Friday, June 17, 2016

Voice Of Hope

Voice Of Hope

I mention we meet Sylvia during my wife treatment. She gave us new hope. Here is Sylvia story :

https://sparkatncis.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/issue-15-voice-of-hope/#more-563





63 year old Sylvia Khoh, who was diagnosed with Stage 1 Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC) in 2010


In the flesh, Sylvia is immaculately dressed, her hair unfurling in soft coils, her face radiating a rosy glow. Looking a little over 50 years of age, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Sylvia turns 63 this year, as she chuckled and said that she gets this response from strangers all the time. Her secret to looking young? A positive mindset, and always remembering to smile.

Sylvia’s positive energy is infectious indeed. While most people her age look forward to enjoying their retirement, Sylvia proudly tells us that she loves her job; the empowerment it gives and the satisfaction it brings. A financial manager, Sylvia is presently into her sixteenth year at her job and has no plans of retirement in the near future.

As Sylvia goes about her five-day work week, she also juggles her time between her hobby – singing, a passion she has had since she was young, and which she continued to grow after her friend encouraged her to pick-up pop music back in 2010. After enrolling into the class, her vocal coach discovered the unique tonality in her voice and propelled her towards opera instead. A Teochew, Sylvia had to learn the Cantonese dialect from scratch in order to master the trade. It was a challenge, but Sylvia dedicated herself to perfecting the enunciation of the dialect.

Sylvia’s hard work and effort paid off and seven months into classes, she gave her first stage performance. Today, she is a seasoned opera singer who regularly performs at the China Cultural Centre, NAFA, Lee Foundation, Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre and community centres.

It would seem that Sylvia has it all – good looks, an established career, a raw talent and a close-knitted family. But there was a time when Sylvia thought she would lose her soprano and no longer be able to perform opera, and this is her story.
 
It was during the Chinese New Year of 2010, and festivities were running high. Sylvia had scheduled a line-up of performances but to her dismay, found herself unwell in between performances to the point that she was no longer able to reach the high notes. This affected Sylvia greatly, as singing was her life’s passion. Suspecting nodules in her throat, she headed down to the ENT Department for a check.

The check proved her suspicions right, as soft nodules were discovered in her throat. But to her relief, her vocal chords were not affected. Thinking that her worst fears were allayed, Sylvia was in for a rude shock as her Doctor discovered two grained sized cancerous lumps at the back of her nose and diagnosed her with Stage 1 Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC). Sylvia’s first thoughts were “why me?” and “how did this happen?”, but she later accepted her diagnosis with calm and peace with the belief that her cancer was a sign from a higher calling for her to ruminate on her life.

 
 Sylvia and her close-knitted family. She has one son, and two daughters.

 Sylvia took comfort in the fact that the disease was discovered early and the cancer was contained in her nose. Upon her Doctor’s advice, she started on radiation therapy. Sylvia underwent a total of 35 radiation sessions over a period of seven weeks. During this seven-week period, Sylvia went about her daily life, undergoing treatment in the morning, and heading back to work right after treatment. Her boss was exceptionally understanding during this period, constantly checking in on her well-being and granting her permission to take the day off if she felt unwell. And of course, Sylvia did not give up on singing. She continued with her biweekly singing classes and continued training her vocal chords. To Sylvia, all these served as a good distraction and busied her mind from worrying about the cancer.

Voice of Hope

Not long later, the side effects of treatment started kicking in – sore throats, loss of appetite, drastic weight loss. Sylvia, who is naturally petite, lost a total of 13kg, from her initial weight of 62kg to 49kg at her lowest. Her friends jokingly teased her by saying that she looked like a little girl from behind. Despite these, Sylvia took everything in her stride and kept her spirits up.

She joined the NPC oneHeart Support Group and actively participated in talks and support group activities. Sylvia found the talks, conducted by professionals, especially useful in coping and managing with her condition and side effects. Through the support group, Sylvia also forged close bonds and friendships with the support group members whom she still meets up with regularly for social outings.

An active person, Sylvia also kick started a monthly walk at the Botanic Gardens for the group to bond while keeping a healthy lifestyle. To keep the group in positive spirits, Sylvia makes it a point to prepare homecooked fare the day before to spur them on on the day of the walk.

