It Is All Allah's Will (Updated 30th April 2008 The Final Updte)

My daughters condition took a turn for theworse yesterday when she started bleeding heavily. The earlier premise that the cancer had subsided when the doctors doing the staging saw it fit to remark that the tumour was almost normal. That gave us some false hope that the cancer was responding to the alternative medication that my daughter was religiously taking.

The bleeding was detected around Isyak and without further ado we made preparation for her to go to the hospital. Professor Dr. Nik Mohamad Zaki, the doctor who will lead the team of sugeons operating on my daughter had told Azura that she must go to the hospital immediately if she bleeds after being discharged from the hospital.

While on the way, she called Dr, Nik Mohamad Zaki to ask for his opinion and was immediately told to go to HUSM. By the time we reached there it was almost midnight. At the emergency registration we saw so many other cases that made us feel lucky not to be aflicted with their kind of ailment. An old man came in with breathing problem due to an attack of athma, another young lady was wheeled in a stretcher with shallow breathing which the father said happens everytime she was stressed. The father and her was operating a restaurant. Another young slightly plump boy had a metal ring stuck on his ring finger. He must have wanted to wear a ring so much that he slipped on his finger a steel bicycle nut that went in but the swollen finger refused to let it out. The constriction on the blood vessels by the ring was starving the tissues beyond the ring of much needed oxygen swelling it up.

At that graveyard shift, I wonder how the doctors and supporting staff can keep their eyes open and their mental faculty working. I really salute them.

Since the bleeding itself wasnt life threatening, they took care of those who needs attention earliest. By the time my daughter's was seen by the young lady doctor it was already past 1 am. later she was admitted to the ward to be observed until the next day when the senior gynaecologist will have a look at her.

The next morning she called home that she had been examined and it was confirmed that the bleeding wa from the tumour. That alone dispelled any notion that we had that the bleeding could come from her period though it was definitely unlikely as she had just given birth only a month ago and had been breast feeding the baby.

We rushed over to the hospital to see her being given blood transfusion to replace the lost blood due to the bleeding. This time she couldnt have the comfort of the executive ward due to the need for constant supervision by the burses and the doctors. My wife and me left for home to get some equipments that Azura need badly that is the breast pump. Not feeding the baby from the mothers milk was making her endure a certain amount of discomfort and even pain.

Another phone call from her was really discomforting. She was feeling that her eyeballs were bulging out after the blood transfusion was done. Her body seems to be rejecting the blood!

By the time we reached the hospital the transfusion was stopped and she was put on drip instead. She had felt better pertsining to the swelling of the eye balls and her bleeding had reduced substantially.

While I was with Azura at the ward I received a SMS from Mazlan aka Gurindam Jiwa. He told me he was around HUSM at that time. I replied telling him of my location at the Baiduri Ward and he said he will come down after visiting Kak Dah who was warded at Wad 3 Utara in the old block. Kak Dah was the very reason for his being in HUSM that day. Read more of his postings about Kak Dah here, here and here.

Thanks to modern technology, the handphone helped us to locate and identify each other and we soon met at the entrance to my daughter's ward. Mazlan came with Fadli Che Lah the Personal Assitant to YB Tuan Haji Che Lah bin Mat Nawi. During the coverage of the 12 GE, Mazlan had requested that I provide some news about his friend Tuan Haji Che Lah as well as it was his close friend. I couldn't commit to that request despite the fact that Datuk Kamarudding Jaffar was an old classmate during the primary school days in Pasir Mas and covering both of them would be a great service to old friends. Though my coverage may not win them votes, it will somewhat stave the craving for news by their close friends who are not fortunate enough to be at site.
Mazlan came over to Azura's hospital bed and he told Azura about the seriousness of Kak Dah's case. The cancer recurred even after her doing mastectomy to both breasts after an attack of breast cancer.
Mazlan had other things to do and soon we had to part. We hugged as if we were two lost brothers. Now I am waiting for him to send me the pictures of the two of us at HUSM so that I can post it on this post. Mazlan, when you this post dont forget to email me the pictures.
It is all Allah's will that my daughter had to suffer this dreadful disease called cancer. We are not asking why must it be her. It is all fated. He wants to test us.
It is Allah's will that Mazlan and me got to meet today at HUSM despite my daughter had been discharged from her first stint at the wards. He wants us to meet and establish further the silaturrahim that we started on the net.

