A Dugong Gone!

I am going to perform in a play tomorrow and Friday at the KL Performing Arts Centre or KLPAC. Me and my friends from my school's drama club have been rehearsing for a year for this. We rehearsed at KLPAC today from 3pm to nearly 8pm.

The play is called "A Dugong Gone!". Dugongs are large mammals and look like walruses.

Read more about dugongs here: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/dugong/

The story, which all of the drama kids wrote together, is about a dugong that gets caught by greedy fishermen. Then a storm appears, and they let her go. There will be lots of singing and dancing and fun in the play.

Tickets are RM35. Proceeds from the play will go towards saving the dugongs, which are almost extinct because the fishermen catch more than they need so that they can make more money.

It has been tiring and I nearly quit the play because I was really nervous and I skipped a lot of rehearsals earlier in the year but now I am excited, and I know all my lines and dance moves. Teacher Amina said I peformed well today.  I can't wait for the show!

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Today I woke up early at 8am, got dressed by myself, and brushed my teeth without mum telling me to because I really wanted to go to Hello Kitty Town.

So me and mum got in the car and she drove from Singapore to Hello Kitty Town. It is an indoor theme park in Puteri Harbour in Nusajaya, Johor, part of the Iskandar Malaysia project. It is about a ten-minute drive from Legoland. It took us about one hour from Singapore.

When we got there, the building did not look ready from the outside and builders were still working on it with ladders and things. The basement carpark was very dirty and dusty. The lifts were not ready so we had to walk out of the carpark and back into the building. I saw rubbish in the carpark and told mum, "Malaysia, here we are!"

Hello Kitty Town was already open when we got there. It is open from 10am to 6pm. The line to get tickets was not very long.

Tickets cost RM50 for Malaysians and you get a card which you have to get stamped every time you do an activity. You are only allowed to do each activity once (except the Tea-Cup ride).

There is also a Little Big Club theme park with Bob The Builder, Barney and Angelina Ballerina. Tickets again are RM50 for Malaysians. But if you want to go to both the Hello Kitty Town and the Little Big Club on the same day, it is RM85.

When we went in, I took a photo with Hello Kitty.

There was a parade and Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel came out to meet everyone. It was very loud but very nice, and colourful with lots of dancers. They let kids dance too. There was also a show a bit later where they danced on-stage with lots of dancers dressed in costumes from around the world.

 

I went on the Tea-Cup ride, which is the only ride there.

Then I went to the Costume Dress-Up area where you can dress up in a Hello Kitty or My Melody costume and get your photo taken.

 

They also have a jewellery-making place where you are given a necklace and you can choose a pendant. I got two because mum gave me hers. It is not really a jewellery-making place, you just get a free necklace really.

Then I tried the nail salon. They give you five nail-art stickers but you have to paint and decorate your own nails.

There is also a cookie-decorating place but the queue was too long so mum said we didn't need to do it. There is also a place called Black Wonder which is like a puzzle and maze.

You also get to go into Hello Kitty's House and see her living room, bedroom, walk-in wardrobe, kitchen and bathroom.

There's a cafe too. Mum had a tuna sandwich which was RM5.50. I had a hotdog. The fruit puddings were RM7.50 each.

There is also another cafe downstairs outside the gift shop. I wanted roti jala but they didn't have it.

 

I bought a new handbag, notebook and letter-writing set from the gift shop.

I had wanted to make a Hello Kitty doll at the Hello Kitty doll-making factory but it had already closed down :(. My cousins had gone to Hello Kitty Town last week and they said it costs RM75 to make a Hello Kitty doll.

Me and mum finished the whole Hello Kitty Town in just a couple of hours. It is a bit small but I still liked it :).

After we were done at Hello Kitty Land, then we went to Legoland.

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."

Friday 28 May 2010 - Treatment Day 148

I told mum yesterday that I wanted to go to school again today but I was a bit tired and I woke up quite late so I didn't feel like going after all.

Dad picked me up in the evening.

QOTD: "If mum sells me to another parent, they might not know I'm sick. Then they won't take me to hospital."

Thursday 27 May 2010 - Treatment Day 147

Mum went to Singapore today. I've been to Singapore a few times too. That's me in November 2007 when I was 3 years old. I was at the rooftop of Singapore's Vivocity shopping mall. We took the cable car from there to Sentosa island which you can see in the background. Now there is a new Universal Studios theme park there which just opened in March this year. I can't wait to get better, then I can go.

I felt like going to school again, so I went to school with Omar and Emma.

Tomorrow is a public holiday. Dad isn't working tomorrow, so he came to grandma's to pick me up after work. But I didn't want to go home because I wanted to play with Omar.

QOTD: "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is a really great story."

