Breast Cancer The Silent Killer

I’m not sure of what’s the most suitable title to put above. But anyway, since my last update; many thing had taken place in our life. Our balik kampung trip to Sungai Petani and Langkawi, 1st Aidil Adha Celebration in Subang, and the latest one is we lost a family member, my Mak Lang because of breast cancer. I think this time  I’m gonna keep the updates on former 2 still in pending. Actually I’m just relieved that finally I got to speak to my cousin through phone just now.

Anyway I want to rewind back a bit earlier on my Mak Lang’s story on her battle with breast cancer. She was hospitalized just after previous Aidil Fitri Celebration after experiencing difficulty to breath. Cut short, the doctor said that she had breast cancer stage 4. If I’m not mistaken half of her lung already got infected and damaged by cancer cells and the cancer was already starting to infect the other side of the lung. So most of times, she was getting insufficient oxygen supply to her body. The doctor treated her with some strong medication because her condition wasn’t strong and stable enough to start with chemotherapy. Throughout her stay in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), she managed to go home for 3 days before immediately run to the hospital by ambulance afterwards due to difficulty to breath. Although she was provided with oxygen supply at home, but her lung couldn’t function well anymore for her body.

Her condition deteriorating since then and finally she passed away on previous Thursday, November 10th, 2011 at about 11.00 am. However Alhamdulillah although Mak Lang was sick and her lung was already in bad shape, but she didn’t feel any pain. She just faced difficulty to breath and due to her condition she felt fatigued. That’s all. I’m glad that she didn’t suffer during her last days. She wasn’t sick for too long. She was taken care greatly by her 2 children and especially Pak Lang who never left her side. She went in a good way anyone could wish. Mak Lang as if understood that her time would come that she complied when the doctor suggested for Yasin recitation moment for her. The doctor and Pak Lang managed to recited Yasin 3 times for Mak Lang. Before finally Mak Lang closed her eyes, her breath became slower and shorter, as her mouth slowly mumbling Syahadah and Allah Allah Allah then finally came to a stop when she took her last slow long breath. Innalillah!

Now back to the beginning as I said I finally manage to speak to my cousin. We didn’t attend Mak Lang burial as well as her tahlil yet due to lost of communication. We couldn’t get through any of the family members and they didn’t reach us also. Well, at times like this sometimes anything could happen. Diorang pun kelam kabut busy uruskan arwah, ditambah dengan dalam kesedihan lagi. So kitorang kinda left out. Kitorang called berkali2 and msged tak berjawab so jadi tak senang duduk sebab taktau apa2 updates. Tapi memang kitorang tak dapat pergi pun sebab weekdays. So Sabtu Ahad baru lepas ni hubby and I memang standby je kalau2 ada tahlil ke apa ke. Tapi tulah, silap juga kitorang tak terfikir langsung nak tanya other relatives. Tapi takpelah dah called tadi so dah tau A to Z. InsyaAllah this weekend we are going to visit Mak Lang’s grave in Pantai Dalam. This coming Thursday also ada tahlil tapi taktau lagi dapat pergi ke tak sebab hubby kerja. Rumah my cousin pun jauh di Klang. We will see how. Tak discuss lagi.

Glad to know that my cousin and her family are recuperating well. I kept remembering Mak Lang and wondering about the condition of her family she left behind. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep. Although personally I’m not that close to Mak Lang but I had been knowing her since small. If not much, of course I have a few personal memories with her. I also feel sad and kind of miss her presence. I kept praying for Mak Lang as well as for her family. But now, I pray that roh Mak Lang dirahmati Allah dan ditempatkan dikalangan orang2 beriman. Semoga Allah mengampuni segala dosa2 Mak Lang dan menerima segala amalan baiknya semasa dia hidup. I also pray that may Allah will give the strength and patience to Mak Lang’s children and Pak Lang to go on life. Mati itu pasti bagi seiap insan yang hidup. Cuma kita tak tau bila dan macam mana giliran kita akan tiba. Kematian tu adalah pengajaran dan peringatan. Semoga kita mengambil iktibar. Berbuatlah kebaikan seakan2 kita akan mati esok!

Al-Fatihah to Mak Lang.

