2010 - A Space Mountain Year

Saying 2010 was eventful doesn't give the depth of what happened. For once, I cannot think of a smart one liner to sum up 2010. I know for sure though, I want to say I am very lucky for being able to sit here to write this note in late December 2010. There was a real possibility of not being able to do so...

January - the year did not start out as a nice one for me work-wise. People talk about being at the right place at the right time as the right person. I had to substitute some of the "rights" with "wrongs"

Into Feburary - Grandma had her physical. Mostly well and found out the reason of her tendency of fainting without any warning sign. The mammogram wasn't good news

March to April - Biopsy only confirmed our fear. I remember the day when we had the reports; Grandma and I were on the rooftop staring at the lettuce but I couldn't see anything. A week later, I passed my driving test and on the same day, I got the offer from my new firm. Yes, my work-stress is gone but I was only having a taste of domestic stress.

April onwards - When most people thought I was having a blissful 3 months gardening leave, the family started travelling to and from Korea. The day sitting in the waiting room whilst the doctors operated on Grandma was one of the longest days I've ever experienced. The Severance Hospital in Seoul was big and factory like. Big screens on the wall flashed the name of patients, the operating theatre number, the start time and the status (started, recovering, finished). There was no one we could talk to. The surgeon was supposed to inform us of the type of procedures required upon the completion of the frozen section biopsy. Grandma's name was never called. "Recovering" blinked after almost five hours.

To November - Chemotherapy and radiotherapy... Technology might have advanced but the effect on Grandma was not pretty. I don't know what kind of scale they use in Korea but something gotta be very wrong when the white blood cell count was 50 when other chemo-patients should be at 500. The fever, throwing up, feeling very sick "standard" symptoms are simply too trivial. When I found out that the hospital missed some of the medication for Grandma and that attributed to her low white blood cell count, I was furious and started interviewing oncologists in Hong Kong.

November - Grandma returned, looking better than before. Face was round and have a nice glow with pink cheeks. We couldn't asked for more.

On the work front, I eased into the new job. The technical part wasn't hard. Having to deal with a new set up and without the infrastructure was tough. I was back to the 16 hours day that I went through in the first three years in my career.

Late November, I wasn't feeling well. So bloated that I lacked energy to move around. Went to the Adventist Hospital in HK and had MRI, CT Scan, blood test... I had flash back and started to wonder if I could celebrate Changster's fourth birthday. I wasn't really myself for that few days.Decision was made two days after all the tests result to go for surgery. I cried so much in the moring of the day of the surgery. All the what ifs filled my head and I didn't want to leave the Changster and daddy behind. The mass was removed, measuring 25cm and weighted in at 4.05 kg (without blood?). I had immediate weight loss of almost 12 kg. Frozen section said no malignancy and the surgery went really well. When I opened my eyes in the recovery room, I distinctly remember asking the nurse for the time and was relieved that it was 1:02pm.

So here I am typing away. I can see the scar on my tummy (now I have a reversed T from the cesarean and the surgery) and I can still feel the pull inside. Am I happy? Yes. I am happy that I have my family and friends around me through good times and bad times. I am happy that I was pulled back from the other end of the tunnel.

Tell people you love how much you love them. Be grateful and gracious of what you have. Don't just sit on your plan. Execute it! You may think there is always tomorrow. The truth is, you never know if you will wake up to tomorrow. A very good friend of mine has just lost her father this afternoon.

To our family and friends, thank you for being there for us! We wish you and your family to have a very healthy and blessed year in 2011!