We planned to visit Amzar at his Nilai campus & get our lunch there.
So, took time early in the morning to go to the nearby taman to use the reflexology walking path... to think about the week that had ended & to also think about my 2nd week into the Bell's Palsy episode.
For one, by now I knew I would NOT be one of those who would have full recovery within 2-3 weeks after the onset.
Of course, my thoughts turned to the new academic session that would start in July.
I wondered whether I would be OK by then to welcome new batch of students or to be teaching Histology & Neurobiology?
Of course, lectures of all my courses used power point presentations, but takkan jadi wayang bisu kut?
OK... OK... sabar-sabar, satu-satu dulu...
Better to focus on the regiment that I would set to follow.
One thing for certain would be adding the acupuncture part to the treatment & it should be to TS Hospital, near Pudu Raya as I had been advised.
Went back to have breakfast & enjoy the Sunday papers. Then time to get ready for Nilai campus.
This was our 2nd trip there. We visited the place when Amzar got the offer letter. It was quiet, then.
Today, an air of festivities ala-ala resort filled the air.
"Young grown ups" wearing sandals & track pants walking around in groups; macam mundar-mandir saja.. OBVIOUSLY ENJOYING THEIR CURRENT STATUS of not being pelajar sekolah menengah!
A few had plastic bags containing hangers, mee maggi & the likes. Really teringat time when we were settling in at Chico (MARA students had to stay in the dormitories while KP students were not bound by that rule!)
Back to now... some of the boys looked really young. Ini mesti nerds lah, yang dapat sekurang-kurangnya 10A!
The funniest scene I saw... these boys singing "... Ikan di laut, asam di darat..."
Kelakar teramat!
I imagined they were making jokes about how parents & schools (especially boarding schools) used to discourage them from socializing much with the opposite gender with all sorts of rules & regulations.
Then, WALLA... here they were to live life in such a place where there students of nursing college, USIM girls & UIA matriculation girls breathing the same air! For every single meal, ALL of them are supposed to buy food from the restaurants situated on the ground floor of the complexes.
Adoi, intoxicating!
I kept teasing Amzar, "Kalau macam ni keadaannya, baik masuk Matrikulasi Gopeng KPT ajalah"
His response, "Dugaan aja, Mama.. :)"
Well, to be honest... the situation is OK compared to living away from home at the same age that myself & Suami had gone through way back in l979!
The tales we could tell about some weird situations we would be exposed to & how easy it was to go astray.
Alhamdulillah, we passed that phase to become what we are today.
Every now & then I did get the jitters of whether it was a right act on my part to NOT doa a 10A1 results for him, but doa apa-apa yang terbaik untuk kejayaan di dunia & di akhirat!
I always laugh to their faces when the kids asked me to doa specific no. of As before their exams.
They know that I don't entertain such requests & so far they have not been able to come up with a good argument why I should change :)
Seriously, at each junction of our lives... things probably would end up differently depending on the choice we made.
How do we know that our choice or what we wanted is actually the best choice for us.
That's why I never chase anything or tried hard to get anything in my life.
I do doa that I would make the right choice after objectively considering the facts at hands.
Setelah usaha kena bertawakkal & redha.
InsyaAllah, puzzle pieces will fit nicely :)
Back to Nilai, I didn't have to socialize with anyone except the family & we went about doing the normal activities : Masjid Putra Nilai, Giant shopping complex.
Bought a few CDs that I thought would be good for the soul - Hijjaz, Al Maathurat by Badrul Amin & 30 juz Al-Quran.
Going back from Nilai, I was thanking God that Amzar is in UIA Nilai Campus.
Pieces of puzzles fit :)
*******************************************
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
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.
********************************
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyAZFO8IkM
Surah Al Insyirah (94):
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ (1
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.
*********************************
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 :)
*******************************************
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.
********************************
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
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.
*********************************
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 :)
*******************************************
Monday, June 8, 2009
BP7 - 29 MEI 2009 : JUMAAT DI UMMC
Today was to be spent in E&T, UMMC.
Made arrangement for *Ida to pick me up at UMMC before we would go for lunch-chat at AMCORP (mana lagi?). Till Thursday, she was attending the course in preparation of AD Bil. 10 (which would take place mid June-early July).
(*Ida is part of the me-she-Manis set of friends which went back to my Sri Aman days!)
Suami & I went out slightly late this morning. I insisted on eating nasi lemak I bought at the gerai near Durrah's sekolah ugama to lapik perut before prednisolone. I think deep down I was also tired from the rigorous daily to UMMC routine.
On my appointment card, the name was one rather similar to a lady cabinet member. Surprise... surprise, the doctor was actually a young male (DrTS)!
Now that I already knew the routine... background check first, etc.
In my eagerness to get this part over & done with, I was going off tangent in my story line. DrTS in a pleading-exasperated way had this to tell me, "Can we do this systematically? My way? You are causing me to lose my lines of thoughts..."
Ha.. ha.. ha.. kesian the guy, "Stop patronizing this young doctor. Let him do his work, girl...!"
OK, so I told him about my vertigo bout involving my right ear during my 1st winter in Kent, Ohio, U.S.A.
Remembered, having to be walked up from the basement of Mazhar's house (which me, Bella, Nikki & Netasha had rented) to the car before the seniors brought me to the clinics. Everything was just reeling.
I remembered it was a viral attack & that I couldn't even drive for sometime. Vaguely remembered, Dr. Bill Cruce driving me back from Rootstown & I was trying so hard to control myself from throwing up in his car... & we were just pulling out of the parking lot to go out of NEOUCOM.
Back to the present.
DrTS checked my ears, sent me to Audiology lab & wrote prescriptions:
1) More artificial tears
2) Losec (to help with the nausea due to prednisolone)
3) Methycobal, a good supplement for neural tissue. I told him that I read somewhere vitamins B6, B12 & Zinc could help & that I've bought Centrum (to cover the first 2 vitamins) & Zinc, on itself. Methycobal has all that & more!
At the Audiology Lab, which was not too easy to locate... my hearing was checked through a few tests.
All sorts of sounds with different tones were put into my ears.
The results showed that everything was all within normal range & so, any problems within the ears (especially the right ear) was crossed off & no connection to my Bell's Palsy.
By the time I got back to E&T, DrTS was no longer there & a lady doctor (DrL) was in his place but she was already briefed about my case.
While I had this perception that DrTS was totally against alternative medicine, DrL was OK with it, i.e. making informed decision after scouting for info in the internet!
However, I was lost during her analogy about conductance between Ipoh-KL...
"Huh? Is this how the students felt if I used too weird an analogy to whatever topic at hand that I was covering in class?"
Some examples of mine:
"ubi kayu" & "bunch of grapes" for exocrine gland; "raisins thrown in between bunch of grapes" for Islets of Langerhans in pancreas; "donuts" as ionophores; "rambutan" for neurons... etc.
Eh... Food... Glorious Food ke semuanya? Ha... Ha... Ha...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAjCBZao38I
Or maybe, the sounds put into my ear has created 'dumb bells' in my head that I wasn't getting what she was saying? Wahteverlah, just put on that "OK, OK... TQ for taking the trouble to explain" smile :)
When I was done, it was close to 12 noon & I told Ida that I would just get a taxi & go straight to AMCORP. I wanted to go to the pharmacy to buy those prescribed by DrTS.
Since Ida was coming from home, I would have enough time. I was also worried with the fact that we wouldn't have much time since I was supposed to send Durrah to school. Solat Jumaat for Suami!
We went to the restaurant that I thought would provide a quick service & also a chance for us to chat. She brought along a bottle of Air Zam-Zam. We both took the same noodle dish but Ida wasn't eating much :(
She insisted of driving me home & sending Durrah to school.
I, then, pushed us back to AMCORP!
Since I treated her to the quick lunch, insisted that she treated us for dessert at the newly opened SR.
I wanted to unwind after a long week of daily UMMC activities & I was not feeling guilty of spending time with her because she's in her sabbatical leave.
We also had much to catch up since her 2nd daughter just entered PASUM while my 1st son in Matrikulasi UIA... both these kids have a common friend (ehmm...).
We slowly walked through the shops at the ground floor level under the pretense of me looking for tudungs to wear during my visits to UMMC which must fulfill the followings:
- easily manageable (i.e. without having to wear pins-brooches)
- made up of airy material (a lot of waitings in rather warm locations)
- with patterns (would not get stained easily by food/drinks not handled well by my herot mouth)
- adult-looking (I had been using Durrah's!).
Mission accomplished at Kak Ijah's favourite DT shop & of course, Ida also shopped. We ended up spending $ in a few other shops, too.
Well, as the saying goes... WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH... THE TOUGH GOES SHOPPING !
After dessert of a piece of carrot cake & a piece of strawberry mousse plus talks on *potential menantus, she sent me home.
(*Mimi, a friend of ours from Sri Aman, proposed that a few of us marry off our children to each other. The logic is, we can be quite confident of how each of us has brought up our children. Ni semua respons kepada keadaan di luar yang penuh lakonan... However, none of this kahwin paksa, but parents -- MOTHERS! -- act as facilatators. Adoi... not sure about the idea of berbisan among friends!)
