May 18, 2012

CT scan clear. I was sitting in the doctors office at the cancer clinic reading my bible on my iphone, reading matthew chapter 6-


²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry^(AC) about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.^(AD) Are you not much more valuable than they?^(AE) 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life


and my oncologists walks into the room.  I say, hi Dr Murray, he says, hello Gilbert, I am looking for a tool for another patient, I will be right with you.   35 minutes later, of not worrying, an intern or a resident walks into the room.  This is the conversation

intern- hello gilbert

me- hi

intern- i am DR Craig, i am a resident, so how are you

me- good

intern- thats good, now how have you been feeling

me- tell me what's on the report

intern- what, I er...

me- tell me what is on the report

intern- uh, well, we are still waiting for , see the...

me- am i good or not, was it a clear scan?

intern- we are still waiting for the report, but your bloodwork is good, no raised levels of tumor markers, but we are still waiting for the report

me- so can you go get the report and then we can chat

intern- uh, yeah, i can do that but the scan is clear, nothing unusual on it, just waiting for the actual written report from radiology

me- ok, well thank you, you should tell the patient he is fine first, then you can ask me all the questions you want

intern- yes of course, let me check for the report and i will be back

me- that would be great, why don't you do that

25 more mins...

my regular doc walks in- Gilbert you are fine, things are looking great, you look great, 1 year, congratulations, we won't even need to see you until the end of the summer.  ok

me- yup, thanks Doc.

And Scene...haha, never a dull moment


1 year cancer free- Praise God.

May 17, 2012

Results day- always an interesting one.  Good thing is that I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to think or worry about it.

On a side note.  Looks like we are finally moving to a slightly bigger place.  I have to say- I am a pretty cheap, typical asian but I just spent the best $400 of my life the other day.  We found a place we love and in the area we want to live.  We made and offer and it got accepted,  Then I paid $400 for an inspection on the house.  WOW- this guy was the most thorough guy I have ever met.  I learned more about the place we bought than humanly possible.  It was awesome.  Any of you out there buying a place- get an inspection- and call me for my guy.  I was so reassured that I was buying a great place after his report, made shelling out the deposit a lot easier.

For those of you who know me, you know I hate to pay retail- for anything.(June's friend Glo calls me Good Deal Gil)   I used to say that every person needs to have 2 main hookups in their lives.  You have to have a good mechanic and a good travel agent( 2 industries that can really rip you off).  I gotta say that I may add 2 more people to that list.  We were searching for a new home since before the cancer- it's been a long road and so happy that we finally found something we like after almost 2 years.  The other 2 people you must have in your life is a good realtor and mortgage broker.  When you are going to shell out that kind of money, you want to be able to sleep at night knowing that there are 2 guys that are working for your best interest.  Thank you Sterling Wong and Alex Pang- our realtor and mortgage guy.  You guys made it happen.  Sterling- you are the Jerry Mcguire of real estate- the silent assassin/pitbull of negotiation.  Alex, you got us $$$, which is always nice.  Especially at a low interest rate.  2 christian brothers that I would recommend to anyone and everyone because you guys are diligent and have amazing dedication and resolve.  And I get to move June into a place she loves where Rhys can grow up in. I am forever grateful.  Free cokes all around.

Ok off to work and then doc appt this afternoon.  Will post when I get my results later today.

May 5, 2012

Just your typical Sat morning. Got up. Fired up my laptop and read a few emails. But now I am at life labs getting my routine blood test. I had forgotten about it during the week. I have another Ct scan on the 14th. A year ago today. I was finished my chemo and waiting to see if the treatmen had worked. Seemed so long ago but also seems like just yesterday when I was faced with the uncertainty of a disease that has taken so many. Been very busy lately at work but I continue to see God working around me and I seek his peace in these crazy times. I feel very fortunate to have a job where I have never had a day where I looked at the clock hoping it would go faster. Wondering when it was time to go home. Not once in the last 5 years has that happened. Usually it's looking at the clock wondering where all the time went. I have been in jobs when I was younger that I stared at that clock- Willing it to go faster. Not fun. Well, still waiting for them to call my name and draw about 6 vials of blood. Tumor markers, liver and kidney enzymes, glucose. I will never get use to the needles. But gives me a chance to blog while I wait for my words with fiends, friends to play their words. Enjoy life, enjoy work. Whatever you are doing- enjoy the moment. Living a life of hope or glass half full a lot more fulfilling than going through life on glass half empty mode.

April 29, 2012

Wow, been a while since I posted.   So long they changed the interface on this blog sight.  Hmmm.  It has been an interesting month.  You would think that after something like cancer, everything else would just roll off you like water off a ducks back( I have yet to see water do that off a duck, but it is apparently a saying).  But life continues with its twists and turns.  I am approaching my 1 year anniversary from completing chemo.  Time flies. Another CT scan in 2 weeks.  June and I had to make some important decisions in the last few months.  Things that permanently affect the rest of our lives.  It has been an interesting journey.  I read that most cancer patients that get better, return to their normal lives.  I am fighting to not be part of that statistic.  Thank you all who came out for my sharing at church.  If you missed it, here's the link
http://www.tenth.ca/media.php?pageID=29 .

