Here's My Story

Recently, we went to make the final payment for the hearing aids. Weeks earlier, I was informed that it has arrived. Ashley took back the trial pair and then hand the purchased ones to mum. As usual, she asked mum questions to determine whether adjustment was needed or not. Made minor recalibration of the volume, which mum acknowledged was an improvement. She also paired them with mum's phone. Included in the purchase were two containers: one each for each aid. There is a brush to clean the ear moulds and a small plastic handle for easy dislodgement of battery from inside the cover of the aid once it's opened. We were also given many spare batteries for free. What came as a pleasant surprise was the gift of dehumidifier device (worth RM 400) that is a replacement for the container of silica gel i.e. it's used to actively dry the hearing aids, especially the battery compartments. It's powered by a power bank within and so needs to be regularly recharged. It's easy to...

Me: Hi Ashley, What's the brand name of my mum's chosen hearing aids and the model? It's considered mid-range, correct?    Ashley: Good morning, the brand is Unitron.  Model: Stride V1 UP Its consider as entry level yea. Me: Oh, ok. I remember you said that for the ITE version, its range of listening environments is at entry level. This Stride V1 UP's range of listening environments is at mid level? Ashley: ITE version also had entry level and mid level. The difference is how fast and precise the hearing aid process the noise and speech yea. Me: So are you saying that the range of listening environments for Stride V1 UP is at the minimum? Ashley: The hearing aid able to process all range of listening environment e.g in noisy environment, in car and in quiet environment. For entry level, they have noise reduction technology also but of course mid range technology level is more precise. Me: So there is no difference in terms of range of listening en...

Although the trial pair could be ready in 2-3 weeks, we would get them in nearly a month time to coincide with my next visit to Butterworth.  Getting my mum to use the trial pair went well. Ashley was patient, methodical and informative. She got my mum to practise about 5 times putting on the hearing aids. Key words: hook and push in. When not in use, it's important open battery cover, which has a holder within to contain the battery, and place the device in a container of silica gel (provided as part of the package) to dry out possible moisture. In case of the battery dislodges from the cover or when trying to inset new battery, it should be placed from directly above the holder i.e. not from the side, not from the bottom. Volume can be adjusted manually by clicking the top of the device. It can also be adjusted via an app but that will be introduced only later as the main aim was for mum to get used to using hearing aids, including the significant change in quality and nature of...

Mum always has rhinitis which I suspected is the same as mine i.e. vasomotor rhinitis. This is more or less confirmed by the result of the 107 allergen test . Normally, she would just need to use nasal steroid spray (Avamys) and take antihistamine (ceterizine) for a period of time. However, earlier this year, the symptoms didn't improve and it was debilitating: woke up in the morning feeling the stuffiness and pain, took medicine and needed to nap 4 hours before feeling good enough to be awake but couldn't do her usual exercise routine. So she consulted Dr Yeoh and was prescribed antibiotics and another anthistamine. She felt much better soon but relapsed shortly after finishing the medication. Consulted the doctor again and was prescribed another round of similar medication. Again, same results. As expected, Dr Yeoh recommended that she consult an ENT specialist.  In anticipation, I've asked mum to ask Dr Yeoh to recommend an ENT specialist based in mainland Penang. Going ...

So, when suitable, I made an appointment with 20dB. The audiologist, Ashley, kindly informed me of reserved parking bays for us to park in. She was patient and helpful throughout the consultation :) At the outset, I told her of mum's main problem with the previous hearing aids .   Previously, it was the RIC type. It was a little difficult for her to attach them to her ears and more importantly, one side dropped twice.  I thought the ITE type is suitable: it looks easier for mum to attach it because of its size. However, the audiologist said that its vulnerable to breakage if it drops. Also, its range of listening environments is at entry level, whereas for safety issue, we want greater range. (refer to this 20dB webpage ). Ashley recommended the BTE type where the transparent part that goes into the ear canal is customised to fit into the ear. Ashley demonstrated to mum how to attach it to her ear. Results of the hearing test: Bass = low-pitched sounds. Treble = high-pitched s...