On reaching home, I went straight to the sofa & this bakal mak mertua fell asleep soundly.
The body was certainly not what it used to be :)
********************************
Part of SUNRISE, SUNSET:
Is this the little girl I carried,
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older,
When did they?
When did she get to be a beauty,
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?
Sunrise, sunset (x2),
Swiftly flow the days.
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as we gaze.
Sunrise, sunset (x2),
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laiden with happiness and tears.
What words of wisdom can I give them,
How can I help to ease their way?
******************************************
Made arrangement for *Ida to pick me up at UMMC before we would go for lunch-chat at AMCORP (mana lagi?). Till Thursday, she was attending the course in preparation of AD Bil. 10 (which would take place mid June-early July).
(*Ida is part of the me-she-Manis set of friends which went back to my Sri Aman days!)
Suami & I went out slightly late this morning. I insisted on eating nasi lemak I bought at the gerai near Durrah's sekolah ugama to lapik perut before prednisolone. I think deep down I was also tired from the rigorous daily to UMMC routine.
On my appointment card, the name was one rather similar to a lady cabinet member. Surprise... surprise, the doctor was actually a young male (DrTS)!
Now that I already knew the routine... background check first, etc.
In my eagerness to get this part over & done with, I was going off tangent in my story line. DrTS in a pleading-exasperated way had this to tell me, "Can we do this systematically? My way? You are causing me to lose my lines of thoughts..."
Ha.. ha.. ha.. kesian the guy, "Stop patronizing this young doctor. Let him do his work, girl...!"
OK, so I told him about my vertigo bout involving my right ear during my 1st winter in Kent, Ohio, U.S.A.
Remembered, having to be walked up from the basement of Mazhar's house (which me, Bella, Nikki & Netasha had rented) to the car before the seniors brought me to the clinics. Everything was just reeling.
I remembered it was a viral attack & that I couldn't even drive for sometime. Vaguely remembered, Dr. Bill Cruce driving me back from Rootstown & I was trying so hard to control myself from throwing up in his car... & we were just pulling out of the parking lot to go out of NEOUCOM.
Back to the present.
DrTS checked my ears, sent me to Audiology lab & wrote prescriptions:
1) More artificial tears
2) Losec (to help with the nausea due to prednisolone)
3) Methycobal, a good supplement for neural tissue. I told him that I read somewhere vitamins B6, B12 & Zinc could help & that I've bought Centrum (to cover the first 2 vitamins) & Zinc, on itself. Methycobal has all that & more!
At the Audiology Lab, which was not too easy to locate... my hearing was checked through a few tests.
All sorts of sounds with different tones were put into my ears.
The results showed that everything was all within normal range & so, any problems within the ears (especially the right ear) was crossed off & no connection to my Bell's Palsy.
By the time I got back to E&T, DrTS was no longer there & a lady doctor (DrL) was in his place but she was already briefed about my case.
While I had this perception that DrTS was totally against alternative medicine, DrL was OK with it, i.e. making informed decision after scouting for info in the internet!
However, I was lost during her analogy about conductance between Ipoh-KL...
"Huh? Is this how the students felt if I used too weird an analogy to whatever topic at hand that I was covering in class?"
Some examples of mine:
"ubi kayu" & "bunch of grapes" for exocrine gland; "raisins thrown in between bunch of grapes" for Islets of Langerhans in pancreas; "donuts" as ionophores; "rambutan" for neurons... etc.
Eh... Food... Glorious Food ke semuanya? Ha... Ha... Ha...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAjCBZao38I
Or maybe, the sounds put into my ear has created 'dumb bells' in my head that I wasn't getting what she was saying? Wahteverlah, just put on that "OK, OK... TQ for taking the trouble to explain" smile :)
When I was done, it was close to 12 noon & I told Ida that I would just get a taxi & go straight to AMCORP. I wanted to go to the pharmacy to buy those prescribed by DrTS.
Since Ida was coming from home, I would have enough time. I was also worried with the fact that we wouldn't have much time since I was supposed to send Durrah to school. Solat Jumaat for Suami!
We went to the restaurant that I thought would provide a quick service & also a chance for us to chat. She brought along a bottle of Air Zam-Zam. We both took the same noodle dish but Ida wasn't eating much :(
She insisted of driving me home & sending Durrah to school.
I, then, pushed us back to AMCORP!
Since I treated her to the quick lunch, insisted that she treated us for dessert at the newly opened SR.
I wanted to unwind after a long week of daily UMMC activities & I was not feeling guilty of spending time with her because she's in her sabbatical leave.
We also had much to catch up since her 2nd daughter just entered PASUM while my 1st son in Matrikulasi UIA... both these kids have a common friend (ehmm...).
We slowly walked through the shops at the ground floor level under the pretense of me looking for tudungs to wear during my visits to UMMC which must fulfill the followings:
- easily manageable (i.e. without having to wear pins-brooches)
- made up of airy material (a lot of waitings in rather warm locations)
- with patterns (would not get stained easily by food/drinks not handled well by my herot mouth)
- adult-looking (I had been using Durrah's!).
Mission accomplished at Kak Ijah's favourite DT shop & of course, Ida also shopped. We ended up spending $ in a few other shops, too.
Well, as the saying goes... WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH... THE TOUGH GOES SHOPPING !
After dessert of a piece of carrot cake & a piece of strawberry mousse plus talks on *potential menantus, she sent me home.
(*Mimi, a friend of ours from Sri Aman, proposed that a few of us marry off our children to each other. The logic is, we can be quite confident of how each of us has brought up our children. Ni semua respons kepada keadaan di luar yang penuh lakonan... However, none of this kahwin paksa, but parents -- MOTHERS! -- act as facilatators. Adoi... not sure about the idea of berbisan among friends!)
On reaching home, I went straight to the sofa & this bakal mak mertua fell asleep soundly.
The body was certainly not what it used to be :)
********************************
Part of SUNRISE, SUNSET:
Is this the little girl I carried,
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older,
When did they?
When did she get to be a beauty,
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday when they were small?
Sunrise, sunset (x2),
Swiftly flow the days.
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,
Blossoming even as we gaze.
Sunrise, sunset (x2),
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laiden with happiness and tears.
What words of wisdom can I give them,
How can I help to ease their way?
******************************************
BP6 - 28 MEI 2009 : KHAMIS DI UMMC
To be honest, I woke up feeling nervous about my appointment at UMMC today.
In a way, I was waiting for this particular appointment.
I was supposed to go to Neuro Lab at 5th floor to check extent of damage to my 7th (facial) cranial nerve.
In indirect way, it would give me some idea about my recovery.
The appointment was not until 11.30am, but a staff from the lab called to confirm my attendance & I told her that I would come early. After all I was just killing time at home without the focus to do anything much...
I was toying the idea of either calling Pak Mat Des (our honorary family taxi man) to send me or took up the standing offer of Pak Pozi & Kak Ijah, who were in VA.
Probably, to ease the anxiety in me, I chose to be sent by family members.
Tok Pa & Nek Mak actually had to send their Ayrah to the childcare, then settle some $ matter (on behalf of T.Mak) responding to an SOS & then on off to LCCT to pick up Pak Ripin from his Tual trip.
ProfKJG, himself, did the different tests. Half way into the test, he started humming to himself. I thought to myself, "This is not too good, girl...":
1) Blink Reflex - stimulating supraorbital left & right. In both cases my right orbital oculi didn't respond positively to "look at my hand up here... now here... look straight on, look down..."
2) Motor NCS - different branches of the nerve were checked. Needles were poked to different sites on the face. Adoi !
His official comments on my EMG report:
The right R1 & R2 waves were absent on bilateral stimulation. The facial nerve CMAP is smaller on the right. Needle electromyography showed no active axonal denervation but markedly reduced recruitment pattern. The study suggests a right facial nerve palsy. There is evidence of axonal continuity still.
He explained:
1) I have seen worse cases but your case doesn't look too good, either. There is a conduction block.
2) You have to continue with the established prednisolone treatment.
3) Going for acupuncture will not cause any more damage, but whether it would really help... we don't know. If you're going to do it, do it at a real place, e.g. Tung Shin Hospital.
Alhamdulillah, although not too good good, neither was it SO bad. The inflammation had already started when my ear was already sensitive to the handphone on Thursday night... the onset of the Bell's Palsy was on Saturday early morning; i.e. about 24hours + of the inflammation!
Certainly I would not fall under the category of those who would be back to normal about 2 weeks post-onset.
Finished the tests in time to catch a ride from Suami... But, first to UMMC foodcourt to get rojak & yong tou foo :)
Didn't tell Suami much about results of the tests.
Needed to mull over things...
I was about to take my siesta when Pak Ripin & Pak Pozi-Kak Ijah arrived. However, even at the door Pak Ripin was more concerned over my situation rather than being excited about his adventure!
They brought more rojak.