Mazlan aka Gurindam Jiwa after visiting my daughter at HUSM

28th April 2008

Azura was bleeding heavily. When the doctor on duty was notified, they immediately called the doctor on call to examine her. The bleeding seems to come from the point where they took the tissue sample for the second biopsis.

A decision was made to suture up the gap as it wasn't healing up. Azura went into the operating theatre at 3.30 PM and came out around 7.00 PM looking very pale with very low blood pressure due to heavy loss of blood. I told Azura that the brothers are on standby to donate their blood because the siblings blood is the most compatible and thus overcome the problem of rejection. Though I would readily donate my own blood, mine is useless due to my acute case of hypertension.

For the first time I saw tears welled up in Azura's eyes.

29th April 2008

Early this morning Azura's husband came back from Ipoh. After a short rest he proceeded to HUSM so that my wife Fatthiyah could return home to go to work at her school.

The point that they took the sample was where the bleeding came from. The bleeding seemed to have stopped after being sutured up in yesterdays operation in the operating theatre. Only two stiches was needed but the two hours they took to do it shows how difficult it was.

Today they gave her 2 pints of blood to replenish those lost through the heavy bleeding. There seems to be no more reaction like the first time. The pale look is gone from Azura's face and it now radiates more glow. Doc TA will be happy to hear that. It seems they have a way of preventing the rejection of transfused blood. Alhamdulillah I am happy too as when the actual op is done, Azura will need alot more blood to be replaced. It will not be good if rejection occurs.

Dr. Nik Mohd Zaki came to see Azura and Jo her husband. Lying in the next bed to Azura is the teeager who had undergone 2 operations previously. Between the two of then Dr. Nik Zaki spent 3 hrs there. Result day to reconfirm the Ca will be on 12th May 2008. Since Dr. Nik Zaki will be sending his daughter for matriculation studies somewhere around the 12th and he needs a few days to settle his personal matters. A small sacrifice on our part as we want him to be completely free of problem for him to work on Azura. A marathon 8 hrs operation is not something to be done when your mind is elsewhere.

The hospital's blood bank seems to have ample stock but will definitely welcome any blood donors to replenish their stock. My two sons will definitely be donating as they are regular donors.

30th April 2008

Azura called me to say that she will be discharged today and asked me to be at the hospital by 11.00 AM. Since the medical bill wont be much she prefered to pay the bill instead of waiting for the guaranttee letter from her employer which may take time.

I left the house early with her younger daughter Nur Farhana. On the way I stopped at Rozaimi Optometrist to change the lens of my bifocal which wasn't giving me much help for reading since the reading lens was rated at 175 when I first did it some ten years ago. Now I am so used to using the one with the power of 250. A short test confirmed this fact that I should be using the higher power. I bought another reading glasses to use before the new lens is ready on Saturday. The new lens and the reading galsses cost me some RM100.00.

Suddenly I remembered that I didn't feed any coins into the parking meter nor use the card to pay for the parking. I have a card with a stored value of RM30.00 in my wallet. On rushing out, I saw the red coloured piece of notice that I now will have to pay RM10 if the payment is effected within 14 days. Only last week I settled a similar compound when I fell asleep at the dental clinic while waiting for my turn and the 38 minutes on the meter was spent sleeping instead of being treated. The nurse at the clinic didn't want to disturb me from my sleep as they must have thought that this old man must be too tired to have fallen asleep under such a condition.

When I reached USM, I wanted to withdraw some money at the ATM. The Maybank ATM was out of order and there was a long queue at the Bank Islam's ATM. Then I decided to get the appraisal done first to find out how much the bill for the 3 days hospital stint for Azura. With only RM45.00 left in the wallet I was short of money and tried to pay via credit card whose stickers was clearly displayed on the window pane. Ah they will accept credit cards only if the payment exceeds RM101.00. So I proceeded to see Azura to get some money from her.

