Yesterday was a heart-wrenching day for all of us. The late Rusina’s children stayed up all night for her the previous night, surrounding her with prayers for her soul. All eight of them stuck together around her bed facing her cold lifeless body. It would break anyone’s heart to see the pain in their eyes.
It was also far too painful for her parents who were together with her children. This is the third time they lost a child. The first was their first born son, who left this world due to high fever at a very tender age. Ten years ago, Ani who had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) passed away when she was 25. She was diagnosed of leukemia when she was 16. She went through rounds of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for a year. After that, she recovered and led a normal life for 10 years finishing high school and went to college to pursue her undergraduate studies. It was before her final year that she relapsed. She went through another round of treatment but it was too late as her body had weakened. Now, ten years after her passing, her eldest sister had Acute Myeloid Leukemia which took her within a month and was buried next to her yesterday.
For the late Rusina, many came to visit her. What touches everyone was the fact that four school buses of her students came to see her for the last time and prayed for her. It was a traumatic time for her children as they wept uncontrollably as they prepare to carry her away yesterday at noon.
She must have touched hundreds of lives. Her children, her parents, her siblings, her nieces, her nephews, her relatives, her friends, her colleagues, her business partners, and even the bus driver who sponsored the trip for the students to see her. She must have made a difference in his life too.
Today, July 24, 2007 is a very sad day for all of us.
Today, we were supposed to get the blood match so that a stem cell transplant can be done to save her life. The plan was to take her blood sample today at 8.00 a.m. and then all siblings will gather in another hospital at 9.30 a.m. to have their blood samples taken so that a match is sought. In a week, the results will be released and the right donor is identified. It will then take a further 6 weeks for the stem cells to be cultured and then transplanted into her body.
Today no one knows whose blood is the exact match for her, as today she is no longer with us.
Today, she has left us and God had spared her the suffering and pain.
All of us shall now begin our healing by staying strong.
We shall keep memories of her close in our hearts as she had made a difference in our lives.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Life is so precious
A month ago, I received a call from Ann informing me that her older sister was warded in a hospital an hour away from where I live. As usual, with my hectic schedule, things had to run as scheduled and I ended up traveling to visit her after midnight.
I reached the hospital and was stopped by the guard at the door. She looked fierce and said I could not get in. I told her I came from far and my sister-in-law had leukemia and I needed to see her. I managed to get in and sat down with my sister-in-law for more than an hour that night. I tried to motivate her and told her how important it was for her to visualize that she is going to get better. That she had to be strong for her children.
She had 8 children ranging from 5 to 24 years old. Her husband is a teacher. What moved me most that night was when she shed tears and told me that her children needed her. I kept trying to motivate her that she must be strong for them. That night made me think how precious life is.
At that point her platelet count dropped to 9000. A healthy platelet count is between 150,000 to 450,000. When I called my sister who is a doctor, she told me that at 9000 it was a condition when all the internal organs are already bleeding. The best part was there was no sign that her condition was that bad if we see her from the outside. She could still talk, walk and move around.
I did not get to visit her very often, only during weekends. Last weekend I was training off site and did not have the opportunity to see her. During the week, Syazwana, her daughter asked me whether my husband can spare a day this upcoming week to get blood samples to find a match. We later agreed on July 24th, 2007 to gather all siblings and get the blood samples to be matched against hers. The plan was the hospital would take her blood sample on July 24th at 8.00 a.m. to be taken to another hospital and the rest of the siblings will gather together at 9.30 a.m. to have their blood to be analyzed for an exact match to hers. The best bet would be siblings and not children. What they would do next is to culture the stem cells (which would take six weeks) and then transplant the stem cells into her body so that she would recover. Initially the date was set at August 6th but I guess the doctors discovered that it's getting far more urgent and they were running out of time since all blood transfusion and platelet transfusion did not help in getting her platelet count to rise above 9000.