Wednesday 26 May 2010 - Treatment Day 146

I went to school today. Tok Mummy gave me some new Oxford Reading Tree books - Kipper and The Giant, In The Garden (Stage 6) and Red Planet (Stage 7). I chose them myself.

Later, I played my favourite game Cooking Mama on my DS Lite today. You can cook all sorts of yummy Japanese dishes in it.

I am sleeping over at grandma's house tonight. Mum is going to Singapore tomorrow. Mum thought it would be nice for me to go on holiday too as I am on a break at the moment before I start my 6-month 'Protocol III' chemo regimen on 2 June. Dr Lin said it was fine if mum wanted to take me to Singapore. But dad said it was too risky because Singapore is too crowded. And he can't come because he has to work.

Aunty Vanessa, Sarah's mum, said that we should go on holiday if we can. She said one of the most important lessons she learnt after Sarah got leukaemia is to make the most of each day and to enjoy every moment of it.

Mum is worried I won't be given my meds properly if she isn't around to supervise. She cut up and prepared all the tablets that I need to take for the next 7 days. But she'll be back on Saturday.

Under Protocol III, I will start on a new set of drugs, as well as Vincristine which I have had before.

QOTD: "I love mum so much, I don't want her to die or burn. But dad always lies, he will be on fire."

Tuesday 25 May 2010 - Treatment Day 145

Mum worked on her computer again today while I played.

I got bored again so mum called for the home tutor to come in the afternoon to teach me some Bahasa and Maths.

Later in the evening, aunty Lih Yi (mum's friend) popped by with some yummy cakes for me from Etoile, and a tube of Ezerra cream from aunty Pauline for my rashes. It's an anti-eczema cream and does not contain parabens, which could cause cancer.

I had to start taking B Complex and Neurobion (which is also from the B Complex family) today because I will be having the Vincristine chemo drug next week. Vincristine caused some nerve damage in my legs the last time I took it. I couldn't walk and I had to crawl up the stairs at the time. My neurologist Dr Sofiah said taking B Complex and Neurobion will help to prevent it this time.

QOTD: "You're the greatest treasure of all, mummy."

Monday 24 May 2010 - Treatment Day 144

I didn't do much today, I just played at home while mum worked on a story about something called subsidies.

My cousin Omar came over after school. We ate some organic gingerbread cookies and played on our PSPs.

I took some more 6-MP to make up for the ones I'd thrown up while I was in hospital last week.

QOTD: "Why is Beyonce singing about a beautiful nightmare? Nightmares are bad dreams."

Sunday 23 May 2010 - Treatment Day 143

I was tired again today, so I just mooched around at home. I did a bit of arts and craft with my new fairy diary.

Mum gave me some Bactrim tablets and 6-MP chemo tablets to make up for the ones I had missed or thrown up while in hospital.

QOTD: "Justin Bieber is a boy? Then why does he sound like a girl?"

Saturday 22 May 2010 - Treatment Day 142

I finally got discharged today. My MTX levels were still on the high side at 0.53 as of 8am, so Dr Lin gave me 2 folinic acid tablets to take at home. I had to take them at 6pm and midnight.

Aunty Debbie (mum's friend) came to visit me in hospital before I went home. She bought me some new books from my favourite series Dr Seuss, some orange juice and other groceries. I really love Dr Seuss books and I read my new ones straightaway. They were A Whale of a Tale!, Inside Your Outside! and Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good For You! Mum took a video of me reading one (you can see it at the bottom of this post) but it's a bit short and it's lopsided.

I was still vomiting a lot today though and I nearly vomited all over poor aunty Debbie.

Tok and grandma visited me too, grandma made me some of my favourite rice and fish. I vomited after lunch though, and after I'd taken my 6MP chemo tablet, so mum wasn't sure if I'd absorbed it by then.

Both mum and dad were working today, so tok and grandma helped us pack.

I was so tired by the time I got home, I fell asleep, and mum had to wake me up to take the folinic acid. I really didn't want to but she said I had to.

QOTD: "Are they stopping the water (in the drip)? I can't feel anything (going in my body)."

Weight: 17kg (-2kg)

Friday 21 May 2010 - Treatment Day 141

I couldn't go home today because my MTX levels were very high. I normally get to go home on Friday after starting the MTX on Wednesday. My MTX levels were 2.28 at 11am and 1.54 at 5pm.

Dr Lin said he didn't know why I wasn't excreting the MTX as well as previously, but he says it has happened to other patients before. They excrete it well the first few times and then they suddenly don't during the last cycle. But he said it's very rare. So I have to stay another night.

He gave me higher doses of folinic acid rescue compared to the last cycle. Usually he just gives me two doses of 15mg each. This time he gave me two of those, followed by two more doses of 30mg.