Luckily, we were joined by Rahil (after work at Smart Reader) & Azmi (from a meeting at Amcorp!) with Madu Kaula.
So, we got to hear a bit about the Tual trip & Pak Ripin's experiences with *the relatives over there (interspersed with answering his & Azmi's questions about my situation).
*Of course, mostly about Adli !
Adli (leading the Tual pack) wouldn't allow Pak Ripin to buy us good pearls, to ensure that we (or representative from each family) come to Tual, ourselves. Betul-betul taktik mafia!
However, he gave 1 normal good quality pearl :) Actually, I did not get a chance to do anything to the 5 pearls he sent earlier through Pak Pozi- Kak Ijah!!
There were 2 disks of photos (taken during the trip & another on the wedding of Adli's son).
While Pak Ripin rested a bit, Kak Ijah did the necessities of dividing the ole-ole.
That night, Kak Ha & Abang Zul came.
Of course, she wanted me to rest my mouth :)
*********************************
http://www.video4viet.com/watchvideo.html?id=1pjU3PAxTbk&title=Ampar%20Ampar%20Pisang
Ampar ampar pisang
Pisangku balum masak
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Mangga lepak mangga lepok
Patah kayu bengkok
Bengkok dimakan api, apinya canculupan
Patah kayu bengkok
Bengkok dimakan api, apinya canculupan
Jari kaki sintak dahulu akan masak
Ampar ampar pisang
Pisangku balum masak
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Mangga ricak mangga ricak
Patah kayu bengkok
Tanduk sapi tanduk sapi kulibir bawang
Nang mana batis kutung dikitip bidawang
Pencipta / Pengarang Lagu & Lirik : Hamiedan AC
*********************************************************
In a way, I was waiting for this particular appointment.
I was supposed to go to Neuro Lab at 5th floor to check extent of damage to my 7th (facial) cranial nerve.
In indirect way, it would give me some idea about my recovery.
The appointment was not until 11.30am, but a staff from the lab called to confirm my attendance & I told her that I would come early. After all I was just killing time at home without the focus to do anything much...
I was toying the idea of either calling Pak Mat Des (our honorary family taxi man) to send me or took up the standing offer of Pak Pozi & Kak Ijah, who were in VA.
Probably, to ease the anxiety in me, I chose to be sent by family members.
Tok Pa & Nek Mak actually had to send their Ayrah to the childcare, then settle some $ matter (on behalf of T.Mak) responding to an SOS & then on off to LCCT to pick up Pak Ripin from his Tual trip.
ProfKJG, himself, did the different tests. Half way into the test, he started humming to himself. I thought to myself, "This is not too good, girl...":
1) Blink Reflex - stimulating supraorbital left & right. In both cases my right orbital oculi didn't respond positively to "look at my hand up here... now here... look straight on, look down..."
2) Motor NCS - different branches of the nerve were checked. Needles were poked to different sites on the face. Adoi !
His official comments on my EMG report:
The right R1 & R2 waves were absent on bilateral stimulation. The facial nerve CMAP is smaller on the right. Needle electromyography showed no active axonal denervation but markedly reduced recruitment pattern. The study suggests a right facial nerve palsy. There is evidence of axonal continuity still.
He explained:
1) I have seen worse cases but your case doesn't look too good, either. There is a conduction block.
2) You have to continue with the established prednisolone treatment.
3) Going for acupuncture will not cause any more damage, but whether it would really help... we don't know. If you're going to do it, do it at a real place, e.g. Tung Shin Hospital.
Alhamdulillah, although not too good good, neither was it SO bad. The inflammation had already started when my ear was already sensitive to the handphone on Thursday night... the onset of the Bell's Palsy was on Saturday early morning; i.e. about 24hours + of the inflammation!
Certainly I would not fall under the category of those who would be back to normal about 2 weeks post-onset.
Finished the tests in time to catch a ride from Suami... But, first to UMMC foodcourt to get rojak & yong tou foo :)
Didn't tell Suami much about results of the tests.
Needed to mull over things...
I was about to take my siesta when Pak Ripin & Pak Pozi-Kak Ijah arrived. However, even at the door Pak Ripin was more concerned over my situation rather than being excited about his adventure!
They brought more rojak.
Luckily, we were joined by Rahil (after work at Smart Reader) & Azmi (from a meeting at Amcorp!) with Madu Kaula.
So, we got to hear a bit about the Tual trip & Pak Ripin's experiences with *the relatives over there (interspersed with answering his & Azmi's questions about my situation).
*Of course, mostly about Adli !
Adli (leading the Tual pack) wouldn't allow Pak Ripin to buy us good pearls, to ensure that we (or representative from each family) come to Tual, ourselves. Betul-betul taktik mafia!
However, he gave 1 normal good quality pearl :) Actually, I did not get a chance to do anything to the 5 pearls he sent earlier through Pak Pozi- Kak Ijah!!
There were 2 disks of photos (taken during the trip & another on the wedding of Adli's son).
While Pak Ripin rested a bit, Kak Ijah did the necessities of dividing the ole-ole.
That night, Kak Ha & Abang Zul came.
Of course, she wanted me to rest my mouth :)
*********************************
http://www.video4viet.com/watchvideo.html?id=1pjU3PAxTbk&title=Ampar%20Ampar%20Pisang
Ampar ampar pisang
Pisangku balum masak
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Mangga lepak mangga lepok
Patah kayu bengkok
Bengkok dimakan api, apinya canculupan
Patah kayu bengkok
Bengkok dimakan api, apinya canculupan
Jari kaki sintak dahulu akan masak
Ampar ampar pisang
Pisangku balum masak
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Masak sabigi dihurung bari-bari
Mangga ricak mangga ricak
Patah kayu bengkok
Tanduk sapi tanduk sapi kulibir bawang
Nang mana batis kutung dikitip bidawang
Pencipta / Pengarang Lagu & Lirik : Hamiedan AC
*********************************************************
Saturday, June 6, 2009
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
*************************************************
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.
*************************************************
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
*************************************************
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.
*************************************************
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
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)
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)
Friday, June 5, 2009
BP4 - 26 MEI 2009 : SELASA DI UMMC
My appointment was not until 10am, but I went out as early as everyone else.
Suami dropped me off at Klinik Perubatan entrance & I went up to register myself to see Prof KJG.
After settling that, I called Saadah & informed her that we could have breakfast if she could afford the time. She was already out of her house & driving in to work. Her 1st meeting would only be at 10am & she was not chairing it :p
Unfortunately, there was a big jam & she couldn't arrive so quickly.
When she stopped to pick me up at UMMC entrance, I had this sneaky feeling that she was avoiding to 'face reality' under the pretense of attending to a call.
I could imagine her feelings... I've always been THE big sister in our friendship which started off in Bidwell Place, Chico, California, USA (1979).
Anyway, I just let it be rather than be my normal 'confrontational self'.
We chose Amcorp over Jaya One. Only SB was opened & I knew Saadah needed her coffee morning fix. She gave this round about excuse why it's OK to have our breakfast at SB...
By the time we're ordering stuff, she was already laughing; entertained by how I pulled right corner end of my mouth to pronounce certain words.
I made her pay, "I'm the sick one... you've to belanja :p"
So, we went through what had happened to me & told her about people I had bumped into when I was at UMMC the day before.
Her mental state of mind this morning: even blamed Siti Aisyah's fell on stress caused by 'Nuno'.
Ha.. Ha... Ha... of course, next we talked about stress at work & how her health was affected.
Actually, that was the main reason I conned her to see me... so that we discuss HER health status.
I wanted to open doors / alternatives for her & Alhamdulillah, mission accomplished!
She dropped me back at UMMC & told her to send her my salam to Kamila & MR who would both be at the meeting.
I went up again to level 1 of Neuromedical.
Of course, my number was already flashed. So, I just waited some more after telling the ladies at the counter of my presence.
Prof KJG looked through my file & confirmed that it was not a stroke. THAT actually took off a lot of burden from me. He also increased dosage of the prednisolone I had to take, 10 x 5mg daily (rather than 6 x 5mg daily). Of course, I brought up issues on alternative approaches. He also asked about Tok Mak.
Gave me mc till Friday & told me to rest because he thought I should be feeling uncomfortable talking, etc.
It's true, the more I talked... the more herot my face would be & at times the inner part of my cheek get stuck in between my top-bottom teeth. Adoi!
Went to Neurolab at 5th floor to make appointment. Previously, I had come to this place to check on my Carpal Tunnel syndrome. Then of course a couple of times with Tok Mak, accompanied by Kak Ijah & even Naufal (we made him push Tok Mak's wheel chair then). For both, Tok Mak's & now mine, these visits would be to check extend of damage !
***************************************
***************************************
Suami dropped me off at Klinik Perubatan entrance & I went up to register myself to see Prof KJG.
After settling that, I called Saadah & informed her that we could have breakfast if she could afford the time. She was already out of her house & driving in to work. Her 1st meeting would only be at 10am & she was not chairing it :p
Unfortunately, there was a big jam & she couldn't arrive so quickly.
