Some days are good and some days aren’t as good. We do our best to make good of any day, be it good or bad.
There are no bad days, really, if we think about it. There are only different kinds of days. Just like the weather. There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of weather, sunshine is delicious and rain is refreshing, as John Ruskin puts it.
It is a rainy day today, and it is refreshing indeed, despite waking up to nausea and a bad case of diarrhoea this morning. Side effects of my new oral chemo, Neratinib, that is. Imagine having to take this every day, for a year!
After completing 16 rounds of chemotherapy, 15 fractions of radiotherapy and 18 rounds of HER2 Targeted Therapy, I thought I would be done with my cancer treatments. Well, I was partly wrong.
With the advancements of medical technology, Pfizer developed Neratinib, an oral chemo for HER2 Positive and ER Negative Breast Cancer. Neratinib arrived in Malaysia early this year but medical insurance approval took six months because the drug is new and expensive costing about RM23,000 a month, and I need to take it for one year.
Thanks to my Oncologist Dr. Azura Deniel at KPJ Ampang Puteri who kept pushing for me to get my oral chemo approved. Now that Neratinib has been approved, I started my first dose yesterday.
Side effect is supposed to be diarrhoea, but for me, I had nausea and vomiting too. Probably due to my irritable bowel syndrome. I believe that my body adjust to the oral chemo after a while and I’ll be kicking ass again soon.
Meanwhile, I am doing my best to stay strong and positive!
The splendid thing
about falling apart
silently…
is that
you can start over
as many times
as you like.
(Sanober Khan, A Thousand Flamingos)
Every so often I liken cancer treatments to breaking apart all the bad cells until there are no bad cells left. Then we will rebuild our cells and in good time we will have only good cells in our body. It feels like our cells are all brand new!
My message to you is, as human beings, our time on earth is limited. Live while we are still alive. Spread love, light and positive vibes. Do what we can, while we still can!
Here’s wishing you a fabulous week ahead!
#BreastCancer
#KPJAmpangPuteri
#Neratinib
#CancerWarrior
#CancerAwareness
#LivingBeyondCancer
