A Singaporean In Australia

I had been giving the boss lifts to work for a couple of days because his car broke down. We were in earlier than usual this morning, no one else was in. Barely 5 minutes upon arrival, the dark clouds which shrouded the entire Perth sky throughout our 30 mins drive finally unleashed their might and sent rain pouring. It would be one of the heaviest rain I had experienced since my arrival. Billions of raindrops smacked mercilessly on the color bond sheets 4m above me, raising the decibels comparable to those in Singapore. Somebody ever told me it never rains like Singapore over here and my respond was the somebody never gets out often enough.

I received a call from the hospital who asked for my agreement to bring forward my first post-op follow up at Royal Perth Hospital. It would be better if the girl had told me it was brought forward because someone else cancelled his appointment and there was a slot. Instead, she had to say, 'The doctor wish to see you earlier.' That was enough to make me worry for the next two weeks. That new appointment date is today.

This morning, I received a long email from a fellow Singaporean brother residing in Sydney, all but one year older than me who generously shared with me his own ordeals with cancer over the past 2 years. The colleague at work who told me not to "stress yourself over the company" was back to the "you have to do this and that" mode soon enough. Unlike colleagues, friends and probably even family, who will get used to the fuss and eventually forget that I ever had cancer, only cancer patients such as the sender who asked not to be named truly understand how I feel all the time. That wasn't a bad thing. I didn't want to be reminded as a cancer patient and be treated like a handicap. I am the only person responsible for my health and nobody else should be troubled my own negligence.

The amended appointment date, the storm and the email all fell on the same day, a gentle wake up call to coax me out of blissful land and face reality. By late afternoon, I will expect my lab results and the doctor's recommendation to put me through whatever I needed to.