When she stopped to pick me up at UMMC entrance, I had this sneaky feeling that she was avoiding to 'face reality' under the pretense of attending to a call.
I could imagine her feelings... I've always been THE big sister in our friendship which started off in Bidwell Place, Chico, California, USA (1979).
Anyway, I just let it be rather than be my normal 'confrontational self'.
We chose Amcorp over Jaya One. Only SB was opened & I knew Saadah needed her coffee morning fix. She gave this round about excuse why it's OK to have our breakfast at SB...
By the time we're ordering stuff, she was already laughing; entertained by how I pulled right corner end of my mouth to pronounce certain words.
I made her pay, "I'm the sick one... you've to belanja :p"
So, we went through what had happened to me & told her about people I had bumped into when I was at UMMC the day before.
Her mental state of mind this morning: even blamed Siti Aisyah's fell on stress caused by 'Nuno'.
Ha.. Ha... Ha... of course, next we talked about stress at work & how her health was affected.
Actually, that was the main reason I conned her to see me... so that we discuss HER health status.
I wanted to open doors / alternatives for her & Alhamdulillah, mission accomplished!
She dropped me back at UMMC & told her to send her my salam to Kamila & MR who would both be at the meeting.
I went up again to level 1 of Neuromedical.
Of course, my number was already flashed. So, I just waited some more after telling the ladies at the counter of my presence.
Prof KJG looked through my file & confirmed that it was not a stroke. THAT actually took off a lot of burden from me. He also increased dosage of the prednisolone I had to take, 10 x 5mg daily (rather than 6 x 5mg daily). Of course, I brought up issues on alternative approaches. He also asked about Tok Mak.
Gave me mc till Friday & told me to rest because he thought I should be feeling uncomfortable talking, etc.
It's true, the more I talked... the more herot my face would be & at times the inner part of my cheek get stuck in between my top-bottom teeth. Adoi!
Went to Neurolab at 5th floor to make appointment. Previously, I had come to this place to check on my Carpal Tunnel syndrome. Then of course a couple of times with Tok Mak, accompanied by Kak Ijah & even Naufal (we made him push Tok Mak's wheel chair then). For both, Tok Mak's & now mine, these visits would be to check extend of damage !
***************************************
***************************************
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
OTOT TERJEJAS OLEH BELL'S PALSY
In my case I've complete paralysis of the right side muscle of the face.
Impulses from the peripheral nerve (of 7th cranial nerve) are not activating the muscles.
Yes, students... no activity at the neuromuscular junctions, no acetylcholine being released :(
Since in my case it is complete paralysis & onset is sudden, possibly the problem is at the site when the nerve has just started its journey out ipsilaterally before it even splits up to branches!
Due to the non-functioning on the right side, the left side which has normal muscle functions caused 'herot-ness syptoms' (tarik effect of sebelah yang baik & kuat).
Examples of the affected muscles are described below.
Info is taken from wikipedia (Adoi, what sort of referencing is this?)
1) Muscles around the eye : ORBICULARIS OCULI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray379.png
- Acts to close the eye & is the only muscle capable of doing so.
- Loss of function for any reason results in an inability to close the eye, necessitating eye drops at the minimum to removal of the eye in extreme cases.
- A lesion of the facial nerve (e.g. seen in Bell's palsy) results in the inability to blink or close the ipsilateral eyelid. Subsequent lack of irrigation increases the risk of corneal inflammation & ulcers.
2) Muscles around the mouth : ORBICULARIS ORIS MUSCLE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray381.png
- One of the muscles used in the playing of all brass instruments and some woodwind instruments.
- This muscle closes the mouth & puckers the lips when it contracts.
- Loss of function disabled one to make the sound "BOO"
3) Other muscles affected -- everything else on the right side of the face :(
Normally, the feeling is that there's some sort of inflammation of the nerve.
It could actually be the whole nerve, just the membrane or the myelin?
Wallahu'alam!
*************************************************
Impulses from the peripheral nerve (of 7th cranial nerve) are not activating the muscles.
Yes, students... no activity at the neuromuscular junctions, no acetylcholine being released :(
Since in my case it is complete paralysis & onset is sudden, possibly the problem is at the site when the nerve has just started its journey out ipsilaterally before it even splits up to branches!
Due to the non-functioning on the right side, the left side which has normal muscle functions caused 'herot-ness syptoms' (tarik effect of sebelah yang baik & kuat).
Examples of the affected muscles are described below.
Info is taken from wikipedia (Adoi, what sort of referencing is this?)
1) Muscles around the eye : ORBICULARIS OCULI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray379.png
- Acts to close the eye & is the only muscle capable of doing so.
- Loss of function for any reason results in an inability to close the eye, necessitating eye drops at the minimum to removal of the eye in extreme cases.
- A lesion of the facial nerve (e.g. seen in Bell's palsy) results in the inability to blink or close the ipsilateral eyelid. Subsequent lack of irrigation increases the risk of corneal inflammation & ulcers.
2) Muscles around the mouth : ORBICULARIS ORIS MUSCLE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray381.png
- One of the muscles used in the playing of all brass instruments and some woodwind instruments.
- This muscle closes the mouth & puckers the lips when it contracts.
- Loss of function disabled one to make the sound "BOO"
3) Other muscles affected -- everything else on the right side of the face :(
Normally, the feeling is that there's some sort of inflammation of the nerve.
It could actually be the whole nerve, just the membrane or the myelin?
Wallahu'alam!
*************************************************
Saturday, May 30, 2009
BP3 - 25 MEI 2009 : ISNIN DI UMMC
After the usual necessities, insisted that I could drive the Naza to send Durrah to Sekolah Ugama while Suami sent Aiman to the other side of town.
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 !)
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!
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.
BP2 - 24 MEI 2009 : AHAD MALAM
Well... it's the time of day that most people started thinking back about their work, ie Sunday night (end tail of the weekend, before working back on Monday....)
I remembered about the observation session I was supposed to do at a private Higher Education Provider in SJ. Obviously, I would not be going & so arrangements have to be made. So, 1st sms out with regards to work, to the officer who was the contact point:
Salam Afizah. Please pass this message to DrRozi
{My apologies, I won't be able to observe Dr Deepa's class tomorrow. I've been given mc for a few days. An unfortunate event happened over the weekend. I woke up with total paralysis of right side of my face & I've been diagnosed as having Bell's Palsy (Thank God, not due to stroke). However, my speech is affected & I 'constantly' need to put in artificial tear to my right eye so that it doesn't dry up. I'm scheduled for my 1st session of facial retraining-physiotherapy tomorrow @UMMC. Don't worry over me, I'll bounce back (God's willing). Hope I'll be fine enough by the next session :p My regards to Dr Deepa & Dr Jasbir}
So, that was settled.
Then, it was answering sms from an international student who wanted to make an appointment to see me about her classes next semester & a graduating student asking for permission to call me to discuss about future alternatives. What a coincidence, they are both Fatimah! I told them both what had happened.
OK, it was not so early but not so late... better go to sleep. I would start the next phase of trying to handle the Bell's Palsy with treatments / tests / etc @ UMMC. Que sera... Que sera...
Of course, sleep time bring anxiety internally... hassle of getting the eye ready to sleep. Of course, BP went up :(
************************************************************
I remembered about the observation session I was supposed to do at a private Higher Education Provider in SJ. Obviously, I would not be going & so arrangements have to be made. So, 1st sms out with regards to work, to the officer who was the contact point:
Salam Afizah. Please pass this message to DrRozi
{My apologies, I won't be able to observe Dr Deepa's class tomorrow. I've been given mc for a few days. An unfortunate event happened over the weekend. I woke up with total paralysis of right side of my face & I've been diagnosed as having Bell's Palsy (Thank God, not due to stroke). However, my speech is affected & I 'constantly' need to put in artificial tear to my right eye so that it doesn't dry up. I'm scheduled for my 1st session of facial retraining-physiotherapy tomorrow @UMMC. Don't worry over me, I'll bounce back (God's willing). Hope I'll be fine enough by the next session :p My regards to Dr Deepa & Dr Jasbir}
So, that was settled.
Then, it was answering sms from an international student who wanted to make an appointment to see me about her classes next semester & a graduating student asking for permission to call me to discuss about future alternatives. What a coincidence, they are both Fatimah! I told them both what had happened.
OK, it was not so early but not so late... better go to sleep. I would start the next phase of trying to handle the Bell's Palsy with treatments / tests / etc @ UMMC. Que sera... Que sera...
Of course, sleep time bring anxiety internally... hassle of getting the eye ready to sleep. Of course, BP went up :(
************************************************************
Friday, May 29, 2009
BP2 - 24 MEI 2009 : AHAD SIANG
I woke up panicking... felt like the eyepad was off & the right eye felt *dried.
Oh My God.. Oh My God..
Quickly reached out for the artificial tear & squirted few drops into the eye.
(*I have high hopes, motivated with full recovery stories told to me, eg about husbands of friends... & even RS the communicator, that my speech would get back to normal sooner or later.
