105ians

Finally Paul was discharged from hospital after 19-day stay since 9 Dec. He recuperated very fast from the major surgery on 21 dec; able to get down to walk on 2nd day and was off the morphine and the urinal tube on 3rd day; and came home earlier than the doctor had expected.

Both Paul and myself spent Christmas eve together at the hospital. My family together with Aunty Jenny and the Yong's family gave us a surprise visit at the hospital on Christmas eve with songs, presents and food(but paul was not able to eat then) before going to our house for dinner as planned weeks ago. We are truly appreciative for all they have done.

Unfortunately the results of the biopsy is not too good as it shows recurrence of the cancer cells around the abdomen area. Dr Chan was not able to remove part or the whole stomach for fear of endangering Paul's life. He managed to clear the blockage by having another opening to the small intestines so that the food can pass through. We are shocked with the findings as all tests done earlier such as pet scan, ct scan, tumour marker test, endoscope etc etc showed no sign of recurrence. According to Dr Chan, they are too small for the machine to detect. If he didn't perform the surgery, we would have only known when the cells turn into tumour. Looking at the bright side(though it's hard), they are detected early and Paul will be going for 2nd line chemo-therapy as soon as he's up to it(ie. he has to gain some weight and the wound must heal).

It was a scary experience last night as lots of pus was coming out from his wound. It was like a tap that flowed non-stop. Both of us were so scared and didn't know what to do as the moment he sat up, it just continued to flow. He could only lie flat to stop the flow. I called Dr Chan and he asked me to stand Paul up at the shower and let the pus flow out as much as possible. He said it's just superficial wound infection and the pus must come out to lessen his pain. Finally after 45 mins of standing at the shower, the flow reduced. We certainly had learnt something new from this experience- don't panic, call doctor....

I know we have to start fighting this battle all over again. Though we don't understand why the relapse is so soon, only 4 mths after his radio-therapy, Paul just have to be strong and fight this battle. With our families and friends' behind us, we will nail the sickness together.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, aunty jenny and the Yong's family for the love and support they have showered on us during the past few weeks. It's also nice to see Paul's siblings, in-laws, niece and nephews at the hospital. Thank you Pastor Chris, sister Jenny, bro Choean, sister Delia, Jo & Eric, Frankie and many others who have visited and been praying for him and sorry that we had to turn down some visitors when paul was feeling too weak and needed some rest.

It's nothing like coming home. Let's continue to fight this battle alongside with him. It's going to be a tough battle but I know my hubby is a very strong man and I pray that God will continue to watch over him and he will regain his strength very soon and our faith will not be shaken.

Lily