Yesterday, we went to visit her. I have not seen her for two weeks. The moment I walked in her room, I saw that she looked far worse than the last time I saw her. My tears just welled up my eyes and there was no way that I could control it. I then spotted the swollen toe and red spots on her legs. When I asked Syazwana why, she said it was rashes. As she told me that her platelet count was 2000, it dawned on me that it was not rashes but her blood cells had ruptured internally. I knew deep inside the magnitude of her condition. As usual, I gave her words of encouragement. As the family members gathered around her, one of her sons said,"Mom, when you get better, we can go for a holiday." That was so touching to me as I could sense how slim that hope was. I left her yesterday at 8.00 p.m. after sharing her condition with other siblings.
Today, we planned to visit her after our Asr prayers. By 5.10 p.m. we received a called that she has left this world for good. It came as a shock to us. Like zombies we packed and got ready to go to the hospital. At the hospital lobby, we bumped into her sons carrying items and walking like zombies looking down with somber expressions and oblivious of our existence. It was so very sad to see the pain on their faces.
As we reached the 6th floor, they were on their way with her body to be taken to the mortuary. We followed them in the huge elevator and later waited for about an hour before the van arrived. Iskandar came to be with us and helped carry the body into the van. That was thoughtful of him.
When I thought about all these, that she was warded a month ago, was in the hospital all the while and never came back home until today, a lifeless body leaving behind 8 children, it dawned on me how precious life is. With each minute that I am still breathing and able to see the greatness in every single living thing in this world, I thank God for this great blessing.
May God bless her soul. Let us all pray for her. Al-Fatihah to the late Rusina Yusoff.
I reached the hospital and was stopped by the guard at the door. She looked fierce and said I could not get in. I told her I came from far and my sister-in-law had leukemia and I needed to see her. I managed to get in and sat down with my sister-in-law for more than an hour that night. I tried to motivate her and told her how important it was for her to visualize that she is going to get better. That she had to be strong for her children.
She had 8 children ranging from 5 to 24 years old. Her husband is a teacher. What moved me most that night was when she shed tears and told me that her children needed her. I kept trying to motivate her that she must be strong for them. That night made me think how precious life is.
At that point her platelet count dropped to 9000. A healthy platelet count is between 150,000 to 450,000. When I called my sister who is a doctor, she told me that at 9000 it was a condition when all the internal organs are already bleeding. The best part was there was no sign that her condition was that bad if we see her from the outside. She could still talk, walk and move around.
I did not get to visit her very often, only during weekends. Last weekend I was training off site and did not have the opportunity to see her. During the week, Syazwana, her daughter asked me whether my husband can spare a day this upcoming week to get blood samples to find a match. We later agreed on July 24th, 2007 to gather all siblings and get the blood samples to be matched against hers. The plan was the hospital would take her blood sample on July 24th at 8.00 a.m. to be taken to another hospital and the rest of the siblings will gather together at 9.30 a.m. to have their blood to be analyzed for an exact match to hers. The best bet would be siblings and not children. What they would do next is to culture the stem cells (which would take six weeks) and then transplant the stem cells into her body so that she would recover. Initially the date was set at August 6th but I guess the doctors discovered that it's getting far more urgent and they were running out of time since all blood transfusion and platelet transfusion did not help in getting her platelet count to rise above 9000.
Yesterday, we went to visit her. I have not seen her for two weeks. The moment I walked in her room, I saw that she looked far worse than the last time I saw her. My tears just welled up my eyes and there was no way that I could control it. I then spotted the swollen toe and red spots on her legs. When I asked Syazwana why, she said it was rashes. As she told me that her platelet count was 2000, it dawned on me that it was not rashes but her blood cells had ruptured internally. I knew deep inside the magnitude of her condition. As usual, I gave her words of encouragement. As the family members gathered around her, one of her sons said,"Mom, when you get better, we can go for a holiday." That was so touching to me as I could sense how slim that hope was. I left her yesterday at 8.00 p.m. after sharing her condition with other siblings.
Today, we planned to visit her after our Asr prayers. By 5.10 p.m. we received a called that she has left this world for good. It came as a shock to us. Like zombies we packed and got ready to go to the hospital. At the hospital lobby, we bumped into her sons carrying items and walking like zombies looking down with somber expressions and oblivious of our existence. It was so very sad to see the pain on their faces.
As we reached the 6th floor, they were on their way with her body to be taken to the mortuary. We followed them in the huge elevator and later waited for about an hour before the van arrived. Iskandar came to be with us and helped carry the body into the van. That was thoughtful of him.
