Journals @ MindSay 
diaries
I'm doing some deep cleaning in my room. In this endeavor I have unearthed a few items that haven't seen the light of day in... well ages!
I've been organizing my CDs and putting them in order in my large binder while putting away the plastic cases in boxes.
On a piece of paper I've been writing my wish-list for CDs that I thought I had or ones I need. On another piece of paper I'm writing a list of CDs I own. (In case my CD binder gets stolen)
In a box I discovered a handful of items lost to the generations. For example: An Underdog coloring book circa 1980, An A-Team Activity Book circa 1983, quite a few trading cards of various Super Heroes & Teams circa 1993 (Ever hear of The Darkhold Redeemers?), A 1920s sewing pattern completely in tact and in a plastic sleeve & a school journal from when I was 9-10.
The journal was full of the basic "I like animals", "I like to draw", talking about family(Mostly about my older sister and pictures I drew of her) or the sucking up to the teacher because you knew she would read it. Sometimes there was an actual page full of moments that I would continue to clearly remember to this day. Here is a page from said journal.
What a great and precious memory that was. My dad took me to San Fransisco for my birthday(Dec 21st). It was a rare treat being alone with my dad due to the large amount of children in our family(seven). We sat on a dock in the bay most the night crabbing & gabbing. I remember the smells, the view and how happy I was.
Whenever we pulled up one of the crab traps the seagulls would go crazy even at night. It was a fight trying to get the crabs out of the traps without them snatching them away. If a crab was stolen by a lucky gull it would create even more chaos. That so-called lucky bird would be rushed by a large amount of other jealous birds trying to steal away his treat.
The long drive home I remember laying my head on my dad's lap talking and dozing off and on. The lights would flash by and then I could see the stars as road noise lulled me till I remember my dad waking me because we were home.
I treasure that time I had with my dad. It's sad to think I only had less than 6 years more with him before he passed.
Right now I am working part-time and schooling part-time and the rest of the time I am doing NOTHING. I am in the best relationship ever because Sean and I grow up and love each other more and more everyday. I just love online journals, that's all I ever talk about in my rarely used ones.
For years I have been keeping a journal for my 10 yeard old daughter, filled with letters of love, advice and offering true glimpses of who I am, not only as a wife and mother, but as a woman in my own right. I have started a similar journal for my 8 month old daughter, and will begin one for new baby as well.
Why do I do this? I want them to know me. I want them to know how much I love them, and if and when my time comes to leave this earth, I want to leave them something tangible that they can cherish and remember me and the love I have for them.
I know these are not things that we like to think about. Death. It seems so final. But we all have a legacy we will leave behind.
It is difficult in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Juggling motherhood, business, financial issues and the like, but I try so hard to keep in mind what truly matters in this lifetime. Material possessions do not last, and it is so true that you cannot take it with you.
What will be the legacy you leave behind? How will you be remembered? What memories are you making with your children, your family, your friends? Life is more then making money and gaining material possessions. It is about finding out who we are, reaching out, and making a difference. We may not be able to change the world, but we can make a difference in the lives of those we love, and that my friends is a life well lived.
In Friendship,
Jenn
Founder MUIB http://www.momsunited.biz
Enhancing Lives One Mom at a Time
Supporting WAHMs personally and professionally is our business!
Oh, I recently cancelled my website. I've become too poor to afford it. Maybe next year I will register again and hopefully they will let me keep "icamon.com" or something.
Hey to everyone who reads this.
Recently, I got a chance to speak and help my friend's uncle who got cancer spreading in his body. This experience really opens up my horizon in how to overcome this disease. His uncle was diagnosed with colon cancer few months ago, and had been operated to remove it from his colon. The operation was successful and for the next treatment he had to go for a course of 3-cycle chemotherapy. Last week, he came to Singapore for his first cycle, however the scan found out that the cancer cells had spread out to his other main organs, especially liver, stomach, lymph, and fat tissues. So, the doctor has to change the treatment and cannot promise how many cycles of chemotherapies he has to undergo. His family decided not to let the patient know about the actual situation, in order to keep his mind to positive thinking. He was physically fit, did not look like someone who got cancer, which I really happy for him and I thought the case was not serious.
