China trip...finally!

Sorry for this late update...been busy preparing for my China trip which is...tomorrow(Sat 23 July)! Will be at KLIA at 10pm, and the flight is 00.50hrs Sunday (24 July). I will be going to Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (http://www.hljucm.net). I am not going for the Tao treatment in Chongxing just yet.

I am going to this TCM hospital at the recommendation of my TCM physician; it is her alma mater. She has contacted her professor to have a look at me.

Vivien my sister and Mr. Wong sister; Me Leng are accompanying me. Me Leng will be a tremendous help because she is familiar with China and able to speak and read Chinese/Mandarin well, which both my sis and I are...ahem..got lots of catching up to do! ;)

I don't expect nor want to be there for long; the most two weeks max. I expect to have a full body scan for the TCM doctors to understand the current situation, give some medication, acupuncture,massage and other TCM therapy, and most importantly to provide feedback to Dr Yong on follow-up back in Malaysia.

I am eager to be back in Malaysia to make full use of the window of increasing better quality of life I am having now. I do not know how long this window will last, and I will do all I can to make it last as long as I want it to. I want to make good use of it to do qiqong and other therapies to manage the ailment, and of course to regain my health.

This blog will be on hold till I am back in Malaysia, but if there is convenient net access in Harbin, I will blog over there in China.

Friends and relatives, thank you for all your support and encouragement which enabled me to reach this point in my adventure.

Watch this space...I'll be back!!!! :)))

Chi Dynamics

The Sunday (3 July) before this I attended a Qiqong workshop. The journey is an achievement when I took the Kommuter train from Seremban to Serdang station all by myself, and took a taxi to the venue of the workshop. What a blessing; barely more than a month ago I could hardly walk, and had to be on a wheelchair, and now I can stand and bargain with the taxi driver for a good fare ;)

The workshop was conducted by Master Anthony Wee of Chi Dynamics (www.chidynamics.org.my). I am very impressed with his set-up. He has more than 20 sifus and instructors to help the participants in the workshop. His assistants go thru a structured instructors course to become sifus and instructors. Master Wee himself is a Singaporean who has migrated to Australia.

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, and lying in the Seremban Hospital, my sister got hold of a Chi Dynamics booklet titled "Cancer Care" with instruction on its healing Chi Kung. This is the first qigong I did.

Although I am not sure if I did it correctly, but the act of spending time doing qiqong helps me to take my mind off negative thoughts. When I lie in bed at night in the hospital, my mind will be filled with questions and sometimes dread of my fate.

Practising qigong helped to alleviate that. I am glad I am able to know the Sifu in person and his set-up. Members of his set-up (I have joined) attends regular classes in numerous centres in Klang Valley, Melaka, Kuantan, and also in England and Australia.

His qigung is based on the idea that cancer cells thriver due to lack of oxygen. Qigung is meant to bring more flow of oxygen,and to keep the oxygen as long as possible in the body. The Malaysia's branch chief instructor runs a Qi clinic in Subang Jaya, and I will be making an appointment to see him, to get a more refined Qi steps specifically for my case.

Learn and find the best for yourself

Master Wee encouraged us to seek and learn various Qigung styles. He said we have to find a style suitable for us. He also emphasised that healing comes from ourselves, the master can only impart his knowledge, but the healing power is already within us.

Well, I know quite a few qiqung systems; Guo Lin walking qiqung, a bit of the Tao Centre's qiqung and now Chi Dynamics. I am very keen to learn the Dunhill Qiqung master's system :) but that will be much later...

I find Chi Dynamics system simple and the instruction in English helps a lot. The members and instructors of Chi Dynamics are mostly professional and their method is systematic. They encouraged us to ask questions and there are ample instructors to guide us.

Winners and champions

After sharing my experience during the Q&A session, many participants came to me and gave me encouragement, and to share their experience.

One lady whom I thought is the same age as me, but turned out she has had cancer 21 years ago, and her son is now 27 years old! I am also very interested to know how she maintain her youthfull looks! haha

Another lady had cancer and had a relapse but she survived both attacks,and now free from cancer. She showed me her radiotherapy scars which are not a pretty sightl, but she survived them and more...she said she looked worse than I look now, and even more skinny. She encouraged me to hang on.

Like Jannie, both of them had cancer at a time where alternative therapies are unknown and difficult to find, where support groups were virtually non-existent. Forget about organic products and "functional foods"!...the "dark ages" you can say.

And they survived and are thriving...I asked what did they do; they said most important is your will to overcome the cancer. One is because she wanted to see her daughter grow up, and see her she did and is continuing to do so.

