2013.05.25: 13 - Chinese Medicine Helps Me

我与癌 (13-中医助我) 2011年8月起，每月Topotecan+Avastin的化疗逐渐使Ca125走低，走低，再走低，幸运的是副作用我也都能轻松对付。盼望着有朝一日能降至低于35，那该有多好。 前次化疗我曾一度因副作用而失去应付日常生活的能力。幸亏一位格外淳朴的大姐C，帮我度过难关。我和大姐C那可真是一见钟情，第一次见面，我开门看见这位双眼慈祥的小个头中年妇女，就自然而然给了个深深的熊抱，心想就是她了，不知她是否也有同感？这次化疗，我不仅能照顾自己，还有余力准备全家的晚餐，其实就三位，每天慢慢来，遵循少做多休，多做加休的原则。 有位朋友给我介绍了中医医生Z，断断续续去接受针灸一月，外加一些中药，似乎对我恢复体力有效果。Z医生很认真，很诚恳要求我一周若能针灸两次，效果应当更显著，我答应试一试。Z医生的先生R负责给我每周两次的针灸，又一月飘过，我竟然有精力逛街了。时至今日，我已成为每周三次登门的常客，他们已无法将我抛开，他俩也已成为我与癌抗争途中不可缺少的一部分。是上帝安排我们相识，相知的吗？我由衷感谢你俩对我的关心，关爱和带给我的喜乐平安。 转眼之间2011年的圣诞假期就在眼前。数月前，全家讨论决定去Puerto Vallarta  度假村度假，我便迫不及待地早早妥当安排好一切，圣诞当天出发，新年返回，为期7天。至于具体如何有乐趣度过这七天，就是俩闺女的责任 ，我有能力则跟，底气不足则休。 出门，安检，登机；过海关，出机场，进旅店。一路跟进，很省心。进 房间观海景时，听大闺女大声嘀咕，I am so tired, feel like an elementary school teacher bring a bunch of kids on a trip.  我便大赞， You did a great Job , keep it up. Please tell me what we are going to do tomorrow? When we have to get up? 她开始认真安排日程，我太有福了，你们说呢？ 周一，原地修整，探究度假村的设施，喜出望外发现宽度20米左右平整海滩，父女可随时跑步，我只走步。周二，我鼓足勇气与全家同行进山玩了一把 Zip Line，只不过山再高些，Line 再长些，就会更有趣。似乎又回到被阿姨唤做野丫头的童年时代。周三参观墨西哥小镇，海豚陪游与水中海豚助跳玩的不亦乐乎。同时我还是可找时间，做我的练功十八法。可有谁又算到即将会发生什么呢？ 周四，上大船，去 Snorkeling；换小船，去小岛观山谷瀑布。父女三徒步挺进，我则以马代步，较他们先回码头坐等。正 思考该不该上船，小闺女神色慌张跑来告知，Dad has felt down, could not get up and his angle is sticking out. Oh, No. 我三步并两步赶到离码头约五百米处，眼前一幕让我大吃一惊。LG 忍痛半躺在沙滩上，左踝关节扭曲明显。我赶紧一边安慰LG一边嘱咐大闺女带妹妹随大部队回度假村休息。导游也及时赶到，稍稍固定，就抬LG上了一艘 Speed boat，一路上我不断告诉自己，冷静，冷静再冷静，我们保险很好，问题应该不大。30分钟到陆地，又乘车30分钟到医院。擂到我俩的是医院竟和中国的卫生所有一拼（被UCLA的大医院惯坏了），而且这还是专供有美国医疗保险的人士就诊的医院，我们没有太多的选择余地。 X 光片显示，左踝关节错位并胫腓骨骨折。毫无疑问需手术复位加钢条固定。权衡利弊，决定就地治疗 ，手术历时4小时，终于在当晚10点结束。我在沙发上将就一夜。LG很争气，恢复超快，第二天，周五准许出院。也许20年前左膝关节交叉韧带（第一次滑雪）和10年前右脚跟键（打 squash) 修补术经历有助这次的康复。此次是因怕我上错船，跑来找我，没注意有拴小船缆绳随海浪忽隐忽现，忽上忽下波动在沙滩。奔得猛，拌脚绳一挡，前空翻基本完成，只不过落地有误而造成的。大幸是在脚，不在颈。 周五回到度假村，我已累趴下。LG享受着俩闺女提供的 room service. 男人有酒有肉就那个乐呀！周六，LG坐轮椅参加村里举办的辞旧迎新晚会，乐此不疲。周七打道回府。 周一，我想念我的气功朋友们，便去锻炼。回家不见LG，原来在家太折腾，已被大闺女送去上班。这就是我家有福同享，有难同当的生活。

Cancer and Me (13 - Chinese Medicine  Helps Me) Starting in August of 2011, the monthly chemotherapy treatment of Topotecan and Avastin caused my Ca125 levels to lower, lower, and lower further. Thankfully, I was able to face the side effects with no problem. I am looking forward to the day when it will be less than 35; how nice that would be. During the previous chemotherapy treatment regimen, there was a period where I lost my ability to take care of everyday needs. Thanks to an exceptionally kind woman named C, I was able to make it through this difficult period. I immediately felt a connection to her the first time we met: when I opened the door and saw her kind eyes, I naturally gave her a big hug and thought, “She’s the one, I wonder if she feels the same way?” During this chemotherapy regimen I’m not only able to take care of myself, I even have extra energy to prepare dinner for the family, though it’s really for three people in total. But I’m slowly improving, following the principle of “do less, rest more; when more is done, rest even more”. A friend introduced me to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor named Z, so I went on and off to receive acupuncture in January, in addition to taking some traditional Chinese medicine, and it seemed to work. Doctor Z was very sincere, telling me that if I received acupuncture twice a week I would see more pronounced results, so I agreed to try it. Doctor Z’s husband Mr. R, was in charge of acupuncture twice a week, and after a month floated by, I actually had the energy to go shopping. I have now become a regular, going three times a week; they can’t keep me away. The two of them have become an indispensable part of my fight with cancer. Was it God that arranged for us to meet and become friends? I sincerely thank both of you for your loving care and the joy and peace you have brought me. In the blink of an eye, the 2011 Christmas holidays were in front of me. Some months ago, the family discussed going to the Puerto Vallarta Resort, so I eagerly arranged everything for the trip, departing Christmas Day and returning on New Years Day, for a total of seven days. As for the specifics of how to enjoy these seven days, this was the responsibility of the two girls; I would help when I had the energy. Leaving the house; going through airport security, boarding, and customs; leaving the airport; arriving at our hotel: the whole trip, everything went smoothly. When we entered our room and saw the view of the ocean, my older daughter exclaimed, “I am so tired, I feel like an elementary school teacher bringing a bunch of kids on a trip!” To which I replied, “You did a great job; keep it up.  