When I thought about all these, that she was warded a month ago, was in the hospital all the while and never came back home until today, a lifeless body leaving behind 8 children, it dawned on me how precious life is. With each minute that I am still breathing and able to see the greatness in every single living thing in this world, I thank God for this great blessing.
May God bless her soul. Let us all pray for her. Al-Fatihah to the late Rusina Yusoff.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Surprise Blog Reminder
As I reached my car, I saw a note on my windscreen. It read,"Have you updated your blog?" I smiled to myself as I knew there could be only one soul who would care whether I update my blog or not.
I used to remind this bright and intelligent young man to update his blog. It seems that lately he updates his blog regularly. Once when I shared this with him about our roles being reversed, he said it's a check and balance for me.
Being a trainer, I am fully aware of the fact that people say that you tend to preach the lessons you need for yourself. I believe that this is very true. Sometimes my past participants would quote exactly what I have said word by word right in my face.
For today, I would like to thank this young man for the reminder. May God bless you with great abundance in your life.
I used to remind this bright and intelligent young man to update his blog. It seems that lately he updates his blog regularly. Once when I shared this with him about our roles being reversed, he said it's a check and balance for me.
Being a trainer, I am fully aware of the fact that people say that you tend to preach the lessons you need for yourself. I believe that this is very true. Sometimes my past participants would quote exactly what I have said word by word right in my face.
For today, I would like to thank this young man for the reminder. May God bless you with great abundance in your life.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Anyone Can Paint
Yesterday was a day for kids in the office. As part of the action plan to make our workplace more caring, we organized a day for the children of our employees. They brought their children ranging from 4 to 17 years old to the office and we had activities for three different age groups 4-6 , 7-12 and 13-17 . In the morning as we started out with the opening session, they did the Chicken Dance, there's a Magician performing and then it was the breakout session for the 3 groups..
I handled the 13-17 years age group. For my group, we had earlier planned many activities for them like Train Station, 100-meter race, James Bond 007 and Dancing Board. As we started the Making Flag activity, we underestimated this group. They took more than an hour just to make the flag. In our normal teambuilding activities for adults, they got it all done plus the group cheer in 20 minutes. In the end, we did not get to experiment the activities we had lined up for them.
After lunch, I taught the group acrylic painting on canvas board. I introduced to them that anyone can paint. When they did their flag in the morning, I did a piece on sunset using acrylic paint. That was a strategy to create their interest. As I took them through the techniques, it was amazing to see their work of art unfolding right before my eyes.
In the beginning, most of them said they could not paint. I told them I once failed in my art test when I was 15. Even though I failed that test at that time, I strongly believe that I can paint. When I was 19, I learned oil painting from an art teacher by accident. Perhaps God sent him to me. He even taught me how to make canvas base using pearl glue and emulsion paint. I stopped painting after that.
A few years back I went through a 3-month art classes by an artist. I attended with a friend and my two daughters. We learned how to paint using oil, acrylic, water color and we were introduced to pastel art. Since then, it's been a long while I have not held a brush until the last 2 days. I felt so inspired sharing my skills with the kids. It was a day that ends beautifully for me savoring the masterpiece by each kid.
I handled the 13-17 years age group. For my group, we had earlier planned many activities for them like Train Station, 100-meter race, James Bond 007 and Dancing Board. As we started the Making Flag activity, we underestimated this group. They took more than an hour just to make the flag. In our normal teambuilding activities for adults, they got it all done plus the group cheer in 20 minutes. In the end, we did not get to experiment the activities we had lined up for them.
After lunch, I taught the group acrylic painting on canvas board. I introduced to them that anyone can paint. When they did their flag in the morning, I did a piece on sunset using acrylic paint. That was a strategy to create their interest. As I took them through the techniques, it was amazing to see their work of art unfolding right before my eyes.
In the beginning, most of them said they could not paint. I told them I once failed in my art test when I was 15. Even though I failed that test at that time, I strongly believe that I can paint. When I was 19, I learned oil painting from an art teacher by accident. Perhaps God sent him to me. He even taught me how to make canvas base using pearl glue and emulsion paint. I stopped painting after that.
