163(Normal 150-450)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 6.2(Normal 4 - 11)
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) = 3.844 (Normal 1.5 - 8.0)
ALT = 135(Normal 30 – 65)
AST = 53(Normal 15-37)
GGT = 258(Normal 15-85)
ALP = 98(Normal 50-136)

I am fine today.

I went to UH as early as 6:30am this morning to draw blood for afternoon appointment with hematologist. There were 12 people ahead of me in the blood drawing unit, so I got number 13. After the nurse drew my blood, I rushed back to office to finish off some work before going to UH again at 1:00pm.

The liver function test result indicated that the ALT and AST levels started to climb again, from the previous level of 80 and 28 to 135 and 53 respectively. On the other hand, the GGT and ALP level dropped from 283 and 103 to 258 and 98 respectively. However, doctor said that I should not be too worried about the result as along as the readings are not too high; approaching the 1000 range for instance.

Even though there was an increase in the ALT and AST level, doctor still decided to cut down my daily Prednisolon (steroid) dosage from 6 tablets (30mg) to 5 tablets (25mg) while maintaining the other medication. Besides, I will have my next appointments 3 weeks later :-) What a relief!

I am very glad to have the Prednisolon dosage be reduced, even though it is a small reduction. I just pray that my liver will function normally in the future despite the reduction of Prednisolon dosage.

See you next post :-)

Day +480 : Steamboat dinner :-)

I am fine today.

My wife and I attended a steamboat dinner this evening with pastor and some church members. We were actually celebrating a couple that are going to get married on the coming Tuesday.

The restaurant that we had the dinner is one of the best in Puchong in serving steamboat, and they charged RM12.50 per head only. I remember, just before I went for bone marrow transplant, our pastor and some church members also treated me and my wife a steamboat dinner in this restaurant :-)

Guess who are going to get married?

The answer: the first couple on the right. They are Desmond and Ashley.

May God bless their marriage!

See you next post :-)

Day +479 : Delicious prawn fritter (cucur udang)

I am fine today.

We are hosting cell group meeting on Saturday night fortnightly. One of the most enjoyable events of the meeting is to enjoy desserts with cell group members after the meeting. Therefore, we need to prepare some desserts for the members for every cell group meetings that are held in our house.

We are delighted to prepare food for the members. My wife prepared cucur udang for tonight cell group. This dessert is quite easy to prepare as the ingredients are easily available. Just mix the flour, baking powder, onion, eggs, dry shrimps, anchovies, salt, pepper and water together and fried them into medium ball-shape pieces. As my wife is not comfortable of frying the cucur, I volunteered to do it, but my hand became "red hot" after that :-(

We are very happy to see the cell group members enjoying the food. If you would like to taste the cucur, come to join our cell group :-)

One kg of delicious cucur udang that is enough for at least 15 people.See you next post :-)

Day +478 : Are you addicted to internet?

I am fine today.

The use of internet is ever increasing these days especially among the younger generation. Internet today provides an ocean of unprecedented rich resources and activities that could easily submerge anyone with little discipline. We call those people who drink alcohol substances habitually and excessively “alcoholic”. Interestingly, there is an equivalent term for those who use internet excessively – cyberholic :-)

Some common behaviour of a cyberholic is as follow:

1. Enjoy chatting purposelessly with anyone on the net.
2. Enjoy downloading information such as music, books and games without border looking at them after downloading. Pleasure rises from seeing the progressing of downloading status bar :-)
3. Enjoy “reading” anything online which wind up oneself wandering and lost in the dense forest of information. Everything seems to be so interesting!
4. Turn on computer on the way back from toilet at midnight to check for email and other online information.
5. Feel empty and bored without access to internet.
6. Neglect spending time with family members and friends. Just like what my wife said, “You are married to computer.” :-(

I must confess that I am a cyberholic to certain degree as I possess all the above criteria except online chatting :-(

If you would like to find out whether you are addicted to internet, click the link here for an Internet Addiction Test. I scored 46 with comment, “You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.”

I am not satisfied with this result. I think I have to cut down the online time to score something less than 46.

See you next post :-)

Day +477 : A good modem is better than meals

I am fine today.

I have a nephew studying university foundation program in Universiti Tun Abdul Razak at Petaling Jaya, somewhere very near to University Hospital. He is the eldest son of my kind third sister who donated stem cells to me.

