The Exit Stamp

The other day, I listened to one of my housemates relate a story of her aunt who was diagnosed with cancer. The lung cancer had developed without adverse symptoms, except for a persistent cough. It is not uncommon for people to ignore such symptoms and get used to living with it. In her case, a relative who was a doctor picked it up and she was referred for further medical investigations. The tests came out positive for a final stage lung cancer. The prognosis was that she had 6 months to live. The family decided for themselves to spare the patient of the news of the cancer and the time frame that she had left. Then, when she had a month left on her prognosis, they told her. Needless to say, she took a turn for the worst after hearing the news and passed away with much mental and physical suffering. She left behind a husband and two children, aged 5 and 3.

A death sentence from a terminal illness is no doubt one of the worst experiences one can go through, unimaginable even; undergoing the phases of grief, watching the time with family and friends slip away, feeling the gradual loss of control over self, having flashbacks of the life lived before the news of  the cancer, the physical pain and finally, the fear. No one can be perfectly ready for it.

Now, it can be debated if it is better for a family to be honest with the patient all along and let them suffer mentally for a longer period, than not tell them and let them succumb to the disease unaware or in her case, tell her late so she had only a month's time to suffer mentally, compared to six months.

Personally, I am of the opinion that it is important for a patient to know what's going on with them, however bitter the truth may be. It is, after all, the reality. Okay, perhaps we can leave out cancer patients who are very young children and elderly folk from this argument. But if it were me, I'd WANT to know because the only sense of control left for me would be to decide how I am going to deal with the new reality and for this, I need the transparency from the doctors and the family. If they withheld such information from me and told me too late, I'd be very angry for not having any authority over decisions concerning my disease and feel betrayed for being 'robbed' of the few precious months I had to live, coming to terms with the disease, making any amends and making any other arrangements before my exit. And that's why I was deeply affected after hearing that story. What if she also wanted the same things that I want?

Far more important than the frivolous matters I usually blog about and on the topic of health, there are things that we need constant reminders for. Our immune system is the best weapon/ defence we have against diseases that can affect our quality of life. Sure, life is good now so we have taken our health for granted. But what about 5 - 10 years from now? So even when armed with the know-how of building a good battle system, what really keeps us from making one?

It's not a simple and straightforward formula, but let's be reminded and encouraged to make the little changes that we can: 

• Eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in saturated fat.
• Exercise regularly.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Control your blood pressure.
• If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation.
• Get adequate sleep.
• Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently and cooking meats thoroughly.
• Get regular medical screening tests for people in your age group and risk category

Source and highly recommended reading: "How to boost your immune system", Harvard Health Publications.

Keeping oneself busy

My mornings at work begin with a quick glance through the daily paper. In it, I look for local news in general (I hardly find anything inspiring, and most are depressing incidents), upcoming social events, letters to the editor and cricket news (to do with our team of course!). If I find anything interesting, I would either forward them to to family and friends or to myself, so that I can follow up on it at home.

Yesterday had two interesting social events lined up. One at a local reserve to release rehabilitated marine turtles to the sea and the other a volunteering event for breast cancer awareness. So early that morning, we (my guest and I) set out for a day full of fun activities.

For the turtle event, after what seemed like driving for hundreds of kilometres, we came to the area illustrated in the map mailed out by the event organisers. "7 km after gas station, take a right into security checkpoint". After passing the said gas station, there were no sign boards leading to a reservoir and seriously, who can tell how much 7km is when driving at 120km/h (heck, I can't tell 7km even otherwise). Then there came a small exit leading to a dirt road (no sign of a security checkpoint). I slowed down, unsure, because the consequence of missing an exit can be disastrous on a one-way highway leading to another state; you can't turn back for another half hour of driving. Call it a lucky guess, there came a 4WD with two women (who 'seemed' like the type to like turtles) and they cut right across us and took that exit. I immediately followed them (no time to think and miss an exit)!! Turns out, they even knew their way very well through the dirt roads leading to the reserve (again, without a single sign board). After about 5-10 mins of driving on dirt roads through the desert, we arrived. Now one might wonder, if these people were headed off somewhere else like a desert safari leading deeper into the desert dunes, what might have happended to us?? How could have we navigated back to the main road when the GPS had no coverage in this area?? Or what if they hadn't come in time and I missed the exit? Oh well, didn't have to worry about any of that!

The turnout was surprisingly huge. Nice to know there were so many enthusiasts who came to watch, along with their little ones. The weather here has take a turn for better here and the reserve was situated next to a beach, which was unpolluted. We had to fight to catch a glimpse of the turtles. I fought with the kids to get a chance to touch one, but they pushed me away when I was about two inches away from shaking hands with a little hawksbill.

All that story-telling aside, I do hope the turtles live long enough out there to make it back to the shore to breed. They are among so many amazing creatures shaped by millions of years of evolution to what they are today. Their habitats and breeding cycles have been vastly destroyed as a result of the parasitic menace, that are homo sapiens.

Event number two was more for my guest as she loves all things to do with crafts and sewing. We volunteered at an assembly line for sewing neck cushions for breast cancer patients. Now I am very skeptical if these will actually reach the patients, and if they do, would these actually make them feel better. Aren't there bigger things we can do for them than just sewing bags and cushions? But it was a good initiative to spread awareness and a good opportunity for selfish people like us to forget our lives for a bit and devote a little time for another. We weren't that useful; our line made just nine cushions and that was all the fabric the organisers had for our line. Only one thing hit my mind when I saw the pile of end products; please, let there not be as many patients as those cushions and bags imply.

My travel buddy for the day had fun and it did her a lot of good in terms of cheering her up. She even met a like minded sewing-lover. I overheard a conversation of theirs at a store for crafting items (went something like this):

The friend: OMG, LOOK at all these different colours of thread and fabric!!! [squeals]
The other person: Yes! It's amazing, they have a good collection.
The friend: I mean, it's such a turn on, seeing all this!
[Shu: o_O .... ]
The other person: People who are not into this type of thing won't get it.
[Shu: Hmmm.]

Made me think if I told someone that the sound of starting the Jeep's engine first thing in the morning and hearing its crisp and roaring sound was such a turn on, I'd get that same look (or worse). So yeah, whatever floats our boats!