Prayer Heals

Prayers, lot of prayers, and positive thinking - these have saved my uncle, Kanding Mambak, from dying from cancer. He was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis which caused cancer about 2 months ago (in March, 2009). About 5 percent of patients with cirrhosis get cancer of the liver. His reading was 7,000 compared with normal people with reading 29. Meaning, it was already too late to do anything. And to make the matter worst, for your information, cancer could double every 24 hours!

The doctor at Sarawak Government Hospital, Kuching (SGH) gave him two options; ONE, take chemotherapy and survive for another two months (only!?); or TWO, go back home and enjoy the last 1 month to live (and hope for miracle to happen). That's certainly not the thing that we want to hear from our doctor. As if we are reading the "Book of Life", found our names and see the times of our deaths. As if the Angel of Death whispering to our ears. As if our world collapse on us.

Well, he decided to take the second option. He skipped chemo and told everyone to pray with him for recovery.

The news shocked everyone in my big family. Due to this, our big family is now reunited again. Even my aunty, Aunty Anda, went back from abroad to meet him to give him support. We grouped together to pray for his recovery although we come from many different churches; Catholic, Anglican & SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo). Church members, relatives, villagers & friends also pray for him (thanks to them). Recalling back what he said in SIB's special prayer gathering for him, which my wife & I attended, he said, "... I put my life on God's hands ..."

May 24th, Sunday, 7.30PM - He was rushed to hospital again. That news updates did caught me in a big surprise. It was only last week when I talked about him with my father, "It's 2 months already. How's uncle doing? He seems fine because we didn't hear any (bad) news about him." We went to hospital in no time. He was still in SGH's Emergency Unit when we arrived, in "Red Zone", an area for critically ill patients! He was then hospitalised.

May 25th, Monday, 7PM - My wife and I paid him a visit at SGH. We can't believe what we saw. Uncle Kanding isn't the same person that we used to know. He looks like a different person. He is skinny from abdomen up, the upper part of his body. He looks skeletal. This reminds me of King Tut Mummy which I watched in Discovery's History Channel. But he is gumpy, fleshy from tummy down, lower part of his body - a symptom which indicates liver's inefficiency (could be also due to heart and kidney failure or inefficiency). His tummy is big. His legs are swollen. We touched his legs. They felt like plasticine. He said he can't feel our touches - his touch sensors were not really functioning. The leg's skin is stretched. There's no wrinkle, no normal folding of skin at kneecaps; and foot and leg joints. And we can't see his legs' skin pores too. His lower part is literally ballooning! It was a sad view. I'm sure that no one would like to see their love ones in that terrible condition.

My wife can't hold her tears. The sadness filled her eyes. She cried to uncle, her Tingkat's friend (Tingkat is the name of my village's name). This year's Gawai (harvest festival celebration) would be her 5th Gawai celebration with uncle. But the previous Gawai could be their last. No one knows if he can survive till June 1st, the Gawai's day. I managed to hold my tears somehow. Yes, men are good in hiding their true feelings. With soft and weak voice, uncle talked (whispered) about his readiness to meet his Creator. Quoting his words, "... everyone will go pass this way one day ... I'm not afraid ...". Everyone there, me, Eliza (my wife), Noni (my first cousin), Elizabeth (my first cousin's wife, Noni's sister-in-law), Enggan (my cousin, his youngest son) and Hannah's grandfather and grandmother (his in laws), paid close attention to what he said. We didn't want to miss it as that could be his last words. His son, Enggan, argued with him to give him spirit and will to survive. I could just listen.

And God Almighty does hear our prayers. He does!

May 26th, Tuesday, 7PM - We visited him again. We joined Aunty Nila (my father's youngest sister), Uncle William (Aunty Nila's husband), Noni and Mit (his daughter who is taking shift with Enggan to look after him at hospital). And Aunty Nila's daughter, Rachel, who has a vision gift to see demon/ghost reported to her saying that she has stopped seeing "bad things" with Uncle in her visions. Rachel reported to her mother, "Uncle is just sick". And yes, uncle is much better now. He is recovering. The swollen legs reduced. And he is no longer receiving Sodium fluid intake. We were so delighted with the test result. Uncle Kanding is now free from cancer! How's that happened? God's miracle! Another God servant's life is spared.