But the eye... an infection, a scratched cornea, etc... that would be another story!
To be honest, I've always been very protective & concerned over my eyes. )
Prepared for solat subuh, though of course spent more than a few minutes trying to make faces in front of the mirror in the bathroom!
Nope, no changes.
Suami was already out at the Old Town market. Looked in at the kids & they were back at sleep. Got myself ready for a walk at the nearby park, bringing along my handphone.
Left a note on the wall to Suami about where I was going.
As I was walking towards the park, I kept humming Louis Armstrong's WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc
Helped Amzar with final packing. He insisted that he only wanted to bring 2 bags (one was the bag he bought from trip to Bandung with Suami last week) & NO BANTAL (even though it's on the check list) .
"Mama... Amzar dah berpengalaman duduk asrama. Dekat ASiS tu bantal penuh satu stor. Orang wakaf saja..."
10:30 am : Suami made sure photos taken, etc & we left to send our first born to his post-school life.
WOW... there were signs which started on the main road even from the junction near our housing area... cars double parked lining the roads in front of the main campus... the happy faces of parents, families & of course "the grown ups".
Back to the Bell's Palsy patient & her family:
We stayed away from sitting under the canopy with the group of parents. I was not ready to make little conversation & having those socializing with me working hard to understand what I was saying.
We stayed busy reading Sunday papers at a marble bench near by.
My group of graduate students have stumbled into the e mail I sent them last night, got first response from Mieza:
Salam.. Dr, sorry to hear about your condition.. Semoga Dr tabah hadapi dugaan daripadaNya. Hope you'll soon be feeling fine & enjoying better health again. Take good care & rest =)
Received others with similar content, mostly urging me to remain strong. Some even relaying messages from their mothers. Soke Chee's had extra information:
Dr, I had heard about medical condition similar to yours in my hometown cured by acupuncture in TS Hospital. Would like to share this information with you :)
All this time, Suami of course was busy snapping away pictures... even dari celah grill. Adoi, Baba...
I told Amzar, "If people give you the looks... just say, I'm the eldest & so this is a happy day for my father!"
I was happy & pround to see that Amzar was cool about the whole thing, he thought it was funny too & he was NOT embarassed by his Baba's actions!
Kasi chance lah kat Baba :)
I told Aiman, "Baba will do the same thing when it's your time. Just say: I'm his baby boy & so this is my father's happy day!"
Then I told Durrah, "Baba will also do the same when it's your time. Tell people: I'm his youngest & so my father is very happy today!"
The whole registration & *opening of bank account went quite quickly! Congrats Matrikulasi UIA!
(*Wanted to give him the rest of his hadiah for the 8A1 & 1A2 he got. He already took some to shop a couple of times...)
Then off to to the dorm... 4th floor & mengenjot memanjat tangga! Adoi!
All the 2 persons per room in 'no. 401 apartment' were taken.
Left was one room with 2 double deckers & another was a makeshift room with 1 single bed.
After the whole family tested the beds (of course with Baba taking more pictures), Amzar agreed it should be the latter.
THE funny thing was: NO BANTAL! Hah!
We decided to go for lunch at a place where we could get for Amzar a pillow & some clothes hangers & antibiotics for the ear plus more artificial tear for me. The fluid for the eye that I was using had preservatives & it was causing allergic reaction.
So, here we go to... where else but to AMCORP!
Aiman kept repeating with big smiles on his face of his amazement that Amzar's place was SO close to everything, even to their Samad School.
I thought, "So... he was affected by the idea that Amzar would be gone again..."
Anyway, celebratory lunch at KR, only got the artificial tear off the counter & not the antibiotics since the pharmacist had just gone out for lunch.
As for Amzar, he instead got for himself a Giordano t-shirt on sale.
Yes, back HOME to get the pillow!
Since Amzar needed to go back only at 5pm, he snoozed at the brown sofa, solat zohor, then continued on at the striped sofa.
Penatnya pelajar matrikulasi... baru pendaftaran!
After Asr, only me & Suami sent him off. We dropped him off in front of the gate. Aiman & Durrah were too tired & furthermore they had sent him all the way to his room.
So, one tanggungjawab for the weekend was settled, Alhamdulillah.
Next, back to Amcorp as I really wanted to get the antibiotics for the ear.
Sorry, they don't have it. I guess, I would just get it from UMMC on Monday during my first physiotherapy session.
When we arrived home... Refering to TAF parked in front of the house, Suami said, "Your sister is here..."
Kak Ijah was sitting facing towards the door & I thought she had this unsure with a tinge of sadness look on her face & Abang Fozi was sitting at the sofa.
So, stories were exchanged at the round table which had heard so many happy-sad-gossipy-you name it stories since 1995 when it joined the GI household. If only the table could talk...
Rahil, Zaidi & Ayrah later joined. Even the 1 year old plus cucu Ayrah looked anxiously at her WanZ & (we thought) she said, "Napanya?"
Rahil suggested that I just pulled the end part of my the right side of my lips when I wanted to pronounced anything with "B" & "P" which I had most troubled with. It helped!
They left since it was close to Maghrib.
*************************************************
Oh My God.. Oh My God..
Quickly reached out for the artificial tear & squirted few drops into the eye.
(*I have high hopes, motivated with full recovery stories told to me, eg about husbands of friends... & even RS the communicator, that my speech would get back to normal sooner or later.
But the eye... an infection, a scratched cornea, etc... that would be another story!
To be honest, I've always been very protective & concerned over my eyes. )
Prepared for solat subuh, though of course spent more than a few minutes trying to make faces in front of the mirror in the bathroom!
Nope, no changes.
Suami was already out at the Old Town market. Looked in at the kids & they were back at sleep. Got myself ready for a walk at the nearby park, bringing along my handphone.
Left a note on the wall to Suami about where I was going.
As I was walking towards the park, I kept humming Louis Armstrong's WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"
They're really saying "I love you"
I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Oh yeah!
======================
SUBHANALLAH...
WALHAMDULILLAH...
WALA ILA HAILLAH WALLAH HU AKBAR
======================
I walked 1 round, did 2 rounds of walking on the reflexology stone path... then sat down on a bench.
I knew, I had to start sms-ing the others about my condition. Aaah....
1st sms: Apologizing to a family friend for our absentism from the wedding reception & to tell him that Saadah actually *kirim hadiah. I mentioned "Manusia rancang, ALLAH swt tentukan". Saadah got a cc of the sms.
(*I remembered sms-ing him last week to confirm attendance & rushing off to MJ at Mega Mall after Maghrib, to buy the wedding gift from the family & also buying one on Saadah's behalf.)
2nd sms & on were to siblings, each starting with "FYI:..." & the content was similar to the one I sent to Khalil.
I ended each sms with : "TQ atas doa muga pulih sepenuhnya ASAP, InsyaAllah. Pagi kami hantar Amzar ke Matrikulasi UIA"
That last sentence will stop them rushing to see me in the morning & a few hours into the afternoon.
That will give me sometime... I don't really know for what. BUT I know that I need the time.
Then to a few close friends (Manis, Rohaida, Nina, Jie, Brunei... even to MR). I had to of course started answering all sorts of questions... snippets of my answers (throughout the day, actually...):
- Me... yang ada course Diseases of the Nervous System ;p So, kurang risau X tentu pasal, but I also know it when doctor makes empty promises. Anyway, nak kena.. kena juga. Redha aja dugaan...
- Dulu masa @US, telinga kanan juga kena attack by virus. Yang tu jenis kena vertigo.. semua berpusing. Terbaring dekat sebulan. Ini I can still move around.
- So, now I have medical reason, pula!
- InsyaAllah, adalah hikmahnya. For one, now I have a medical reason to turn down... macam dah nak kena... Tok Mak @ Bt20
- Lepas cuti sabatikal, jawatan 'suruh' terima: Pegang balik KA (he.. he..), TPs.. Priority Tok Mak; masa Tok Ayah tak ada...
- Yes, it's serious. Drink with straw, me-family have to adjust to my speech.
- Started treatment quick + on right track. Full recovery varies; a few weeks, months to years!
- In KL, viral flu causing havoc.. macam-macam jenis, some had it bad. With me sebuk... so X ambil kisah sakit telinga 2 days ago. Thought part of body-joint aches due to viral flu. Was lethargic for about 2-3 weeks.
- I'm going about as usual, but can't speak well. OKlahtu :p
- Check on YOU TUBE, lots of examples
By then Suami had joined me at the park & did his rounds. Informed him that I told people already...
Went back & had lontong, etc that Suami bought :)
Kids up & about to send the brother.
000000000000000000000000000000000000
http://picasaweb.google.com/ds.zein/AMZARASISUIA#5339401731540202178
000000000000000000000000000000000000
Helped Amzar with final packing. He insisted that he only wanted to bring 2 bags (one was the bag he bought from trip to Bandung with Suami last week) & NO BANTAL (even though it's on the check list) .
"Mama... Amzar dah berpengalaman duduk asrama. Dekat ASiS tu bantal penuh satu stor. Orang wakaf saja..."
