Go ahead

I had wanted to rush home from downtown to accompany  mum to her appointment with her main physician. But it would have meant leaving my sister-in-law alone with her heavy suitcase, and trying to cross town at lightning speed through Friday traffic. Mum told me not to worry, and that she will head to the hospital alone.

Later in the evening, she told me what happened earlier. The doctor took a look at her latest test results and scans. He nodded and told her that things look "not bad" (in Taiwanese, a somewhat pessimistic-sounding language, it means "good").

"Would you like to do another chemo?" he asked.

"Seriously!? I thought I just finished!"

He was just pulling her leg, trying to humour her. Sometimes, in the face of death and illness, you should be able to laugh. You should be able to do something that is not expected, so you can escape the dark lure and demeanour of death and illness. Additional chemotherapy is not necessary, but he has prescribed some medicine that can be taken orally and will have a similar effect of suppressing tumour growth. Two weeks daily, and then one week rest.

"So I am good to go...?" she asked.

"Sure, go travel, go wander around a bit!" the doctor said. Another go-ahead, this one from her main physician, a confirmation of what her radiologist said earlier on Monday, making her even more assured. She can travel for around two months, and it is recommended that she come back for a check-up. Mum looked happy as she told me this, and afterwards I made further plans to travel after we arrive in Canada.

I pulled out the scale, and asked her to weigh herself. In the last four days since she last measured herself, she gained weight by 0.2kg. Not a lot, but at least it is a gain, not a loss. Hopefully she can keep this up and recuperate well enough to fly in exactly a week's time.