It was when I was passing the ward's counter that Dr. Najib asked me I knew that Dr. Hasanah went to see Azura. Since I have never met Dr. Hasanah, I didn't recognize her when we passed each other earlier. What a way to meet a new friend whom you have already known each other via the blogs for sometimes already.

Dr. Hasanah gave some encouraging words to Azura. Later she walked with us down to the ground floor. She showed me the herbal plants known locally as the 'lidah jin' at the hospital's herbal garden which is known to be a very good anti-oxidant. She helped me to take a few branches to plant at my house. The leaves can be blended with green apples and then the filtrate can be consumed to bring an overall wellbeing to aging or cancer suffering people.

Since nothing is expected to happen before the operation day by Professor Dr, Nik Mohd Zaki sometmes after the result day on the 12th of May 2008, this will be the last update on this blog.

Thank you all of you my good friends.

Ear Piercing On Babies

Remember the bundle of joy I used to blog about before? Should you need to recap, read them here and here.

Nur Aqilah Balkis came back from Labuan to stay with us some 4 months ago. The mother who resides in Labuan with husband Mohd Lokman was enrolled to do Kursus Perguruan Lepasan Ijazah (KPLI) in Keningau Sabah. The course was a one year course and to our joy they have decided to let Balkis stay with us for the duration of the course. Balkis will be taken home to Labuan the minute the mother completes the course.

So now if you ask me what I am doing while in retirement, my answer is playing nanny to my grand daughter Balkis.

Meanwhile the mother or the father will comeback to Pasir Mas whenever opportunities arise like the school holidays for the mother or attending a course somewhere in Peninsular Malaysia for the mechanical engineer father. Anyway the mother is a qualified mechanical engineer too but prefers to work as a teacher. She chose to teach mathematics since it is her favourite subject. Otherwise their only chance to see Balkis is the webcam. Thanks to the internet savvy grandfather, their longing for Balkis is greatly subdued.

Actually it was Yani my daughter inlaw who started it all. She had her daughters Ayen and Syakirah's ears pierced earlier. The younger Syakirah is just a few days older than 8 months old Balkis. Since the ear piercing heals faster on younger babies, she decided to do it earlier. Yani's earlier visit to a chinese goldsmith in Pasir Mas was a failure as the workers there didn't have the heart to do it on babies. It was by chance that Yani stopped at another Malay goldsmith shop in Pasir Mas and the lady owner had experiences doing it in babies.

The operation was done in a jiffy and Syakirah only cried abit. A few days later Yani called from her home at Enstek Labu telling us that Syakirah's ears had healed in a matter of days without even the application of any medication.

So off we went to the goldsmith shop in Pasir Mas to have Balkis' ears pierced. We were hoping for the lady goldsmith to apply some form of local anasthesia like the spray kind used by dentist to prevent pain before the injection of nitrous oxide. Or at least she will apply some form of sterilizing liquid at the spot to be pierced. Nothing of the sort. After marking the spot to be pierced, the lady shop owner just did the peircing ear by ear with Balkis crying out half heartedly. The piercing was done and in the pierced spot on the ear lobes. a pair of pretty ear pieces were left in place all at a cost of RM10.00. A dab of minyak gamat ensured the quick healing of the pierced lobes.

Just a small cry after each piercing.

Not even a drop of blood was shed.

Now there is no reason for people to ask whether balkis is a boy or a girl anymore..

She is a girl

D Day (Final Update)

Azura posing with her family after the staging test. She was recuperating in the ward at HUSM

11.15 AM 15th April 08
Today is D Day. Azura has an appointment at 2.30 PM at the O & G Clinic Hospital University Sains Kubang Kerian Kota Bharu Kelantan. The biopsis result will be out today.We will know for sure whether the tumour is benign or malignant.
Earlier we had a call from the hospital. It was false alarm as the clinic thought that my daughter had an appointment on that day. The result wasn't known then and they didn't want her to go just yet. Azura had no other appointment other than today.
Unfortunately I have to look after the home turf while my wife Fatthiyah is still at school teaching. There are chores that I need to do at home so I can't tag along with her today. Anyway her husband Jo who took a few days leave from work is there to take her and be with her when the result is announced.
I will update this blog when I have the result.
Thank you for all the prayers my friends.

