thick skin

You need thick skin to be in our family.

It's always been that way.

I commented on my brother's nose the other day... saying, he's got the "Sam nose." If you look at any of the Sam's you'll know what I mean =p

Dad agreed and confirmed that I had the "Chu nose." The "better nose." He said, "in fact, you have the better features of everything, except when you put it all together, it doesn't look too great."

Thanks dad. Again, thanks dad.

how'd they know?

We had a community nurse come by as part of their palliative care unit at Richmond Hospital...

First, meet and greet.

After awhile, he got to know us and said to dad, "You're a bit of a smart-ass aren't you?"

Dad said, "I take after my daughter."

Thanks dad.

one day two nights

Came back from a "one-day, two-nights" trip to Vegas. Yes, that's right. One day.

Where 6 hrs were spent at the airport. That is, YVR.

dad wanted to eat his duck...

He was at the corner store the other day and needed to buy this particular one.


This is as close to "duck" as he'll get.

playoff fever

The Canucks are in the playoffs and it's a great time to be a Vancouverite!

So many great things about this time of year:
There's a buzz in the air.... check.
People are friendlier.... check.
Canuck t-shirts are hard to come by.... check.
The sun is shining.... check.

You couldn't ask for more!

Oh, Round One tickets................... check ;)

Yep. Got 'em via ticketmaster.

Couldn't get 'em when they first came out on Saturday at 10am... but I heard a few weeks back that they'd release more 48hrs before the game. So I figured, Monday at 10. I was right.

I bought 4 tickets.

One for dad and two for cousins.

One of the cousins found 4 more tickets right beside us... but timed out on Ticketmaster.

So another cousin found (and successfuly purchased) two other tickets in the row below us.

Dad, me and his nieces and nephews... Over 600 bucks later.

God, we better win...

And Lord, another request. I need money to fall from trees. Thanks.

If we head into OT, dad said he's coming home - he's already wondering how he can sit there comfortably for 3 hours in a cold arena. Looks like I'll be sneaking in his snacks too.

We attended a game the day after the first time he was discharged from the hospital.

He was in the hospital January 5-9, a newly diagnosed pancreatic patient and we watched the Canucks on the 10th.

He won those tickets from his work's annual Christmas dinner.

His name was drawn for the second straight year.

Did his luck run out then? You can look at it like that...

Or perhaps you can say that his string of luck only continues.

He's past his third month after diagnosis and is still relatively well. He is blessed to have a very large and close family that loves and supports him.

And he's damn well lucky to have me. Hah!

boggled down by stats

It's sooooo easy to be discouraged by the statistics for pancreatic cancer.

Dad was diagnosed on January 5th, 2009 with PC.

That same week, Patrick Swayze went public with his cancer and promotions began for his interview with Barbara Walters.

• 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women in Canada and the US
• 99% mortality rate
• 3,400 new cases will be diagnosed in Canada in 2007 (37,170 in the US) and 3,300 will die that year (33,370 in the US).
• Approximately 85 out of 100 pancreatic cancer patients will die within one year of diagnosis. Only 4% will survive through 5 years.
• In BC, 240 men will be diagnosed in 2007 (I guess the article I'm reading from was written prior to 2007), and 240 men will die from pancreatic cancer that year. The figure includes people previously diagnosed with PC.
  

Dad's cancer was between a stage III and stage IV. Now, three months later, it's clearly a stage IV cancer. It has spread outside the pancreas.

The almost 100% mortality rate is probably due to a number of factors. One, lack of early detection. Two, lack of funding. Did you know that in 2006 PC reseach got 66.7 million per year (in the US from National Cancer Institute). A lot? This is about 1% of the 4.8 billion cancer research budget. BILLION.

And it's the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths.

So if I was a researcher... I'd probably go research another cancer. Go where the funding is. Where there's even a chance to find a cure... unfortunately.

Apparently PC is where Breast Cancer was in the 1930s...

Here's to hoping dad is one of the 4% who survive past 5 years!

is it hereditary?

One oncologist explained to us that if only one person in the family has that type of cancer, you cannot exactly say it "runs in the family."

I think we scared the oncologist when we told him:

Grandpa had lung cancer (battled it in the 60s to 70s)
Dad's half-brother had nose/throat cancer (died in 2007)
Dad's sister, who had an appointment with that same oncologist, is one year removed from breast cancer (diagnosed in 2008)
And well, dad has pancreatic cancer (diagnosed in 2009)

So in fact we don't have one that is "runs in the family." But we do have many different cancers.

Lucky us.

Sarcasm intended.

kids say the darnest things

I was told this story recently about my cousin's three year old kid.

During dinner, he was being fussy and well, a bit of a brat. So one of my cousins (not his mother) grabbed him tightly and tried to feed him. He screamed and wanted to be let go.

He called out to his aunt (another cousin) to help him. His aunt pretended not to hear.

He called out to his other aunt (another cousin.. yes I have many). This aunt also pretended not to hear.

He called out to his mother, "Mom mom!!" She ignored him.

He called out to his grandfather, "Grandfather help me!" He wouldn't help.

Lastly he yelled, "Jesus Jesus!!"

dreaming of

Lobster.

I dreamt of lobster last night.

The one my dad makes. The one with a cream sauce.