I am always grateful to Pastor Ken and Pastor David Jones for allowing me to share how cancer changed me and brought me closer to God and my friends and family.  Stress seems to be creeping back into my life, may it be work or family life or life in general.  Today I got to help out for Rhys' sunday school.  About 20 screaming kids and Rhys telling everyone that  I am her daddy and running back to me each time I tried to help a kid.  Like animal territorial stalking.  I am surprised she didn't pee on me to mark her territory.  Kid's are awesome- one kid wouldn't listen to me unless I called him spiderman and another kid kept taking off his shoes and socks.

I have been trying to take more photos lately...here are a few thousand words about my daughter, RHys (don't call me 3, I'm 5) Sofia Yeung...

April 1, 2012

I went to a fundraiser banquet last night for Daybreak Point Bible Camp.  It's a camp that we volunteer at in the summer.  I ran into some people I haven't seen in years.  Made me feel old.  Almost 15 years ago, my friend Chris brought me up there to volunteer.  7 days, 100 kids and a chance to share Christ and your life with them.  Now some of these kids we  met back then are graduating university.  Staff members we use to run around with are now married with kids.  Where did all the time go?  I remember telling a co-worker about the camp years ago and she was astonished.  She said, " you get 2 weeks of holiday a year and you waste 1 week of it volunteering at a kids camp?"  I thought that was funny, the work "waste".  I could sit here ignorantly and say that I have done a lot for these kids I meet.  In truth, this camp has done more for me than I could ever have given back.  I met June up there (that's quite a draw eh- volunteer at a camp, get a girlfriend- should be on the brochure). I proposed to June up there (with chris in bthe bushes and a video camera) I discovered how God works in mysterious ways.  You don't know what kind of impact or how God will use you in the lives of these young people.  I met my life long friends up there.  Sometimes it is just hard to describe- one of those, "you had to be there" situations.  I remember coming back from camp and telling all my buddies about what happened during the week.  They didn't get it.  I remember driving to one of my chemo sessions and thinking about the worst case scenario- if I died, I would not see Rhys grow up at the camp as I had envisioned.  That was one of my big worries, weird.  I went to Daybreak as an adult- never got to experience the life of a camper or a staff kid.  Two years ago, we went up as a family.  Rhys loved it- running around with 100 older kids for a week.  Funny how something as small as a week volunteering at a bible camp- turns into 15 years of memories and lasting relationships.  Where our lives will take us, only God knows.  


Rhys with Uncle Chris

March 18, 2012

Thank you all who came out to day to one of the church services.  I was blessed to see so many faces in the crowd.  Each time I share my story whether it be cancer or my faith, I get to meet so many people that end up encouraging me.  Just the fact that some of you came out just because I had 5 mins of a 90 minute service is touching.  June, Rhys and I are very blessed to be surrounded by so many people that love us and support us in so many ways.  I don't remember if I posted this song before, maybe I did, but I heard a few of them this week that really touched my heart.  I wanted to share with you today.

Fall Apart- Josh Wilson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXOEZJyqdsg

Blessings- Laura Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ

there are a few lines in the blessing song that brings me back to when I was in chemo- and wondering about God's plan for me...some of those wonderings are still coming to fruition.

"Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights 
Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if trials of this life
Are your mercies in disguise?"

I pray that God meets you there, where ever you are.  A place of happiness, sadness or searching.  I pray for his blessings to surround you in every circumstance of life.

And for those who didnt make it out today, I will post the link to mp3 if you want to check it out.  Our church also has a pretty cool easter service.

Later

March 10, 2012

I always said that I didn't want this blog to turn out to be like facebook.  Where I was updating people on what I had for dinner or things like that. (I am not cracking on facebook- i'm just saying)  I guess I always wanted to make sure I had something to say before blogging.  It's been a few weeks and the health is good but life will always continue to present new challenges and trials.  I wanted to post today because I know that this blog has been able to let me share my faith in an unconventional way.  Next Sunday, March 18- I am sharing about my faith in God during my pastor's sermon.  I wanted to officially invite everyone out.  My church has 4 services and I will be sharing at all 4 of them.  Come for the music, come for my pastor's sermon or come for my sharing.  It would be great to see all of you, especially those I hardly ever see.

here are the times and places

Sunday March 18, 2012

9:15am- Tenth Avenue Alliance Church first service- 11 West 10th avenue vancouver

10:15am- Kitsilano Secondary School, 2550 West 10th Avenue (and Trafalgar)

11:15am-Tenth Avenue Alliance Church first service- 11 West 10th avenue vancouver

6:30pm-Tenth Avenue Alliance Church first service- 11 West 10th avenue vancouver

Hope to see you there (if you come for the 11:15 or 6:30 service- i will be around afterwards to catch up)

When it's all said and done- I really think it's the relationships you have in this life that matters the most.  I want to be able to say that I invested in friendships and memories with people to last a lifetime.  There is a reason that when you get together with old friends, you tend to spend most your time talking about t things that you have experienced together.  Not a lot of time is spent on what material things you have attained or even professional achievements.  Funny how that is.