Please tell me what we are going to do tomorrow? When do we have to get up?” She then started to seriously plan our itinerary. I’m so blessed, wouldn’t you say? On Monday we stayed at the resort to explore the facilities, and we were overjoyed to see a flat, 20 meter-wide beach where my husband and daughters could jog and I could take walks. On Tuesday, I summoned the courage to go ziplining in the mountains with my family, only it would have been more fun had the line been longer and the mountain taller. It was as though I was back to my childhood when my aunt would call me a wild girl. On Wednesday we visited a small Mexican town and swam with dolphins, and it was exhilarating. Throughout it all, I was still able to find time to practice the Eighteen Methods. Who could predict what was about to happen? On Thursday, we boarded a big boat to go snorkeling and transferred to a smaller boat to see the valley waterfall on an island. The other three did a hike, and I debated whether or not to board the ship again to avoid them having to wait for me when they returned to the pier. Just as I was thinking about this, my younger daughter ran up to me, clearly flustered, and told me “Dad fell down, can’t get up, and his ankle is sticking out.”  Oh, no. I hurried to where he was, about 500 meters from the pier, where I was shocked by the sight of LG half-lying on the beach, enduring the pain of his clearly dislocated left ankle. I quickly told the girls to return to the resort with the rest of the tour group to rest while I comforted LG. The tour guide arrived shortly thereafter, briefly set his ankle, and carried him onto a speed boat. The whole ride I kept telling myself, “Stay calm, stay calm, we have very good insurance, this shouldn’t be a big problem.” We reached land in about 30 minutes, and after another 30 minute drive we were at the hospital. What surprised us was that this hospital was like a health clinic in China (we’ve been spoiled by the big hospital at UCLA). Moreover, this was the hospital specifically for those carrying American health insurance. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a choice. X-rays showed his left ankle was dislocated and his tibia and fibula were both fractured. There was no doubt that he would need surgery for relocation and fixation with steel bars.  After some deliberation, we decided to perform the surgery there. The surgery took 4 hours, and was finally completed around 10 PM that night. I put up with a night on a couch. LG recovered quickly, and was discharged from the hospital on Friday, the second day after the surgery. Maybe the repair surgeries from 20 years ago on his left knee anterior cruciate ligament (his first time skiing), and 10 years ago on his right Achilles tendon (playing squash) helped the recovery. This time, it was because he was afraid I was getting on the wrong boat, so he came running back to find me, not noticing the ropes that were anchoring small boats near the shore. In his haste, he tripped over one of the ropes, almost completed a full front flip in the air, and just had a bad landing. Fortunately the injury happened in the foot and not his neck. Friday when we returned to the resort, I was exhausted. LG enjoyed the “room service” that our daughters provided. On Saturday, LG participated in a wheelchair in the New Years celebration organized by the hotel and had a great time. On Sunday, it was time to go home. On the first day back, I missed my qigong friends, and went to go practice. When I got home LG was nowhere to be found. Apparently he found it too frustrating to be at home, and my older daughter had taken him to work. This is how my family lives: we enjoy the good times together, and we help each other through the difficult times.