Back in 2019 , we got mum a pair of hearing aids but unfortunately, she stopped using them after a few weeks. Firstly, it was a little difficult for her to put them on. Secondly, twice one of them dropped, which I witnessed. A pity that these weren't picked up during the trial period. Mum was contented to make do with impaired hearing and so I didn't pursue further. However, during the trip to Australia (Dec 25 - Jan 26), I was quite alarmed at the deterioration of her hearing. One incident stuck out: we were in a Qantas plane. She couldn't hear the air stewardess who was speaking to her. Even worse was that, she also couldn't hear me the first time I spoke to her even though I was sitting next to her. I also noticed that sometimes people stopped repeating their questions when mum repeatedly misheard and thus responded incorrectly. Most importantly, I was concerned about her safety: what if she's walking outside and can't hear someone shouting her warning to mov...

  Sent the above video to my family. Me: Ban thought it's an actual cat because it's breathing. Sister: Then what it is??? It looks like it's breathing! Mum: *Agreed with my sister* Me: 😂 Me: It's a toy with mechanism inside that causes that part to rise and fall. Me: Well, apparently Ban is not in the only one (who thought it was real) 😅 

Early morning after the appointment , mum had itchy rashes again. Despite not looking like the fungal infection rashes, she applied the fungal cream and took antihistamine. Apparently that worked and for a while it was fine until it happened again a few days thereafter. My sister brought mum to see Dr Ling again. Doctor said that they stopped the medication too early. She said that normally it takes at least 3 months to fully recover. In mum's case, it was just a month because she examined mum and concluded that it was likely that mum had fully recovered, thinking that perhaps she was one of the lucky ones who recovered faster. Oh well. Medicine was prescribed for a month and mum was advised to seek the doctor's consultation earlier if condition worsens.

Three weeks after the last appointment , we were back at Dr Ling's room. This time she voluntarily told us that the swab test confirmed the fungal infection diagnosis. She was also satisfied with mum's recovery after performing a physical examination. After we told her that despite mum having no prawn allergy for most of her life, the past 3 times she had prawns consistently caused itchy rashes. Mum showed her a photo of the rashes, which the Dr Ling said was bad. Hence, mum was advised to avoid prawns, regardless of the results of the 107 allergens test. I also signed up for the test. Dr Ling explained that the allergen test is testing for the presence of IgE. There are 5 types of antibodies i.e. IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE, and IgD. Allergic reaction that's caused by production of IgE to fight allergens is the most serious compared to other types of antibodies and hence allergy test focuses on IgE. So, even if the IgE allergy test is negative for prawns, mum's allergic reactio...

A week after the first appointment , my sister brought my mum to see Dr Ling, the skin specialist, for a follow-up. During that week, her condition improved significantly: hardly any redness, still itchy but not as bad. In short, 1. Doctor is happy with the progress and think that we are on the right track. 2. She still diagnosed mum with fungal infection and not allergy. Normal recovery time is about 3 months. 3. Itchiness partly due to dry skin and so need to use moisturiser. 4. Follow-up in 3 weeks time. As discussed beforehand, my sister requested for test of 107 allergens. Privately, we still think that mum has developed allergy towards prawns. Coincidentally, later mum had Penang Hokkien Mee (which is prawn based and has prawns) and developed rashes. I would be bringing mum to the next appointment and hopefully I'll remember to ask the doctor for the result of the swab test. We're puzzled as to why the doctor didn't voluntarily tell us about it.  

The appointment was a week after discharged from hospital. It involved blood test and then consultation with doctor. For no strong reason other than wanting to trim a little the time spent, I asked Ban to drive us, despite the hospital being a mere 20-min away (normally I wouldn't want to involve him for such short non-strenuous appointment). I am grateful that he agreed because it went on much longer than expected. What happened was that after "recovering" for a few days, unexpectedly mum developed the itchy rashes again two days before the appointment date and condition worsened (there was discharge) around her groin area the next day. The doctor was quite alarmed by this. His initial guess was that she was allergic to prawns (she had it prior to reappearance of the rashes) despite not being the case previously. The summary is that mum could be allergic to prawns all the while but it reaches critical mass only now. Anyway, he decided to defer to his skin sp...

