Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I make it by seeking Him to guide me .

Feel great ! Just back from Ho Chi Minh , Vietnam . A short visit to office ; meet up with customer ; partner and staffs for dinner and discussion.
Beside of minor sore throat ( could be due to dehydrate and polluted air ), the whole trip doing well .
Start my vege/juice cleansing today and will have simple meal with lots of vegetable and fruits for next couple of days to ensure my immune system back in top condition.
With my regular brisk walking and to catch up with good rest and sleep, I shud be back in top condition in next two days.
The great feel is that I make it for the trip without any problem , Praise the Lord !
Before heading to HCM, I meet up with two oncologist in Singapore for their opinion about my condition and their suggestion for further treatment options. Also to gain some information of what is the latest available drug and new treatment or clinical trial for Lung cancer.
Both oncologist have given me their valuable opinion and as normal , it make me start thinking about my condition ; about my next treatment option and about many many things .
Some would say stop thinking too much, it will make us feel more worry/fear, and some may say, it is important to think about it and organise all the opinions and workout a proper treatment plan .
I think both are right . Most of the time after discussion with doctor, we tend to think of . " What if ."
- What if we not follow the Doctor opinion and situation turn worse ?
- What if we don't do it immediately and the delay cause tumor grow faster or cancer spread ?
- What is we take the recommended treatment or drug and we are the odd one suffer with unknow side effect ?
- What if we maintain doing nothing and we can live better with quality life ?
So, there is a long list of "what if .." and we will keep asking ourself and end up we get very very confuse and finally we are lost .
When there is too many " What if .. " , we tend to develope worry and it then turn to fear and it affect our sleep and it affect our immune system and so on ... . So, it is not wrong to say , if we think too much it will make us feel more worry/ fear .
Well, I also agreed with others, who say that we should think about it and start our plan for the treatment options . It is true that we can not just lay back and put everything behind us and live our life like nothing happen , because it is a matter of fact that we must know how to live with the " C " . To live with the " C " , means we must know the character of the cancer that living with us . ( each of us live with cancer with different character and it is the reason why we read articles about cancer treatment ; about new R & D report about cancer , read message board and forum to know how other cancer patient doing , read about all the success stories of cancer survivor and also why we spend money to have 2nd ; 3rd or 4th opinion from different oncologist.)

Therefore, we must do some work to think and re-study all the informations we get and workout the plan for coming months and years..

We are not the doctor , but, always remember that we can know ourself better than any doctor, if we know how to listen to our body . Doctor will guide us and give us informations of all the available treatment options, but, to make the right decision for the right treatment, it need a very close understanding between us and the doctor. Because , doctor will not able to know exactly how we feel after the drug go in to our body and most of the time, the kind of side effect is very difficult to explain in word.

The conclusion is that we have to make a balance when we work on it and we should ask ourself positive questions when study thro' all the opinions and informations we gather , so that the negative thought have no chance to destroy our positive drive and faith for recovery .

Anyway, it is easy to say than action . But, we know that we can call for our LORD , pray and ask for wisdom , for guidance , to lead and guide us to organise and finalise a great treatment plan.



Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7 : 7 - 8 )



GOD is great and He will guide us for the Great treatment plan .



God bless to all of us and by grace we will be strengthen for great recovery.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

What is cancer ?

...... Defining Cancer ......

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues.
Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.
Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases.
There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start - for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in basal cells of the skin is called basal cell carcinoma.
Cancer types can be grouped into broader categories.
The main categories of cancer include:
Carcinoma - cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs.
Sarcoma - cancer that begins in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue.
Leukemia - cancer that starts in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow and causes large numbers of abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter the blood.
Lymphoma and myeloma - cancers that begin in the cells of the immune system.
Central nervous system cancers - cancers that begin in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord.
(For definitions of other cancer-related terms, see NCI's Dictionary of Cancer Terms.)

Origins of Cancer
All cancers begin in cells, the body's basic unit of life.
To understand cancer, it's helpful to know what happens when normal cells become cancer cells.
The body is made up of many types of cells.
These cells grow and divide in a controlled way to produce more cells as they are needed to keep the body healthy.
When cells become old or damaged, they die and are replaced with new cells.
However, sometimes this orderly process goes wrong.
The genetic material (DNA) of a cell can become damaged or changed, producing mutations that affect normal cell growth and division.
When this happens, cells do not die when they should and new cells form when the body does not need them.
The extra cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor.
(Image from Understanding Cancer Series: Cancer.)
Not all tumors are cancerous; tumors can be benign or malignant.
Benign tumors aren't cancerous.
They can often be removed, and, in most cases, they do not come back.
Cells in benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body.
Malignant tumors are cancerous.
Cells in these tumors can invade nearby tissues and spread to other parts of the body.
The spread of cancer from one part of the body to another is called metastasis.
Some cancers do not form tumors.
For example, leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood.

Additional Information
Find a type of cancer:
A to Z List of Cancers
Cancers by Body Location/System

More cancer topics:
Cancer Prevention
Cancer Genetics
Cancer Causes and Risk Factors
Screening and Testing to Detect Cancer
Cancer Treatment
Coping with Cancer
Cancer Statistics
Clinical Trials
Cancer Publications
The risk of developing many types of cancer can be reduced by practicing healthy lifestyle habits, such as eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and not smoking. Also, the sooner a cancer is found and treatment begins, the better the chances are that the treatment will be successful.

Note : Information from National Cancer Institute ( U.S. National Institutes of Health )
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/what-is-cancer