He used to be very rich. When his grandmother was around, he flattered her so much that she “rewarded” him with a lot of money :-) Indeed, her grandmother was like his private bank. The decease of her grandmother early this year (Day +251 : Nothing she brings from this world but loving kindness she planted deeply in my heart) literally means the “bankruptcy” of his private bank :-(

While waiting to see doctor after the nurse took my blood on last Tuesday’s follow-up, I went to meet him and had breakfast with him. He proudly showed me his new wireless modem for Celcom wireless broadband service which he had just subscribed. He generously paid RM980 to purchase the best-of-breed modem, but after this, he was left with RM50 only for two weeks :-( I believe he planned to survive on instant noodles for the coming two weeks :-)

I would choose a cheaper modem if I were him. What is the use to have a modem that can support up to 3.6Mbps with a 384kbps Celcom wireless broadband service? He is only using 10% of the capacity of the modem! In order words, he has to sacrify his meals for two weeks for the 90% capacity which he would never use :-(

Don’t worry; he is now very happy with the best-of-breed modem. To him, a good modem is way better than two week’s meals :-)

I also wrote about him on my blog Day +80 regarding his subscription of an internet service and shared it generously with me.

See you next post :-)

Day +476 : Aaron’s vaccination

I am fine today.

I went to UH again today. This time I brought Aaron there to have his DPT/OPV (Booster 1) vaccination. In order to beat the traffic, we started our journey as early as 6:40am and reached there at 7:10am. Of course, we were the first one to arrive :-) I managed to return to office before 9:00am.

Aaron must be very happy if he knows that his next immunization will be in 5 years time; when he studies primary one. Not need to suffer the pain of needle for a long time :-)

We were the first one to reach the clinic, and I managed to reach office before 9:00am after this.

The nurse asked me to give one dose of Paracetamol (Panadol solution) to Aaron after we reach home, but I didn’t do it. He was not feeling well for the whole day and was extremely difficult to care. After I gave him the Paracetamol in the evening, he became active and happy again :-) Better listen to the nurse next time.

Aaron is about 18 months old now. He is very active and talks a lot. Remembering he was still in my wife’s womb when I was diagnosed with Leukaemia, and was born when I was doing my fourth round of chemotherapy, I give thank to God for preserving my life to be able to witness the growth of Aaron and other children :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +475 : Follow-up – Liver function further improved :-)

My Blood Count Today:
Red Blood Count (HB) = 151 (Normal 130-180)
Platelet = 159(Normal 150-450)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 6.3(Normal 4 - 11)
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) = 4.095 (Normal 1.5 - 8.0)
ALT = 80(Normal 30 – 65)
AST = 28(Normal 15-37)
GGT = 283(Normal 15-85)
ALP = 103(Normal 50-136)

I am fine today.

I did my follow-up in the day care unit this morning. The liver function enzyme levels continue to show signification improvement. Compared to last Wednesday’ result (Day +469, done in private clinic), the ALT level dropped from 126 to 80, while GGT level dropped from 393 to 283. Now, the only level that is way beyond the range is GGT.

Since my condition is more stable now, doctor arranged me to do next follow-up in the general clinic next Monday afternoon. He did not reduce my Prednisolon (steroid) dosage today as expected, but he said if my liver function continues to improve, then there is a possibility to start reducing it during next follow-up.

Though I leave home at 6:30am this morning and only managed to see the doctor almost 1:00pm after drawing the blood at 8:30am, I am still very happy and thankful to God :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +474 : Side effects of steroid appear again

I am fine today.

I have been taking 30mg (6 tablets) of steroid Prednisolon daily since Day +432 as a measure to combat the elevated liver enzyme levels possibly due to GVHD.

As documented on the Wikipedia, the side effects of Prednisolon includes:

• weight gain
• facial swelling
• depression, mania, or other psychiatric symptoms
• unusual fatigue or weakness
• Mental confusion/indecisiveness
• blurred vision
• abdominal pain
• peptic ulcer
• infections
• painful hips or shoulders
• osteoporosis
• acne breakouts
• insomnia (sleeping disorder)
• severe joint pain
• cateracts

I am lucky to have facial swelling and acne breakouts only :-) However, I hope my liver enzyme levels would drop further tomorrow to give room for the doctor to start reducing my Prednisolon dosage. It can be life-threatening to stop the drug abruptly especially for those who has taken it over a long period of time. Therefore, it would take months for me to completely do away with the drug.

See you next post :-)

Day +473 : Sharing in the church

I am fine today.

I shared the testimony regarding the wonderful deed of God toward me based on my blog Day 468 : Follow-up – Liver function improved amazingly and Day +471 : Liver function continue to improve.

The liver function improved against old odds – heavy and oily sea food, and tiring returning journey :-)

God listened to our prayer and healed me :-)

The sharing can be downloaded here (Right click the word "here" and choose "Save Target As" to download), or just press “Play” button below to listen.


Sharing.
Slides showing the trend of my liver enzymes level.
See you next post :-)

Day +472 : The free ticket was approved, but they are running out of money temporarily

I am fine.

