Aug 31, 2009

7 days after chemo 2.

It's been 7 days since the second round of chemo. This round has been better in many ways, and worse in some. For one, there was no regurgitation of partially digested foods!! And the last time, she lost 4 pounds within a couple of days. But this time, she learnt to listen to her body. And whilst the foods she ate were not the most nutritious for the average person, just about anything she eats these days will be beneficial to her. The only problem is that in her case, chemo causes constipation. And, she absolutely hates taking medication! Umm...that problem though, has been 'solved' quite recently. haha.
Because I (and everyone else in the family) has been tired, meals have been extremely simple. As my mother needs to eat freshly cooked foods every meal, we've been eating her leftovers (especially RICE! because we need a minimum of 1 cup in the rice cooker when we cook it.) and having boiled veggies. Sandwiches have also been a staple as they are easy and quick to make and eat. And they're the best because there's not much dishes to do later! =p

About a week ago, my mother's friend made some Chinese 'Almond Tea' dessert. This uses Chinese Almonds/Bitter Almonds which is ground and made into a paste and boiled with water, sugar and rice which is also to be ground into powder. It requires a whole lot of work! But I've never made it. It's amazingly great! And I've been soaking my oats in them overnight before cooking them briefly in the morning. This is truely feenohmeenaal!! Anyway, for those interested, HERE is a fairly traditional recipe =)

Tomorrow, my sister flies back to Canada for university. Due to several reasons, I will not be going back. Over the past 2-3 years, my relationship with my sister has become quite close, and I enjoy her company A LOT. With her, I can be stupid, silly, annoying, pissy, bitchy, etc and I won't have to worry or care about what she'll think of me later on. I take comfort in knowing that she has lots of wonderful caring friends in school, and that God will be watching over her (she's a Christian, I'm not. But that's another story altogether...). At least I'll be seeing her again in December. And at times like these, i LOVE the internet!!

5 comments:

Neela Marijana said...

thank you so much for stopping by my blog. it so wonderful to meet people from singapore in the blogging community.
however it nearly broke my heart to find out about the tragedy of your life. i am so sorry that you mother has to go through this and i am praying for you and your family that everything will be alright for you.
you're in my thoughts
have a good day
much love
neela

Anonymous said...

Yes, I'm sure God is watching over her...And He is watching over you and your mother, too!

I have tried that Chinese almond "tea" before...it really is quite good!

Sarah said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

I've never heard of Chinese bitter almonds. I think they would be interesting to try, but with my luck I'd be poisoned by them! You are lucky your mom's friend made that dessert for you, it sounds like it would be tasty.

Wow, what a time in your life. I've poked through your other posts, too, and admire how much you seem to keep it together.
(Cameras--I just bought an Olympus tough after a LOT of camera research. I would suggest getting a slightly older Canon for $150 or so. The Elphs are all pretty good, it seems, and Canon tends to take the best pictures, in my opinion.)

Anonymous said...

Hang in there :-)

That tea sounds interesting and right up my alley! I've never heard of Chinese almonds before.

Thinspired said...

Hi there, thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Wow, just looking though yours and it sounds like you have had quite a journey. I'm separated from my sister and fam too, and I don't know what I would do without Skype and email! :)