 
Sylvia and the members of the NPC oneHeart Support Group, at a Chinese New Year gathering at her house

 After one year of treatment, Sylvia’s scans turned up clear and the cancer was gone. Today, Sylvia has achieved remission and is a proud survivor of NPC.

The cancer may be gone, but it has changed Sylvia’s life in more ways than one. Before she was diagnosed, Sylvia focused her time and energy on herself and her family. But her cancer journey has taught her that there is more to life, and it includes caring for other people as well. Now, Sylvia gives back to the community by doing voluntary work such as coordinating haircut sessions for the old folk as well as cooking for them.
She feels her cancer journey has changed her for the better, and her vocal coach has encouraged fellow students to “learn from her spirit”. And what lies ahead? Sylvia hopes to continue doing more volunteer work, pursue her passion in opera, stay beautiful, and most importantly, stay happy.
To fellow cancer patients and survivors, this is what Sylvia has to say:
“Be positive, never submit yourself to the disease. Know there is always hope somewhere. Make sure you mix with the right people who can help you, but never wallow in self-pity. I find that sharing my experience with others in the support group has helped me learn from their experiences as well.

Keep a healthy diet and lifestyle. For me, I make it a point to drink nourishing double-boiled soups every day. Root-based soups are particularly helpful for my recovery process as it helps build up my immune system to promote self-healing.  I try to abstain from red meat and heaty food, but consume more fish, vegetables and manuka honey to soothe my throat. Today, I have gained back half the weight I lost during treatment.

I also meditate and practice qigong regularly, as this helps calm me down and increase my mindfulness.

The journey after cancer is more important than the treatment itself. Always remember to fight the disease and defend against it or it will be easier for it to beat you.”


Monday, June 13, 2016

Penyebab dan Tanda-tanda Kanker Nasofaring (Jawa Pos)

PENYEBAB MUNCULNYA KANKER NASOFARING

http://www.jawapos.com/read/2016/06/13/33899/serang-tenggorokan-dan-hidung-ini-penyebab-munculnya-kanker-nasofaring-

JawaPos.com - Karsinoma Nasofaring (KNF) merupakan salah satu jenis  kanker  terganas yang berada di urutan ke-4 setelah kanker leher rahim, kanker payudara, dan kanker paru. KNF biasa  muncul pada area di atas tenggor‎okan dan belakang hidung penderitanya.
 
Sejumlah faktor menjadi penyebab munculnya kanker nasofaring ini. 

Dokter ahli Telinga Hidung Tenggorokan‎ (THT) - Kepala Leher (KL) dr. Cita Herawati, SpTHT-KL mengatakan, diantaranya Epstein-Barr Virus (peningkatan antibodi, genom virus pada sel tumor). Terpaparnya bahan zat kimia juga menjadi salah satu penyebabnya, termasuk‎ asap. 

"Asap rokok, dupa atau kemenyan,  serta  asap kayu bakar. Pekerjaan yang menghasilkan serbuk-serbuk kimia, seperti peleburan besi dan serbuk kayu," ujar dr. Cita saat ditemui di Jakarta. 

Tak hanya itu, konsumsi jenis makanan juga memicu kanker nasofaring ini. Misalnya, ikan asin dan sayuran yang diawetkan, dan makanan yang difermentasi. 

"Konsumsi jenis makanan ini akan menghasilkan kandungan nitrosamine ataupun precursor nitro yang akan menjadi pemicu terjadinya proses KNF," terang dr. Cita. 

 Kendati demikian, dokter yang berprakter di Sahid Sahirman Memorial Hospital itu memaparkan, untuk bahaya ikan asin memicu kanker nasofaring belum ditemukan adanya laporan yang jelas. "Selama ini, lebih banyak dipengaruhi oleh asap dan bukan makanan," ucapnya. 

Asap lebih berpengaruh, dia menjabarkan, lantaran asap bisa menahan di ruangan hingga akhirnya hidung harus menyaring asap dan debu yang masuk sekaligus. "Terpapar dengan racun karsigenik yang harus dibersihkan ini akhirnya picu kanker nasofaring," tandas dr. Cita.  

Dr. Hilman Tadjoebin, SpPD, KHOM menambahkan, ‎orang yang bekerja di pertambangan juga memiliki kecenderungan terkena kanker nasofaring. 

