Here's My Story

Saw this at Penaga Klinik Kesihatant. A good chart showing the different kind of pain, so that patients can better describe the pain they're suffering from. All hospitals and clinics should display this, or show to patient when enquiring about their pain.

Unfortunately, the respite didn't last: dad's pain score increased to 3-4 when awake and spiked up to 6-7. Oxynorm breakthrough was 4-5 times a day, on top of the fixed 3 times daily. His bedsores worsened, partly because he refused to get out of bed and sit on chair. He couldn't lie on his sides because of pain. The hospice nurse recommended Duoderm Hydrogel and Duoderm dressing (the latter's expensive!). Seem to help a little. My mum then used Agnesia hygiene care powder on those sores and thank goodness it helped him a lot because he was able to get back to his usual naps. His bowel movement went overdrive at one point e.g. pooed 4 times in the morning and all were of normal quantity! This caused him pain because it hurt the open bedsores. He requested to stop the constipation for two days. I further suggested resuming them (Lactul x2, Senokot x1) if he doesn't poo by 2pm (maid said he would poo by then). Hospice nurse agreed to this plan. Dad tried to ki...

Well, this restaurant is still in operation more than a year later. The latest notices: Translated to: "My boss (is) tired. Want to rest 4 days. Back to work (on) 14th Feb Valentines. Ok, darling?" "99" in Cantonese sounds like "kaw kaw", which is in a Chinese dialect, Hokkien, means "a lot". "55" = "five five", which sounds like "fast fast" in Cantonese. Made me laugh hahaha.

The current third maid is good and strong too.  My mum, sister and I are happy with her. My sister's maid, however, was sometimes unhappy with her and after numerous incidents, we firmly believed it was due to two factors: (1) language barrier (English vs Malay language), and (2) that my sister's maid assumed my dad's maid understood partially what she said and later got frustrated when the latter didn't do what she requested (that's because she didn't understand!). Grrrr. My sister already told her not to assume the other understands her. We are seriously considering swapping their roles but this would need my sister's maid consent because her contract specifically excludes looking after old folks. The other issue is my dad's impatience and forgetfulness. Impatience: if she didn't hear him call, as suggested, he pressed the bell but he would press it again like every 5 seconds thereafter. He complained that she was slow in responding but we obs...

This is the second time I noticed this abberation at Fish & Co @Paradigm Mall: the actual amount of service charge < 10% of sub total. Excluding drinks would result in a lower calculated amount and so I don't know how to reconcile...and neither do the staff there! I asked the staff there the first time I noticed this but basically, they just left it to the system and had no idea how it was computed @@ Update: Ahhhh I figured it out right after I typed the above. The sub total included the 6% SST. So, taking away that amount results in 110.85 - 6.28 = 104.57, of which 10% of it results in 10.46! There you go hahaha.

Spotted this at Jaya Grocer @Starling Mall. Look at the label on the right. 1 bottle cost RM 4.59. Hence 2 bottles cost RM 9.18. Yet on the left, the twin pack, touted as "Great Value!", cost RM 10.90. 😲

There came a point where dad had diarrhea a few times a day. We consulted the hospice nurse, who then suggested cutting down Lactul from 3x a day to 2x (morning and afternoon) and S enokot from 3x a day to once at night. Then he became constipated for a day. Reverted back and he had very soft lumpy poo a few times @@. However, we didn't change anything yet because it could just poo from the previous day when he constipated. He was alright that night. The cycle repeated the next few days i.e. constipation followed by diarrhea. All diarrhea occured between 11pm and 6am. So the hospice nurse advised us to change to her prescription whenever he has dirrhea during these hours and change back to the original prescription if constipated. Next problem was his pain: his constant pain score increased from 3 to 6-7 and it at times spiked up to 9 (he cried and hitting his chest) and taking Oxynorm didn't help, neither did adding 2 tabs of paracetamol didn't help as advised by the ho...

It's been a long time since there was update on my mum's condition with respect to her appointments with psychiatrist and neurologist . Her psychiatric medicine, 5mg asenapine and 100mg sertraline, hasn't changed for quite some time because her mental condition has stabilised. Something to be grateful for, especially given my dad's deteriorating condition. The migraine medicine prescribed by neurologist, flunarizine, was no longer effective in treating her migraine. Her appointment was repeatedly postponed since September 2019, all except for one (it was my request) was due to her not feeling well to attend them @@. One day, just I had guessed, she said that it made no sense to see neurologist until after the appointments with cardiologist. I was inclined to agree but I was keen for her to follow up in case they had alternate medicine for her migraine. After all, flunarizine was effective initially. After yet another postponement to February 2020, I implored her t...

The second maid was soft-spoken, hard working and most importantly we are comfortable with her. Unfortunately, something happened (don't really wish to blog about it) and sadly the agent replaced her with another. It was quite heartbreaking watching her still working during her last half an hour: she was cutting my dad's fingernails 😢 The third maid was a bit more outgoing and has been working for the agent for years. My sister said that the fact that she's allowed to have a smartphone on postpaid plan incidicates that she is someone that the agent trusts. Fyi, new maids are not allowed to have phone. Experienced ones can have phone but on prepaid plan. About 12 hours later, I had this conversation with my dad while the third maid was showering: " Ngor mmm shi fuk. (i.e. unsettling feeling) " " Why leh? " " Dunno...this one not as good as the previous one. Mmm seng mok. (i.e. not smart) " " Pa, she just came. Less than 24 hrs....

I have never watched the classic Disney's animated movie version of this story in its entirety. Just bits and pieces. Recently, I caught the tail-end scene where Pinnochio was dead on a bed, while Geppetto was crying, face down on the bed. The blue fairy appeared and not only she ressurected him but also transformed him into a real boy. Pinnochio then spoke to Geppetto which the latter was still facing the bed: Pinocchio : Why are you crying? Geppetto : Because you're dead. Pinocchio : No, I'm not. Geppetto : Yes, you are. Go lie down. 😄 I am surprised at such witty conversation in such old Disney movie and timed with a sad event for Geppetto.