May 27th, Wednesday - Aunty Anda in Australia sent SMSes to family members pledged everyone to fast and pray to God, beg to God for his full recovery. Hence, I fasted the whole day. No breakfast, no lunch. I had nothing but plain water whole day. And yet I survived the day - I did my things; went to (four) banks; accompanied my wife shopping at (three) shopping complexes; visited uncle at hospital; helped my sister-in-law to move her things to our house; and put her things in order in my house (she moved from her rented house and staying with us temporarily as her own house would be ready by next month). And to tell you the truth - I don't feel weak, tired and carving for food. I did felt energetic the whole day. I guess the God was with me as I was fasting yesterday. And yes He was, as my wife and my sister-in-law sponsored Pizza meals that night. Hmmm ... yummy!

We visited Uncle Kanding in "Yellow Zone" of the ward at 3PM after our shopping. Thanks goodness, he was transferred there from "Red Zone". Now, that's a relief! His condition has improved further. By now, we could see wrinkles and skin pores, more like our normal legs although they are still gumpy, fleshy. We do feel happy with his recovery. Uncle Julian, my father's eldest brother, was there too. They were talking about uncle's test result when we showed up at the ward. The cancer has left many small scars on his liver and his liver is "regrouping" (I don't know what it mean). By now, his liver is functioning at 18% efficiency. The cancer has damaged pretty much of his liver's part and function. 18% is low but just enough to survive - but we have to pay more attention to his health. 18% - it could increase or decrease.

That is what Uncle Julian meant when he said, "the God is testing us ... therefore, He doesn't give him full recovery yet (to Uncle) ... we have to pray harder." We left him at the ward after giving him a prayer. Uncle Julian led the prayer. And to add more to our delight, I received an SMS from my father yesterday's evening saying that uncle has been discharged from hospital. Yipee!!

Our big family is now praying so that Uncle Kanding Mambak's liver is fully recovered, renewed so that he can live a normal life, a second chance. Hold both your hands together, close your eyes and help us to pray for him.

Thank you.

Edited By: Ian Kree

Food to Lose Weights

Most of us would usually go on a diet in order to lose weight However, not all of us practice the correct way of dieting. I read some article about the types of foods that we should have in our daily life that can help in losing weight.

For those who want to lose weight, here are some of the tips of what types of food that we should consume:

· Bran bread: mix of cereals, raisins and non fat milk contains vitamins, minerals and protein. It is the best food to start our day off.

· Egg white: low fat and contains high quality protein. We can also mix the egg white with spinach, mushrooms or other type of vegetables.

· Low fat milk

· Fresh fruits: these is often famous foods known among dieters

· Toasted bread/bagel delights: helps in lowering carbohydrates and fats

· Boiled vegetables: normally I would cook cabbage soup as part of my diets menu. It is very popular dish as well.

· Sprouts: can have this cook or uncooked.

· Salads: someone ever told me that by changing from mayonnaise to yogurt is a better mixture of salads for dieters. As of how true it is, I’m not sure either.

Well, that’s all for the tips of weight lose. Good luck!

Travelling Precautions, Prevents H1N1

This morning, my HR sends out a notice of precautions that we should take note if we intending to go travelling. As we all know, the virus H1N1 is a hot topics accross the country. This information is from our Ministry of Health Departments. I also included the address and hot-line if anyone living in Malaysia has any enquiry about the H1N1 to the Health Department.

TRAVELLING ABROAD : PRECAUTIONS TO OBSERVE

Travel to the affected countries should be POSTPONED*.
If you have to travel, please observe the following measures:
Keep informed of the areas with outbreaks or high incidence of Influenza A (H1N1). Avoid crowded places.
Avoid direct contact with Influenza A (H1N1) cases. If you need to be in close contact with cases of Influenza A (H1N1), use an appropriate protective mask.
Observe good personal hygiene at all times. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands with soap and water.
If you fall ill, please seek IMMEDIATE treatment.

If you have recently returned from a Influenza A (H1N1) affected area, you should avoid close contact with other people for 7 days. If within this period you develop flu-like symptoms such as fever and any one of these - cough, difficulty in breathing, body ache, headache or sore throat, you should IMMEDIATELY seek treatment from the nearest doctor.

Inform the doctor that you have visited the Influenza A (H1N1) affected country/area.

