Category Archives: QM HK
October 29, 2012 Fourth extra birthday
Today I turned 62. Without modern medicine and great doctors I would not have made it to 59.
We spent the morning in the hospital room of Alexa, a very brave 5 year old with AML, who was starting her third chemo session. Because of her cytogenetics she should have a BMT, but her 2 year old sister is not a match and no other donor has yet been found. We gave her parents some medical contacts in HK and Singapore and explained what we know about the costs of BMT there. In HK and most other places, to get typed as a donor is free. In the Philippines it costs PHP35K+ and that’s from a Government institution, so understandably there isn’t a serious donor registry.
Her doctors had apparently done a donor search in Taiwan, but from what we were told about cross-race matches, as she isn’t Chinese that was pretty much a waste of time. We advised searching in the US and Canada where there are large Filipino communities. We also advised them to make sure that she is transplanted in a centre which does a lot of transplants of that type. As far as I remember there is a specialist children’s unit in Queen Mary in HK.
It was probably too much information overload but we’ve told them they can contact us any time if they think we can help.
- 4 comments
- Posted under AML, QM HK
December 10, 2011 Day -5 (also known as Saturday to you dear readers out there)
Today was chemo day 2 of 4. Surprisingly I don’t feel as bad tonight as I did yesterday night, but I am a bit shaky when moving around so things have to be done deliberately and with forethought. The low BP has gone which is a relief, must have been due to some of the anti-everything drugs and the chemo has balanced it out. My appetite is still fine, I ate 3 hearty meals today and an afternoon snack.
One nice thing here is the range of food. When I thought the transplant would be done in Queen Mary’s Hong Kong I was seriously concerned about starving; their food is really awful and there are no choices. HKSH was better but we learned not to order the Western food except the breakfast. Now I get to order Chinese, Western or Indian and for each day there is a choice of 2 dishes of each. As you order a week in advance you forget what is coming; tonight was Tandoori Chicken with rice and stewed beans and cabbage. Very tasty! However, on Day 0 they will switch me to the Ultra clean diet where whatever I order will be cooked normally then steamed for 20 minutes. Guaranteed no flavour then.
Elcee, her son Luis and Yaya Annie came to visit during the afternoon before they hopped on the bus back to KL. Linds went for a 30 minute walk around the neighbourhood this evening. She has a Caregiver’s armband so she can come and go as she pleases. Her cousins have lent us a red fold up bed on which she sleeps, tonight being her second night here. Linds has been deliberately skipping meals, fasting for a purpose, she says. She’s read Steve Jobs’ favourite diet book, Mucusless Diet and Healing System, and agrees with its principles.
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- Posted under Drugs, HKSH, QM HK, SGH