The Bionic Woman

Bill here. Kate's surgery went swimmingly, though rather long. So I guess it'd be more of a 1km freestyle then a 100m butterfly. Hmmm... surgeries and swimming have absolutely nothing in common... unless you count the fact that yer mostly naked for both.

But I digress. The surgery was great, and the bionics are expected to come online sometime later this week. No signs of cancer anywhere... but the doctors did take a couple biopsies and some peritoneal washings to make sure. Lab results in a week (but we're optimistic). They did take a short section of her small intestine out - apparently it had adhered to her abdominal wall after the last surgery. They also cleaned up adhesions around her left fallopian tube and ovary. Doctor's not terribly optimistic that it won't happen again, unfortunately. But he did tell Kate that the more she got up and moved around the less likely adhesion would occur.

So Kate's been sitting, walking, and farting up a storm for the past few days. She's had intermittent fevers (assumedly from the healing process), and some low blood pressure problems (nurses think it's cause she won't stay still). But most of these issues have disappeared over the last couple of days.

She hasn't eaten in five days, and is feeling a little crazy because of it. I woke up this morning to find her gnawing on her Nintendo in her sleep (also found teeth marks on my fingers... but I may have done that myself). She started with a little water today - and will move on to liquids for lunch. She should graduate to yogurt and blended foods tomorrow morning. She's quite excited about this - though she says she would prefer a burrito or some noodles.

So that's the news. She's doing fine - should be out of the hospital by Friday. Her new and improved bionic intestine will start digesting food with a vengeance by early next week. Okay it's not bionic - just a little bit shorter.

More later. Thanks for the support and prayers! She'll be back online soon!

Bill

Thank You

Thank you, Donna, for your words of comfort. They always calm me down.

Thank you, Aunt Bonnie, for your words of encouragement. Your positive outlook helps lighten up the whole situation.

Thank you, the entire Martins family, for your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you, Lana, for the text message all the way from Newfoundland. Yes, I'm very excited about seeing you again very shortly.

Thank you, Lisa, for taking the time from entertaining the in-laws, the usual X'mas frenzy, and bulking up Jordy to write to me. Your "milk shake" story still cracks me up. May I suggest next time let Scottie do the shaking?!

Thank you, Jacqueline, for the two messages in a day (what a treat). Glad to know you're feeling well, looking gorgeous, and that everything's going well with Carlos. Can't wait to meet him.

Thank you, Maddy, for your support. Sometimes we get too wrapped up in our own peephole views of the world and could very easily lose sight of the grand scheme. Thank you for reminding me what I should be thankful for and take pride in.

Thank you, Mom, for being the amazing mother you are. I know it's not easy for you, but thank you for not puking before I do (you know what I'm talking about).

Thank you, babe, for being here. It would've been much tougher without you. Thanks for putting up with me. Thanks for holding me up when I'm down. I love you.

Thank you all. I'll see you in a few days!

Tis the Season

There's really not much Christmas spirit here. Bill and I decided to have our little Christmas at home.

On the 24th, Bill told me that Christmas day back home means cold cuts and movies, and that we were going to make eggnog (We couldn't find eggnog anywhere in this town. What a shock).
I was thrilled 'cause (1) I love eggnog and (2) I've always wanted to know how eggnog's made. It's kind of embarrassing but it took me much longer than anticipated in the supermarket 'cause I didn't know how to say "Rum" in Chinese. People asked me what it was for, but then I realized I didn't know how to say "eggnog" in Chinese either. Anyway, after prolonging the sound "rrruuuuummmm", the woman at the liquor store finally understood what I was looking for. Turned out, the Chinese word for "Rum" is exactly the same as the Chinese word for "lime". Go figure! I also bought lots of yummy cheeses and meats. I was very excited about making eggnog.

Christmas morning came. The first thing I did was cleaning up the kitchen. Well, how could we make eggnog in a messy kitchen? While I cleaned, Bill went out to get some coffee. We had French toast for brunch. Later in the afternoon, we had French Truffle Brie, Gouda, Salmon spread, ham, turkey breast, and whole wheat crackers. We also watched "The Contract" (with Morgan Freeman and John Cusack) and "Orange County". I kept on wondering when we were gonna make eggnog, but every time I asked, Bill's answer was always, "Later, Babe. Now it's not the time." .... as if there was "a time for making eggnog".

After the movies, we played some video game.
There was still no sign of any eggnog-making activity.

When it finally turned dark, I nearly gave up. Bill put on "The Christmas Story" for me and went into the kitchen.... Nope! Not to make eggnog. He wanted brownies.

I, more than anything, wanted to make eggnog.





Finally when the brownies were about done, Bill came into the living room and announced, "I'm making eggnog." I shot straight up from the couch, grabbed my camera, and ran into the kitchen.
His right arm was sore of whipping egg whites without a whisk. I was shocked by how much sugar was needed for making eggnog. No wonder people say eggnog's extremely fattening. It didn't matter much though 'cause it turned out fabulicious!

I didn't take more pictures while we were making it 'cause I had to help. I didn't take more pictures afterward 'cause we were too busy drinking eggnog and having brownies while watching "The Christmas Story".

I went to bed wondering if my tummy's gonna burst!

Boxing Day

After a day cooped up in the house, we went out for Boxing Day dinner with friends. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Taipei -- La Casita. I wanted to have some good food before checking myself into the hospital tomorrow.