3.55 PM
My daughter is still at the hospital when I called her at 3.25 PM. The result is out. It is confirmed that the tumour is malignant. Its cancer but at an undetermined stage. The hospital will confirm the stage of the cancer on Monday. Until my daughter comes home, that is all the information that I have.
Ya Allah, kami terima penentuan mu. Segalanya adalah atas kehendak mu. Berikanlah anak hamba dan keluarga hamba kekuatan untuk menempuh dugaan mu. Kami akan berjuang untuk mengatasi dugaan ini.

16th April
After I have posted the result on my blogsite, Dr, Dzul (Tokasid) must have been the first few to read it. Doc TA immediately called me giving me encourahement and offered to let me have Raden Galoh's (Dalilah) number to call for support. Since I didnt have the lab report from USM, I informed Dr. Dzul to try and contact Dr. Ahmad Shukri Othman the senior O & G at USM who happened to be Pak Adib's brother in law. Infact Pak Adib had told me to seek Dr. Ahmad Shukri's help should I need it. Pak Adib purposely asked me to mention that I am his friend. I think Dr, Dzul got the report online from them.
Unfortunately at that time Azura's husband Jo was leaving for Ipoh where he has to work the next day (today) and their second daughter 6 yrs old Az was throwing a tantrum. I couldn't call Dalilah but she took the initiative to call me and I passed her call to Azura. It was imperative that Azura hears the word directly from Dalilah's mouth. Dalilah's personal fight with the same disease that attacked her breast is ongoing and her strength in fighting it must be emulated by Azura.
How heartwarming it was for me to have such frineds. I have met Dalilah at Kak Ton's MRT but I have yet to meet Dr. Dzul since I missed the most recent meet though I have promised him that we should meet at the earliest opportunity when he drops down into KL.
Soon after that I received words of encouragemnts from friends like Che'gu Nazir (kata tak nak), Eleena (Acciacatura), Dalilah (Raden Galoh), Kerp (lets wheel) who happened to have my numbers. I would like to apologize to them all for the late response due to time constrain.
The severity of my daughters case can be gleaned by Dr. Dzul's comment below which I am reproducing them here:
Innalillahi wa inna ilahi roji'un.I just read about the histopath result. I am sure everyone is devastated with the result but rest assure, there are ways for the Gynae team to tackle this problem. By Monday when the result is more precise they will tell the plan of action.The possibility is Azura might have to undergo A Radical hysterectomy. This is a delicate and long procedure( 7-8 hours) where the uterus,cervix,ovaries and surrounding lymphnodes will be removed. Most likely will be follow up by chemotherapy. It will be tedious for everyone.Azura and Jo needs to accept the reality of this situation fast.Of course there will be why her? questions asked.Assure her that this is all but an ujian on faith from ALLAH not only to her but to all your family.Tell her to be redha with this ujian.(Maybe you can e-mail or call Raden on how she handles the situation)I have seen a few Ca cervix when I was in the hospital. Most responded very well to the radical treatment. I am sure Azura will be the same.My du'a for Azura.For her to be patient during this ordeal.may ALLAH provide her comfort and iman during this stormy phase of her life.Ameen.
I am lucky to have such friends.

18th April

I made a mistake when I mentioned that Dr. Dzul (Tokasid)had read the biopsis report from HUSM. Actually he didnt have it and just inferred from the information he received from me. My apoogies to Dr. Zul.
Tomorrow 19th April Azura will be warded in HUSM to prepare for the staging test which will be carried on the 21st April. Then only what stage of the cancer will be decided. She will then be under the supervision of Dr. Nik who will lead the team of surgeons to remove the cancerous parts from her.