Ihsan Loves To Read

I have taken my bath and breakfast of oat with honey and banana. Owh, also a cup of 3 in 1 coffee with goat milk something. Ihsan is here playing with his toys. He is having running nose and refused to eat. But at least he keeps asking his milk as usual, phew! Now we are waiting for hubby to get up, give Ihsan his bath and get ready himself. I’m thinking of going to the Tesco later for groceries shopping. We should go earlier in the morning because the fresh foods are still abundant compared to if we go later. But I hope there will still be plenty for us. I hope to get everything done before Zohor.

Ops for got to tell that we arrived here from the north on previous Thursday, October 27th. But I will spare the stories about our balik kampung Sungai Petani and Langkawi later in another entry. As for now I would like to make a record on situations I witnessed on Ihsan previously just before we went balik kampung. I wished I had taken a video to be kept. But he is so interested whenever he sees my camera nowadays. Never mind I will try again later. Furthermore it has been quite sometimes since I last took interesting videos of him.

Scene 1

I was busy reorganizing the shelves tidying up our room just before we were about to go to sleep. Rajin kan Mama Ihsan nak tidur pun sibuk mengemas lagi hihi ;P As usual Ihsan would be busy body and wanted to ‘help’ me doing my work. I was organizing his books nicely and he took one of his favourite book and kept reading it using his own language. But I noticed the intonation was kind of familiar though.

Mama: Haa Ihsan baca buku tu je jangan usik buku2 ni Mama dah simpan elok2.

Ihsan: Gujugujugujuguju aaa waaa gujugujugujuguju #@$%^&^*%!!

Mama: Pandai Ihsan baca.

Ihsan: Gujugujuguju Heppp! Heppp!

Mama: (Terus stopped mengemas and tengok buku Ihsan) Eh Ihsan baca apa? Owh haah lah snake ni dia cakap Help! Help! Hahaha! (Mama LOL :D Mama pun terus baca satu mukasurat tu sampai habis untuk Ihsan. Lepas tu sambung mengemas semula). Okay dah esok kita baca sama2 lagi ye.

Pandai la Ihsan ni :) Ihsan naturally really lovessssssssss to read. I noticed this since he was an infant. Xtau la kalau dia suka sebab Mama sendiri yang selalu biasakan Ihsan dengan buku. Bagus la tu. Tapi kadang2 tu rajinnn sangat membaca sampai Mama xlarat nak layan kena sembunyikan buku2 favorite dia hohoho :P

Scene 2

At the living room at my parents’ house in Sungai Petani, I was resting on the sofa while reading the newspapers. Whereas Ihsan was playing with the unused phone beside me.

Ihsan: Eee ooo gujugujuguju !#@$%%!!!#(%# (Picking up the phone, dialling and hanging up the phone. He kept repeating that a few times).

Tak lama lepas tu…

Mama: Apa Ihsan buat tu? (Mula teringat nak perhati apa Ihsan buat).

Ihsan: Eiiiyooo. Ha… ha… ha…. Okiii abaiii! (Ha ha ha tu bukan ketawa but actually ya ya ya. So the conversation was like Hello. Ha ha ha. Okay bubbye!).

Mama: Owhhh hahaha LOL :D Macam familiar je.

Mak Tok: Iye la dia dok dengar Mama dia cakap tepon macam tu hari2.

Mama: Haah la hahaha! LOL :P Siap ‘Ha ha ha’ tu yang xtahan dengar hahaha! :P

Gelihati betul la. Macam2 perangai la Ihsan ni :D Mama Papa kena careful cakap lepas ni sebab Ihsan makin rajin tiru cakap :P

Oh-kayyy it’s already 10.35 am Papa is still in bed. Nanti semua kerja xjalan. Gotta wake him up!

Let’s Help Build Hiroshima Masjid

When we were living in Japan, it was hard for us to find a mosque because Japan is not an Islamic country and the number of Muslim community is very small. Majority Muslim in Japan are from other countries and only a few are Japanese themselves. However there are a few mosques in Japan but most of them located in big cities where big Muslim community can be found. My husband and I were living in a rural area where we are the only Muslims there (no other that we knew of) and the nearest Muslims we knew were our friends in Matsumoto.