I was slurping the juice and I chewed on a bit of the shell and had to spit it out.

So I did.

In real life.

It woke me up and I ended up wiping the spit that rolled down the side of my face.

Glorious.

Bertha

An older Chinese lady with ESL English looked at me strangely, pointing at my face and asked, what is that?

I answered, "A zit."

---

Yes, meet Bertha.

Fed by my natural oils.

Cultivated by my aunt's delish food.

Yes, meet my bindi, Bertha.

fun with dad

Dad is to my right. He'd prefer not to be on the internet...

We brought out the "yu-ha-hai" (Fish, Shrimp, Crab - literal translation) game. It's fun. Really.
Kyle won this turn... but I won it alllllll!


Sheldon's turn at dealin'. If only I had video... You have to say this little rhyme/chant to encourage people to bet... us Canadian born make up our own versions due to our very limited Chinese.

what the?

Follow your nose...
What is that?
Sardines.
Ew.
I found this the day AFTER my aunts bought 2 boxes of fresh sardines. When they were dividing them up, I guess one jumped out and landed on the floor.
Double ew.

cancer-diet

Dad diet. Green. Green. And more Green.


7 Cups of this everyday. Can you say, yummy?


Try me!
Stimulating every tastebud. Bitter melon, Tumeric, Kiwi, Tomato Cinnamon...


Attempts at making lunch different...

so this is life...

Dad strutting his stuff.
He can still play after all these years. Me? I know where middle C is.


Please excuse my aunt.
She's trying to catch dinner...
She's not from around here.




Dad and auntie going for a morning stroll... while I wait in the car ;)

twenty-five day countdown

Do you remember these?


I wish I had a chocolate calendar!

helluva week

It's been quite the week. A birthday week busy with just stuff.

Two Fridays ago, I went to a battle of the bands fundraiser. The "Wally Project" raised money so that the group could pay down the mortgage/rent for some families so that they could have a decent Christmas.

Two Saturdays ago, I attended my church's 4th, (yes, it's only four years old) birthday. International Global banquet, they call it. Everyone brings a dish from their culture. We got some Dutch foods, a Cheese curry, some Indian... and even KFC - from Canadian culture, I suppose.

Two Sundays ago, I had my own birthday bash! We volunteered for the Richmond Christmas Fund, painting a Christmas scene on one of the dealers (Audi) in the Richmond Automall. They in turn donated $$ to the Richmond Christmas Fund which buys toys for underprivileged kids. My friends had so much fun, it was a great way to spend the afternoon. I always marvel at the generosity of my buddies. Some of them even made Christmas shoeboxes because I had requested it - and others just made them because they do it every year!

Monday and Tuesday were dinners dad and mum.

Wednesday was my friends goodbye "party." Not sure how celebratory the event was, but it was a send-off of sorts. The only person in our group to actually leave the city for an indeterminable amount of time. We were/are good friends and probably became even better friends the last couple of months. So for me it's really sad to see her leave -- to Toronto of all places! Every person has their journey of discovery and perhaps this will be one for her too.

Thursday's evening was thankfully free.

Friday evening some friends and I headed across the border to join in the Thanksgiving shopping madness. We didn't find much in terms of sales, but it was great for conversation and well shopping. Thankfully no one around us died as that would have sucked. Who carries a real gun into Toys-R-Us?

Came home yesterday. Exhausted and wanting my bed.

Phew.

Boring post, I know. I'm feeling rather listless.

thanks

To the people who wished me happy birthday, thanks.

-facebook friends, near (across the street) and far (australia, montreal, los angeles, hong kong...)
-friends for life and friends recently met
-cousins who call and text
-brother and SIL who send a card for London
-the drivers license renewal lady
-my mom's credit union teller
-salespeople and the administration at the Richmond Automall
-my life insurance guy
-DQ friends and family

first words new immigrants learn?

Yesterday at the Deeq, mom was helping a customer. As her cheerful self, she asks,

Mom: so that's a 10" cake, would you like anything else?
Customer: (struggling with English) uh...... condoms?
M: um...
C: (reaches into backpocket and pulls out...)
M: oh, CANDLES!

Mom was visibly relieved.. Ha!

tales from a fast food joint

I love talking to strangers.

That being said, it's limited to small talk about nothing and strangers that will remain strangers.

Not the ones who find out your name and add you to fb.

Or the ones that are twice or thrice your age, give you the sly smile and ask what time you're off.

Nor the teens who comment on your change in appearance and ask questions assuming you're the same age.

Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Obama...and Sheman?

As America fixates its hopes upon every word of President-elect Barack Obama, the world watches with great anticipation as well. Obama has created a stir, an interest, an excitement in politics that has not existed for decades. This fervor crossed ethnic and economic divides and even international waters.

West Kenya was celebrating the election of one of their own; Obama, Japan is just happy to have the same name; Canada...? We were more interested in this election than our own. Who's our Presid er...Prime Minister again?

Every generation has had a President (PM?) that captured the hearts and imagination of the people. A man with charisma, a great orator, someone who effectively raised the hopes of the young and the old. Trudeau, was my father's hero. Mom remembers school being canceled and everyone in tears when JFK was assinated. Our generation had lacked a political "hero," until now. Yesterday, I think we (they) elected one.



And I'm pretty sure my kids will look to this kid (man).