Disease Control Division
Ministry of Health Malaysia
Level 3, Block E10, Complex E
Federal Government Administrative Centre
62590 Putrajaya
Tel: 603-8881 0200/0300
www.moh.gov.my
14/5/09-Ver.4.0(BI)
*For current update of Influenza A (H1N1) affected countries/areas please refer to www.moh.gov.my

Car Air-Cond ~ Do Not Turn on Immediately

I received an emails about the danger of our car air-conditioner. When we got into our car, it is wise not to turn ON the air-conditioning immediately!!!
According to a research, car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emits Benzene, a cancer causin toxin (carcinogen). Not only that it would cause cancer, it can also poisons our bones causes anemia and reduces white blood cells. As we all know, another simpler words of white blood cells is antibody. Prolonged exposure to these would cause leukemia and also might cause miscarriage.
The acceptable level of Benzene are 50mg per sq. ft. A car parked indoors with the window closed can contains 400-800mg of Benzene. If parked outdoors (under high temperature-sun), it can goes up to 2000-4000mg!!!

Therefore, please do not turn on the air-conditioning right after you got into your car. Instead, open the windows and door to let the interior air out.

Benzene definition according to Wikipedia - "Benzene, or benzol, is an organic chemical compound and a known carcinogen with the molecular formula C6H6. It is sometimes abbreviated Ph–H. Benzene is a colorless and highly flammable liquid with a sweet smell and a relatively high melting point. Because it is a known carcinogen, its use as an additive in gasoline is now limited, but it is an important industrial solvent and precursor in the production of drugs, plastics, synthetic rubber, and dyes. Benzene is a natural constituent of crude oil, and may be synthesized from other compounds present in petroleum. Benzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon and the second [n]-annulene ([6]-annulene), a cyclic hydrocarbon with a continuous pi bond."

Benefits of Banana

Many do not know that banana has a lot of nutrient that can help to prevent us from disease. Fully ripe banana produces a substance called TNF which are able to combat abnormal cells. This TNF has anti-cancer properties. The degree of anti-cancer effect corresponds to the degree of ripeness of the fruits. As the banana ripes, it will develops dark spots or patches. The darker the patches is, the higher the immunity quality will be. This also means the darker the patches is, the higher anti-cancer properties would be.

Banana can also increased our white blood cells, thus enhancing the immunity of the body.

Normal recommendation would be to eat 1 to 2 banana a day to increase body immunity to diseases. A research shows that skin bananas with dark spot are 8 times more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than the green skin version!

Another point for banana skin would be its effect to our teeth. If we rub the banana skin to our teeth, it can whiten our teeth. I read about this a while ago when I research on the benefits of banana.

Normal benefits that we all know is that banana helps to prevent constipation. So, whoever that had difficulties in doing the 'big business', you can try to eat more bananas...

Allergy

Previously, I was having quite a bad skin allergy called contact allergy. It is a type of allergy that was cause by substances such as nickel, perfumes, rubber or related chemicals, potassium dischromate (cement, leather), hairdressing chemicals, medications, epoxy resins, colophony and plants. In my case, my skin is pretty sensitive towards perfumes or dish washing cleaning which contains lemon. Clorox is something that I totally can't get into contact too.

After the allergy, I figure out to write something about allergy so that everyone out there would knows and understand allergy.

What is Allergy?
Allergy simply means a response within the body towards a substances that results in an immune response and reaction that causes inconvenience to the body.

Symptoms like runny nose, itchy eyes or rashes is very common. Allergy occurs when the body's immune system overreacts towards a substances which by itself is harmless.

What Causes Allergy?
Substances that causes allergic reactions are called allergens. Almost anything can be an allergen. Most common types of allergens are:
Animal Products - for example, cat allergy, fur, dander, cockroach, wool, dust mite, etc
Drugs or chemicals - penicillin, sulfonamides, solicylate, local anaesthetics
Foods
Milk
Seafood - especially crabs and prawn
Sesame
Soy
Insects stings - bee sting, wasp sting, mosquitoes stings

Types of Allergy

Most common types of allergy are divided into three types, that is skin allergy, allergen inhalation and food allergy.


If any of you believe that you have allergy, it is better to determine which type. From there, drills down to the specific types of allergy. With this, you can easily find and tackle our allergy so as not to gets worsen.

In my case, I have skin allergy. Categories of the allergy are called contact allergy, another worlds contact ezcema. This types of allergy would cause rashes on the skins. Sometimes the cause and effect is obvious (with red scaly reaction around)

There is only one way to determine a substance that causes contact ezcema allergy - Patch testing. This testing can be dangerous but that's the only way. Treatment for this allergy are moisturisers and steroid creams.