As mentioned in my blog Day +455 : Prepare for year end holiday, I mentioned that we applied for free government air ticket between KLIA and Sibu for the year end holiday from 4th to 23rd of December. The relevant department approved the application in a few days time upon the submission of the application documents. Compared to other dealings with government department such as medical claims, adjustment of salary due to unpaid leaves etc, this is considered to be lightning fast :-)

The next thing after approval is to get the travel warrant (payment certificate) for us to get the air ticket from Malaysia Airlines (MAS). When my wife called the finance department before the Hari Raya, she was told that the allocation for the travel was finished, and we have to wait for next allocation which nobody know when it would arrive :-(

Prior to submitting the free travel application form, we have to confirm the date of travel and make a booking with MAS. Now, in order to maintain the MAS air ticket booking, I have to call MAS every Friday to extend the booking. On the other hand, my wife has to call the finance department every Thursday to check for the status of the warrant :-(

Thinking about the amount the air tickets would cost, we are still very happy to do this :-) And more importantly, we are very sure we would get the warrant and thus the air tickets in the end. This is called hope, and very often it is this hope that drives us moving through challenging and difficult circumstances.

See you next post :-)

Day +471 : Liver function continue to improve

I am fine today.

In order to make sure that the liver function test carried out at UH on Tuesday follow-up was accurate, I went to do another test on Wednesday at a nearby clinic.

I am very glad to see that the results are getting better. The ALT level dropped from 195 to 126 while the GGT level decreased from 486 to 393. The GGT level is now back to normal level :-)

The result.
This evening, a church member who attended the camp told me that she was so worried seeing me enjoying the prawns and crabs at the church camp, and she advised me to control my diet; avoiding those “poisonous(毒)” seafood such as prawns, crabs, and cuttlefishes. She was amazed to hear that my liver function improved so much despite consuming so much seafood during the camp. I told her that in fact I almost didn’t touch oil and meat for the past two weeks or so until the church camp, but the liver function still deteriorated during that period. In the end, she said I better continue to enjoy seafood :-)

However, the food might not be the reason that brought the astonishing improvement, but what is shown in the following photos might be the reason. The campers prayed earnestly on Sunday morning, asking the God, our Healer to heal me. I felt a lot better after the prayer session.

Again, I would like to praise God for his grace and mercy, and may this testimony glorifies His name.

See you next post

Day +470 : He is the way

I am fine today.

On the way to Pulau Pangkor last Saturday, a driver shouted at me through his car’s window at one of the Bidor’s junction.

“Where is Teluk Intan?”

“Sorry, I don’t know,” I shouted back.

Not long after this, I realized that I was in fact heading toward Teluk Intan.

“I should ask the guy to follow me,” I told my wife.

It was not that I was reluctant to give direction to the driver, but before this, I really didn’t know that I needed to go to Teluk Intan first before reaching Lumut.

The question is how could I reach Lumut without knowing the way? It was because my brother Richard knew the way, so I just trust him and follow him. The only important thing to me was the destination – Pulau Pangkor. What places we need to pass by or what kind of situation we would encounter on the way is secondary to me; with so many children to take care of, not much time left to bother so much about that :-)

This is the same for those of us who believe in Jesus and trust Him would lead us to heaven - our eternal home.

Jesus told his disciples, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

Jesus not only knows the way, but He himself is the way.

When we put our faith in Him to lead us to the heaven, turmoil and difficulties in life become secondary because we know that we won’t miss our ultimate destination - a beautiful place full of joy and happiness as described in the Bible, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4

See you next post :-)

Day +469 : Pulau Pangkor Trip (3)

I am fine today. Continue to talk about the trip…

The journey back from Lumut to Puchong had not been an easy one. Instead of coming back through Bidor, we headed north to Ipoh first, then heading south to Bidor and then back to Puchong. We experienced heavy traffic jam on and off on the way from Lumut to Bidor. It took us about 6 hours to travel 300km to reach home:-(

At one point of the journey, I had to hold Adriel while driving because she wanted me to hold her to sleep. Worst still, my stomach was full of gas :-( I felt so tired when we arrived home until I just barely managed to take a quick shower before going to bed. As I vomited too not long after I reached home, I suspected I was also infected with the virus that caused the children to vomit a few days ago:-( The dinner for the night was one piece of Jacob high fibre low salt biscuit.

I was still very weak when I went to do my follow-up yesterday. Immediately after the nurse drew my blood at 8:30am, I found myself a quiet corner at the hospital to sleep until 11:00am. I didn’t have appetite for the whole of yesterday – just had two table spoons of quick cook oat for each meal. I feel better today and manage to eat more :-)

I would like to share with you some more photos of the trip.

Pangkor town. Scene 1.
Scene 2.
Scene 3.
Scene 4.

