2 appointments at UMMC: morning at ORL & afternoon with Prof KJG.
With the different appointments on my UMMC card & my rather 'blurry' state of mind, I didn't realize when, who, why the abbreviation ORL was written on my appointment card!
In other words, I didn't actually know where I was supposed to go.
Let me see... which of my friends would be a good source of reference.
After considering related factors, I narrowed the choice to 2: either Jie or Yati; both regularly visit UMMC.
However, Yati would probably forward my enquiry to her doctor brother...
So, sms-ed Jie. But, she didn't know also!
Asked Suami to drop me in front of the building for the electrotherapy session & I told him, "I'm sure someone knows".
Went to the registration counter of the facial electrotherapy & showed them the appointment card with the abbreviation ORL written on it.
They didn't know.
Went to neuromedical. Asked the ladies at the registration + nurse counters. They were not sure, also.
Then, one of the more senior nurses, asked the girl at the registration counter to call someone / a unit (?).
Macam tu lah... kut kita sendiri tak boleh tolong, mesti ada orang yang boleh kita tanya untuk bantu orang yang minta pertolongan.
I was then told that it would be at E&T. OK, the place near DF :)
This time I met a young lady doctor. With her were 2 students & I thought a foreign male doctor.
The focus of our discussion was about the eye, my high BP (170/100), my high pulse (~100). The outcomes:
1) She suggested that instead of covering my right eye with a pad, just stick the tape straight to the eye lids! Less hassles, less anxiety evoked & impossible to take out the tapes during sleep!
(It turned out that this was a very good suggestion! The only thing was that it hurt a bit when I or when Aiman and/or Durrah helped took off the tape in the morning. A few of my eye lashes yang memang bukan tebal would come off. Kak Ijah told me that if most of my eye lashes came off, then I would have the opportunity to see hantu. Joke is related to some Malay beliefs!
2) She wrote a referal for me to go to RUKA & maybe I could be looked at right away to deal with the high BP.
3) A referral for me to see a doctor about my blurry vision! Back at the E&T registration counter, I was given 16 July for the eye. Lamanya lagi... kena pi sendiri Institut Mata Tun Husin Onn nampaknya.
I went straight to the front counter with the different referral notes.
Alhamdulillah, my luck... although, it was already rather late.. somebody would be able to see me.
As I walked past the people who're waiting in front of the different clinics, met a lecturer from PASUM that I knew from audit training & session. ProfA also called & so chatted with him for a while about my situation.
The young male doctor I met (a Dr H) told me to stop the current BP medication & take the new BP medication - Micardis / telmisartan 40mg daily. That would be 5 times the normal dose of BP medication I was taking!
Other than that he was advising me to take it easy & also alluded to my age :)
I agreed with him that I should remember about my body not being so young anymore... BUT, I also told him another perspective about MOK CIK-MOK CIK working ladies who are at the age of 40+ years yet showed dedication at the work place...
The young always felt that we MOK CIK-MOK CIK should take it easy.
At this age I told him, most ladies could ACTUALLY concentrate / be focused on their work.
Earlier on at our younger age, our maternal instincts would pull us back more towards the needs of bringing up of our young children.
Before I left, I was asked to participate in a survey on Chronic Pain.
As usual, sebuk-sebuk bagi idea how to improve the soal-selidik!
Ha... Ha... macam tak cukup soal-selidik Amzari & Zulfa yang mesti dibetulkan!
Finished just in time to catch a ride home with Suami.
After solat Jumaat, Suami drove me back to UMMC with Amzar & Aiman tagging along. Amzar had to do zeroxing of class materials since he was picked as his class monitor.
When we're about to arrive in UMMC, Amzar realized that he didn't have the set in his bag & so they would have to turn back. Hmmm...
I dozed off while sitting down waiting for my turn.
I was so very tired!
The sleeping of only 2-3 hours a day, the prednisolone causing havocs to my body system & me trying to keep life as normal as possible...
Maybe I did the later TOO WELL, because I was getting sms & calls from Suami & my first child about the missing set to be zeroxed.
I couldn't believe these 2 guys!
By the time I went in to see Prof KJG I was frazzled!
He asked me to make a few facial expressions & of course I couldn't.
He set the next appointment to be on 3 July because he said the nerve conductance test on Thursday last week showed a conductance block & now a week later, no significance change could be detected.
Does it mean that it would be around 3 July before any possibility of recovery?
Adoi.... lamanya lagi... a month, 30 days!
High probability, I would have to wait for regeneration? Re-innervation? Re-myelination? Or just that the axonal nerves are in shock?
As for the nutrients for nerve tissue, no real established report.
"If not, we could just give it to everyone who needs it. You know better all this..."
Yeah, factually I couldn't say that he's wrong.
