BP5 - 27 MEI 2009 : RABU DI UMMC

Was actually still up at 3:44am when I received an sms from Khalil via Kak Ha:
Just did a tawaf sunat & solat hajat for MkZ & T.Mak, semoga sembuh dengan segera, InsyaAllah! =)
Jazakallah Khalil!

It was only about 5am when I slept, i.e. after the usual hassles of putting eyepad to the right eye & trying another creative technique to put it in place. Tried using a hair band.. no luck, still didn't work :(

Good that my appointment today at UMMC, i.e. at the Occupational Therapy Unit was for late afternoon. I was at home in the morning & I took time to send out 2 sms firsts:

1) sms to DSHA NeuroRG grad students + Lin Eng + Heida:
Salam. Nice to wake up yesterday late evening to a box of BA donuts + a basket of fruits together with a Get Well card full of wishes. Alhamdulillah, psychologically better, since yesterday ProfKJG ruled out stroke. Thursday neuro lab will check extend of damage so can approximate recovery rate. Physically don't feel so good: 'oozy-woozy'. Maybe effect of increase steroid dosage and/or daily encounter of not so healthy people at UMMC. TQ again!
*Amzari was sent on this errand by the group.
Aiman & Durrah, especially, enjoyed the donuts!

2) sms *Nina to meet me for lunch at UMMC food court level.

Nina had been sending me all sorts of sms related to my Bell's Palsy case: wanting to see me because she would be back in Taiping for school holidays, alternative medications to try, side effects of steroid, etc.
She even told me about the possibility of getting facial hairs. My response to that sms, "I don't intend to take the steroid THAT long sampai tumbuh misai, janggut & jambang lah".

(*Nina, Saadah & Izan were my CSUC room/house mates since way back in 1979 at Bidwell Place, Chico, California, U.S.A. We changed apartments a couple of times after that but we've always stuck together, even when one of us moved out when she got married. We rotated room mates every few months, to ensure that each of us was not stuck with any one person too long a time & this was done throughout the years till we graduated in 1983)

We had the UMMC meehoon soup. The only food with a poster advertising it at the main entrance of the cafetaria! I treated her because I said the meeting was an exchange of what would have been me melayan dia di rumah if she were to visit me at home :) She paid for the dessert.

We chatted about my condition. Nina, the well concerned friend she was & would always be, wanted me to try out some alternative stuff. Told her that I was keeping my options open but I did want to get some facts established first before trying out anything 'unconventional'.

She also voiced out that if she were to be put into my situation, she wouldn't be going about doing things like I was doing, i.e. she would the take the option of 'sitting it out for awhile'.
I told her that if that would have helped, I would also do the same.
I had no problem of others 'looking my way slightly longer' when they saw I had slight difficulties eating, etc. I would just shrug off the situation.
As always, I have full confidence in the good naturedness & the logicness of human being.
In relation to my current case, people should think that it was perfectly normal to see such sights in a hospital.
Well, even outside the hospital, we should expect to see/meet all types of people living in this world. Each has a right to live life as others are, including dining out.
I told Nina, "After all, they might also think that I had always looked that way or looked worse & I had actually improved!"
Nina was all smiles after that!
Sincerely, I do hope that by seeing me (as someone known or unknown to others) living out there in the open.. those in such similar situations or in any situation that put them feeling slightly inferior about themselves (because they feel that they don't measure up to -- what in their mind -- should be normal): SHOULD THINK AGAIN, re-asses matters.
I mean, what is 'normal'? That is a yardstick which should actually consider all sorts of aspects / values depending on the related / relevant factors to the situation.
It is not a value of one for all!

Anyway, back to lunch.... When we took our seat, I saw "long time no see sahabat MY" paying for his food.
In fact that very morning, I was wondering to myself whether I should be informing him & sahabat-sahabat seangkatan dengannya about my situation. Serba-salah...
Well, God took care of that. Here, I stumbled into him & he got to see my condition, himself!

