Wednesday 20 April 2011, Treatment Day 474

Mum didn't work today. I woke up a bit late and just watched tv in the morning. I had toast and Milo for breakfast, and noodle soup for lunch, with shredded chicken, bok choy and carrots. I don't like chicken or carrots much so I didn't eat those. I didn't eat much of the bok choy either because as I was going to eat it, Bibik said there was a fly and she took it away.

After lunch, I did some work. Mum had bought me some French and Jawi workbooks that came with CDs so I tried those. The French CD worked but the Jawi CD was blank or it wasn't working. So I just tried to read the book but it was a bit hard for me.

After that I felt tired so mum told me to take a nap. But I never ever take naps ever. I was hungry so mum took me to Sushi King. I had a plate of kani mayo, some chawanmushi and some deep-fried squid.

We went to Bangsar Village after that. I bought a new book at MPH, The Revealing Story of Underwear, which is all about the history of underwear.

Then we had dinner with aunty Li Lian and aunty Adeline at Plan B. I had spaghetti carbonara, which I didn't like, and a turkey ham and cheese toasty. That was quite nice. I also had a vanilla shake.

Then we went to the Grocer and I got a Smarties easter egg. It was a big chocolate egg with lots and lots of smarties inside it. We don't celebrate Easter but it looked yummy. I ate some in the car. I also made mum buy some Pilsbury pancake mix, it is the one which Tok Mummy, my kindergarten principal buys, to make pancakes with, for the kids. I like her pancakes.

On our way home, I got hungry again so I got mum to buy me some french fries. It's one of my favourite things to eat but mum doesn't like me eating too many fries. She says potatoes and fried food can cause cancer.

When we got home, I had a bath and listened to some Taylor Swift. I made a drawing of her too. I like Taylor Swift.

QOTD: "Why is there thunder and lightning when it rains. I think it's because the weatherman is angry. God is angry."

Tuesday 19 April 2011 - Treatment Day 473

Mum worked again today. I didn't do much, and just watched tv and played with my toys and looked at my Charlie and Lola calendar.

I had an apple and some baked fish in turmeric and olive oil for lunch. I was still hungry after that so mum bought me some McDonald's french fries.

I did some Maths after lunch. When I got tired I listened to some Taylor Swift songs on my CD player.

For tea, I had spaghetti and cheddar cheese. We'd run out of parmesan cheese which is my favourite.

Then I had rice and pomfret fish for dinner. Dad made me do some Science work after that.

After mum finished work, we all walked to the park and mum jogged for a bit while I played at the playground. On our way back, me and dad bought some ice lollies. Mum made me take a shower after that because I was so sweaty. I haven't had a shower in a while, because I had a needle in on Monday and the chickenpox injection on Saturday and another needle in last Monday. I don't like to get water in my plasters.

I had to wait for two hours before eating my 6-MP chemo tablets because they have to be taken on an empty stomach. So I played some Gardening Mama on the iPad until midnight.

QOTD: "Who is Queen Elizabeth? Her birthday is April 20."

Monday 18 April 2011 - Treatment Day 472

I had chemo today. It's the second dose of Vincristine after the first dose last Monday. Mum was working but she had to take me to SDMC. Dad couldn't take leave and grandma had to go to the Indonesian embassy again for her helper kakak Mila's visa.

When we were halfway there, mum remembered she forgot to put Emla cream on my port before leaving the house. When she said that, I cried because then it would hurt when the nurses put the needle in.

When we got to SDMC, mum told Nurse Siti to put some Emla cream on first. It takes about one hour to take effect so Nurse had to wait before inserting the needle and taking my blood.

Mum made some calls for work while I made a monkey puppet from my Charlie & Lola magazine. I also looked through my new cupcake book to choose which cupcakes to make next time. The nurses asked when I was going to make cupcakes for them. After that, I played with my Nintendo. Mum gave me my lunch at noon, she'd packed fried red snapper, steamed broccoli and rice. But I didn't really feel like eating so I didn't finish it.

Dr Lin came in at around 1 o'clock. We got to see him at around 2 o'clock. He asked if I was alright after having had the anti-chickenpox injection and if I had started growing any spots. He told mum that the incubation period was three weeks anyway so if I was going to get chickenpox, it would be after three weeks.

He said he would be going on holiday for the whole month of May. I will see him for my next blood test on June 6 instead of in two weeks time. He said my blood counts were fine and to continue with my 6-MP and MTX chemo tablets as usual. He told mum to bring me straight to SDMC if I have a fever in the meantime. Then he gave me my Vincristine. He asked about the netbook mum was using and asked if it was very different from my iPad. Then he went to see other patients.

