Treasure When It Counts

A number of my friends and also my siblings have asked me how I am progressing? I don't have a straight answer because I really don't know what's going on in my lung area. I think the tumor in my right kidney is behaving rather well. On the other hand, my chest areas do feel congested at times and like this morning, my phlegm contains more fresh blood than usual. Almost every night, just when I am lying down to sleep, I noticed that my heartbeat is also a bit irregular. Other than occasionally coughing, my lungs seems pretty normal, at least that's how I feel.

I must confess that after about 18 months on the Gerson diet, I am finding it difficult to sustain the diet (i.e. lunch and dinner). I have tried a few different ways of eating or preparing the food but after a while, it gets kind of boring. So far, I have no complaints about eating porridge. What am I going to do? Still, I just try my best to eat my food.

The other day, I was talking to a friend about eulogy and it seems, many people like to say good words or how good or great that person was. She said, why don't people tell it when he/she was alive, wouldn't that be even better? I remember when I was young, my neighbor used to tell me at funerals that we should treat our loves ones well when they are alive rather than when they are dead. All those Chinese funeral ceremonies and however grand the funeral service is, is just a show of face. Do I sound bitter about this?

I used to be part of a Buddhist funeral support group where we would visit the deceased's house for wake and would then chant some Buddhist prayers. I often find such Buddhist ceremony simple and not so wasteful. Oh, don't get me wrong, I am not thinking about death or anything even near it. It's just that I have received another notification to attend another Buddhist funeral chanting today and I am using the message to do some reflecting.

Colors Of Awareness

Some of my friends have asked me why I change my blog color from pink to black? When I first started my blog, I was not fully aware of all the full colors of ribbons and what they meant. I know that pink ribbon represents breast cancer and was not sure what color represents kidney cancer. So I chose pink color for my blog, although my favorite color is blue.

Before I chose black color, I tried various other colors in design mode to see the effect on the blog. I found out with black color, it is much easier to read. Just like a blackboard, the page is completely black and only the contents are in white or other light colors. This, I believe made it easier to read and not so tiring for the eyes. No other meanings.

Awareness Ribbon Colors and Meanings

Some of the major ribbons colors are:

Pink Ribbon :
Meaning: Most commonly associated with breast cancer awareness, this ribbon is also a symbol for birth parents, and childhood cancer awareness (alternative color: light blue).

Yellow Ribbon :
Meaning: We've all seen this symbol used to support our troops, but it is also a symbol for MIA/POW, suicide prevention, adoptive parents, amber alerts, bladder cancer, spina bifida, endometriosis, and a general symbol for hope. A yellow ribbon with a heart is used to represent the survivors left behind after a suicide.

Red Ribbon :
Meaning: Most commonly associated with the fight against AIDS and HIV, this ribbon also is a symbol for heart disease, stroke, substance abuse, MADD, DARE, Epidermolysis Bullosa, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.

Burgundy Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of brain aneurysm, Cesarean section (worn upside down), headaches, hemangioma, vascular malformation, hospice care, multiple myeloma, William's syndrome, Thrombophilia, Antiphospholid Antibody Syndrome, and adults with disabilities.

Purple Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of pancreatic cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid cancer, domestic violence, ADD, alzheimer's, religious tolerance, animal abuse, the victims of 9/11 including the police and firefighters, Crohn's disease and colitis, cystic fibrosis, lupus, leimyosarcoma, and fibromyalgia.

Lavender Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol for general cancer awareness. It can also be a symbol for epilepsy, and rett syndrome.

Periwinkle Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of eating disorders and pulmonary hypertension.

Blue Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of drunk driving, child abuse, Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), the victims of hurricane Katrina, dystonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), alopecia, Education, Epstein-Barr Virus, Save the Music, colon cancer (alternative ribbon color: brown), colorectal cancer (alternative ribbon color: brown), and anti-tobacco - particularly anti-second hand smoke (in Canada; alternative ribbon color: brown), I Love Clean Air/ILCA Campaign (Japan).

Green Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of childhood depression, missing children, open records for adoptees, environmental concerns, kidney cancer, tissue/organ donation, homeopathy, and worker and driving safety.

Orange Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of leukemia, hunger, cultural diversity, humane treatment of animals, and self-injury awareness.

White Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of innocence, victims of terrorism, violence against women, peace, right to life, bone cancer, adoptees, and retinal blastoma.

Black Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of mourning, melanoma, and gang prevention.

Brown Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is an anti-tobacco symbol as well as a symbol of colon cancer (alternative ribbon color: blue), colorectal cancer (alternative ribbon color: blue).

Grey Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol of diabetes, asthma, and brain cancer.

Silver Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol for children with disabilities, Parkinson's disease, and mental illnesses such as severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders.

Gold Ribbon :
Meaning: This color is a symbol for childhood cancer.

Jigsaw Puzzle Ribbon:
Meaning: This style of ribbon is a symbol for autism.

