Breast cancer – the most common cancer worldwide and leading cause of cancer death among women – disproportionately affects individuals in low- and middle-income countries. Breast cancer 5-year survival rates in high-income countries exceeds 90%, compared with 66% in India and 40% in South Africa.
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The most common NEW cases were breast cancer (2.26 millions)! It has overtaken lung cancer’s place!
New cases of lung cancer is in the second place (2.21 million cases), followed by colon and rectum (1.93 million cases); prostate; skin (non-melanoma); and stomach (1.09 million cases).
Cervical cancer is not in this top list. It used to be higher than breast cancer decades ago. Have systematic screenings and HPV vaccination played a big role?
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The most common causes of cancer DEATH in 2020 were: lung (1.80 million deaths); colon and rectum; liver ; stomach; and then breast (685 000 deaths).
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Breast cancer incidences is now the most common… displacing lung cancer.
Have increased awareness and early screenings increase the number?
Have these strategies conversely lower the number of breast cancer deaths, as compared to the other cancers?
This message was forwarded to me through social media. I can’t help agreeing that leadership matters…. at least for the sake of a country and our future generations!
Leadership matters…
… SINGAPORE 4th PM
Singapore has chosen its 4th PM. After 4 years of strict, tedious filtering & performance index review applied on 4 outstanding candidates. Finally, Mr. Lawrence Wong was chosen to take the responsibility as the 4th PM Singapore.
Mr.Wong a Double Degree & PhD holder from Harvard University in Economics was selected after he received the highest score in Character, Perfomance, Integrity, Quality & job KPI.
Mr. Lawrence Wong scored ZERO in ; Failures, Defaults, Accuses, Warnings or Penalty on criterias as follows;
Example of some KPI…
Public Complaints.
Police Traffic Summons.
Public Summon.
Racial hatred Statements.
Corruption / Bribery.
Legal Court cases.
Tax fraudulent.
Public Votes.
Physical fitness.
Personal Life.
Abuse of Power.
FBI, CIA, Interpol checks.
World Leaders popularity.
Political Achievements.
Public or Media speech.
In an official statement current PM Lee has already started handing over duties & soon to vacate his position as Prime Minister.
Currently Singapore is Ranked a Developed Country / Nation with Excellent GDP plus Gold reserve of over 3 Trillion Dollars. All achieved with just 3 Prime Ministers Performances since breaking away from Malaysia
~ THE END ~
Lawrence is originally from Ipoh Malaysia Migrate to Singapore and now a Singaporean
We arrived at Malacca, where Portuguese, Dutch, English and Japanese had claimed this land before, historically. The famous general Cheng Ho’s legacy was sighted even on shops’ signage!
Staying inside an old heritage building is a novelty. It was reassuring to see nice modern interior designs with second generation fire sprinklers and smoke detector in the room. There are many windows that opens out to the exteriors.
And… Malacca people are spoilt for choice with cheap delicious food!
Parkinson’s disease: Three steps forwards and two steps back
Old man walking (Photo by Safa Baku0131rcu0131 on Pexels.com)
When I was a student, I met a male nurse walking a patient with Parkinson’s disease to the toilet.
“He is taking ages at the rate he is walking! It’s like taking three steps forward and two steps backward! I told him it would be faster for him to use a urinal on his bed!” Mr. Lee kept quiet at that remark. His mask-like face showed no expression. With a flexed body, he shuffled in a frustratingly slow, yet festinating gait. His thumb and forefinger rubbed in a pin-rolling tremor.
He never wet because he would request to go to the toilet earlier to avoid losing control of his bladder.
A senior walking pass, “Mr. Lee, I see you are walking and exercising. Very good, keep it up!”
Later the senior called a few of us aside, “be careful what you say! For a headmaster, to lose control over his movements can be a depressing condition. He may keep quiet, but he is sharp. He understood what you said! We need to treat patients with dignity and respect!”
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Not long ago, I met a male retired banker in a pottery class with me.
“I have Parkinson’s disease. That’s why I am here!” He was trying to slow down the progression of motor disability. And he was very creative and tidy in his pottery work!
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Research and management of people with Parkinson’s disease have improved a lot since.
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pottery work (Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com)
I grew up in a family where all my siblings were Chinese-educated. But my children grew up speaking English, Malay and Chinese dialect (Hokkien). I started reading the “Peter and Jane” series to them at the age of two. Oh, my kids’ English is about some of the amusing words they used as kids!
Tasting food (Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com)
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I read “The Taste Of Chocolate (Flash Fiction #35)” by Haoyando. It reminds me of a person with oesophageal cancer who suffered from dysphagia and could not swallow food.
A feeding tube was inserted through the nose straight to the stomach. Liquid food was fed several times a day.
Sometimes, the carer would feed him small spoonfuls of porridge with fish or minced meat. Slowly he would chew and roll the food inside his mouth with his tongue. Then he would spit the chewed food into a bowl.
