He would come back to pick me up & send me to UMMC. Both of us did not think that *the public parking in UMMC would be a friendly place for someone who couldn't blink one of her eyes!
(*I've been using the parking place regularly since late 2007 after T.Mak's stroke. My bad driving, the big Naza & the very bad design of the building-traffic flow, etc had contributed to all sorts of scratches, dents, etc that could be found on the Naza. Glad to say that the place had improved!)
Oopps... as I reversed the Naza out of the gate, realized that glass window on the driver's side MUST NOT be wound down!
The morning breeze that normally feel so good on the face... oooh.. oohh, could not have that today! It dried up the right eye faster. Had to remember touching the upper eyelid, so that it would be forced to close, ie to mimick blinking.
OK, the driving within a 3km distance could be done... but NOT so easy.
Passed to Durrah the *tasbih. She normally choose whatever she wants to recite. However, this time specifically asked her to do "ALHAMDULILLAH". Told her that she (& all of us) still have lots to thank ALLAH swt for, eg I can still move around & drive her to school :)
(*tasbih brought back by your latest umrah Saadah !)
Driving back towards home, my mind was trying to focus on THINGS TO DO / ACCOMPLISH. Not just today, but for the whole week.
I know that I am entering the next phase of my Bell's Palsy: figuring out details, treatments, etc
Had a quick breakfast because I had to take my 6 x 5mg of prednisolone (30mg total).
I looked through my UMMC card & referral letters:
25/5 (Monday): Start of physiotherapy
26/5 (Tuesday): Neuromedical
27/5 (Wednesday): Introduction to Rehabilatation Therapy
28/5 (Thursday): Neuro Lab (to check extend of damage to the nerve)
29/5 (Friday): Ear & Throat
It will be a long week!
Suami dropped me at the main entrance of UMMC & we were both unsure the kind of arrangements of when I should be picked up, etc. One thing for certain he would be picking up Durrah.
I walked over to the other building where the Physiotherapy Unit is located. Registered myself with the referral letter, etc & then plodded myself on the seat to wait.
While waiting, sent out more sms: research collaborators, mantan "auping group", senior grad students (including Ain), etc that I felt should hear the news straight from me.
I also stumbled into a friend from the department who was having an excruciating back problem after a fall, Kak Erah's friend who suddenly had a bad attack on her knee joint & Ain's friend who had a procedure for her Carpal Tunnel Sysndrome (CTS). So, we had our chats in between waitings.
The girl who was assigned to me went through the referral forms which had 'ticks' on what was supposed to be done on me. *She & her superior felt that the information in the form was not exactly correct & so they decided differently on some matters.
(*They looked familiar. I think I had socialized with them before in the past, during visits with T.Mak to the place due to problems she had with her arm-shoulder area. ProfTS had referred her to the place.)
Next she gave me a piece of paper with info on both sides of it:
Front Page: SENAMAN UNTUK OTOT-OTOT MUKA with 12 facial expressions like mengangkat kening, mengerut kening, tutup mata, buka mata, mengerut hidung, senyum, senyum lebar, mengerut dagu, kelihatan sedih, buka mulut, tutup mulut, tiup.
You think kacang, huh?
Well, I couldn't do any of it well... as in the right side of the face didn't want to do anything!
At The Back Of The Page: 5 were listed under the topic ANDA DINASIHATKAN SUPAYA:
1) Jangan baring pada bahagian muka yang terlibat.
*Practising it already :)
2) Lakukan senaman setiap 1 jam seperti yang diajar oleh fisioterapi.
*1 hour daily? Wah, tak buat aktiviti lain macam ni!
3) Sentiasa menutup masa semasa tidur (dengan gauze) & memakai cermin mata semasa keluar dari rumah.
*This is not easy! I would start out doing that, but... my hands would take off whatever was being put on the right eye!
4) Gunakan straw semasa minum.
*Practising that already... if not whatever I drink will meleleh merata-rata.
5) Urut muka ke arah atas & ke telinga, cth boleh gunakan ais semasa mengurut.
*I added the last part about using ice after the little discussion we had
Then the electrotherapy started after she prepared 3 sites for attachments:
1) Just above the forehead
2) In the area below the cheekbone
3) Near the area of the lower jaw
A 15 minutes worth of pulses (I was asked about the limit that I could stand) were given in accordance to the sites set up.