Source: www.trinitylondon.com

So Far So Good

For the past two days, I have been getting a little feverish, I am not sure if this was a result of the low dose naltrexone (LDN) medication or from the Noni and Goji juices that I have been drinking daily. i believe it is a healing reaction and I welcome it. Yesterday, I was feeling a little tired in the afternoon and while I was laying down to take my afternoon nap, I noticed a little pain around my abdomen and ribs area.

Presently, my body feels quite good and most times I am experiencing minimal pain. Except for occasionally pain around my chest/back areas and the coughing (with blood stained phlegm), I don't think I have much to complain. My energy levels are moderate and I don't have problems climbing two flight of stairs.

India Pilgrimage Trip Update
So far, 5 of my friends have confirmed participation with three more under consideration. Unfortunately, I can only accommodate 8 people (including myself), so I will have to turn down a friend who was unable to confirm earlier because he is joining a new company and not sure if the new company would approve his long leave.

Planning for a backpacking pilgrimage trip in India is not so straight forward. I depend exclusively on trains to move between towns because it just too long to travel by roads. Trains are not only more comfortable and safer, they are much faster than traveling on the roads. However, some express trains services are not available everyday of the week. So what I have to do is to make my travel plan fit with the train schedule. That is easier said than done. So far, I have one leg of the journey (247km from Bodhgaya to Varanasi) which I have yet to find a train that will fit in on that particular day and time of travel. So the alternative is to travel by taxi/jeep. In another leg of the journey (629km from Gorakhpur to Agra), we will be spending 17 hours on the train!

Preliminary Itinerary
Day 1 - KLIA - New Delhi. In the evening, travel by train to Gaya, overnight on train.
Day 2/3 - From Gaya to Bodhgaya by taxi. Two nights stay at Bodhgaya.
Day 4 - Bodhgaya to Varanasi, by taxi. Overnight at Varanasi
Day 5 - Varanasi to Sarnath by jeep. Depart for Gorakhpur in the evening, overnight on train.
Day 6/7 - Gorakhpur to Lumbini by taxi. Two nights stay in Lumbini, Nepal.
Day 8 - Lumbini to Kushinagar by taxi, overnight at Kushinagar. Leave for Gorakhpur next morning.
Day 9 - Gorakhpur to Agra by train, overnight on train
Day 10 - Agra to New Delhi by train in the evening. Overnight in New Delhi
Day 11 - Full day in New Delhi, leave for home at 10.30pm.

Anyway, the travel itinerary is a first cut and I will have to possibly make some changes as the time nears. This preliminary is to enable the participants to have a rough idea about the pilgrimage and what to expect. Once the itinerary has been firmed, I will post it up with details and share with you. Hopefully, some Buddhists out there will be motivated to take the journey as well.

I Wanna Break Free!

I hope you like the new template design of this blog. After about 18 months, I think it's time to make over, a new design.

Well some of you may be thinking, what's the point of all these template changes when I myself have not changed! I know I have started to make changes in my life, the way I do things, the way I think, the way I handle relationships, in fact a total make over of what I am. I just hope to lead a happier life, nothing phenomenal.

Old habits die hard and to change myself is one of the most difficult things to do. I find my old thinking that is ingrained in me is the major stumbling block. Dismantling it takes time. As Confucius said a journey of thousand miles begins with the first step, so too I must begin somewhere. Perhaps, slowly and surely I hope to be able to transform myself.

Color: Meaning, Symbolism and Psychology
Meaning of the Color Black
Black is authoritative and powerful; because black can evoke strong emotions too much can be overwhelming. A classic color for clothing possibly because it makes the wearer appear thinner and more sophisticated.

How the color black affects us physically and mentally
* feeling inconspicuous
* a restful emptiness
* mysterious evoking a sense of potential and possibility.

Buah Merah (Red Fruit)

Oh, not another fruit. Yes and why not? A friend introduced this Buah Merah (in Indonesian and Malay) or red fruit in English to me yesterday. The size of the fruit is around 100cm in length and 18cm in diameter. The fruit is found mainly on the province of Papua, Indonesia.

I have omitted the testimonials of people taking this red fruit oil extract. I do believe this oil extract does deserve another look.

Nutritional Content of Buah Merah
Beta Carotene
Natural substance which can treat cancer, overcoming anti stroke and coroner heart. Beta Carotene slows down artery spots blockage, so that blood can flow to hearth and brain smoothly and it can interact with protein doubling antibody.

Toco Pherol
Functioning as an anti aging agent, secondary antioxidant, increasing body immune system, preventing free radical damage, high content of vitamin E. Toco Pherol is good to attack cancer, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, degrading cholesterol of virulent LDL and improve HDL.

Beta Carotene and Toco Pherol are the main compound to overcome anti stroke and coronary heart attack. Beta Carotene moves the fleck accumulation of artery. It can protect the blood circulation to the heart and brain. Toco Pherol could decrease bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase HDL. Carotenoids such as α-Carotene, β-Carotene and β-Cryptoxanthin have the added advantage of being able to convert to Vitamin A and its related role in disease prevention.