19th April 2008
Azura was admitted to HUSM to prepare her for the staging test on Monday. The doctor did a check on her tumour and they were surprised to find the tumour had shrunk in size. Above all there was no bleeding at all when they poked at it. There is hope for a less severe treatment waiting for her.
I will update later on the kind of alternative medication that she had consumed which we believe had brought about the reversal in size of the tumour
.
20th April 2008
Talked Azura on the phone today. She told me her tumour had shrunk from 2 inces to 2.5 com x 1.5 cm. My earlier understanding was that the tumour was 2.5 com was way off as it was actually almost 3 inches in diameter.
In the afternoon, we visited Azura at HUSM. She was in cheerful mood. I guess the knowledge that the tumour has reduced in size and change in colour brought instead of growing bigger has brought about this mood.
The Gynae clinic where she was warded earlier was cleared of all patients because it was to be used as an examination place for the students I presume. So the patients were placed in other wards temporarily. She herself was placed in Wad Baiduri. The aircond was not switched on but fortunately the room wasn't really hot. The many windows has definitely helped with the ventilation and kept the temperature down.

21 st April 2008
Allahhuakbar, Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah. Sometimes you tend to believe miracles do happen. Earlier today Dr. Nik Zaki who will perform the tedious operation on Azura visited her Dr.Nik is the surgeon who leads team C to operate on Azura. He is considered by his fellow doctors to be very meticulous in his work. Dr. Nik personally explained to her briefly on the implication of the operation. Later Dr. Hasanah (Has is her call sign as a blogger) came to talk to her.
At approximately 1 PM she was wheeled into the Operating Theatre (OT) where the staging process will be done under semi anasthesized state (dunno if this term is correct) where half of her body will be sedated. She will be fully aware of the process only that she wont be able to see it herself.
Many doctors were inside the OT and she had the cheek to quip why are there so many doctors in the OT. I didn't really remember what was the reply but I presumed her case of reversed progression where the tumour reduced in size from around 3 inches long to 2.5 cm by 1.5 cm call for attention from all the medical fraternity in HUSM.
They were perplexed when they found at that the condition of the tumour was almost normal. This is what I considered as the miracle. Cancer cells dont react that way. The color changed too from the reddish to yellowish. So the positive cancerous diagnosis from the biopsis test was in doubt. They have to take another sample to test. Result will come out in 3 weeks time and only 3 weeks after the result will the operation to remove the tumour can be done.
The operation to remove the tumour will be limited to just the tumour and the immediate areas around it and not the whole reproductive system including the lumph nodes and the ovaries. There is hope that my daughter will continue to be a woman. Please don't ask me to explain what I mean to be a woman.
My friends, Allah must answered our prayers. We had not only muslims praying for my daughter's recovery but we had also people of others faiths doing it beside our own prayers. Thank you Allah and thank you my friends.Your support has willed Azura to be strong and consumed her taking of alternative medication religiously.
She had been taking Jelli Gamat and Lifestyle extra. Though I cant say for sure what helped her, I would consider the combination must have helped her with the will of Allah after the prayers offered by many friends. Dr. Zul (Tokasid) was a shining example of a concerned friend just like everyone else. Elviza's mum woke Elviza up in the middle of the night to pray for Azura. Elviza had only met my daughter twice and already they are like long lost friend. Raden Galoh called to extend her support. Rita Ho called all the way from USA hoping to talk to Azura but unfortunately Azura was in the hospital at that time. I can't mention everyone of you and all I can say is thank you Allah for letting me have you all as my friends.

22nd April 2008.
I received an early call from an unknown number. Who else but Pak Adib
who was inquiring about Azura's condition. Thank you Pak Adib. Whoever gave him my number, I must thank you too. My guess is Pak Idrus.
This will be my last update on this blog. I have found friends who would rally for me and my family to be very touching. To all of you, I am indebted to you.
If you need to know anything else please do not hesitate to email me mohdzawi@gmail.com or call me at 019 9125647 or 09 7903785. If there is anything that I can do to help others in the same predicament, I will do it willingly.
Assalamualaikum to all.