The carer would strain this mushy food through a siever. This was mixed with the remaining liquid and fed through the naso- gastric tube.
That way he got to masticate the meat with his teeth, stimulated the taste buds on his tongue, and mixed the food with his oral salivary enzymes.
We must grateful for the ability to savour the little moments of joys satiating food!
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Quotes:-
Food is not just eating energy. It’s an experience. – Emoovio
In a Town A, there were five bakers. Each employed five apprentices. So there were twenty five apprentices in employment.
Two bakers were not happy with the town mayor’s new rules and taxation policy. They decided to go to another town B to set up their business. So there was less opportunity for employment in town A.
Now in town B, there are eight bakers, creating more job opportunities there! So the youths from town A moved to town B to seek employment.
This is a simple analogy of businesses, job opportunities for the youths, and supplies meeting demands economically.
Don’t kill the geese that lay the golden eggs, then there will always be enough pies to go around for everyone!
“92nd story” First published: May.23.2019 Once upon a time in a kingdom, the king suffered pain in his eyes. Many different doctors visited him but none of them were able to cure the king’s pain. The King’s right-hand minister suggested: “There is a wise man in the Kingdom who knows everything, let him […]
Are you listening to one's endless nagging?
Is it because one can't seem to get through to you?
Will the list of complaints gets longer
if one cannot find their solutions soon?
Are there hidden messages
that were missed in seemingly 'empty' talks?
Are you listening, listening...
before the sinking, sinking... hand disappears under?
Some people may have the knowledge,
but it takes great patience, efforts, energy and compassion to listen.
It requires knowing
when to step out of the shoe after stepping into it.
And listening in silence is a skill,
interrupting hinders those much awaited expressions and words
that were just coming through...
That is why we have two ears but only one mouth!
A carer for cancer patients once said, 'one must be kind to oneself in order to be kind to others.'
This is because listening
drains one emotionally if one does not recharge oneself in between.
So are you listening?
Quote:-
“Sometimes all a person wants is an empathetic ear; all he or she needs is to talk it out. Just offering a listening ear and an understanding heart for his or her suffering can be a big comfort.” ― Roy T. Bennett
After that blood-pressure rising episode, the three angels went on to take my pulse and respiration rate. I was pleased that they took my blood -pressure correctly. Looking at them smilingly, I turned to look at my table planner. I reminisced the times when I practiced holding my breath under-water.
They shook their watches several times and glanced at each other. Now, they all bent nearer, peering closely at my chest… scratching their heads.
“Yes, finished?” still holding my breath as much as possible.
“Your pulse rate is 80 per minute, but, but… your respiration rate is only four per minute!”
I laughed softly, “ok, ok, I was just pulling your legs! Now I will breathe normally!” They heaved a sigh of relief, completed their tasks, and got my initial into their log books. Teaching can be fun, too!
Can teaching be fun? [Photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels.com]
These PNC student-nurses had to learn how to take vital signs among themselves, on their seniors, and then, on their lecturers. Only when they had completed that log, were they allowed to do on the patients in the wards.
Decades later, I don’t remember now who they are, but I enjoyed that life-enlightening morning episode.
Thank you, girls!
Quote:-
“The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” —Dalai Lama
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” —Robert Brault
This picture is a reminder about the wow married couples make during their D-day!
How fragile can a marriage be?
An educational psychologist illustrated the second quotebelow that how one squeezes a toothpaste tube (in the middle) became the triggering point for a divorce!
Squeezing the anger … (Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com)
Quote:-
Dave Meurer:“A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.”
Don’t hang on to small annoyances. So many marriages have slowly deteriorated over the smallest, silliest things. Lisa Jacobson
Que sera sera (Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com)
I met many of my former students on the social media. A lot of reflections in our chats, as we reminisced the past years. I usually have to make the first move to connect to them whenever I see their pictures appearing on my site. Many are mothers of teenaged children!
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“…ah, I remember you. You were so timid those days! Now you are teaching the other nurses!Excellent!’
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“… You own two renal dialysis centers? So enterprising!”
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“.. you are a CEO of a cancer hospital! I remember you used to be the top few most of the time!”
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“you are a full-time house wife and mother? But you used to be very good in your studies!”
“So, how are you? Your kids are so big already! How time flies!”
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After some time on the chat, one of them said, “… remember the songs you used to make us sing to improve our English? The song…
Have you seen the moon? (Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com)
I read from others’ posts about the pink super moon. So I was looking for it since yesterday. But the sky is still cloudy! This poem is inspired by the song “Have you ever seen the rain?“
Someone told me yesterday about the pink and super moon
I know! I’ve been looking for some time
The sky is dark and so cloudy I can’t see the super moon You know! The big and pink super moon?
I want to know! Have you ever seen the moon? the big and pink super moon!
Yea, I want to know if it’ll come out tonight the big and pink super moon!