Ben showed up with a black eye.
He said he got it from Jingjing (his wife) because she didn't like the Christmas gift he got her. Since Jingjing wasn't there with us at dinner, Amber demonstrated how it was done.


Simon was feeling under the weather. When he wasn't eating, he spent most of the time sitting in the corner with his scarf on his face.
We thought he looked a bit like a terrorist.



With my tummy full of all sorts of yummy goodness, I'm now ready to spend a few days in the hospital.

The surgery is postponed til next Friday, December 28th.
I have a week's time to get rid of the cough.

I know I haven't written in a while.

Still coughing. School's finished. I'm officially on vacation.

Went and did an ultrasound last Thursday. The left ovary looked clean. The cyst that was there disappeared. However, there is a body of fluid on the outside of the ovary. The doctor suspects it to be adhesion from the initial surgery. He also suspects that it may be in the tiny space between the ovary and the fallopian tube, which may make it difficult to conceive. We scheduled a surgery for Friday, December 21st. It's set to be endoscopic, checking out what's going on inside, do biopsies, and repair the adhesion. Only if the adhesion is worse than expected and the doctor decides to repair it manually will we do a general laparatomy. In other words, I might end up with three holes in my tummy or another "zipper" down where the old incision was. We won't know until the doctor has seen what's going on inside.

Bill's calm with this "This is life" attitude.

I'm done being a baby (I think) and now I just want to get it over with.

Gotta go see a doctor about this cough though.

Bloom Babies Bloom

This is kind of weird.
Three consecutive postings about babies.... What's going on here?

As soon as I saw Aunt Bonnie's comment on the posting about my lazy Sunday with Sabrina, I emailed Bill and asked if he knew anything about this mysterious baby. Bill's on a remote island in Thailand, so it took him a few days. Then little Jordy Sebastien arrived and woke me up. But I was still wondering who's this baby Aunt Bonnie spoke of. Though Bill and I already email one another at least once a day, we also arrange phone dates. Tonight Skype didn't work on his end of the line, so we chatted online.

I had to ask.

Kate Chang says: so did you find out anything about this new baby in your family?
thebilliam says: no... still haven't heard back from them.
Kate Chang says: probably a cousin, eh?
thebilliam says: wait - just got it in an email i hadn't read yet.
thebilliam says: sister - julie.
Kate Chang says: julie's pregnant? again?
thebilliam says: yeah - so it'll be her second!
Kate Chang says: julie... is naddie's mom?*
thebilliam says: yep
Kate Chang says: she's a great mom! I'm excited for her

*I'm sorry... I always have to double check who is who with Bill. I think it'll get easier once I put faces to the names.

Then we went on talking about my effort to shake off this nasty cold and his attempt to put on a great tan.

So congrats, moms!
I'd love to babysit... but only when they've reached 5 months of age (wink wink).

Meet Jordy

I hung up the phone with Lana in Vancouver and tugged myself in. That was 2AM my time. I had set my alarm for 9 'cause I've got a company class today at noon. My cough kept me up most of the night. The last time I woke up was 7:23. I was finally warm and asleep when the house phone screamed with a voice as hoarse as my own (note to self: must remember to adjust the ring tone). Unwillingly, I wiggled my body over to where the phone was. With blurry vision, I read from the caller ID: 0021604 . "That's Vancouver." I picked up the receiver and slowly sat up on the bed.

"Hello? *cough*"

"Kate! It's Lana. I know I woke you up, but you woke me, right? Blahblahblahblahblah.. hahahahaha..... blahblahblahblahblahblah... Lisa blahblahblahblahblah, right? blahblahblah."

Lana? Wasn't I just on the phone with you a few hours ago? You didn't call just to get me back 'cause I woke you up when I called you..... or did you?

Lana was full of excitement. She was practically yelling into the phone, and her speech (rather, her long strings of sound) would burst into laughter from time to time. Combined with the fact that she's from Newfoundland and I was half asleep, I felt like an ESL student taking a listening test.

"Blahblahblahblahblah brunch, right? Anyway, blahblahblah snow storm blahblahblahblahblah. Blahblahblahblah Lisa didn't show. Blahblahblahblah Jordy Sebastien blahblahblahblah.."

"Okay," I blinked hard a few times to force myself awake. "Process FAST, Kate." I commended.

Yes. I knew about the brunch date. Okay, Karen texted about the snow in Vancouver. Hmm..... That's very un-Lisa-like not to show up to a girls' date, especially considering Lana's been out of the country for a few months. Wait! Who the hell is Jordy Sebastien?

"Who the hell is Jordy Sebastien?" I asked.

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID! HAHAHAHAHA..... Kate, blahblahblahblahblah..."

"What?" I was really confused.

"Anyway, just call Lisa. blahblah I tried calling her but blahblahblahblah 'cause blahblahblahblahblahblah Jordy Sebastien."

I computed in my foggy brain: Lisa didn't show up for brunch with one of her best friends who's been away for a few months. There's a big snow in Vancouver. Lisa was unreachable on her cell. Okay, should I panic now? And who the hell is Jordy Sebastien anyway?

Eventually I figured it out (and I know I could've done it quicker but I was half asleep, okay?) Then Lana and I started screaming at each other on the phone (well, I tried. My voice would break and I was coughing like mad)! He arrived three weeks early and already messed up one of his mom's appointments. Way to go, Little Beast.

Welcome to the world, Jordy Sebastien.