Amino acid:
- Oleate acid, group of Omega 9 which can protect the body by controlling LDL and HDL.
- Linoleic acid, group of Omega 6 can prevent tumor growth.
- Linoleate acid, group of Omega 3 which can prevent blood coagulation and high blood pressure.

The fruit which contains of high dozes of Omega 3 and Omega 9 is not saturated fatty acids, can be digested easily and absorbed, also aids in the metabolism. In hepatitis cases, liver could regenerate the broken liver cells faster.

Scientific Researches
Discovered by Dr I. Made Budi when he assumed his academic teaching assignment at the University of Cendrawasih in Jayapura, Indonesia where he carried out an extensive research on the nutritional values and medicinal benefits on the fruit. He help commercialised the fruit.

Professor Elin Yulinah Sykandar from the Pharmacy Department FMIPA of Institute Technology Bandung, Indonesia investigated the anti-inflammatory properties of Buah Merah. In an experiment, she administered the fruit oil with a dosage of 0.9 ml/kg and 1.8 ml/kg of body weight respectively on Wistar female rats which had undergone inflammation induction. Results had shown that Buah Merah oil revealed inflammatory inhibition activities with performance as high as 97%.

In 2006, Professor Abdul Mun’im from the Department of Pharmacy Faculty MIPA, University Indonesia carried research to determine the carcinogenesis inhibition effect of Buah Merah oil by examining the effect on 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthrasene (DMBA) induced lung cancer model in female Sprague-Dawley rats. The results showed that Buah Merah oil improved lung carcinogenesis inhibition.

In a research paper published in 2008 by Dr Toshiaki Nishigaki of School of Medicine, Shinshu University, Japan where he conduct a series of systematic investigation to prove the magnificent medicinal properties of Buah Merah in 2006. Dr Nashigaki who heads M&K Laboratories Inc. was the first to identify the presence of beta-cryptoxanthin in Buah Merah oil extract. Beta-cryptoxanthin is a key carotenoid which plays an important role as a probable chemopreventive agent against lung cancers, especially associated with smoking. Dr Nishigaki carried out an in vitro studies to demonstrate the capacity of Buah Merah oil extract to prohibit the growth of human cancer cell line A549 with Buah Merah oil extract dosage of 500mg.

Doing A Second

I wonder if I should lower my dose of low dose naltrexone (LDN). So far, I am taking 4.5mg daily. Sleeping has been a issue and I wonder if I reduce the dosage to say 3.5mg, would things would improve or not? I will do some further researching on it before making the change.

Pilgrimage To India
India, here I come again! I have secured the AirAsia Massive Sale air tickets for the pilgrimage trip to India at a very good fare in November 2011. All in, it just RM571 (US$187) return via New Delhi.

Going for pilgrimage whether for the first or subsequent time does not make me more holy. It's just that I derived a lot of spiritual fulfillment during the journey and it also allows me to strengthen my faith. A few of my friends that will be accompanying me are first timers and I hope their experience will be equally enriching. I am also excited to take my friends along the same path that Buddha walked over 2,600 years ago.

My family and some of my friends wonder if I should travel again. Well, I look at it this way. If my health deteriorates, then the more I should travel. But on the other hand, if my health improves, then traveling will not pose any problems. Either way, I travel.

This is one of the changes I made in my life. Just do the things I want to do. Why worry so much?

Goji Berry

I have been drinking Goji juice for a few days now. Compared to Noni juice, Goji juice is much sweeter and I think contains more alcohol content. Initially after drinking the juice, I feel a little giddy, much like when you are a little high on liquor.



I spoke to a friend and later found out the Goji berry is actually gei zi in Cantonese (Mandarin: 枸杞; pinyin: gǒuqǐ). Dried Goji berries are used extensively in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I have been eating dried Goji berries all my life because my mother uses it as one of the ingredients in soups. No wonder it's so sweet. I could not recognised a Goji berry because what I always see is the dried version used in TCM and in soup making.

According to www.methodsofhealing.com, the health benefits of goji juice and goji berries are numerous. Because of the antioxidants that the fruit naturally has, it gives a huge boost to the immune system and helps the body to fight off disease. It can also prevent premature aging on the inside and outside of the body. Many people use the juice or the berry to bring the blood pressure back into a normal range. Research has shown that this beneficial berry can also decrease your risk of many different types of cancer and keep your blood sugar regulated to help combat diabetes.

All research shows that goji also is beneficial for the heart and eye sight, and that it can even help in the treatment of chronic headaches. If you have trouble sleeping, goji may be beneficial to you as well, as it does help to alleviate insomnia.

Additionally, goji juice and goji berries can help improve your sex life, make you more fertile, help you to lose weight or maintain weight, help to get rid of coughs, and improve digestion. Some research shows that goji is also beneficial for the memory.

LDN
I am still having a lot of problems falling asleep because of the low dose naltrexone (LDN). I take my dose at 11pm nightly and after that, my mind is quite alert. As a result, I am sleeping much later and hence waking up later and later as well.