Blogging from Batam

Halo, selamat pagi dari Batam!

Tumbe lagi menunaikan hajat hidup, hayday udah dipanen semua dan i just don't watch tv. Jadi cerita2 aja yaa..

We're on our 1 night honeymoon! Tujuan hakikinya adalah nengok Miranti ke Singapur tapi sekalian nostalgia ke Batam (padahal bokek).

Jadi, kemarin Tumbe jemput ke kantor lalu kita ciao ke Batam. Asik bangettt.. Gandengan, melenggang, rebutan main game-nya Litu di hp Tumbe dan becanda-becanda.

It's not that I don't miss u girls.. Tapi it's been a while. We have valid reasons on not taking the kids to visit Mir because the kids have all of the possible viruses on their hairs, nails, etc. Karena belum bisa jaga personal hygiene mereka kan. And it's the right time to pay Mir a visit because kita serumah nggak ada yg batpil! So.. Yip.. Peeeyyy!!

Tumbe udah lama jalan sendiri kayanya, jadi beberapa kali akik ketinggalan beberapa step. Woy.. Sabar bae boy, bininya ketinggalan! Oleh karena itu, akik jadi digandeng dan ditenteng terus. Uhuuuyy..

Waktu lagi makan roti O di airport, Tumbe kaget "Anjrit... Kaget aku liat ada cewe cantik. Taunya bayangan kamu di kaca" Ciyee gombal nih yee.. Mau minta apa siih? Ucuk ucuk ucuk..

Di pesawat juga holding hands dan tangan Tumbe kembali membasah pas take off n landing. Kok nggak ada perkembangan Tumb? Haha 3.5 tahun belakangan ga pegangan tangan naik pesawat karena sibuk nyusuin or mangku kirain ada perkembangan haha.

Tumbe read newspaper, I read gossip column. Lalu kita berdua bahas betapa ribetnya baca koran. Harus dibalik-balik :))) And of course I discussed over million times betapa galaknya abang gua waktu sd diwajibkan summary headline Kompas. Sulit amat assignment Mas.

Nonton in flight entertainment, I watched Tabu*a Rasa. Trs memekik "Ada nama aku!!!" Tanpa sebelumnya copot headphone. Hahaha.. Mungkin utk pertama dan terakhir kalinya ada namaku di bagian thank you filem. Hahaha.

Sampai Batam, dijemput orang hotel. Trs check in trs lgsg makan seafood. Oh iya, salah satu background kenapa lewat Batam soalnya Tumbe sering business trip ke Batam n katanya seafoodnya mantap. Okelah, aku pengen liat Bamb, kamu makan ikan. Lalu, menggila lah kami. Dengan hepoh, gunggung, rajungan, kepiting, ikan, tapis kemudian abis 800ribu berdua bahahaha. Abis semua pula makanannya. Likeeee!

Si Tumbe sangking pengen nunjukkin Batam minta lewat jalan yg penuh pemandangan ke tukang taksi. Makan juga mau yg ada ferry-nya. Trs tukang taksinya jawab: "Tak adalah pemandangan malam malam begini Bang. Ferrypun sudah tak ada yang lewat. Lagipula ferry terlihat pula dari kamar hotel Abang besok pagi." Bahahahahahahaha. Thank you Bamba for the effort :*

Balik ke hotel, sekarang baru bangun deh. Nanti jam 12 naik ferry ke Spore.

Jadi inget loh. Dulu pacaran naik ferry.. Namanya juga pegawai baru kerja kalo ngapel via Batam krn fiskal cuma 500ribu. Trs kalo lagi sendiri balik ke spore lewat Batam, pas di perairan Singapura sinyal putus putus dan ilang rasanya.. mencelosssss.. Oh anak-anakku.. Long Distance Relationship boleh juga dicoba. Tapi jangan jauh-jauh. Yang lucu-lucu aja. Kalaupun Amerika or Eropa kalian akan beli tiket sendiri kan? Bukan Mamah kan? Ya kan? Kan gadis gadis independen kan?

:D

Have a nice Saturday!

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Miranti

This is a story about our dear friend, Miranti.

To Tumbe, Miranti is his big sister that he never had. Miranti is Ricky's sister, and that makes her Tumbe's sister too.

To me, Miranti is a girl friend to our stories, others stories and also a place to ask for the best coffee place in town.

To Lituhayu and Amara, Miranti is their OntiMir. Yang setiap business trip kemana-mana selalu bawain oleh-oleh. OntiMir juga OntiMir mereka yang selalu hadir di hari kelahiran mereka dan selalu tau cerita update tentang mereka.

It was around August, when I noticed, Miranti was bothered by constant pains. She was constantly tired, got ulcers all around her mouth and throat, and pain on her knees. I followed up her journey. Doctor hoping. From dentist to immunologist. I know her family quite well, they are the one who built our house, Om Wi. I know that Om Wi, just like I do, have a mega big concern on health and being healthy. I trust Miranti was in good hands.

So I sent her a chocolate pie.

She thanked me and said sorry that she did not have the chance to eat the pie because it arrived just when she was about to leave her house to Singapore, for a second opinion.

And I could not be more relieved that she did not have the chance to eat my chocolate pie..

Because, later on, the doctors restricted her to eat anything that does not come in single package, raw, or not hygiene guaranteed.. Due to her zero immunity.

She was cheerful and act like nothing happened or will be happening when she updated me: "I'm going to do bone marrow test (biopsi sumsum tulang belakang) tomorrow".