10 Ways to Prevent Swine (or any) Fl10 Flu

Got this very nice tips from my in-house clinic helpdesk.

1. Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands!
2. When water isn't available, use alcohol-based liquid hand sanitizers frequently. If using a gel, rub your hands until the gel is dry. It does not require water to work; the alcohol in it wil kil hand germs.
3. If you sneeze or cough, cover your nose or mouth and avoiding rubbing or touching your eyes and nose. Cold and flu are often spread by hand-to-hand contact, so avoid directly facing an individual who is coughing and sneezing. If you do sneeze into your hands, make sure you clean them, and do this EVERY time you sneeze or cough.
4. Limit your exposure (even brief contact) to those "suferers," especialy during the first several days of their flu symptoms.
5. Stay home if you're experiencing any flu symptoms. Do not report to work!
6. For individuals who are excessively stressed, some studies favor the use of daily vitamin C during the cold and flu season.
7. Eating a balanced diet and geting adequate sleep is a good first step in keeping your immune system from geting overly stressed. When you're rested, you wil be beter prepared to fight of ilness.
8. Remind your children to practice healthy habits. And of course that means lots of hand washing, covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze and using hand sanitizers when water isn't available.
9. Routinely clean and disinfect. Disinfecting actualy destroys germs, it doesn't just clean surfaces. Folow instructions of al disinfectants. Germs may live on countertops and surfaces for hours or even days.
10. Finally, if you have flu symptoms, immediately go to see doctors!

Swine Flu (Swine Influenza A (H1N1) Virus

As we all know, recently we are all hit with the panic of swine flu. This morning, when I read the newspaper, there is one case of suspected swine flu in Kuching. The guy had just came back from U.K and had been sick since then.

I believe most of us heard about swine flu but to know what is that, maybe, we thought it is connected with pig. Or maybe we know the numbers or infected people in every countries. But to protect ourselves from this virus, we know nothing. Well, that is me. All I know is there is new virus call H1N1. Further of it, I'm blank! So, this morning, when I ask myself what is swine flu, it takes me to do some google search.

What is Swine Flu?

Scientifically, swine flu is a influenza A virus that is resistant to antiviraal medications amantadine (Symmetrel) and rimantadine (Flumadine). However, this virus is sensitive to oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza)... Hhmm, sound like a tough virus to me.

In general English words, this disease can causes death if we do not seek immediate medications

Symptoms
Normal symptoms are fever, cough, sore throats and some may even have breathing problem. Other symptoms would be vomiting, diarrhea, headache, chills, fatigue and dyspnea.

What to do if you suspect that you have this disease?
Firstly, avoid going to public. Second, go to the nearest hospitals to seek immediate medication to prevent the disease from spreading out to the public as well as saving yourself.

Prevention
Swine flu can be prevented via vaccination. In general way, remember to wash your hand frequently and not touching your face or nose with your hand if it is dirty. If you know anyone with flu, avoid touching them. The virus can remain viable for up to 48 hours on surfaces, therefore, it is good to clean your hand with soap or alcohol-based hand dissinfections.

Many of us wonders why is it that these virus came arise with the economy downturn. Is this another of the punishment from Mother Earth? Well, in general, our Earth is 'sick'. It may indirectly contribute. Nobody knows the exact answer.

There are explanation of the causes and reason scientifically. I am not going into details about this. I believe none of us, who is just normal people will not even understand the scientific jargons that explains the sickness.

Cosmetics & Skincare Banned by Ministry of Health

A while ago, I receive this emails about 26 skincare / cosmetics brand that are banned by our Ministry of Health. How true is this, I am not sure. But I believe that it is better to be safe than sorry, right?

The new is from News Straits Times 2008/10/26. However, when I go to NST website, they do not have archive news from January 2008 onwards. I couldn't find the archive for this one. Anyway, let's just avoid from buying those brands...

NST 2008/10/26

The dark side of skin whitening products

The Health Ministry has taken 26 cosmetic products containing banned substances off the shelves in the last two years. Do you know what those products are? Do you also know that some of them are still being sold openly? New Sunday Times reporters went a hunting
THE plot was set -- to search for the perfect skin whitening product. The only difference was all the products earmarked for the search were banned ones.