23rd April 2008

It was brought to my attention that there are many silent readers out there who had been praying for my daughters well being. Among them are my son Azuan's friends at Bank Negara KL. To them all, on behalf of Azura and the whole family, I would like to express my utmost gratitude and may Allah repay you for your prayers and show of kindness.

The Bird

I was devastated when I saw the dumbcane plant bent and the shredded nest lying at the base of the plant in the pot. The chick wasn't ready to fly yet and it couldn't have fallen off the nest on it's own. Somebody or something must have happened to it. Was it the work of any of my grand children? Lis (8) and Az (6) love the chick and the birds parent as much as I do. Could it be Irsyad? Could it be his his sister Ayen? Both of them knows the chick was there and I have personally explained to 3 year old Irsyad that we must care and love the chick till it is ready to fly and we will all give the bird a help to fly off. Two and a year old Ayen had lovingly caressed the bird which Irsyad didn't dare touch. No, not anyone of them.

The bent dumbcane plant without the nest.

The nest strewn at the base of the plant.

There were many stray cats or neighbour's cats cat around my house. We didn't keep any pet cat as my wife doesn't like the mess that cat does when it needs to poo or even the foot prints when they came in from the outside of the house when it rained. One of those cats must have pounced on the chick when it was making all those calls to the parents for food.

Wati the maid said she saw the chick on the ground but didn't know that the chick was a special one until we asked her if she had seen any such thing. We looked around the house compound to see if it was still anywhere around. We couldn't find it nor did we find any trace of the bird being cannibalized by anything be it a cat or any other animal of prey.

It definitely couldn't have flown off as the feathers were yet to be fully developed and looking at the frantic calls of the parents we felt something untoward must happenend to the chick. Poor chick and poor parent of the bird. After so much pain and labour they must have felt the lost of a newborn. There doesn't seem to be much difference between them and human parents when it comes to losing precious young ones.

Ever since I saw Pak Idrus of In Passing Malaysian doing a blog on nature featuring the squirrels coming to feed on the fruits left on the balcony of his house in Ampang, I have dreamt of doing the same thing about the birds and the squirrels that make my home their home as well.

As luck would have it, I saw a pair of birds that we local know it as burung kunyit building a nest on the dumbcane plant of my house. The choice of plant itself wasn't a wise decision as the plants are very weak in nature. There are no woody tissue in such a plant and wont be able to last. Another point of contention was the point where the nest was built was on the fronds of the leaf which I doubt could last long enough for the bird to grow up till it was able to fly off. The height of the nest was a mere 3 ft from the ground, too low by any standard. Location wise it wasn't good as it was too close to our main gate and all and sundry would be passing by. The mother when incubating the egg alter will be disturbed and thus the egg may turn rotten. Later on the mother bird will have problems feeding the chick as our presence and constant walking by will make the mother bird fly away thus interupting the feeding of the chick.

The potted dumbcane at the entrance of my house.

The new nest.

I can't blame them because they are mere birds with brain the size of a pea. This was an opportunity that I can never find if I want to do a blog about nature. Nature has presented itself to me at my door.

Several other places has been used by the birds to nest. Even this artificial plant was used. At least it is a far safer place being higher and well sheltered from the weather.

Even this artificial plant on the wall was used to build a nest by the birds.

The old nest.

Another favourite location is this plant which is quite bushy and strong. It is quite exposed to the weather though. There is still sign of an old nest there.

The garden plant the birds used to nest in.

Another old nest in the above plant.

How surprised I was when one day I saw two eggs being laid in the nest. It must have been laid a day each as I doubt any bird could lay two eggs in a day or at one go.At that time there just the three of us in the house, my wife Fatthiyah, me and our 7 months old grand daughter Balkis.

The two eggs laid in the nest.

The bird incubating the egg at night. Only the tail is visible.

When the bird started incubating the eggs, we tried as much as possible not to use the entrance near the bird's nest. Personally I went out of the way to allow it to warm the eggs without interuption unless we can't help it and had to use that very entrance because the car that needed to be used was parked there.