Shaking, I consulted with my colleague who also happens to be a doctor. "Semoga Lupus ya Nit. Atau kelainan darah yang lain.." and I asked Miranti: "Ada rash nggak Mir? Di kulit?" dan dijawab: "Nggak kok Nit". And I started to pray, even harder.

The next news I knew was from Tumbe. 8 years of togetherness, over fights, over failures, over mistakes, I've never seen any single tear on his eyes. But not that morning. His voice was trembled, his eyes were teary. "Gic, kamu udah tau Miranti sakit apa?" | "Hah? Belum. Sakit apa??" |" Leukimia akut. We need to go to Singapore asap." *masih merinding*. Sepanjang perjalanan sampai kantor, kita berdua sama-sama nanar dan termangu. Sambil cari-cari informasi tentang penyakitnya dan cari tiket ke Singapur.

Unfortunately, batuk pilek selalu melanda kita berdua dan Miranti sama sekali nggak boleh kena virus karena immune system-nya yang nihil. Ibaratnya kalau kita batuk, Miranti bisa jadi kena pneumonia. Dan lain lain. Akhirnya, what we can do is to support Ricky in Jakarta.

Ricky showed her love to her sister in a very elegant way.. Nggak ada pitty party, dia cerita dengan runut tentang Miranti sambil kita makan malam. Beberapa kali tarik nafas, dan setiap dia tarik nafas, mataku basah. Terutama waktu Ricky bingung mau kasih kado apa ke Miranti, nada dan tatapan matanya bagaikan pengen kasih kado ke pujaan hati dan takut salah. "Kasih kado dia apa ya? Make up, tapi mengandung chemicals. Tas, dia nggak pake.. Buku, nggak suka.. Bingung gue..." Awww Rickyyy.. *still single anyway, for a limited period*

Jadi, diagnosa Miranti adalah Acute Monocytic Leukemia. Miranti harus di chemotheraphy secepatnya dan jika memungkinkan, transplantasi sumsum tulang belakang.

Menjelang cycle pertama kemoterapinya, I asked the kids to to pray for her. Not just my kids, but also my family's, Gengger kids and Geng Makan kids. Semoga doa-doa malaikat cilik cepat didengar supaya OntiMir tidak merasakan sakit yang berlebihan dan kuat menjalani segala prosesnya. Pasti banyak anak-anak kecil lainnya yang doain Miranti. Karena OntiMir selalu thoughtful dan sayang sama anak-anak kecil. And, also Fluffy, her dog. Pasti Fluffy juga doain. Our guardian angels.

Semua sayang Miranti. Di NUH, pengunjung hilir mudik dateng menjenguk. Tadinya me, Wulan and Pepe berencana untuk take turns supaya jangan ada kekosongan di wiken. Not happening. Wiken selalu full house! That's our girl! Betapa banyak orang yang sayang sama Miranti sampai berbondong-bondong terbang ke negeri seberang untuk menengok. Bukan cuma temen, tetapi juga kolega. Ex boss kantor pertama, ex boss kantor kedua, dan tentunya current boss-nya. According to one of her bosses, Miranti Rachmatsaleh is young, beautiful, positive and always full of energy. No wonder, semua sayang dan turut mendoakan.

She smiled a lot.

Sekarang Miranti has gone through her 3rd cycle of chemoteraphy. Tertatih-tatih for sure. Tapi dia selalu positif dan ceria. Kadang-kadang, I forgot that she's in bed receiving treatments waktu ngobrol-ngobrol. And I have to limit myself untuk jangan lama-lama ngobrol karena Miranti pasti capek banget. I tried not to be annoying :D

Hari ini, hari ke-32 pasca Miranti transplantasi sumsum tulang belakang. How cool is that!

OntiMir is a strong gal! Stories behind people who wants to be her donors juga menyesakkan dada. Betapa Ricky berharap penuh gen-nya bisa compatible sepenuhnya dengan gen Miranti. Dan betapa Miranti was being so reluctant to have Ricky as her donor. Tetapi, ternyata ada gen yang nggak compatible dan Miranti dapet donor dari bank donor. Ah, siblings love..

Hari ke-32 pasca transplantasi adalah sama halnya dengan bayi berusia 32 hari. Miranti terlahir kembali! Semua organ-nya belum sepenuhnya mature. Sama persis seperti bayi baru lahir.  Oleh karenanya, Miranti harus dijaga baik-baik kesehatannya sampai 100 hari pasca tranplantasi dan semoga semua selnya berkembang dan compatible dengan sumsum barunya. Happy Birth Day, kesayangan kami!

She's still smiling a lot.

Perjalanannya masih sangat panjang. Immunity-nya belum sampai 1%. Tapi, Miranti pasti bisa! Kalau kata Pepe, she is that strong.

Mari kita luangkan waktu sejenak untuk berdoa untuk Miranti supaya tidak merasakan sakit yang berlebihan, disembuhkan dari penyakit dan diberikan kekuatan. Aamiin.. If you want to support her or you happen to know her, please do leave some comments on this blog.

Oh, her boss created this Caring for Miranti project. Please click this link for financial support.

Thank you very much.. Semoga segala kebaikan dan kemurahan hati untuk mendukung Miranti dibalas oleh Yang Maha Kuasa secara berlipat ganda. Aamiin..

Miranti, I know you read this. We love you, Strong Gal! Lituhayu and Amara (the virus centre) are waiting to see you. Litu will be judes as usual, but once you piggy back her to buy cupcakes, she will kiss you on your cheek. While Amara, the shy girl maybe too shy to say hi to you, but she'll smile at you. I promise.

Get well soon, and come back home!

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