I called my parents about 2 weeks ago for Chinese New Year's and my mom basically yelled at me for 10 minutes. I don't know if it's because she's mad or because here hearing isn't so good. Probably both.
Then my dad reiterated what she said. It seems that they are concerned about people visiting them. Since my dad is sick, it's not like he can entertain them, take them out or talk to them for a long time. He's just not in good enough shape to do this. And then my mom doesn't want to have to be put in the position of having to cook and entertain any guests.
From what I can tell, they are both under a lot of stress. The job of preparing meals for my dad has been challenging for my mom. While they were in Shanghai, she didn't cook very often because it was just two people, and they had an ayi who is a great cook.
My parents even told me that I shouldn't come. "You can't cook. You'll be no help," my mom said.
Well, I can cook ... I've just never had to prepare 3 meals a day for someone else.
My mom also got the latest blood test results from the doctor. A lot of it she can't understand and I'm having trouble translating the medical terms from Chinese to English. But basically, once he started the chemotherapy, it's had a positive effect:
| 11/1/07 | 31/1/07 | 14/2/07 | ||||||||||||||||
Glutamic-Oxaloacetic Transaminase (GOT) | 95 | 42 | 36 | |||||||||||||||
Glutamic-Pyruvic Transaminase (GPT) | 124 | 35 | 31 | |||||||||||||||
Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) | 655 | 370 | 276 | |||||||||||||||
White Blood Cells | 16,200 | 6,700 | 6,800 | |||||||||||||||
Red Blood Cells | 10.7 | 11.7 | 10.4 |
From what I researched, GOT and GPT are both transaminases, or enzymes that enter the blood in large quantities only when the cells that make and house them become destroyed. High levels of GOT and GPT mean that liver cells are damaged. ALP is an enzyme found in all cells, but particularly in high concentrations in liver cells and can indicate whether a person's liver is damaged.
As you can see, the decrease in these enzymes, as well as his white blood cell count, is a good sign. However, the numbers, I believe are still higher than normal.
My father says that since I left, he's thrown up his food at least once a week. However, ever since he's been taking the new drugs - Prometin and Farlutal - he's gotten his appetite back.
I don't know if that's a good thing. The day I called, my dad wanted to eat egg rolls. My mom said no. Then he wanted to eat pizza. She wouldn't get it for him. Then he got mad.
"This medicine makes me feel this way," he said. "Sometimes my temper's not good. Sometimes I can't control my temper."
Well, speaking from experience, I can't say that his temper was ever very good.
For the past week, it's been difficult getting in touch with my parents. They either weren't picking up my dad's cell phone or it was turned off. Then on Thursday night, my sister called me and said that my mom called her with a new phone number. Apparently they got in a fight and the cell phone ... well, let's just say it explains why we couldn't get through to them.
I called my parents on Friday night and my mom seemed stressed out, tired, sad. She didn't say much about the cell phone or the fight. Neither did my dad.
He sounded tired and he kept talking about how the medication "controls you."
"You are so tired. It's not that you're really tired. It's the medicine that makes you tired," he said.
My mom reported that my dad's been gaining weight because of the new meds, and told the doctor that he wants to stop taking the Farlutal.
This Friday, he's going to be getting an ultrasound and another blood test. The ultrasound will show if there's been some real progress in reducing the size of the tumor in his liver. My dad says that if the progress isn't significant, they may switch chemotherapy drugs.
Keep your fingers crossed. As for me, I might be heading to Taipei in a few weeks to help relieve my mom. Well, I dunno - she doesn't want me to go, she wants me to go, ...
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