10:30 am : Suami made sure photos taken, etc & we left to send our first born to his post-school life.
WOW... there were signs which started on the main road even from the junction near our housing area... cars double parked lining the roads in front of the main campus... the happy faces of parents, families & of course "the grown ups".
Back to the Bell's Palsy patient & her family:
We stayed away from sitting under the canopy with the group of parents. I was not ready to make little conversation & having those socializing with me working hard to understand what I was saying.
We stayed busy reading Sunday papers at a marble bench near by.
My group of graduate students have stumbled into the e mail I sent them last night, got first response from Mieza:
Salam.. Dr, sorry to hear about your condition.. Semoga Dr tabah hadapi dugaan daripadaNya. Hope you'll soon be feeling fine & enjoying better health again. Take good care & rest =)
Received others with similar content, mostly urging me to remain strong. Some even relaying messages from their mothers. Soke Chee's had extra information:
Dr, I had heard about medical condition similar to yours in my hometown cured by acupuncture in TS Hospital. Would like to share this information with you :)
All this time, Suami of course was busy snapping away pictures... even dari celah grill. Adoi, Baba...
I told Amzar, "If people give you the looks... just say, I'm the eldest & so this is a happy day for my father!"
I was happy & pround to see that Amzar was cool about the whole thing, he thought it was funny too & he was NOT embarassed by his Baba's actions!
Kasi chance lah kat Baba :)
I told Aiman, "Baba will do the same thing when it's your time. Just say: I'm his baby boy & so this is my father's happy day!"
Then I told Durrah, "Baba will also do the same when it's your time. Tell people: I'm his youngest & so my father is very happy today!"
The whole registration & *opening of bank account went quite quickly! Congrats Matrikulasi UIA!
(*Wanted to give him the rest of his hadiah for the 8A1 & 1A2 he got. He already took some to shop a couple of times...)
Then off to to the dorm... 4th floor & mengenjot memanjat tangga! Adoi!
All the 2 persons per room in 'no. 401 apartment' were taken.
Left was one room with 2 double deckers & another was a makeshift room with 1 single bed.
After the whole family tested the beds (of course with Baba taking more pictures), Amzar agreed it should be the latter.
THE funny thing was: NO BANTAL! Hah!
We decided to go for lunch at a place where we could get for Amzar a pillow & some clothes hangers & antibiotics for the ear plus more artificial tear for me. The fluid for the eye that I was using had preservatives & it was causing allergic reaction.
So, here we go to... where else but to AMCORP!
Aiman kept repeating with big smiles on his face of his amazement that Amzar's place was SO close to everything, even to their Samad School.
I thought, "So... he was affected by the idea that Amzar would be gone again..."
Anyway, celebratory lunch at KR, only got the artificial tear off the counter & not the antibiotics since the pharmacist had just gone out for lunch.
As for Amzar, he instead got for himself a Giordano t-shirt on sale.
Yes, back HOME to get the pillow!
Since Amzar needed to go back only at 5pm, he snoozed at the brown sofa, solat zohor, then continued on at the striped sofa.
Penatnya pelajar matrikulasi... baru pendaftaran!
After Asr, only me & Suami sent him off. We dropped him off in front of the gate. Aiman & Durrah were too tired & furthermore they had sent him all the way to his room.
So, one tanggungjawab for the weekend was settled, Alhamdulillah.
Next, back to Amcorp as I really wanted to get the antibiotics for the ear.
Sorry, they don't have it. I guess, I would just get it from UMMC on Monday during my first physiotherapy session.
When we arrived home... Refering to TAF parked in front of the house, Suami said, "Your sister is here..."
Kak Ijah was sitting facing towards the door & I thought she had this unsure with a tinge of sadness look on her face & Abang Fozi was sitting at the sofa.
So, stories were exchanged at the round table which had heard so many happy-sad-gossipy-you name it stories since 1995 when it joined the GI household. If only the table could talk...
Rahil, Zaidi & Ayrah later joined. Even the 1 year old plus cucu Ayrah looked anxiously at her WanZ & (we thought) she said, "Napanya?"
Rahil suggested that I just pulled the end part of my the right side of my lips when I wanted to pronounced anything with "B" & "P" which I had most troubled with. It helped!
They left since it was close to Maghrib.
*************************************************
Thursday, May 28, 2009
BP1 - 23 MEI 2009 : SABTU MALAM (AHAD) DI RUMAH
We had a family group Yasin reading & a doa session lead by Suami: for Amzar yang nak masuk ke dunia baru, for all family members, especially those who are currently not in the pink of health -- Mama, Nenek, Tok Mak & Pak Long.
Also each was given a chance to "verbalize whatever" that (s)he wanted to share, starting with Suami. Next Amzar, Aiman & Durrah.
Last was me. I used mine to thank everyone & to focus on Amzar's next step.
One thing at a time :)
During dinner, I called up Dr Mona & asked whether her clinic is still opened. Nak juga satu lagi opinion... Hoping against hope?
Dr Mona said exactly the same thing.
However, being an honorary *family physician-friend she was being extra nice!
She said, "I've seen so many cases like this. You will FULLY recover."
I thought to myself, "Hmmm... you're promising me more than you should, Mona."
(*Well... she did see EVERYONE, dari Parni, Bibik Khasanah, Rochanah, Tini hinggalah ke Fitri mata kena gigit lebah, Fitrah, of course GI family, VA family, Kak Erah, Tok Mak & EVEN Mak Aji Kalsum (for her lutut) + Lily (for her high BP) all the way from Tual, Pulau Kei, Sulawesi, Indonesia (June 2007, when they came over for wedding of Adlan-Sakina)!
Other things she commented was she thought the dosage for the prednisolone should have been slightly more.
Also my BP reading on her machine was much lower than what was shown by the machine at home. Maybe mine should be sent for calibration! The reading on mine was rather scary... but under the circumstances, "taklah mengejutkan..."
Oh yes, she mentioned that some Chinese thought Bell's Palsy has something to do with angin! There are 'stories' of individuals getting Bell's Palsy after sleeping on the concerned side of the face during long bus rides at night with open windows!
After the visit to Dr. Mona, I sat at the laptop... sent an e mail to my group of students about change of plans for Monday. I thought of having a group meeting with each having assignment to do.
I am sure they'll be busy "googling" Bell's Palsy to get more information about my problem.
The rest of the night for me was also spent "googling" till way past 2 am.
Lots of information & printed a few.
Also stumbled into some interesting "you tube recordings". I noticed that they are all rather jovial about their situations :)
I was tired & I couldn't actually digest the info anymore... same thing but worded differently in different sites. An easy one to follow: http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/brain_nervous/bells_palsy.html#
Basically:
- No one really know why it happened, but mostly related to post-viral infection.
- Inflammation needed to be treated with steroid ASAP (within 72 hours)
- Speed of recovery varies -- 2 weeks to months & years
- Scope of recovery varies -- the normal statistics show 95% with complete recovery while 5% don't
- Factors which may facilitate recovery -- facial re-training, physiotherapy, massage & acupuncture. Vitamin B6, B12 & Zinc have also been mentioned.
Wallahu'alam!
Deep down I think I didn't feel too comfortable with the idea of sleeping at night. Unspoken fear of what had happened the last time I slept?
Of course, I had sleep. I had to be up & about to send off Amzar later in the morning. He decided that he wanted to go at 10:30am, although registration started at 8:00am.
Well, clumsily going through the hassles of putting in a lot of artificial tear fluid, putting the pad & *a long selindang enjut-enjut to tie up the pad so that the top eyelid would not slowly open up or me taking it off, without realizing it. In the late afternoon siesta I had earlier, the pad was already slightly flapping off when I woke up.
(*I've had the selindang for many years, but I've never wear it. I am just not a selindang panjang person. However, I still kept it because Saadah got me the selindang during her Haj. TQ Saadah :)
It was way past 2:30am when I ended up sleeping. That was after I kept playing Al-Mulk & at least 2 rounds of Ar-Rahman using my *phone.
Also each was given a chance to "verbalize whatever" that (s)he wanted to share, starting with Suami. Next Amzar, Aiman & Durrah.
Last was me. I used mine to thank everyone & to focus on Amzar's next step.
One thing at a time :)
During dinner, I called up Dr Mona & asked whether her clinic is still opened. Nak juga satu lagi opinion... Hoping against hope?
Dr Mona said exactly the same thing.
However, being an honorary *family physician-friend she was being extra nice!
She said, "I've seen so many cases like this. You will FULLY recover."
I thought to myself, "Hmmm... you're promising me more than you should, Mona."
(*Well... she did see EVERYONE, dari Parni, Bibik Khasanah, Rochanah, Tini hinggalah ke Fitri mata kena gigit lebah, Fitrah, of course GI family, VA family, Kak Erah, Tok Mak & EVEN Mak Aji Kalsum (for her lutut) + Lily (for her high BP) all the way from Tual, Pulau Kei, Sulawesi, Indonesia (June 2007, when they came over for wedding of Adlan-Sakina)!