But some of them were blatantly sitting on the shelves, waiting for the next unsuspecting victim to come by.

The hunt, which spanned six shops and utilised the reporters' winning portrayals of desperate vain pots -- yielded a bagful of products that could make you fair very fast.

How fast, you ask?
If you are willing to spend the ringgit, all you need is three days. These products are priced from as low as RM10 (works a bit slower) to a few hundred ringgit a set.

But what is wrong with them?

Nothing, if the product does not contain any ingredients such as hydroquinone, retinoic acid/tretinoin or steroids, which are banned in cosmetics.

The Health Ministry has, in the last three years, banned 26 cosmetic products for containing such ingredients.

Despite the ban, two creams are still being advertised on its distributor's website, alongside the agents' phone numbers.

The New Sunday Times team managed to buy the creams at a shopping complex.

The traders had no qualms about revealing that some "immediate effect" products did contain hydroquinone, although the abels did not state so.

"Produk ini memang cepat dan bestseller. Sebab ia ada bahan kimia hydroquinone. Tapi jangan risau, ia selamat. (This best-selling product works very fast because it has the hydroquinone chemical. But don't worry, it's safe)," one said.

What's more worrying is that some of the banned products have now been repackaged and renamed, but according to the traders, were essentially the same.

"Barangnya sama sahaja, cuma ada masalah dulu. Jadi sekarang dah tukar nama. (It's the same product. There were some problems earlier, so they changed the name)."

The National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau said consumers should be aware that hydroquinone and retinoic acid/tretinoin were scheduled poisons that were regulated as pharmaceuticals.

It is only allowed to be used under medical supervision and only supplied by doctors or pharmacies.

"Unsupervised use of hydroquinone could cause skin redness, irritation and discolouration.

"Excessive amounts of hydroquinone, when absorbed into blood circulation, could cause ringing in the ears, tremors, nervousness, vomiting, head-aches, seizures, muscle spasms and difficulty in breathing," the bureau added.

All this in the quest for that Asian obsession, fair skin.

From foreigners hawking whitening soaps, gels and creams by roadsides at every nook and corner of the bustling city, to booths in shopping establishments being crammed with similar products, it seems that fair skin is in vogue.

Adding to this is a multitude of advertisements drumming in the message for the need to be fair-skinned.

It is none too surprising then that a New York Times report in 2006 quoted a survey by market research company Synovate, saying that four out of every 10 Malaysian women use a whitening product.

The report also explained how whitening products work.

Some contain acids that remove old skin to reveal newer, lighter skin underneath.

Others inhibit melanin, like those with mulberry extract, licorice extract, kojic acid, arbutin and hydroquinone, an ingredient in prescription creams for blemishes as well as in photo processing materials.

The report also stated: "Some of the most effective agents are also risky and are often the least expensive, like mercury-based ingredients or hydroquinone, which in Thailand sells for about US$20 (RM70) per kilogramme, compared with highly concentrated licorice extract, which sells for about US$20,000 per kilogramme."

It makes one wonder what's really in the RM10 whitening cream.
Below are the 26th of the banned skincare/cosmetics by health ministry...
1.Dr Seagar SkinRecon
2.Ain's Beauty Care Natural Lightening Cream
3.Felisa GP Lotion
4.Sri Mutiara Krim Kecantikan Malam
5.Dewajah Night Cream
6.Ains Beauty Care Clear II Cream
7.Ains Beauty Care Face Lotion 1
8.Ains Beauty Care Face Lotion 2
9.Rihanna Beauty Cream
10.Sub Whitening Revitalizing Cream
11.Sub Instant White Cream
12.Herbarites Skin Whitening(Sensitive Skin)
13.Deep Skin White Plus
14.Atika Beauty Skin Lightening Cream
15.Crystal White Extra Night Cream
16.Crystal White Night Cream
17.Golden Deer White Complex Cream
18.Cellnique Skin Whitening Plus II
19.Cellnique Skin Whitening Essence I
20.Sendayu Tinggi Body & Skincare Cool & Lightening Soap
21.Kzanah White Pembersih Wajah
22.Gloskin Krim Malam & Siang
23.Reena's Astringen Lanjutan
24.Skin Desires Deep Whitening Cleansing Milk
25.Eetye Whitening Cream
26.O'Lynn Lynn's H2O Series Skin Lightening Cream