In short, what I’m trying to say is we are so used performing our prayers anywhere like under the tree, at the park, at the car park, at locker room, on the building roof etc. Either short or long distance trip, we always have to bring along our thin foldable prayer mat and a bottle of spray filled with water in order to ease us taking our ablution. Usually hubby will refer for the kiblat using the compass. I will wear already decent clothes before going out from the house but there were a couple of times I wore my telekung while praying in the public too. Obviously I instantly became the centre of attention hihi :P I knew there were a few locals taking my picture while performing my solat.

However most of the times we usually stopped at the Service Area (SA) or in here we call it R&R in order to perform our prayer. Because at the SA we could easily go to the toilet and take our ablution there. Sometimes there were pipe water in the park and that could be much easier too. But of course performing solat in public can’t be compared as performing solat in the mosque itself. Sometimes it was raining, the weather too was icy cold for example during winter or the place was too crowded. But we still had to perform our payer because we got no other choice. So, of course performing solat in the mosque far more convenient.

While we were in Japan, we would always check our route before starting our journey. So that we could plan our schedule and try to stop at the nearest mosque available so that we could perform our solat comfortably. We would always be happy if we could go visit any mosque in Japan. Because of that, I really support this effort towards building Hiroshima Masjid. I got to know from friends in Japan that the Muslims in Hiroshima are now collecting funds so that they can buy a building to be made as Hiroshima Masjid. The number of Muslims in Hiroshima I believe, is many. Also by the existence of this new mosque, the number of Muslim in Japan will surely increasing. The Hiroshima Masjid surely can be so beneficial especially in handling a lot of purposes for the Muslims.

Rayuan Tabung Projek Masjid Hiroshima.

Extend Your Hands Help To Build The 1st Masjid In Hiroshima.

Please Donate For Hiroshima Masjid.

So here I would to encourage dear friends to help donate for Hiroshima Masjid. Boleh derma seikhlas hati. Kalau tiada peruntukan, you can also help spread the words :) You can refer their FB page to refer and email the persons in charged to get more details. There are many Msians in Hiroshima too and if you have friend over there, you might ask if you want to be assured. If you browse the pictures in the FB page, you will find a picture of bank account statements with the name of Hiroshima Masjid. That’s enough for me as proof :)

Perhaps if the Hiroshima Masjid project could be realized, InsyaAllah that would be a victory to us Muslim too :)

Spending The Holiday In Sungai Petani And Langkawi!

This is a scheduled entry. As you read this, I might already be on my way back to Langkawi. We are planning to go out early in the morning heading towards the north by car. We will stop once we reach my parents house in Sungai Petani. Then only we will straight continue our journey the Kuala Kedah jetty by car and take a ferry ride from there. Hubby’s kaisya Deepavali holiday schedule is a bit longer so he will start holidaying from Sunday to Thursday. So we decided to take this chance to go balik kampung as one family. Actually the original plan was my parents were planning to come back here in Semenyih spending their holidays with Ihsan from Sunday to next Saturday. However as informed by my mother, my grandfather on my father’s side in Langkawi is not so healthy lately. He’s getting very old.

The first time hubby met my grandfather was in 2005 during our wedding solemnization and next was right after that in Langkawi when we had our honeymoon there. Since then, hubby never got chance to go visit my grandparents anymore. So it has been 6 years in total they haven’t met each other. Only Ihsan and I went back to Langkawi during early of this year with my parents. Anyway at first we thought of spending our holiday in Semenyih and we already have a few plans to get settle with. Considering of my grandfather’s condition and coincidentally hubby’s schedule is already at the right time so suddenly hubby thought this is the best chance for him to go back Langkawi. So we immediately discussed with my parents and they agreed to change plan. Hopefully our journey tomorrow is going to be smooth and safe, InsyaAllah.

We are going to stay in Langkawi for 2 nights. Then on Tuesday we will be heading back to Sungai Petani and spend a night there before finally going back to Semenyih on Wednesday. So hubby could have a rest on Thursday before he starts working again on Friday and Saturday. So, seems like a few plans need to be postponed again. But it’s okay. It’s an obligation too visiting our grandparents. Furthermore we didn’t get to do that already in a long time due to time and distant constraints before this. I don’t have specific plan on what to do in Langkawi. But I just hope we could go take a walk around the village, along the beach, buy lots of chocolates, eat delicious foods etc. Owh not forgetting to take out my DSLR too and take many beautiful pictures. Dah lama tak ambil gambar sebab takde mood. Kalau kat Nihon dulu semua benda nak ambil gambar.