There were three other patients in chemo daycare today. Two of them were from the Middle East. One was a girl older than me and one was a little boy named Mohamad. His mum wore a long black outfit that covered her face and everything except her eyes. I asked mum what she was wearing.

Then Nurse Siti took my needle out and gave mum the bill. We finished at around 3pm. After we left, mum realised she forgot to take my blood test results.

I got hungry after that so I got mum to buy some KFC for tea on the way back. At home I asked Bibik to fry some keropok lekor. I had spaghetti and cheese for dinner at 7.30pm. At night, I did some work but after a while my head hurt.

Then I drew a picture of a ballerina.

I had my 3/4 tablet of 6-MP and five Methotrexate (MTX) tablets at 10pm. I was hungry again at 11pm so mum made some peanut butter and chocolate rice on toast.

Mum asked me when I was going to take off the big bandage on my back from the spine injection. She said it's been a week already. So I slowly took it off all by myself. It was the first time I'd ever taken it off all by myself. Mum said I was a really clever girl.

QOTD: "I want to go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower. Paris is the city of love. It does look romantic."

Sunday 17 April 2011 - Treatment Day 471

Didn't do much today. Mum was working. Dad played computer games. I watched tv and played some games on the computer and iPad.

Bibik, our helper, had gone out for the day. Mum gave me a sliced apple to eat. Dad made me my lunch of rice and fried pomfret.

I felt like eating meatballs for dinner so dad took me to Ikea. Mum didn't have time to make meatballs with me today. Dad also bought some frozen meatballs, a jar of lingonberry jam and some of the brown sauce, so we don't have to go to Ikea next time I want to eat meatballs.

Saturday 16 April 2011 - Treatment Day 470

Mum worked today. Aunty Lina called around noon, saying that Omar had suspected chickenpox. He had one spot on his face, and they went to see Dr Jack, a GP at Plaza Damansara. He said it looked like chickenpox.

Mum called Dr Lin and asked him what to do. He said chickenpox was very dangerous for leukaemic patients. This is because their immune systems are low. He said I needed an injection to prevent me from getting chickenpox. He told mum that we must not play around when it comes to chickenpox and that it could seriously affect the lungs. He had to check with the hospital pharmacy if the injection was in stock because there are not many available and it is very expensive at RM1,300.

After a few minutes, he called mum back and said that they had it, so we could come now. Luckily they had it, as it is a weekend, and he wasn't sure what we should do if the hospital didn't have it. He said to mum that "Things always happen on a weekend!" Mum agreed.

He said the effects of the injection would last about two to three months. So if I get exposed to chickenpox again after that, I'll have to have it again. But the injection would help to prevent chickenpox or I would at least get a not so serious form of chickenpox.

Click here for more information on chickenpox and the dangers.

I didn't really understand what it all meant and cried when mum said it was very important that I get this injection today. I wasn't sure if it would hurt or not. Some injections really hurt, like the Aspa chemo injection that must be injected into the leg muscle. And I'd wanted to go to the Curve with dad to enter a lucky draw for meet & greet passes for Justin Bieber. We already have tickets for the concert. But we had to go to SDMC instead.

Dr Lin had gone home by the time we got there but he had told mum to go to the Emergency Room and get the injection done there.

I had my temperature and blood pressure checked by a nice nurse. Dad had to go and buy the injection from the pharmacy. It is called Varicella Zoster Immune Globulin. There are further details on it here from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

I got hungry after we waited for an hour. I ate a bar of Cadbury's dairy chocolate while waiting and did some Maths and Jawi, the Arabic alphabet, work on the iPad.

Finally the nice nurse called me and got me to lie on a bed and she gave me the injection. She did it really slowly so as not to hurt me too much but I just told her to hurry up because she was doing it too slowly.

After that was done, I got hungry again so dad took me for a late lunch at 3pm at Sushi King. I had salmon teriyaki, udon noodles, two plates of kani mayo (crabstick and mayonnaise sushi), chawanmushi and iced lemon tea.

Mum went out in the evening to get a copy of The Edge weekly for work. It wasn't in any of the newsagents near our house. In the end, she found it at the MPH bookshop at Great Eastern Mall. She hadn't planned on going to a bookshop. She ended up buying lots of books, including a new cupcake book for me that came with a cupcake stand, and lots of workbooks on Maths and Jawi.

I decided to try a McDonald's cheeseburger for dinner. I've never eaten one before. I used to hate beef. But I'm starting to not mind eating beef now. Dad bought me the cheeseburger without any pickles, vegetables or sauce. I can't eat raw vegetables because of the chemo and I don't like pickles or sauce. Then I was still hungry so I had a Nestum donut after that. I'm on steroids again this week so I have been extra-hungry.

QOTD: "So what if I get chickenpox. I don't want the injection. I've never tried it."