Mum's friend, aunty Nadya, sent us some food delivery from roomservicedeliveries.com. She runs a farm in Pahang so she couldn't come and visit me in hospital. She sent me a Starbucks frappucino and juice, an oyster omelette from Penang Village and some sushi from Sheraton Hotel. But chemo patients can't eat raw food due to the risk of bacterial infections, so mum ate the sushi. I can eat cooked or boiled sushi though.

My friends Meddina and Katrina came to visit and play with me. They used to go to my school, but they've both moved to different schools now. Katrina and her mum brought loads of toys for me: a Mermaid doll and seahorse, a Playdoh BBQ set and a very pretty fairy scrapbook kit. I was really thrilled with all the nice presents.

Later on, aunty Ivy (mum's friend) came over to visit and play with me too. She made lots of nice food and cakes with me using the playdoh. I really enjoyed doing that. She also brought meatballs and fries for us from Ikea. She helped to buy a laptop cushion from Ikea for mum to use in hospital. Mum always finds it difficult to work because she doesn't have a table plus she's worried about laptop radiation, cancer and tumours. The cushion was alright but mum says she might need to buy a proper foldable table to bring to hospital next time.

I was still vomiting today. I vomited right after I ate my evening dose of the prophylaxis Bactrim again. It's such a chore to take the Bactrim because the tablet is quite big and it doesn't taste nice. It helps prevent me from getting a nasty type of pneumonia that immunosuppressed people can get, but it is also used for a lot of other illnesses and infections.

I also vomited all over myself 2 hours after lunch. Mum had run out of clothes for me because I was vomiting so much these past few days. Luckily aunty Anita, Meddina's mum, had brought spare clothes for her so she gave me a Disney Princess dress to wear.

QOTD: "Why is it morning already? I'm still sleepy."

Blood count:

Haemoglobin 10.5 (Normal 13.0-18.0)

Platelets 218 (150-400)

Total White Blood Count or WBC 4.6 (4.0-11.0)

Neutrophils 84 (40-74)

Thursday 20 May 2010 - Treatment Day 140

Dad's friends from his office dropped by to say hello and they gave me a cute teddy bear and a box of chocolates.

I was still vomiting so Dr Lin told the nurses to give me some more Kytril and another anti-vomiting medicine called Maxolon. I was still vomiting in the morning and in the afternoon though. Mum was worried again because I had to take two doses today of the prophylaxis Bactrim to prevent me from getting pneumonia as well as the 6-MP chemo tablet. She was worried that they wouldn't stay inside my tummy long enough to work before I vomited them out.

QOTD: "Why isn't anyone else sick? Why am I the only one who's sick?"

Wednesday 19 May 2010 - Treatment Day 139

I went to hospital again today and started my last 24-hour high-dose MTX cycle. It's the yellow liquid in the tube in the photo. All that is going inside me. Dr Lin also gave me my spine injection. They both kill the cancer cells that are hiding in the brain and spine.

I usually tolerate the MTX quite well but I didn't do too well this time and kept vomiting the whole day, even though Dr Lin had given me the anti-nausea medicine Kytril. I'm still taking my 6-MP chemo tablets every day, but I was vomiting the whole day so mum was worried that I was vomiting out my chemo tablet.

Aunty Francis (dad's friend) came to visit me and gave me lots of stickers and a sticker book. I like stickers.

QOTD: "You can tell the nurse that I just did a poopoo so she can write it down. Whenever I poo or wee or eat or drink, they write it down."

Tuesday 18 May 2010 - Treatment Day 138

I was bored today so I asked mum if I could have some friends over to play. Aunty Li Lian (mum's friend) came over and brought her twins, Zhen Li and Zhen Yi. She also bought some groceries for mum: a bag of rice, cream and mushrooms. I had some strawberries and cream for tea.

She also brought ingredients to make a trifle (sponge roll, jelly crystals, custard powder) and we made it together. I had a lot of fun making it.

QOTD: "I had a nightmare. I was a spy and a bad guy chased me and injected me with poison."

Monday 17 May 2010 - Treatment Day 137

I didn't do much today. Mum was very busy working on several stories about the media, whatever that is, and sand and stuff. So I just did my own thing.

QOTD: "I'm pretending I'm Medusa. When you look into my eyes, you become stone."

Sunday 16 May 2010 - Treatment Day 136

Mum and I went to Bangsar Village to meet aunty Li Lian, aunty Elisia and baby Hallie. We had mum's favourites at Bisou: apricot ripple cake, a mini pavlova and a lemon-frosted vanilla cupcake. Mum forgot to take photos so this photo of Bisou's mini pavlova is taken off her friend uncle Sean's blog: www.eatdrinkkl.blogspot.com.

We were supposed to go to the optician's in Bangsar to tighten my frames because the screws are very loose but mum forgot in the end. So they're still loose.

QOTD: "Why is the shop called Zara? Don't they know it's my name?"