Other things she commented was she thought the dosage for the prednisolone should have been slightly more.
Also my BP reading on her machine was much lower than what was shown by the machine at home. Maybe mine should be sent for calibration! The reading on mine was rather scary... but under the circumstances, "taklah mengejutkan..."
Oh yes, she mentioned that some Chinese thought Bell's Palsy has something to do with angin! There are 'stories' of individuals getting Bell's Palsy after sleeping on the concerned side of the face during long bus rides at night with open windows!
After the visit to Dr. Mona, I sat at the laptop... sent an e mail to my group of students about change of plans for Monday. I thought of having a group meeting with each having assignment to do.
I am sure they'll be busy "googling" Bell's Palsy to get more information about my problem.
The rest of the night for me was also spent "googling" till way past 2 am.
Lots of information & printed a few.
Also stumbled into some interesting "you tube recordings". I noticed that they are all rather jovial about their situations :)
I was tired & I couldn't actually digest the info anymore... same thing but worded differently in different sites. An easy one to follow: http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/brain_nervous/bells_palsy.html#
Basically:
- No one really know why it happened, but mostly related to post-viral infection.
- Inflammation needed to be treated with steroid ASAP (within 72 hours)
- Speed of recovery varies -- 2 weeks to months & years
- Scope of recovery varies -- the normal statistics show 95% with complete recovery while 5% don't
- Factors which may facilitate recovery -- facial re-training, physiotherapy, massage & acupuncture. Vitamin B6, B12 & Zinc have also been mentioned.
Wallahu'alam!
Deep down I think I didn't feel too comfortable with the idea of sleeping at night. Unspoken fear of what had happened the last time I slept?
Of course, I had sleep. I had to be up & about to send off Amzar later in the morning. He decided that he wanted to go at 10:30am, although registration started at 8:00am.
Well, clumsily going through the hassles of putting in a lot of artificial tear fluid, putting the pad & *a long selindang enjut-enjut to tie up the pad so that the top eyelid would not slowly open up or me taking it off, without realizing it. In the late afternoon siesta I had earlier, the pad was already slightly flapping off when I woke up.
(*I've had the selindang for many years, but I've never wear it. I am just not a selindang panjang person. However, I still kept it because Saadah got me the selindang during her Haj. TQ Saadah :)
It was way past 2:30am when I ended up sleeping. That was after I kept playing Al-Mulk & at least 2 rounds of Ar-Rahman using my *phone.
(*Sahabat Kamila, I copied the Quran recitation from the KA laptop you passed down to me! I don't know who downloaded it to the laptop in the first place)
********************************************
YASIN (Surah 36: 82-83):
إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُ إِذَا أَرَادَ شَيْئًا أَنْ يَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ (36:82
فَسُبْحَانَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ (36:83
Verily, when He intends a thing, His Command is, "be", and it is!
So glory to Him in Whose hands is the dominion of all things: and to Him will ye be all brought back.
"Sesungguhnya perintah-Nya apabila Dia menghendaki sesuatu hanyalah berkata kepadanya: ""Jadilah!"" maka terjadilah ia."
Maka Maha Suci (Allah) yang di tangan-Nya kekuasaan atas segala sesuatu dan kepada-Nya lah kamu dikembalikan.
*************************************************
BP1 - 23 MEI 2009 : SABTU SENJA DI RUMAH
6.27pm : The phone beside my pillow rang. It was Kak Ijah. She asked me, "Kamu *pengsan ke ni?"
(That's how we refer to the state when anyone of us is taking a real rest & most likely sleeping due to penat teramat).
I said something like, "Ye..."
She continued on quickly about her sms-ing Abang Ripin the details of the ole-ole & then she let me off.
It was good she called. Solat asar.
6:57pm: Went downstairs to get some drinks, etc, the phone rang... Abang Ripin from Tual, Pulau Kei, Sulawesi, Indonesia!
Another history in the making.
Last year it was the Kak Ijah (cucu)-Abang Fauzi (cucu menantu) duo reaching the land after 3 generations... after Atuk Laki left the land for Mekah at the age of 13 (?).
Tok Ayah (anak) never set foot on the land.
Now, here's Abang Ripin, a cucu menantu!
He was so excited & the line was not too clear.. he didn't notice my slurness.
He passed the phone to Kak Ratna & I managed to say something like, "ABANG RIPIN yang dibawa angin ke sana, ya?".
She replied in the tone that I thought also reflected, "Yeah... this is really weird, I know what you mean. But hey... we're ecstatic with whoever from the clan that ALLAH sent to us"
I was partly panicking because I seriously did not think I could be making any sense over the phone.
The line went dead in the middle of her sentence.
Phew, Alhamdulillah. I was not ready to have my Bell's Palsy news travelled all the way to Sulawesi!
Suami & kids fussed over my face. I think, hoping that "Mama's face event is just one of those things that would go away after Mama has had her sleep rest". Sorry, not this one.
To perk the situation, I was asking for the camera, etc... & how I wanted my current face to be recorded. Told them that the E&T lady doctor suggested for photos to be taken so that I could monitor progress.
I was making funny faces, but I know they did not think they were laughable.
Of course, I gave the slowly worded directive, "DON'T MMS anyone those pictures. Not yet."
Of course, in the back of my mind was, "How long do I want to keep this secret from the family -- both PP & Temerloh clans? I've got to tell them, sooner or later... Who to tell first & when?"
Deliberated a bit on my unreadiness state of mind, Amzar's preparation for UIA, Tok Mak's condition, etc etc etc... then made up my mind.
7:06pm : Sent out the Bell's Palsy news for the first time to a warga Pondok Putih (PP): an sms to Khalil, who's now doing umrah. He left the last weekend.
"Salam. Khalil, nak minta tolong doa supaya fungsi gentian saraf kanan no. 7 ke muka MakZ sembuh. FYI: Sabtu pagi hilang kawalan otot muka sebelah kanan: X boleh turunkan kelopak mata kanan, tidur kena pakai eye pad; nak bercakap / makan / minum payah & mulut herot. Tests (ECG, x-ray, CT scan) @ UMMC showed Alhamdulillah X strok, tapi kes ini namanya Bell's Palsy. Rawatan = ubat2 & facial physiotherapy. TQ atas doa muga pulih sepenuhnya dalam kadar segera, InsyaAllah"
7:23pm : Sent out the same sms to a warga Temerloh, (Dr.) Lina with an additional sentence:
Advice on matter?
(That's how we refer to the state when anyone of us is taking a real rest & most likely sleeping due to penat teramat).
I said something like, "Ye..."
She continued on quickly about her sms-ing Abang Ripin the details of the ole-ole & then she let me off.
It was good she called. Solat asar.
6:57pm: Went downstairs to get some drinks, etc, the phone rang... Abang Ripin from Tual, Pulau Kei, Sulawesi, Indonesia!
Another history in the making.
Last year it was the Kak Ijah (cucu)-Abang Fauzi (cucu menantu) duo reaching the land after 3 generations... after Atuk Laki left the land for Mekah at the age of 13 (?).
Tok Ayah (anak) never set foot on the land.
Now, here's Abang Ripin, a cucu menantu!
He was so excited & the line was not too clear.. he didn't notice my slurness.
He passed the phone to Kak Ratna & I managed to say something like, "ABANG RIPIN yang dibawa angin ke sana, ya?".
She replied in the tone that I thought also reflected, "Yeah... this is really weird, I know what you mean. But hey... we're ecstatic with whoever from the clan that ALLAH sent to us"
I was partly panicking because I seriously did not think I could be making any sense over the phone.
The line went dead in the middle of her sentence.
Phew, Alhamdulillah. I was not ready to have my Bell's Palsy news travelled all the way to Sulawesi!
Suami & kids fussed over my face. I think, hoping that "Mama's face event is just one of those things that would go away after Mama has had her sleep rest". Sorry, not this one.
To perk the situation, I was asking for the camera, etc... & how I wanted my current face to be recorded. Told them that the E&T lady doctor suggested for photos to be taken so that I could monitor progress.
I was making funny faces, but I know they did not think they were laughable.
Of course, I gave the slowly worded directive, "DON'T MMS anyone those pictures. Not yet."
Of course, in the back of my mind was, "How long do I want to keep this secret from the family -- both PP & Temerloh clans? I've got to tell them, sooner or later... Who to tell first & when?"
Deliberated a bit on my unreadiness state of mind, Amzar's preparation for UIA, Tok Mak's condition, etc etc etc... then made up my mind.
7:06pm : Sent out the Bell's Palsy news for the first time to a warga Pondok Putih (PP): an sms to Khalil, who's now doing umrah. He left the last weekend.
"Salam. Khalil, nak minta tolong doa supaya fungsi gentian saraf kanan no. 7 ke muka MakZ sembuh. FYI: Sabtu pagi hilang kawalan otot muka sebelah kanan: X boleh turunkan kelopak mata kanan, tidur kena pakai eye pad; nak bercakap / makan / minum payah & mulut herot. Tests (ECG, x-ray, CT scan) @ UMMC showed Alhamdulillah X strok, tapi kes ini namanya Bell's Palsy. Rawatan = ubat2 & facial physiotherapy. TQ atas doa muga pulih sepenuhnya dalam kadar segera, InsyaAllah"
7:23pm : Sent out the same sms to a warga Temerloh, (Dr.) Lina with an additional sentence:
Advice on matter?