Below are the pictures I took during my last visit to Langkawi earlier this year March.

The view at the Kuala Kedah Jetty.

 

Sunset view.

The fishing boats.

My Tokwan’s house.

 

My grandparents kampung is at Pantai Pasir Hitam. Although this is going to be quite a short trip and going to look like quite tiring and rushing, I still hope we could spend a quality time together. This is going to be cum the first trip to us since last 3 months when we first reached Msia. I hope this could be an escapade for us to release stress too. Wish us a safe journey to and fro! And yeah… Happy Deepavali to all Hindus in Msia especially :)

Groceries Shopping With Ihsan At Tesco

Hubby just went to work. He felt that he’s lack of rest so he decided to go to the kaisya a bit late today. Anyway yesterday I went to the Tesco alone with Ihsan. At first I was so nervous since it had been more than a week I last drove my car. Anyway, I’m still in the process of practising my driving skill. I got my car license in 2001. I only drove less than 10 times right after that and that were only in my house compound and once halfway to my hostel in University Malaya. That was it. The reasons why I didn't drive is because I was confused adapting with automatic transmission control after being so used with manual transmission during the car driving class. So looked so reckless and lousy while driving and I got scolded by my parents. I got fed up so fast that I swore to my mother I never care to drive ever again! hihi :P

So right after me when my brother got his car license, he was given my mother’s old Kancil. Which of course I would get it if I could drive :P In fact he was the one who had been my driver to send me to and fro until sometimes he got fed up. Yet, he took it as his obligation and in fact until now he always volunteer being the driver especially for my parents. He’s crazy about car. I always say that he finishes most of his times driving on the road. It’s normal that when I called him in the morning he’s in Malacca, in Semenyih in the afternoon and suddenly already in Sungai Petani in the evening. Again, so soon he’s already in Kuantan on the tomorrow of the day! Macam biskut kan? :P Anyway, after graduating I followed hubby to Japan. So of course I didn’t drive at all while living for few years in Japan. In total, it has been 10 years since I last drove. I even forgot which pedal is break and which one is accelerator!

However as years goes by, I always thought I could adapt myself in the driver’s seat through observation when others are driving. I also feeling salute looking at Japanese woman because they always drive very big MPV etc. Not a common sight in Msia. That’s why after I got my car recently, I didn’t find it hard to drive. But of course I’m still lack of confidence and has a lot of improvements to do. Alhamdulillah I’m getting used to it. I started practising with hubby and my mother. Although they are still scared when I’m driving :P But only very recently I brave myself to drive alone with Ihsan. We just went around the neighbourhood and tried new roads, went to buy kuih at the stall and yesterday to the Tesco to buy groceries. Because we went back to Subang previous weekend so we didn’t stock up our refrigerator. Alhamdulillah we made it safe and sound smoothly to and fro.

At first of course I was so nervous. I think I was more nervous about handling Ihsan alone. I kept imagining I have to just leave my trolley or put back all the stuffs before being able to pay because Ihsan is already screaming on top of his lung. That was my worst fear. But Alhamdulillah that didn’t happen. In fact Ihsan was being such a dear. I kept reminding myself the key is to be calm. I recited doa many times before starting to drive. Earlier before that I kept telling Ihsan that we were going out later so he has to behave. I described to him what was going to happen and what I expected from him in detail. He was also in good mood, got enough sleep and breakfast. I also brought his milk ready to drink in straw cup.

Once reached there, we headed to the toys department. I grabbed 2 books for him that I think very educative and interesting. Most important of all I didn’t forget to get him a set of number pieces. He’s so into numbers nowadays. So I managed to do my shopping in piece and at the same time listening to him reading all the numbers again and again. When we nearly to finish getting our things he started to feel boring and sleepy. So I handed him a bottle of chocolate so that he could play with by shaking it. Finally right before paying, I went back to the toy department and put back the toy. We always do this every time going shopping with him. Only then we preceded to the cashier counter.  Few minutes after that we were already at home!

Overall, we took about an hour doing our shopping together. I’m so proud of my achievement. I know I sound so lame but let me! ;P Living in Msia isn’t the same as in Japan. It’s tough to run live if we can’t drive or don’t have a private transport in Msia. Still… I miss Japan because it’s very convenient to move from place to place. Very efficient, fast, safe and less hassle!