Hidup adalah perjalanan sementara. Sebilangan besar pesakit barah mengaitkan barah dengan prospek kematian. Tetapi sama ada seseorang itu menghidap barah, penyakit lain (Covid-19, serangan jantung, strok, dan lain-lain) atau kecederaan yang tidak disengajakan, hidup adalah sesuatu perjalanan. Menurut Tuan Allan, hidup adalah perjalanan sementara.
Saya berjumpa dengan Tuan Allan di sebuah hospital awam dua dekad yang lalu, ketika saya seorang jururawat muda. Salah satu soalan yang saya ajukan adalah, “bagaimana perasaan anda tentang penyakit anda?”. Sambil mendengarkannya, dia berusaha mencari jalan untuk menjelaskannya kepada saya.
Ini adalah salah satu jawapan paling tenang yang saya dapat ketika itu. – Serena Chen
“Lihat kabel elektrik ini di sini. Ia terpasang pada sumber di dinding. Kehidupan adalah perjalanan sementara (dia menunjuk sepanjang wayar). Menghidap barah hanyalah sebahagian dari perjalanan saya. Tidak lama lagi saya akan kembali ke tempat asal saya. (menunjuk sumber di dinding) – kembali kepada Tuhan, kembali ke syurga. “– Encik Allan
[sementara kita tidak melihat perkara-perkara yang dilihat, tetapi pada perkara-perkara yang tidak dilihat; kerana perkara-perkara yang dilihat bersifat sementara, tetapi perkara yang tidak dilihat itu kekal. Google translated] . while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
[“Jadilah di dunia ini seolah-olah anda orang asing atau pengembara.” (Nabi Muhammad) -google translated]. “in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveller.” (The Prophet Muhammad)
[ “Kami adalah pelawat di planet ini. Kami berada di sini selama seratus tahun paling banyak. Dalam tempoh itu, kita mesti berusaha melakukan sesuatu yang baik, sesuatu yang bermanfaat, dengan kehidupan kita. jika anda menyumbang kepada kebahagiaan orang lain, anda akan menemui erti kehidupan yang sebenarnya. ” – Dalai Lama – google translated]. “We are visitors on this planet. We are here for one hundred years at the very most. During that period we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. if you contribute to other people’s happiness, you will find the true meaning of life.” – Dalai Lama
Laughter (Photo by Rodolfo Quiru00f3s on Pexels.com)
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A group of tourists sat down to try a street food- steamboat. They watched a group on the next table. A local teenager picked up a button mushroom with a pair of chopsticks… slowly, slowly, … into his mouth!
This group decided to try it as a game among themselves. One button mushroom flew to the next table instead! Both groups broke out into laughter!
"... a 100-year-old practicing medical doctor and neurologist and his five tips on how to stay healthy, happy and mentally sharp...
1. I don’t spend my days retired. 2. I don’t let myself get out of shape. 3. I don’t smoke. 4. I don’t restrict myself. 5. I don’t let my knowledge go to waste.
When I was in high school in the 1930s, I told my father that I wanted to take up smoking. He said, “That’s alright with me. But why would anyone want to put anything but fresh air into his lungs when life is so short as it is?”
… I’ll have a martini and New York strip steak occasionally, but not every day.
Mandatory death sentence: God gives, and God shall take
I remember a Muslim breast cancer patient telling me, “doctor told me that I have advanced cancer, and that I have a few months more to live. But I believe in this… God gives, and only God shall decide when to take me!”
Recently, Malaysia's parliament has voted to remove the country's mandatory death penalty, potentially sparing more than 1,300 prisoners on death row.
With mandatory death penalty, prisoners stay longer in prison.
An alternate ‘job placement’ will ensure that the prisoners earn their food and upkeeps within the prison walls, and obtain decent salaries contributing to their families and society.
Quote:
…God gives, and only God shall decide when to take me!
… for every prisoner (who has deviated from life path) has a father, a mother, a wife, children, a family…
Once a man arrived at a village and announced that he would buy monkeys at 100 bucks each. Villagers were very happy, as they started catching monkeys from the nearby forest. The man, as promised gave them Rs 100 for every monkey. It was a good source of income for villagers. The man bought hundreds […]
How to Reverse Diabetes Naturally in 30 Days? Diabetes is a rampant disease found across countries and communities. If you are suffering from Diabetes, you are probably taking oral medications at least 2-times day. Or you could even be using Insulin injections before meals. You are pretty much resigned to the idea of being dependant […]
Tonle Sap (pronounced tone-lay sop) is the largest lake in Southeast Asia. The river that connects the lake to the Mekong River, the Tonle Sap River, has the distinction of being the world’s only river that reverses course twice each year flowing in opposite directions. In 2015, I spent a few days in Siem Reap, […]
If I were a tree,I could stand there still.I would sink deep into my roots andrest from the haste of life. I knowmy work is donebecause I was completely myself. I would know with intuitive certainty,I have grown, I have flowered and borne fruit.I would know about the big letting go before winter. I would […]