My observation indicated that this pair of bird is a very loyal couple. When one of them is incubating the egg, the other one will be looking for food. I guess the mother did the incubation more.

Silly me as I didn't note with certainty the number of days it took to incubate the egg until they egg was hatched. One of the two eggs did hatch producing a small chick. The bird continue incubating the egg and the hatched chick to keep it warm. I expect the other egg to hatch too but how wrong I was when it didn't. The constant interuptions from us when we passed by must have spoilt the other egg.

What happened was, during the incubation period my eldest daughter came back to deliver her third child. Her other 2 children Lis and Az 8 and 6 yrs old respectively were quite active and noisy when playing around the house. Though I taught them on how to behave when around the nest, as kids of their age, they are often boisterous and thus the incubation process was much interupted. It was lucky that one chick did hatch at all.

A day old chick.

I continue to record the daily progress.

Lis and Az inspecting the chick

The feathers started to grow

Always hungry and wanted to be fed. When the nest is slightly shaken, the chick opened it's mouth wide.The parents came to feed the chick
Feeding the chick





The last picture of the chick before the disturbance. With those feathers, the chick definitely cannot fly off.

My dear friends, I definitely couldnt do much to help the chick. My one desire was to see the chick fly off to continue producing chicks of their own. Could I have done something to help it?

Blogger's Lunch Meet

Time: 1.00 PM SATURDAY 5th APRIL 2008
Place:Kayu Nasi Kandar, Tesco, The Curve. (Event was moved to Asam Pedas)

There will be a lunch meet at the above place. All bloggers are welcomed. If you have to bring your own family along please do so. Please be informed that the place is very quite small and you may have to take turns to eat. Mat Salo will try to get some tables reserved. Those who can be early should go early to hold the tables and let other newer arrival to take over. That way if the attendance from bloggers are big, it wont inconvenience their regular customers.
After all the idea is to meet fellow bloggers right?
Anyway its a sort of welcoming home for Jaquiline Teqjeu (j t)who will be arriving from USA. She is on a long flight from there and will join the group as soon as she could keep her eyes open and freshen up.
The followings have confirmed their attendance:

Mat Salo, Kerp, Tokasid, Akmal, Shah, anuradha, acciacatura, elviza.

Probable attendance Pi Bani, anon miri, kak ena, Pak Idrus and JT (should the flight reach KLIA on time). I will inform YB Wee Choo Keong to attend.
Should we inform YB Dr. Khir Toyo? He is a blogger now and he has the time to attend since he is no more the busy MB and not much protocol is required.
How I wish I am in KL now so that I can join in.Huhuhuhu so sad.
Please try to confirm with Mat Salo on 0122203756 in case there too many attendees and a new site need to be found real fast.

The lunch gathering was considered as a huge success because the initial idea was just a small gathering of a few people. It was all the more meaningful as Nora (anon of miri) and Jaqueline Teqjeu (jt) of USA was in KL. They wanted to welcome them.

The following people attended the gathering:

YB Elizabeth Wong
Pak Idrus
Pokku
Capt Yusof
Jafflam
Marina Mahathir
Galadriel
Stephen Shanghai
kl confidential
a voice
Raden Galoh
Acciacatura
Mat Salo (organizer)
kerp
cakapaje
Elviza
mute audio
Jaquline Teqjeu
Anon of Miri
ricky
Tokasid (co organizer)
Pak Adib
Edelweiss
Aiman (the youngest blogger)
Minnie Ab. Aziz (A blogger with no blog entry yet)

The following bloggers wanted to attend but wasn't able to due to some reasons or other as in bracket.

YB Wee Choo Keong (Prior engagement)
Pi Bani (Prior engagement)
Fauziah Ismail (Prior engagement)
Akmal (Kelek Kelantan)
Pendita (Too faraway)
pb (Pak Zawi wan't in Amanputra Puchong to give her a lift)
Pak Zawi (Helicopter kehabisan minyak)
Zewt (He didn't know of the event)
Zabs (Sukan sekolah anaknya)

To those who were directly involved in the organization of the mini gathering, we wish you syabas (nothing to do with water supply). Lets have more of such gatherings from time to time.
Tell me if I miss anybody. Will rectify later.
Mat Salo will be blogging about the event later.

