South of the Ocean

South of the Ocean is a 10-episode documentary directed by Zhou Bing and produced by Tan Sri Dato Sir Tiong Hew King, a Sarawakian tycoon residing in Sibu.  He is the chairman of the Rimbunan Hijau Group.

The documentary was shot over a course of 3 years during which time, the crew traveled extensively to countries in the South-East-Asia region.

A 2-hour version of the documentary was aired over the History Channel recently.  It caught my eye. The original 10-episodes narrated in Chinese was repackaged into a two part documentary narrated in English.

If you are interested to know why and how the Chinese settled in South East Asia, how bakutteh originated, who and how those early pioneers made a living, pop over to the History Channel for a feel of the documentary.

Or watch it on youtube.

Status Report

It's been close to a year since I first discovered the lump in my breast. I've survived both the chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I thought my time was up and gave myself six months. It was a conservative evaluation.  Yet I lived. Everything happened for a reason. What could mine be?

Three other finger nails dislodge itself since my last post.  Was it painful?  Nah ...  I'm wondering if all will fall off before they call it quits. My toenails were mercifully spared.

As for that patch of black skin over my chest, most are gone by now.  The underlying skin is healthy and looking good.  My arm is still numb but not quite as numb as it was. The tingling in my toes and fingertips hadn't dissipated. I wonder if it ever will.

I've lost my appetite and haven't found it since it went missing.  All the food dishes I used to love looked unpalatable now. Since I'm not eating well, the stomach wind came in for a stretch.  I've been poorly since.  How does one beat the bloat anyway?

My hair is short and golden honey.  If I walk in the morning with my two other dogs, no one will be able to tell us apart. Let's see if I can scare up some pictures. Well, there you are! That's Ginger on top and Venus below.  My hair colour is that lighter shade of gold on Venus's chest. I'll probably need to practice barking.

About the fingers. ...

The third fingernail dislodged itself this week.  No.  It wasn't painful. Left behind is a very thin layer of cells which protected the nail bed. (i.e. the skin beneath the nail plate.)  Ninety percent of my finger nails are looking healthy, except for the thumbs. Those looked sick. It'll probably take a couple of months for all my fingernails to revert to what it was.  The tips are still tingly and numb. I was told that this should clear off in six months to a year.

Meanwhile, it's my appetite I'm worried about.  I've lost it!  I've been poorly since.

About the skin ...

When it first rolled away that evening after my last radiotherapy treatment, the affected area was a modest 2 cm in diameter.  The underlying skin was red and weepy with serum.  It looked painful. I'm sure it is.  Thankfully, I felt no pain.  My entire left arm is still numb and will stay numb, I was told, for the rest of my life.

Towards the end of the radiotherapy session, my outer skin was red.  There weren't any pigmentation so I was optimistic. Later, the curvature under the armpit area started to turn black. That's when it rolled away.  One week later, the rest of the treated outer skin turned black.  Right about now, I have a huge patch of black skin on my left chest extending outwards into the armpit area.  It stank. I'm not sure if that's the aqueous cream or the dead skin but it stank.

The original 2 cm (diameter) exposed skin now measured about 2 inches. The skin looked healthy so the healing process must have gone well. Pink spots on the black exterior marked the sporadic patches of exposed skin.  In the weeks to come, more of the black exterior will roll away to reveal a new me.

To celebrate this new me, I've coloured my hair a golden brown and bought myself a pair of inexpensive earrings from Diamond & Platinum.