Another lady told me about her husband's fight against cancer. Her husband survived and don't seem to have any diet restriction except for beef. But the rest of the food, he bantai.

Well, it really depends on individual; some cancer survivors won based on their restricted diet, some seems to thrive well without vegetarian diet. It really boils down to what is best for you; we have to blend a conconction of therapy perfect for ourselves.

Master Wee also shared how he got into healing Qi. He has always focussed on Power Qi where the practitioners practised Qi for martial arts and power. Then his father was afflicted with cancer at the age of 65. His father then practised on Qigung and healed himself and lived on, and passed away free from cancer when he was 89 years old.

His father did not take on any complementary therapies...again, those were the days where fancy therapies, nutritional products, organic produce shops, are not well-known or easily available. Master Wee, after seeing the benefits his father derived from healing aspect of qigung, concentrated on healing qi.

Friends from those early confusing days

Khadijah of CaCare (www.cacare.com) was the one to informed me about the Chi Dynamics' workshop. Khadijah is the vice president of the Malaysia Chi Dynamics. She and Farah were there. Both of them were the first person I seek advice from in the earlier days of my cancer adventure.

Meeting them again brings back memories of those dark early days when I and my family were so lost. We were not sure what to do, and were grasping at anything that has some glimmer of hope. Things are better now as I am able to vet and narrow down my choice of therapies, after going thru so many options.

Thanks, Khadijah, and Farah..nice meeting both of you again... :)

Organic Farm

On Saturday (9 July) visited Mr Wong's new organic farm-to-be. Talked with the kampung coordinator about moving forward. I was cast in the role of "consultant" to put up a contract...haha...well, my fee is a nice rambutan feast! (rambutan is a popular fruit in the Southeast Asian region ..check it out at www.rambutan.com).

The farm is located in a nice quiet kampung (Malay village) where the folks are easy going, the land is full of fruit trees which all are in season. What a great way to spend your time! :)

London blasts

The Londoners will overcome this, as they have over Hitler's Blitz and the IRA. My best wishes are with all of you...

I am glad Joanna and family are ok... and thanks for the offer of lodgings when I am there for Olympics 2012 ;)

London wins 2012 Olympics host bid

I will be there! ;)

The mundane...

You may have noticed that I am posting with less frequency. After all the medical drama of earlier months, my health condition is stabilising and there is less to report. There is a routine settling in; medication, acupuncture, cooking and other "normal" stuff.

Thanks to Iressa and the TCM (traditional Chinese medicine), I am clawing my BC (before cancer) life back..bit by bit. You may also notice my blog also beginning to feature more mundane stuff,but stuff which is so important to me because it signify some normalcy; blogging about walking, shopping and making chapati! ;)

Just yesterday, my regained some independence. I took a bus from my home to Seremban town all by myself. I went to a tailor to make some new pants and shirts. After a weight loss of 20kg, my cloths don't fit me...in fact, none of ready-made cloth fit me! I am just too skinny for any "normal" cloth, so need to have some tailor-made cloths so I don't look like I am wearing someone's else clothing.

I walked from one end of the town to the other end. It is good that Seremban town is small and compact and most things are within walking distance.

Felt fine after the marathon yesterday. Only felt a bit tired today. Legs are tired. Anyway, mission accomplished and more independence ventures will be undertaken soon... :)

Some friends check on my condition by checking this blog. If they notice a lack of updates, or no updates, they get worried that something has happened to me. :) Thanks for your concern, people.

What I will do now is to update my blog every weekend. But if there are some worthy news or stories to report, I will update it during the weekdays. But I promise to update my weekly adventures :)

...and the profound

Met with Jannie again on Thursday. Had lunch at her place. She is an inspiration. I am looking forward to the new organic farm venture. This is an organic farm where the produce are truly organic. A farm where the planters not just plant mechanically but to plant with cancer patients in mind. Planting with a heart towards environment conservation.

After the China trip, which is very soon, I will start to do work again with in the environment arena. Have you noticed how environment features so frequently now in the media? Especially with the recent hoo-haa over fuel prices.

People are beginning to notice our lifestyle is so dependent on the type and quantity of fuel we use. Fossil fuel is the driving force behind of lifestyle since its discovery.

People usually thought environment protection only means green issues; conserving forest and saving cute animals...not so...taking action on the environment means being efficient and effective usage of the earth resources; which is the building block of our economy.

Anyway, this topic deserves a blog or website of its own (www.alamsekitar.com). This is will be another of my project; revival of www.alamsekitar.com!!! :)

Another project of mine is to spread my adventure to a wider audience. At the urging of many friends who read my blog, I would like more people to share my story.