Shah of Cakapaje has an entry in blogsite here
Shah put in another blog on the gathering with more pictures here.
D Jaff of Jaff Point has posted some pictures. From his posting I found out that they shifted to Asam Pedas due to space constraint at Kayu and better ambience which is more conducive to such an event. See the post here.
Pokku has a take on the event too. Read it here.
More pictures at anon of miri here.
Elviza's take here
Pak Idrus has posted a blog on the meet here

All Is Well For Now

Azura and family celebrating their 8th annivessary with hubby Jo holding their neice Balqis. Daughters Lis and As helping to blow the candles.

There had been SMS, phonecalls and comments from friends asking about Azura's condition. This show of concern is really heart warming for us especially the prayers for her to get well and be sheltered from getting the dreadful disease caused by the big C.

The anxiety of waiting for the lab test result which normally takes 2 weeks to be confirmed is quite hard for us to take. Only consolation is that the mother Azura and the baby son Muhamad Aqil are both doing very well. Lucky thing Azura is able to consume any type of medication be it traditional or modern medicine to hasten the healing not only the internal tissues where the placenta was attached to her body but also the seven layers of skin part that needs to be cut to reach the baby. That was what I was told by Azura as told to her by one of the medical personnel at Hospital Univeriti Sains Malaysia Kubang Kerian. Except for the outer layer of the skin which was taped together to reduce the scarring effects, the internal layers were sutured up. Dont ask me the details of the number of layers needed to be sutured up as I have no knowledge what so ever. Anyway rest assured that, that part of her body is healing up very well and all we are doing now is wait for the lab result which my dear friend Tokasid would like very much to know too.

I am not going to pester the people at O & G clinic HUSM though Pak Adib has given me access to his brother in law Dr. Ahmad Shukri Othman who hailed from my birthplace of Kampong Kangkong, Pasir Mas should I need any help. The people at the clinic are professionals and I trust them to do their job so let them do it at their own pace.

Today I am going to share some of experiences with traditional beliefs of traditional healing that Azura and many patients in Kelantan are fond of doing. We believe that ikan haruan the snake head fish has very high healing properties especially for people who has undergone caesarian operations as a mean of delivering babies.

Haruan fries sold in plastic bag being sold at RM8.00 a packet.

The living fries in a cup ready for swallowing.(Sorry for the blurry image. Yet to buy a new camera)


One of the way to consume this fish is to swallow the live fries. So popular is this form of treatment that there are people going to the maternity wards (post natal) selling them in small plastic bags. The fries are put in clear plastic containers containing clean drinking water. The way to take them is to suck them using straws. Azura could not wait for husband Jo to bring the straw so she just drank them from the cup. A small pack containing several hundred fries cost RM8.00 and we bought 2 packs.
Azura 'drinking' the cup of water with the live haruan fries.

Another way to consume the matured haruan fish is to have them baked in aluminium foil wrapped in mud. We didn't find that so we resorted to buying live haruans at the Pasir Mas market where live haruans are sold everyday. They even helped us to degut the fish, remove the scales and cut them up to size. All we need to do is to wash them before making it into delicious soup which Azura consumed with gusto. Lucky thing Azura didn't take to her parents who dont consume such fishes especially her mum who dont even take the delicious fresh water fishes. Even the heavenly kelah (tor tandroides) couldn't entice her into taking any fresh water fishes.

Muhamad Aqil being given a bath.

Beside ikan haruan, Azura consumes jelly gamat produced by Luxor. There are more expensive brands of course.

So if any of you ever give birth by normal or caesarian way, do try ikan haruan fries or the matured ones. It may not just fill up your stomach but helps heal your wound from delivery of a child as well.

To all friends and well wishers, we thank you for the prayers and support. I will make another posting when the result of the lab test is out whatever the outcome will be.