The next day, I brought his file to my senior nutritionist, Mr Hii, to ask his recommendation in helping him. Only that day I realised how serious the situation is. Judging by the report and the photo scan, Mr Hii deduced that he is already at stage 3 or 4, and the doctor might modify the treatment since the initial course of chemotherapy is mainly for treating colon cancer. What we worried is that his body may not be able to stand the tough treatment, since it might produce side effect and possible complication. You know... statistics shows that most cancer patients who fail to beat the disease is because of their bodies are unable to stand the treatment. Chemotherapy can kill the cancer cells effectively, but it can also kill our normal cells with the same intensity. Prolonged period of chemoterapy will cause the body getting weaker and weaker, and subsequently cannot continue the treatment.
So, Mr Hii explained to me what the approach that we can use to help my friend's uncle. The first thing that I have to understand is that... at this serious cancer stage (stage 3 or 4), treatment such as chemotherapy and medication is a MUST. The spread of the cancer cells is already terribly uncontrolable and beyond the power of the body's natural repair unit. And the second thing is that cancer cannot be totally cured. Cancer cells are abnormal cells caused by MUTATION of our DNA. The DNA codes have changed so that the production of cells are always abnormal. So, there is no way to totally eliminate the cancer cells in our body at the moment.
So, how to help my friend's uncle in this kind of situation? The only thing we have to do is to improve his quality of life by helping the body to live with the cancer cells. Sounds pesimistic? No! It is really an optimistic solution. Can you imagine, how a cancer patient suffers when they go for treatment? Let alone fatigue, nauseous, giddiness, loss of appetite, irregular bowel motion which is "normal" side effect of chemotherapy. Being "attacked" by the treatment, patient's liver will be under stress, work beyond than normal capacity to detoxify the toxins caused by medication and drugs. It might cause liver failure. When liver failed, all toxins will go to kidney straight away, which in no time will cause kidney failure too. Once these two organs failed, the most that the doctor can say is that "sorry, we can't continue the treatment". This is the verdict that the cancer cells win the battle. Can you imagine, what quality of life this patient has?
That is why, improving the quality of life is the essence of helping the patient. In order to do that, the first step is we have to help him to undergo the treatment sucessfully. After he has finished the treatment, we help his body to coup well with the cancer cells in his body. In medical rule, if after 5 years the body can coup well with these cells, no attack at all, the case can be considered closed. Any attack beyond this five years will be normally caused by a new case. And the third step, since cancer is gene related disease, we have to help his family to protect themselves so that they can delay and prevent the onset of cancer cells in their body.
That is what we should do. Sounds simple, but it really takes KNOWLEDGE and DISCIPLINE to do that. So, how to help him go through the treatment successfully? There are 3 basic steps:
- Enhance his current status
- Enhance the effectiveness of the treatment
- Minimise the side effect of the treatment and prevent the complication.
Point no 1, it includes lifestyle and provides him with high-quality nutrients to help his body in "fit" condition. For example, watching his diets, do exercise regularly to the best of the patient's capacity. And the third one is to provide nutrients such as fibres, enzymes that help to detoxify the body, to balance his intestinal flora so that the gastrointestinal tract can have good disgestion and good absorbtion of nutrients. To nourish with phytochemicals like fruits and vegetables, and to provide antioxidants to protect the normal cells.
For point number 2, we have to provide certain minerals and antioxidants, such as germanium and selenium, to enhance the treatment. Germanium will boost up the patient's immunity to produce natural cell killer, whereas Selenium will attack the cancer cells to help the process of apoptosis (destroying the cancer cells). Furthermore, in a study done by Vadgama, Wu, Shen, Hsia, and Block (2000), published in Anticancer Research (international journal), it is shown that combination of Selenium with chemotherapy drugs (such as taxol or adriamycin) helps to destroy most of cancer cells in 72 hours. So, these two minerals are essential for point 2. Point 3 is to minimise the side effects and complication. We have to study whether he also has certain disease (such as diabetes) that will increase the chance of developing the complication during the treatment. If that is the case, we have to work on that. And also, we have to protect the liver and kidney during the treatment, to reduce the stress experienced by these two organs to detoxify the toxins.
These three things will also help the patient's quality of life during the treatment. After he finished the treatment, lifestyle and nutritions are mantained in different dosage to help his body coup and live with the cancer cells. I am really encouraged with the case that Mr Hii has handled, a 78 over man who got liver cancer and his doctor discouraged him to go for conventional treatment due to the danger that can be caused in his age. With this proper management of lifestyle and giving him the right nutrients, his body really could cope well with the cancer cells. He felt fit, lived happily, and able to travel overseas every year, for 3 years. In the end, he passed away peacefully when he was sleeping after watching European Cup Football championship :). Indeed, knowledge and discipline is important in helping cancer patients to lead good quality of life.
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