Selain itu, makanan pun ikut berperan keganasan kanker tersebut. "Itu terjadi karena  kanker nasofaring dipicu oleh zat kimia tertentu yang masuk ke dalam hidung," tutupnya.
GEJALA TERJADINYA KANKER NASOFARING

 JawaPos.com - Waspada terhadap kanker nasofaring. Masih banyak orang  belum menyadari bila sering terpaparnya asap, zat kimia, hingga mengonsumsi makanan tertentu bisa mengakibatkan kanker nasofaring.
Kanker tersebut muncul pada area di atas tenggorokan dan di belakang hidung. Untuk mengetahuinya, paling tidak harus memahami emoat gejala terkena kanker nasofaring. 

"Yaitu, gejala hidung berupa mimisan ringan sampai berat dan berulang, terasa sumbatan di hidung, kadang sering dirasakan pilek lama seperti gejala sinusitis, hingga kesulitan bernapas," ujar ‎Dokter ahli Telinga Hidung Tenggorokan‎ (THT) - Kepala Leher (KL) dr. Cita Herawati, SpTHT-KL saat ditemui di Jakarta. 

Dia menyatakan, gejala telinga karena tumor terletak di dekat muara tuba Eustachius atau fossa Rosenmuller yang akan menimbulkan rasa tidak nyaman. "Misalnya, telinga tersumbat, berdengung (tinitus), bahkan sering ada rasa nyeri (otalgia) sampai pendengaran berkurang," sebutnya. 

Lalu, dr. Cita melanjutkan, gejala mata dan saraf‎. Tumor yang mulai masuk ke dalam lubang-lubang tengkorak dimana banyak melalui saraf. "Akibatnya, membuat saraf terjepit yang memengaruhi penglihatan dobel atau ganda dan dirasakan nyeri di daerah pipi dan sekitarnya (trigeminal pain), hingga sakit kepala," sambungnya. 

Dokter yang berprakter di Sahid Sahirman Memorial Hospital itu menuturkan, ciri lainnya merasakan berbagai gangguan menelan, berbicara, kelemahan otot bahu, dan leher. Terakhir, adalah gejala metastasis lokal atau leher. ‎"Terdapat benjolan di leher di satu sisi maupun dua sisi leher," ungkapnya. (rka/JPG)

Setelah baca artikel di atas saya makin yakin dokter-dokter THT di Bandung yang dikunjungi istri saya sangat tidak kompeten. Gejala-gejala nya jelas dialami istri saya. Betul-betul bikin sesak dada. 
Gelarnya saja pakai embel-embel professor dan spesialis. Sales perusahaan farmasi mereka itu semua.

Saturday, June 4, 2016

FAQ about Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma from NPC OneHeart

FAQ about Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma from NPC OneHeart's FB pages


https://www.dropbox.com/l/s/vlgYswmxj138W3qtGPllHu

Example :

A : Dr. Choo, why chemo doctor advises patient not to take beet root and other antioxidant food/fruits during chemotherapy.
D : To answer whether antioxidant can be used during chemo is that it can as most natural antioxidant is weak and does not affect the effectiveness of the chemo or radiotherapy.
Chemo and radio aim to disrupt and kill cells by an oxidant effect and so, antioxidant reduces their effect - this is possible interaction only.

A : Dr. Choo, how to treat burnt skin caused by radiation? It takes long time to heal and get back to normal skin colour.

D : Choose a moisturiser without perfume ie if it smells nice, then don't apply to radiotherapy skin. Silver sulphadiaxine cream is by doctor prescription only and only needed during the 4 weeks of completion of RT when skin layer is peeled off. It is a cream used in all fire and water burns and used only in hospital. After 4 weeks, can use any moisturiser like QV, Aquoes, Cetaphil, aloe vera, bio oil , physiogel. All the functions are really into sealing in moisture in the skin. Use 2-3 times a day frequently is more important than what type of cream to put on. More specialise cream includes 10% urea for itch and Restoderm by Cetaphil for eczema as it contains ceramide. But more expensive. I advise patient to expect permanent dry skin as hence moisturiser is for life, but expect the darken skin to get back to normal 3-6 months on completion of radiotherapy.
The itch is due to dry skin, darken skin is due to poor healing as skin is too dry. Skin scarring is more due to dry skin. So, moisturiser for dry skin will help. The reason for dry skin is radiotherapy damages the sweat gland of the skin and so the skin does not sweat like normal and will always be dry.