A few years back I went through a 3-month art classes by an artist. I attended with a friend and my two daughters. We learned how to paint using oil, acrylic, water color and we were introduced to pastel art. Since then, it's been a long while I have not held a brush until the last 2 days. I felt so inspired sharing my skills with the kids. It was a day that ends beautifully for me savoring the masterpiece by each kid.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
The Secret
Remember that I wrote on buying The Secret book at $14.00 in a local bookstore? Whee...just discovered that it's cheaper on www.amazon.com. You can get it for even $11.99.
I am an amazon.com customer. I once searched for an Albert Hammond album in so many stores, in a few countries and finally found it at amazon.com. Have purchased a few books there as well. Very reliable service. I really am a happy camper...!
I am an amazon.com customer. I once searched for an Albert Hammond album in so many stores, in a few countries and finally found it at amazon.com. Have purchased a few books there as well. Very reliable service. I really am a happy camper...!
A New Beginning - The Secret
I have been thinking for the past few days on starting my own blog and contemplating what to write about. This morning I explored www.blogger.com and just get on with it and wheee...here I am.
As a trainer who loves gadgets, I lost the receiver for my powerpoint remote presenter ever since the end of February. Each time I travelled, I will hunt for a gadget shop, do a quick survey on the various selection and somehow or rather something held me from buying it. Last week a friend recommended a particular brand and ordered for me. The remote is due to arrive today. The thing is, ever since I viewed The Secret on DVD which I got from a friend, I started to have an order list on a daily basis on the things I wanted in life. Perhaps, the request vibration on the remote presenter is one of them.
An amazing thing happened this morning! As I rummaged through my stuff to look for my black diary, I found the remote! I sent a message to my friend to cancel the order. That was a savings of $85.00. Isn't that abundance?
I have also been preaching on Abundance versus Scarcity Consciousness and I discovered that the more I speak on it to my audience, abundance started to flow into my life. The Secret was one of them. I missed one viewing once and ever since that moment, I have been wanting to watch it until last weekend a friend gave hers for me to watch. I watched with my 15-year old daughter. She was excited about it.
On June 5th, I asked a young insurance agent that I am mentoring, to watch it and yesterday over lunch, I asked him to brief me on what he has learned. He was excited about it and shared that he would make a collage of his dreams or order list and frame it.
My friend who gave The Secret DVD to me bought the book for $18.00 and I got it for $14.00. That was a savings of $4.00 for me! Another form of abundance in my life. I want to urge all of you out there to read the book or view the DVD of The Secret. Try it and perhaps we can share the benefits of how our life unfold as we practice the concepts.
As a trainer who loves gadgets, I lost the receiver for my powerpoint remote presenter ever since the end of February. Each time I travelled, I will hunt for a gadget shop, do a quick survey on the various selection and somehow or rather something held me from buying it. Last week a friend recommended a particular brand and ordered for me. The remote is due to arrive today. The thing is, ever since I viewed The Secret on DVD which I got from a friend, I started to have an order list on a daily basis on the things I wanted in life. Perhaps, the request vibration on the remote presenter is one of them.
An amazing thing happened this morning! As I rummaged through my stuff to look for my black diary, I found the remote! I sent a message to my friend to cancel the order. That was a savings of $85.00. Isn't that abundance?
I have also been preaching on Abundance versus Scarcity Consciousness and I discovered that the more I speak on it to my audience, abundance started to flow into my life. The Secret was one of them. I missed one viewing once and ever since that moment, I have been wanting to watch it until last weekend a friend gave hers for me to watch. I watched with my 15-year old daughter. She was excited about it.
On June 5th, I asked a young insurance agent that I am mentoring, to watch it and yesterday over lunch, I asked him to brief me on what he has learned. He was excited about it and shared that he would make a collage of his dreams or order list and frame it.
My friend who gave The Secret DVD to me bought the book for $18.00 and I got it for $14.00. That was a savings of $4.00 for me! Another form of abundance in my life. I want to urge all of you out there to read the book or view the DVD of The Secret. Try it and perhaps we can share the benefits of how our life unfold as we practice the concepts.
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