Richard rented a motorcycle for two days at a cost of RM40 per day. The motorcycle was very useful. I managed to fetch my wife to round the island and enjoyed beautiful scenery along the way :-)


I really didn't expect to see Hornbill here.
Lighthouse.
See you next post :-)

Day +468 : Follow-up – Liver function improved amazingly :-)

My Blood Count Today:
Red Blood Count (HB) = 153 (Normal 130-180)
Platelet = 135(Normal 150-450)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 7.0(Normal 4 - 11)
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) = 5.60 (Normal 1.5 - 8.0)
ALT = 195(Normal 30 – 65)
AST = 50(Normal 15-37)
GGT = 486(Normal 15-85)
ALP = 136

I am fine today.

I went to do my follow-up early in the morning. The liver enzymes levels dropped tremendously. The ALT level dropped from 787 to 195, while the AST level dropped from 404 to 50. Besides, the GGT level also dropped from 621 to 486 and ALP level dropped from 169 to 136.

It is very fortunate that the doctor did not initiate the pulse methylprednisolon therapy last Tuesday. He had made a very good decision to monitor the liver enzymes levels for another week before changing the course of treatment.

With this result, no liver biopsy is required. The doctor arranged another follow-up next Tuesday in the day care unit. If the liver enzymes levels are under control, then he would cut down the Prednisolon(steroid) intake very slowly this time.

I praise God for this amazing result. After knowing my health problem at the camp, the participants prayed for me earnestly and I believed God listened to our prayer :-)

No one will imagine after such heavy and oily sea foods – fried fishes, prawns, sotong and crabs, the liver function managed to improve so much :-)

I thank God that I decided to join this church camp and I felt that I am blessed tremendously in this memorable camp.

Last but not least, I would also like to thank everyone of you who prayed for me and may God bless you richly.

See you next post :-)

Day +467 : Pulau Pangkor Trip (2)

I am fine today. I continue to share with you some photos of the trip. Some of these photos were taken by my nieces and visiting friends from Hong Kong. I would like to thank them for sharing the photos with me :-)

One of the western style breakfast we had. Apart from this we can have nasi lemak, curry mee, plain soup mee and toasted bread. One thing to note is that they were using crabs, not chicken meat to cook the curry soup. It is a pity that I could not take much curry now. We were allowed to eat as much as we can :-) Some of us managed to eat every type of food :-)
The resort served delicous prawn and fish every meal. Apart from this, they also served crabs and sotong (cuttlefish) many times.
A family photo taken at the beach.
Aaron and Adriel were enjoying the lollipop with our friend from Hong Kong.
Happy Adriel posing for photo.
Children were playing sand on the beach with our maid.
About 100 adult and children participated in the camp and together with us were seven visitors from Hong Kong.
To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +466 : Pulau Pangkor Trip (1)

I am fine today.

On Saturday morning, we first drove from Puchong to Bidor via the North-South Expressway. Without stop over Bidor, we continue our journey heading toward Teluk Intan. Then we proceed to Lumut where we boarded a chartered ferry to Pulau Pangkor. The total driving distance from Puchong to Lumut is 270km and as expected, the whole journey took us three and half hours.

The traffic on the first day of Hari Raya was quite clear except some congestion experienced at Bidor town.

We parked our car at a multi-storey car park beside the jetty with a charge of RM10 per day.

It was very fortunate that we chartered a ferry to travel between Lumut and Pulau Pangkor; else we had to join the festive crowd to board the ferry after long queue and I can’t imagine how I could handle the situation with some many children and heavy luggage if we were to queue up.

The ferry trip between Lumut and Pulau Pangkor took about 45 minutes only. After that, we took taxis to the Sea View Resort.

Bidor fruit shop.

Delicious fruit.

Seedless guava.
Petai.
Bidor biscuits.
A ferry at Lumut Jetty.
Dennis (Richar's son), Joseph and Daniel was having fun on top of the ferry.
A battleship at Lumut navy base.

To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +465: Hurray, we are moving :-)

I am fine today.

We will be starting our journey at 8:30am, driving from Puchong to Lumut, and then proceed to Pulau Pangkor with ferry. It would take about three and half hours to reach Lumut jetty, a distant almost equivalent to driving from Puchong to Penang.

Joseph is still having minor fever this morning, but he does not vomit again.

May God bless us, and everyone who go for the trip, and of course also faithful reader of my blog like you:-)

See you next post :-)

Day +464 : Joseph vomited and having fever, but we still plan to go for the trip

I am fine today.

Joseph vomited in the early morning, and developed fever in the afternoon L My wife brought him to see doctor. The doctor suspected of virus infection. Three out of four children get sick just in a few days time.

However, this does not deter us from going ahead with the trip tomorrow unless his condition is getting worse.

When we are healthy, we never have to made tough decision on whether we should proceed with our planned holiday. This is the toughest one for me as both I and children are encountering health problem this time.

I pray to God that I have wisdom to make the best decision: to go or not to.

See you next post :-)