BP8 - 30 MEI 2009 : SABTU

Well... the long week was over & basically, facts established:

1) Bell's Palsy with full paralysis of right facial muscle. NOT stroke, Alhamdulillah.
However, damage occurred at facial nerve (7th cranial nerve) as it came out to innervate the whole area of right facial muscles.
Basically, dekat toll keluar highway... belum pecah jadi small roads.
So, all small roads to different areas were affected!
If a specific branch was the only one affected, then it would only correlate to specific concerned area, e.g. the muscles closing the eye only.
It could not be ascertained whether the damage involved the axons or only the myelin (yes... the sausage looking structures made by the Schwann neuroglial).

2) Obvious problems:
- couldn't close eyes even to blink
- breathing through right nostril affected slightly
- eating-drinking-speech affected
- facial expression couldn't be made with the right side

3) If I were to talk much & in my normal way, the face would get "pulled" to the left side.
It's like orang tarik tali, one side is losing... I think, it's more uncomfortable for people who're talking to me when this happened as a conversation progressed.
You see... I didn't get to see how I looked like!

4) Treatments:
- Prednisolone to bring down the inflammation & Losec to reduce nausea caused by Prednisolone.
- Methylcobalt for nutrient supply to the neural tissue.
- Natural tear fluid for the right eye.
- Electrotherapy for the face.
- Massage for the face.
- Rest.

At first we wanted to do a majlis doa selamat (for me & Amzar) but the timing wasn't good.
Too many things happening -- medications to buy from pharmacy, first day of cuti sekolah, some of the kids were just coming back from the different boarding schools by afternoon, Amzar was supposed to go by UIA bus to start his life in Nilai campus, etc.

So, instead, we had this open invitation to family members to visit me the whole of today :p
I know they clan members had been wanting to visit me... worried, curious... the works.
But, with my daily activities & me being tired when I arrived home... having to 'entertain' visitors is not really a welcoming thought.


Had Kak Ijah & Pak Pozi arranged food from Azizan of JE, PJ State -- set nasi putih & lauk, pulut kuning-roti jala.
Of course, I posed, made faces & explained about Bell's Palsy throughout the day.
We were also entertained by CDs brought by Pak Unggai & family on current events at our home state !

Una who came at night with Mat looked tired, herself. Mat was looking forward to his trip to Paris to scout for engineers to be brought back to Msia!
Told Una to be weary of this viral flu-like fever that I think us, females, normally just push it aside. We will just carry on with our punishing-vigorous daily activities of trying to be a good wife, mother, worker, sister, etc etc etc.
At the very least, must take those supplements / madu / whatever lah!

Abang Long-Kak Long, Amin & Elli also came at night... I'm sure partly a visit insisted on by my mother in law. I'm sure Mak Temerloh is very worried about me while she, herself, is not well in Temerloh.
I didn't want to call & talk to her because I think she would think the worse when my speech get affected during the conversation.
I also didn't muster enough courage to talk to T.Mak during this whole ordeal.

The last person left a bit way past mid-night, I think.
OK, so got this part over & done with.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyAZFO8IkM

Surah Al Insyirah (94):

أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ (1

وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ (2

الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ (3
وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ (4
فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا (5
إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا (6
فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ (7
وَإِلَى رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ (8

Yusuff Ali translation:
1: Have We not expanded thee thy breast?
2: And removed from thee thy burden
3: The which did gall thy back?
4: And raised high the esteem (in which) thou (art held)?
5: So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief.
6: Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.
7: Therefore, when thou art free (from thine immediate task), still labour hard,
8: And to thy Lord turn (all) thy attention.

1: Bukankah Kami telah melapangkan untuk mu dada mu?
2: Dan Kami telah menghilangkan daripada mu beban mu,
3: yang memberatkan punggung mu?
4: Dan Kami tinggikan bagi mu sebutan (nama) mu.
5: Kerana sesungguhnya sesudah kesulitan itu ada kemudahan,
6: sesungguhnya sesudah kesulitan itu ada kemudahan.
7: Maka apabila kamu telah selesai (dari sesuatu urusan), kerjakanlah dengan sungguh-sungguh (urusan) yang lain,
8: dan hanya kepada Tuhanmulah hendaknya kamu berharap.

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Sekarang I realized the followings:

- Kalau nak ziarah orang sakit, rasanya baik melawat semasa dia masih berada di hospital.

- Bukan ide yang baik untuk melawat pesakit yang masih boleh bergerak normal di rumah, sebab nanti dia sebuk nak melayan pelawat... terutama jika dia seorang wanita & dia adalah tuan rumah!

- Oleh kerana dia sebenarnya sakit... ziarah kita itu sebenarnya akan memenatkan fizikalnya.

- Tetapi, kalau yang sakit memang betul-betul terbaring... ziarahlah dia di mana saja dia berada :)
Atau sememangnya yang bersakit menjemput, "Tak apa.. datanglah!"

- InsyaAllah, doa-solat hajat, dll lebih sesuai terutamanya digabungkan sekali dengan sms &/atau e mel.
Bahagian sms &/atau e mel tu kira good PR lah :)

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