Start Reading Now!

It has been a tiring day for me. This morning, my friend came over and together we went to visit our ex colleague. We were joined by another ex college at the house. He 58 years old and recently suffered from a rupture colon as a result of the tumors in the colon. I have not met him for over 10 years and he could not recognised me due to my long hair. My friend said, "hey your ex finance boss, you cannot remember?"

I found that he has been quite stubborn prior to the episode. For about two months, he has been experience pain and his stools has been blackish. But he did nothing. Then one day in the middle of the night, he was groaning in pain and fainted. His wife with the help of the neighbor sent him to the nearest Government hospital. After taking a scan, they found out the his colon has ruptured and the hospital doctor said the tumor mass is rather big and it would be difficult to operate on him. The doctor suggested chemotherapy first. He then did his first cycle of chemotherapy but he was so weak, he could not complete his first cycle of chemotherapy. The wife then decided to transfer him to a private hospital, apparently the doctor there is a very known colorectal surgeon. Subsequently he was operated on and the tumors removed. But his condition was not very stable and was transferred to intensive care. Much later his condition improved. The hospital bill was slightly above RM100K (US$32K), with RM60K of the funds coming from health insurance and the balance through the sale of his car. The wife then decided that her husband would not be doing chemotherapy. The cancer has spread to his lymph nodes.

Then many well wishers came and they were recommended to do this and that. They shortlisted two therapies, one a Wellness therapy and the other Dr Chris Teo's TCM herbs. However, the Wellness therapist (holds a master degree in nutrition) told the wife, Dr Chris Teo uses rat medicine (directly translated from the term she used in Chinese). I think it's very unprofessional for an alternative therapist to comment about other people's herbs when she got no idea what it is or deliberately (I think in this case) to frighten them. The rat medicine is actually Rodent Tuber, a local herb I wrote about sometime ago.  Of course, they selected the Wellness therapy and was recommended to take a basket of supplements and a generic German made Hulda zapper (non programmable). She came over for two days and the bill was RM7K (US$2.2K). I did have a look at the supplements and some of them are without labels. The Wellness therapist probably bought in bulk and then repack into smaller bottles. Meanwhile the wife has been giving him Sabah Snake Grass, 100 leaves a day. The wife disclosed that every time he takes the supplements, he will vomit. He has been asked to used the zapper twice a day but he and his wife got no idea what the zapper does. Perhaps, it's a case of therapist knows best. Best part is the after sales service is almost non existent. There is no follow-up on the patient by the Wellness therapist, etc. What surprised me was the there were no recommendations on the diet the patient should take.

Anyway, I did give her some dietary suggestions that her husband can take. I also suggested if the supplements is giving him vomiting problems, then he should stop taking it too. I told my ex colleague that the time for crying is over (wife said he is crying a lot). It is not that he cannot cry or feel his emotions but the self pity feeling must stop. Now it's the time to heal himself and for that, he must stay strong and remain positive. I gave him a pep talk before I left. The wife and the other friend asked me if I was a Christian and I said no. They say I talk like a Christian, like the Father in her church. I have seen how some Christians talk and I just copied their lines. Since, my friend is a Christian, so I do my best to motivate him.