I looked around & couldn't see anyone I knew with him. sms sahabat Zul about MY's presence. When MY walked past where Nina & I were seating, I showed him my Bell's Palsy face & his response, "Dah... jangan melawan Boss :)"
I just laughed off his statement, but in my heart I was thinking, "What in the world is MY talking about? Hey, ingat I masih pegang admin work ke?"
A lady took him to join a group of others. Only then, I received an sms from sahabat Zul on the serious condition of mother of sahabat MY at level 3, ICU. My doas...

Sent off Nina to UMMC's entrance so that she could get a cab. Passed some documents to be picked up by Mui Koon & Mieza from her office.

Then, registered myself at Occupational Therapy. I got myself about 1 hour to kill. Just sat at the waiting lounge sms communicating.

When it was time, a Cik Faridah sat with me, first of course establishing the background of the case.
Then she had an intern sat with us.
They did a few tests to check my coordination, Carpal Tunnel sysndrome & all.
Everything was within the normal range in comparison with the tests I had to do about my right face!

Next, it was the importance of massaging the face: the right types & in the right directions!
A handout with some drawings was used as a guideline & a long mirror was put in front of me to make the learning less awkward and/or less difficult to follow:

1) Touch cheek & press fingers into cheek to assist lift.
Lift cheek *without fingers (*Impossible for me to do!).
Do this for specific side & for both sides.

2) Touch cheek, press fingers into cheek & **pull back toward ear (**Macam letak blusher Puan!)
Pull back cheek *without fingers (*Impossible for me to do!).
Do this for specific side & for both sides.

**Huh??? I hardly used blusher nowadays, except to special functions. Not even sure, I was doing it the correct way. Most of my cosmetic training was done in Chico with Nina, Izan & Saadah. Actually, ALL my cosmetic trainings were acquired, then. We went to the extreme... facial exercise, home blended masks that at times looked like leftover cekodok's batter kept in the fridge!

Memory is one rezeki ALLAH swt which is so very unique. Look at the memories that were being evoked & accessed by my Bell's Palsy situation :)

The intern was then assigned to show me some techniques to handle my right hand Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Told them, maybe I could drop by some other times to get a handout on the matter.
Too much info for me to take in at the sitting.
Tahu pun... ini selalu dalam kelas, selagi ada beberapa saat atau minit pun, ada saja... "just one more slide, huh..."
Ha... Ha..

Once done, I went up to 3rd floor hoping that I could get in to visit mother of sahabat MY's.
No luck. Since Suami could only pick me up on his way back from work (1-2 hours later), instead, called up my room office hoping either *Mui Koon or *Soke Chee could pick me up near office of Medical Faculty Dean's office.
Yes, I am losing weight partly due to the waking I'm doing...
(*Zulfa, Mieza & Amzari have motorbikes... tak sanggup merempit)

It was Mui Koon driving in her normal 'gregarious way' with Soke Chee & Joan in tow. Tried sneaking into office without meeting people because I would like to concentrate on my first face-to-face real interaction with DSHA NeuroRG grad group. Tried to make the meeting as normal as possible & got Amzari to take pictures of me... printed a copy for me & instructed them to print 3 more copies -- for Pjbt Am, Pjbt HEP & for the room.
Lin Eng & NYR also came by... hope they both felt "she'll be ok" by the time I had to leave.

Suami came & we went to pick up Durrah


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I could tell which of my friends have a lot things happening in their lives or not by the way they reacted during my first meeting with them.
The ones who do, can be less difficult to convince that, "Yes, I have this problem now. BUT, myself & the family are coping/managing. Life goes on & I'm still me except for the herot-ness, difficulties in speech, eating & drinking."
Then, we could move on & normally get on the normal griping about the going ons in their lives :)
Those whose lives were not too busy / hectic & living daily activities, seemed to be more affected. They were the ones with slight tinge of sadness on their faces that were more difficult to wipe off.

Ladies & all,
InsyaAllah, with usaha + berkat doa everyone, I will have a speedy & a full recovery.
Ini dah jatuh atas rezeki dugaan masing-masing.
We'll just have to see.