Lina's reply, "Selalunya post viral. InsyaAllah prognosis good. Kena completekan course prednisolone."
*************************************************
BP1 - 23 MEI 2009 : SABTU PETANG DI RUMAH
Quickly ate lunch & took a shower.
Came to realize that in closing my eyes, especially the right eye... it was not just the upper lid that needed to come down BUT the lower lid also had to slightly come up a bit for a complete closure.
So, just holding the upper lid down with a finger would not stop the water & the shampoo from entering the right eye!
Solat zohor & at the sejadah... taking time to reflect of the day's events .
In my mind, this Quranic verse which is first mentioned as verse 13 from Surah Ar-Rahman (Surah 55) was *repeated:
Came to realize that in closing my eyes, especially the right eye... it was not just the upper lid that needed to come down BUT the lower lid also had to slightly come up a bit for a complete closure.
So, just holding the upper lid down with a finger would not stop the water & the shampoo from entering the right eye!
Solat zohor & at the sejadah... taking time to reflect of the day's events .
In my mind, this Quranic verse which is first mentioned as verse 13 from Surah Ar-Rahman (Surah 55) was *repeated:
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاء رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ
Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?
(*This verse is the most often repeated in the Surah, ie 31 times!
Kept flashing in my mind was a time during our Haj in 2003.. we were walking back from Masjid Nabawi, Madinah back to the hotel & there was this Malay boy walking in front of us with a group of elederly men & he was reciting Surah Ar-Rahman... following a recording that was played by one of the shops on the street !
I also remembered humming a line from Louis Armstrong... "what a wonderful world" to myself..)
So, took out the Quran & read the whole Surah Ar-Rahman
Then, used the eye pad for the first time... had Amzar helped stick the tapes on.
The one-eyed lady pirate needed a rest... zzzzzz.... !!!!
************************************************************************
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsk58tjsuaM&feature=related
The one-eyed lady pirate needed a rest... zzzzzz.... !!!!
************************************************************************
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsk58tjsuaM&feature=related
AR-RAHMAN (THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCY GIVING)
Total Verses: 78 Revealed At: MAKKA, YUSUF ALI:
055.001: (Allah) Most Gracious!
055.002: It is He Who has taught the Qur'an.
055.003: He has created man,
055.004: He has taught him speech (and intelligence).
055.005: The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed;
055.006: And the herbs and the trees - both (alike) prostrate in adoration.
055.007: And the Firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the Balance (of Justice),
055.008: In order that ye may not transgress (due) balance.
055.009: So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance.
055.010: It is He Who has spread out the earth for (His) creatures:
055.011: Therein is fruit and date-palms, producing spathes (enclosing dates);
055.012: Also corn, with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet-smelling plants.
055.013: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.014: He created man from sounding clay like unto pottery,
055.015: And He created Jinns from fire free of smoke:
055.016: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.017: (He is) Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests:
055.018: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.019: He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together:
055.020: Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress:
055.021: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.022: Out of them come Pearls and Coral:
055.023: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.024: And His are the Ships sailing smoothly through the seas, lofty as mountains:
055.025: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.026: All that is on earth will perish:
055.027: But will abide (for ever) the Face of thy Lord,- full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.
055.028: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.029: Of Him seeks (its need) every creature in the heavens and on earth: every day in (new) Splendour doth He (shine)!
055.030: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.031: Soon shall We settle your affairs, O both ye worlds!
055.032: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny
055.033: O ye assembly of Jinns and men! If it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, pass ye! not without authority shall ye be able to pass!
055.034: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.035: On you will be sent (O ye evil ones twain!) a flame of fire (to burn) and a smoke (to choke): no defence will ye have:
055.036: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.037: When the sky is rent asunder, and it becomes red like ointment:
055.038:Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.039: On that Day no question will be asked of man or Jinn as to his sin.
055.040: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.041: (For) the sinners will be known by their marks: and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet.
055.042: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.043: This is the Hell which the Sinners deny
055.044: In its midst and in the midst of boiling hot water will they wander round!
055.045: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.046: But for such as fear the time when they will stand before (the Judgment Seat of) their Lord, there will be two Gardens
055.047: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.048: Containing all kinds (of trees and delights);
055.049: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.050: In them (each) will be two Springs flowing (free);
055.051: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.052: In them will be Fruits of every kind, two and two.
055.053: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.054: They will recline on Carpets, whose inner linings will be of rich brocade: the Fruit of the Gardens will be near (and easy of reach).
055.055: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.056: In them will be (Maidens), chaste, restraining their glances, whom no man or Jinn before them has touched;
055.057: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.058: Like unto Rubies and coral.
055.059: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.060: Is there any Reward for Good - other than Good?
055.061: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.062: And besides these two, there are two other Gardens,
055.063: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.064: Dark-green in colour (from plentiful watering).
055.065: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.066: In them (each) will be two Springs pouring forth water in continuous abundance:
055.067: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.068: In them will be Fruits, and dates and pomegranates:
055.069: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.070: In them will be fair (Companions), good, beautiful;
055.071: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.072: Companions restrained (as to their glances), in (goodly) pavilions.
055.073: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.074: Whom no man or Jinn before them has touched;
055.075 : Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.076: Reclining on green Cushions and rich Carpets of beauty.
055.077: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.078: Blessed be the name of thy Lord, full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.
*************************************************
Total Verses: 78 Revealed At: MAKKA, YUSUF ALI:
055.001: (Allah) Most Gracious!
055.002: It is He Who has taught the Qur'an.
055.003: He has created man,
055.004: He has taught him speech (and intelligence).
055.005: The sun and the moon follow courses (exactly) computed;
055.006: And the herbs and the trees - both (alike) prostrate in adoration.
055.007: And the Firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the Balance (of Justice),
055.008: In order that ye may not transgress (due) balance.
055.009: So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance.
055.010: It is He Who has spread out the earth for (His) creatures:
055.011: Therein is fruit and date-palms, producing spathes (enclosing dates);
055.012: Also corn, with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet-smelling plants.
055.013: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.014: He created man from sounding clay like unto pottery,
055.015: And He created Jinns from fire free of smoke:
055.016: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.017: (He is) Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests:
055.018: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.019: He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together:
055.020: Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress:
055.021: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.022: Out of them come Pearls and Coral:
055.023: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.024: And His are the Ships sailing smoothly through the seas, lofty as mountains:
055.025: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.026: All that is on earth will perish:
055.027: But will abide (for ever) the Face of thy Lord,- full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.
055.028: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.029: Of Him seeks (its need) every creature in the heavens and on earth: every day in (new) Splendour doth He (shine)!
055.030: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.031: Soon shall We settle your affairs, O both ye worlds!
055.032: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny
055.033: O ye assembly of Jinns and men! If it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, pass ye! not without authority shall ye be able to pass!
055.034: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.035: On you will be sent (O ye evil ones twain!) a flame of fire (to burn) and a smoke (to choke): no defence will ye have:
055.036: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.037: When the sky is rent asunder, and it becomes red like ointment:
055.038:Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.039: On that Day no question will be asked of man or Jinn as to his sin.
055.040: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.041: (For) the sinners will be known by their marks: and they will be seized by their forelocks and their feet.
055.042: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.043: This is the Hell which the Sinners deny
055.044: In its midst and in the midst of boiling hot water will they wander round!
055.045: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.046: But for such as fear the time when they will stand before (the Judgment Seat of) their Lord, there will be two Gardens
055.047: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.048: Containing all kinds (of trees and delights);
055.049: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.050: In them (each) will be two Springs flowing (free);
055.051: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.052: In them will be Fruits of every kind, two and two.
055.053: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.054: They will recline on Carpets, whose inner linings will be of rich brocade: the Fruit of the Gardens will be near (and easy of reach).
055.055: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.056: In them will be (Maidens), chaste, restraining their glances, whom no man or Jinn before them has touched;
055.057: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.058: Like unto Rubies and coral.
055.059: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.060: Is there any Reward for Good - other than Good?
055.061: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.062: And besides these two, there are two other Gardens,
055.063: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.064: Dark-green in colour (from plentiful watering).
055.065: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.066: In them (each) will be two Springs pouring forth water in continuous abundance:
055.067: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.068: In them will be Fruits, and dates and pomegranates:
055.069: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.070: In them will be fair (Companions), good, beautiful;
055.071: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.072: Companions restrained (as to their glances), in (goodly) pavilions.
055.073: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.074: Whom no man or Jinn before them has touched;
055.075 : Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.076: Reclining on green Cushions and rich Carpets of beauty.
055.077: Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
055.078: Blessed be the name of thy Lord, full of Majesty, Bounty and Honour.
*************************************************
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