Once done, I sms to a few of my grad students asking them to drive in one car to UMMC main entrance for our exchange of documents :)
As I was walking to the main entrance, stumbled into June with her father. We exchanged news & I thought to myself, "Who else would I be meeting today?"
11.40am: Mui Koon drove by with Joan & Amzari as passengers.
Joan said, "Dr........." in a hopeless kind of tone through the wound down window. http://foolishreport.blogspot.com/2009/05/she-optimist.html
To make matters worse, it so happened I just put in drops of artificial tears into the eye. I was not too good at it, yet, so it did make me look as if I was crying! I tried to tell them that I was not crying, but I didn't think they believe me.
Then, I went back in & stood in line to get my medication but to just realize that I left the prescriptions somewhere :(
Since it was still early, I went up to the level 1 counter for the appointment tomorrow & asked whether I could request to be seen by *Prof KJG. The girl at the counter told me that I would just have to see whoever was available tomorrow, unless of course Prof KJG had agreed to see me.
(*Prof KJG has been seeing Tok Mak both in UMMC & UMSC since we brought her after the stroke, referred by Prof I. We like him. He also had taken time to see Sieaw Ching, one of my former undergraduate students, with her elbow problem :) )
With all the walkings I had to do... Ich haber hunger (one of the few sentences I could still remember from my German 101 in CSUC, i.e. I'm hungry!)
So, to the foodcourt at level 1. Since the meehoon soup was not ready, yet, instead took away soft tofu, rojak, yong tau foo & cendol.
Rushed to the main entrance again to be picked up by Suami. Sempat lagi beli roti-roti Aiman's favourite for breakfast tomorrow (of course butter scotch & chocolate with raisins)!
As I sat in the car, I saw the prescriptions near the ADY's dashboard!
At home, we quickly ate lunch & Durrah asked, "Muka Mama tak boleh bedah ke?" I think she meant plastic surgery. Poor girl!
I thought about the antibiotics prescription for the ear. It was already Monday afternoon & if my problem was related to something in my ear... then, certainly I was not attending to it!
So, I told Suami... he would have to drop me back at UMMC main entrance after dropping off Durrah at her school gate!
The line to handing in the prescription was short. Got the antibiotics for the ear & put it into the ear immediately. Oh yes, while waiting I also stumbled into TN (a former librarian & 'auping'). Again, more exchange of news!
sms a few friends who're quite insistent about meeting me ASAP. Told them to meet me in AMCORP!
Of course Suami felt that it was too many hours that I needed to kill before he could pick me up after picking up Durrah at 6:30pm. I assured him that I would be fine with one of these girls & I was not in the mood of repeating instructions to taxi drivers on how to get back to our home from UMMC. Easier to say "AMCORP" :)
None of them could actually meet me, it was too late in the day.
So, instead, I had a shopping therapy to wind down from my first day experience of this phase of my life as a person having Bell's Palsy!
I cruised & shopped from the ground level, only -- 1 blouse & 2 long skirts for Durrah (from 2 different shops), some stock up stuff from the pharmacy, tall mugs that Amzar could use in his dorm life... & finally, sat myself at Secret Recipe for a piece of carrot cake + a smoothie suggested by the waitress while waiting to go home!
Alhamdulillah, one down & four to go!
That night I asked Joan to set a blog site for me. I had stumbled into hers sometime back & so I know she could set one up for me. Joan obliged :)
Having a blog would be good therapy for myself & I would like the experience to be recorded. Ini semua training audit, kut? Most importantly, I figured that there would be many more days to go, each one bringing different experince.
Maybe my experience could be benefitial to others. When life gives lemon, make lemonade!
***************************************
QUE SERA... SERA of Doris Day:
I asked my mother: What will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?
Here's what she said to me: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see. Que sera, sera. What will be, will be.
When I grew up and fell in love, I asked my sweetheart: What lies ahead? Will we have rainbows day after day?
Here's what my sweetheart said: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see. Que sera, sera. What will be, will be.
Now I have children of my own. They ask their mother: What will I be? Will I be handsome? Will I be rich?
I tell them tenderly: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see. Que sera, sera. What will be, will be. Que sera, sera.