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PREDNISOLONE & KESAN SAMPINGAN

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/prednisone-side-effects.html

Info from the article which I find relevant:

- Prednisone’s side effects are legendary in both the medical & patient communities. Patients usually ingest this non-synthetic corticosteroid drug orally.

- Medical professionals prescribe prednisone for many medical conditions. Prednisone turns into the steroidal product prednisolone after the liver has processed prednisone following administration. Its most common use is as an immunosuppressant that acts on almost the entire immune system. This makes it very useful in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases.
(Prednisone = blue colored small pills of 5mg each)

- The usual adult dose at the beginning of treatment ranges from 20 to 80 milligrams per day.
(I started 30mg for 3 days & then asked to increase to 50mg)

- The side effects of prednisone include adrenal suppression, which can occur with periods of prednisone use to surpass 7 days, Adrenal suppression refers to the body’s inability to synthesize natural corticosteroids, resulting in a dependency on the prednisone taken by the patient.
(My side effects started in the 2nd week of my treatment)

- Doctors do not recommend the cessation of prednisone when the patient has taken it for longer than 7 days. They reduce the dose gradually over a few days in the case of short-term prednisone use, & over weeks or months in the case of long-term treatment. Stopping prednisone treatment abruptly can cause the life-threatening Addison’s disease, in which in the body no longer produces sufficient amounts of adrenal steroid hormones.
(Life threatening!)

- Doctors treat these side effects of prednisone symptomatically, since it is not always feasible to stop prednisone administration even when severe side effects occur. These are situation where they have to weigh the disadvantages of using a drug against the advantages & make an informed decision. One must remember that while prednisone definitely does give rise to many side effects, it is also a life-saving drug.
(This was mentioned to me, I mean the importance of continuing on with prednisone... no matter what!)

SIDE EFFECTS of prednisone use include:

a) High blood glucose levels, most commonly in patients that are already has diabetes mellitus or is using medications that increase blood glucose.
(I don't have this, Alhamdulillah)

b) Insomnia / sleeplessness
(YES, most days I slept at 4am & would be up latest by 6.45am...)

c) Euphoria / hyperactivity, in some cases, even mania.
(NOT mania... but the way I interrupted doctors, etc doing their jobs... I definitely am more hyperactive than my normal hyperactive self!)

d) Unnatural fatigue or weakness
(YES, this effect showed itself once I walked into my abode)

e) Abdominal pain
(Don't think so, Alhamdulillah)

f) Can affect the eyes as well; the most common side effects in the context are glaucoma, cataract formation & blurring of vision
(YES! YES! YES! I'm most affected by this, because it hampered my reading-writing-smsing-enjoying TV-etc)

g) Peptic ulcers
(YES, given Losac / Omesec for this. Lots of angin... nausea, etc)

h) Infections
(Nope, Alhamdulillah)

i) Pain in the hips or shoulders
(Yes, in the shoulders)

j) Osteoporosis
(Taking calcium for this)

k) Occurrence of acne
(A few popped up on my face)

l) Increase in appetite... thus, weight gain
(DEFINITELY, YES! Seemingly always hungry...)

m) Stretch marks on the skin
(Already have them before this Bell's Palsy Episode)

n) Swelling in the face
(Definitely YES, after 2nd week)

o) Nervousness
(Didn't notice this one)

p) Easily bruised -- info through self experience & confirmed by a physician

(Mine showed itself on my 1st day of work when I was holding on to my course files to get them ready for AD Bil 10. So shocked to see my palm thumb area bruised. Showed it to Dr Mona for confirmation)

q) Usage for long periods can cause side effects, e.g. Cushing's syndrome, weight gain, osteoporosis, glaucoma & type II diabetes mellitus.
(Hope this won't happen to me, InsyaAllah)

r) Upon withdrawal of prednisone after long-term use, patients also suffer from depression
(Hope this won't happen to me, InsyaAllah)