Classic training of conventional text book medicine.
http://www.bellspalsy.ws/links.htm
Then to wrap up he asked about T.Mak & I told him that we're bringing her in to see him in UMSC early next week, ie she's already in PJ.
He asked me more about T.Mak & us, her 9 children & 30+ cucu & 3 cicit (Ayra, Adli Isa & Qaisara).
I think he knew such a conversation would reduce the heaviness of the facts that he had told me about my Bell's Palsy situation.
So, sms to both Suami & first child that I was done. Told them that I would take a taxi if it was a big deal for them to pick me up (as in if they were too busy still arguing about the missing set to be zeroxed -- a bigger issue than me. Ni kira masuk bab merajuk lah...).
Quickly, they scrambled with sms & calls for me to wait at UMMC entrance. They would pick me up & we would go for minum petang in KL.
In the car, I told them the whole situation was ridiculous.
My life had changed & they were 'arguing' about some missing documents that could be gotten back from the lecturer.
Amzar talked about him not wanting to look like he couldn't deliver in his first task as a monitor. HAAAH !!!
He also repeated what he had mentioned earlier at home, something along the line of, "Mama, InsyaAllah Mama akan baik. Tapi mungkin ambil masa sikit. Mama relaks lah, kalau tidak lagilah Mama stress. Hawkings pun boleh kasi lecture in his condition!"
In my heart, "Hawkings? Did he say Hawkings? I don't care about Hawkings?"
I thought Amzar was really out of touch about my Bell's Palsy episode.
Couldn't exactly blame him because he was not at home... he never read my blog... he was all caught up in his new life.
Also, I guess, in a way he had too much confidence in me of being able to correct what goes wrong, to bounce back, to point out the silver lining of every cloud, to be his supermum (?).
Then... he played the song "Yesterday" on his phone & I was really upset.
I usually spoke very little when I got to this level of being very upset.
So, I just said, "Mama tak mahu cakap apa-apa dah. Please make sure you read my blog tonight. I just want to sleep."
By the time we got to the place to use the $80 vouchers won by Aiman-Suami team in answering a quiz on Radio 24 Bernama, I told myself, "OK lah... Sudahlah... Go with the flow..."
So, we had our minum petang in Laman Sembang. We got to meet To'Ki the infamous Pengguna Islam spokesman who regularly appeared on Radio 24 or Channel 502 Bernama.
Bought some food to send to rumah Abang Em later in the night.
But, I told them I wouldn't be going.
I couldn't bring myself to face my mother today... too much for me to handle.
When we reached home & after the necessities, I took my nap in my normal half-lying & half-sitting position.
Suami & the boys went to Abang Em's house with Amzar driving my BFX. The driving school representative sent his driving license earlier in the day.
It was already night time, they woke me up excitedly to inform me that Amzar hit my 117 gate when he tried to park!
"You all think I worry about my gate ke?"
Anyway, I played along... told him to keep some of his $ to pay me.
Even sms his final year law cousin, Fitrah, that I was appointing her to sue Amzar for damage to my gate, cc-ed the sms to Amzar! Huh!!!
Anyway... by the time I came down for dinner, I knew Amzar had read my blog.
He treated me differently... & maybe there was a tinge of sadness on his face.
But then, when I started sitting in front of my laptop, he told me that HE would only allow me to use it up to 12.30, i.e. after the usual TV3 Nightline news.
Eh??
So, there I was blogging, checking the latest on Manohara's case lah...
12.30 came & gone.
I was thinking, "What was it that he wanted to do? Dah tertidurlah tu... Ha... Ha... Ha..."
Kak Erah pun for the past few nights would also start with lying down on the sofa at the living room & sleepily would say, "Bila kamu nak tidur?"
Suddenly, at 1.30am Amzar came down & said, "OK, Mama... that's it. I'm switching off everything... the plug, the light... semua, everything!"
Kak Erah yang tertidur on the sofa pun terjaga, "Amzar, biarlah Mama saved her work first... kesian kat Mama di dah penat-penat buat!"
He just went, "I'm turning off everything..."
AND HE DID.
So, I went up & got myself ready to sleep. Most of the time I was muttering a couple of times to myself, "I don't believe this boy!"
Suami terjaga & he looked at the clock.
I told him, "Your son turned off everything on me!"
After putting in the artificial tear into the right eye & for the first time I put the tape directly on my right eye lids.
The right technique is to put the tape from the lower lid & pull it up!
In closing the eye, the bottom lid must also be slightly 'pushed up'.
(*Don't have to figure it out, it's done automatically in normal situation. Masya'Allah!)
Anyway, this was the earliest so far that I went to bed. 2.30 am.
Most of the time, InsyaAllah, with the right foundation / basis young people would act accordingly if they were made to understand the issues at hand.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXp-vpE9eU
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