2010年4月28日

土城油桐花季

昨天去醫院做第三次標靶治療, 並去放射腫瘤科做電療的最後一次門診. 醫生說皮膚保持得很好, 大概還要1-2週才能完全復原, 不過已經可以去爬山了. 所以撿日不如撞日, 趁著今天下午沒雨, 和三姊一起去承天寺附近的賞螢步道和桐花公園賞花. 這可是我搬到土城16年來頭一回趕上桐花季, 以前真的太認真工作了, 沒有讓生活和工作保持平衡, 慚愧! 但沒想到雖然是週三, 爬山賞花的人潮仍不少, 這個週末有2010土城桐花節的重頭戲, 不知道到時候會不會人比花多? 想享受悠閒漫步, 與桐花雨邂逅的朋友, 還是不要週末來吧!

土城油桐花季 White Tong Blossoms in Tucheng

A short hiking for white tong blossoms with my youngest big sister on Wed.
週三和三姊一起拾階上山, 欣賞潔白如雪的油桐花

Location: Tucheng City, Taipei County, Taiwan





[後記] 醫生果然沒有騙我, 放療的療程是越來越沒有那麼辛苦. 前三週(15次)都好, 還可以去爬山. 之後會比較紅, 比較癢, 要常常冰敷. 從第四週起到結束後兩週就沒有什麼在運動, 以避免流汗. 結束後醫生會給燙傷藥膏, 每天擦一到兩次, 原來胸前不明顯的紅色會變成跨到腋下的整片, 還有鎖骨, 所以我是療程結束後才知道原來放射線照射的範圍是這些地方, 有點白目. XD

2010年4月26日

「偽」家庭主婦的生活

因為在家照顧電療後的皮膚,很少出去趴趴走,照美美的照片,所以最近有點懶惰更新部落格,有沒有發現我偷偷地把抗癌日記改成週記了呢?不過,豌豆的新年新希望「快樂活著,做個好人」開始動工囉!快樂的事有看漫畫、小說、雜誌、還有做飯。我跟三姊說,我做的是愛的料理,要她用心品嚐,結果她跟我說,我是漫畫看太多了,要是再說這些噁心的話,她就要去把我的漫畫拿去還掉。沒辦法,誰叫我前陣子溫習的是「美味的關係」這套漫畫呢!我也想為我最親愛的家人開間愛默爾(l'amour)餐廳啊!:D

在這裡我要推薦台北縣立圖書館的「線上通閱」服務,透過網路搜尋/登錄,可以借閱台北縣各鄉鎮圖書館的圖書,然後他們會將書從新店、五股、中和、三芝等地移送到離我家最近的圖書館,再用email通知我去借閱。只要耐心地使用家人申辦的4張卡(每張卡可以借10本書),就可以幫媽媽借到她喜歡的植物染相關書籍,也可以借到我喜歡的偵探小說、裝潢雜誌和漫畫(最近在湊的是「華麗的挑戰」),不用花錢就可以享受到閱讀的樂趣,又不佔家裡的書櫃空間,是加入「偽」家庭主婦行列的好處之一。

至於做個好人,謝謝Kat的告知,我於三月底時加入世界展望會(World Vision Organization)的在家翻譯志工行列。我目前完成了兩批英翻中的稿件(每一批約10-15份短信),都是羅馬尼亞的孩子或孩子的媽媽寫給台灣贊助人的信件。信的內容單純質樸,很叫人感動,因為這些每個月接受台幣700元贊助的孩子家境一定都不富裕,卻很知足常樂。比如一個孩子說:「我們住在一間有3 個房間的漂亮房子裡。」;另一個孩子說:「我在家裡有個很棒的圖書館,這都要感謝您,因為您的資助,我才能收集我唸書和其他時候需要的書籍」。

一直到今年年初,我仍以為自己去做志工是去做個好人,因為聖經上說,做在最小的弟兄上就是在服事神(馬太福音25:40)。但現在的我有一些新的想法,其實應該是我感謝神給我一個機會,讓我從最小的弟兄上學習新的功課,比如最新的這堂課是「知足感恩」。現在的我感謝眼睫毛開始長出來了,長這麼大,頭一遭明白原來不是只有長的像兩片扇子的眼睫毛值得羨慕,眼睫毛可是我們很重要的朋友,之前因為化療,眼睫毛幾乎掉光,睡醒時眼屎會多到讓眼睛黏住睜不開、甚至疼痛。所以,Haleluya! 蒙恩的我還有能力為別人做點什麼,活著…真的很不錯!

2010年4月15日

Carol's note 15/04/10

Dear friend,
How's your Easter vacation? Hope you and your family have acquired sufficient energy. I heard the weather in England has finally turned to spring. I could almost see the beautiful daffodils blooming along the path on campus. (The snowdrop season is gone, right?)

My condition keeps going well. Thank you for your kind attention and prayer. Today is the last day of my radio therapy course. I’m very happy for the milestone although I still have one-year targeted therapy. From now on, I don’t need to do the tiring job -- go and back between my home and the hospital alone by MRT for 3 hours every weekday. I'll normally go to the hospital for the targeted therapy every 3 weeks. Hooray!

I had the injections of targeted therapy twice because the time was advanced by one week. The injection is similar to that of chemo, but the time is shorter, around 90 minutes, and the side effect is less. The only notable thing is that Herceptin, the targeted therapy medicine, may lead to heart failure or shortness of breath. Hence, I'll have echocardiography regularly.

I do think I'm very blessed to have your and my family's support whenever I pray. Without your support and God’s mercy, I can’t survive after the shock and the long treatment. May I beg you to add my big sister Su-wen and my friend Fu-li in your prayer list? This afternoon, my sister Su-wen was asked to have a core needle biopsy on Monday because there is a one-centimeter shade in her sonography picture. Please pray for her. Hope it's just a machine error, a calcification, or a benign tumor. I'll tell you the diagnosis result after she got it on Saturday.

And Fu-li, who was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago, is a senior volunteer in my hospital. She came to comfort me after my surgery and then became an important friend in my supportive group. Unfortunately, a recurrence of cancer was found in her bones before the Chinese New Year. Not disappointing other patients, she kept the secret until I saw her in front of the radio therapy room. Now she simultaneously has radio therapy and chemo. This must be a very hard time to her. Please pray for her and her family. Hope the treatment is useful, and both her current and eternal life can be saved. Amen!

May peace and joy with you.

Lots of love,
Carol

Carol's update on 22/04/10

Dear all,
Haleluya! I'm so happy to tell you that my sister Su-wen was diagnosed with fibrocystic breast, a benign (non-cancerous) condition. Thank you very much for your kind prayer. And thank God who shows His love to me again.

Have a bright Sunday!

Lots of love,
Carol

2010年4月8日

蓋棉被抱冰枕

進入第四週電療, 照放射線的那片皮膚有點癢. 醫生說不能抓, 只能輕拍和冰敷, 而且冰敷可以讓皮膚比較不容易破皮. 偏偏這幾天有點涼, 就出現蓋棉被抱冰枕的好笑狀況.

實驗證明, 深夜裡即使四肢都暖呼呼的, 但胸口放了冰枕還是會讓人偶爾想發抖. 所幸週二醫生檢查, 說我的皮膚狀況應該可以撐過最後8次電療, 看來付出小小流鼻水的代價還是有收穫滴~ 加油! 加油!