During CNY, my sister's family spent time at her in-laws place in Penang island. They invited mum to join them and I was glad that mum decided to go. However, when she was there, she had an allergic reaction: rashes, redness and itches over her body. She suspected it was the bar of soap. Mum had a history of contact dermatitis, the most serious were her fingers turning nearly black. Sister brought her to a 24-hour clinic for treatment. Was given antihistamine and calomine lotion. The next morning, my sister was helping to apply the lotion on mum when she suddenly collapsed on her bed, with hands pointing up (elbows on bed) and shaking. Mum didn't respond to sister's calling until a minute later when this seizure-like moment was over. Scary. After some discussion, my sister brought her back to the clinic. They said although it's possible that this is a side effect of antihistamine, it's rare and even more so for the one they prescribed i.e. chlorphenamine. However, i...

My sister's family (sans one son), my mum, Ban and I dined once at Ramen O in Canberra during the recent trip. My sister gathered the orders from the table and then went to the counter to place our order. While waiting... Me: Did I just hear my sister say, "Ramen oh my god." *laughed* Ban: Same here but surely we misheard? Me: Oh, wait, I think I know why. *laughed*  

Unlike the leg to Australia , the leg back had us experienced worse wheelchair assistance. In fact, the worst one was happened unexpectedly at a renown airport. Before I go on, I should stress that although these assitance requests were made with the airlines, I noticed that the staff who provided the asistance were from different companies. This is confirmed by the staff at KLIA but he did say that certain airlines had their staff to do it too. Canberra to Sydney Interestingly, the Qantas staff at Canberra Airport didn't ask whether we wanted to a staff to wheel my mum. She somehow assumed that we wanted to do it ourselves, which was fine with us. At Sydney airport, mum was made to walk quite a distance, including the slightly inclined aerobridge, right into the airpot and we were made to wait (with seats available, thank goodness) for the staff to bring a wheelchair for her. Then, unlike previous experience, he just left us right before the exit to the common area. Didn't bot...

When I purchased the MAS flight tickets , I also requested wheelchair assistance for my mum, like what I did with SIA (now only the return flight) and Qantas (for the domestic flights). It was my first experience requesting such assistance and so I was a little nervous. The first flight of our trip was the MAS flight from KL to Melbourne. We first had problem locating the business class check-in counters. So, I asked a staff at the priority counter and was told that business class counters are at a different row and that passengers can check in anyway, unlike what I was told over the phone i.e. 3 to 4 hours before departure. That was a bit a good news: we could then check in our luggages and proceeded directly to the MAS Golden Lounge. Because of the stop at the lounge, I thought the easiest was for us to wheel mum but MAS said mum had to be wheeled by a staff. Fortunately, they were ok to do 2 trips: one was from counter to the lounge and then, at an agreed time, from the lounge to th...

Wow, it's been more than 15 month s since I last blogged about my mum's eye. I guess I didn't blog about subsequent follow-up appointments because nothing much changed: left eye had slight swelling but not affecting nerves or swelling, continue to use eyedrop but changed to Systane Complete preservative-free, and still attend follow-up appointments. I was supposed to bring her to Oasis in November but I was unwell. Fortunately, Ban was able to bring her. There was some good news: the swelling slightly reduced. Yay! Next appointment is 6 months later. 

The first scare  more than 2.5 years ago resulted in us ordering an ultrasound for mum. Fatty liver was (probably) the cause of the elevated AFP. Fatty liver was further confirmed about 8 to 9 months later  but AFP was normal few months before this. It was again normal in late 2024 but a year after that it was elevated once again. As an aside, mum has been diligently exercising for about an hour everyday, when she's isn't unwell. She has also cut down on fatty and fried food. Hence, we'll be surprised if there's still fatty liver. Also, tests showed, for two consecutive years, that she's immune to hepatitis A and B and non-reactive to hep C and so we didn't order these tests for 2025. Both Pathlab and mum's GP advised us to get ultrasound done. Dr Yeoh was confident that it would show that there is nothing wrong, despite the elevated AFP. He suggested that mum consult doctor at her usual Klinik Kesihatan at Penaga so as to get free ulstrasound done. The doct...

My mum's passport expired years ago. Few months ago, I was looking up on the internet on whether I could still apply for passport online. It seems that it was possible but additional steps were needed if current passport had already expired AND damaged or lost but, as you might have noticed, nothing about passport that's expired but not damaged or lost. Shockingly laughable. I then phoned the immigration department at Seberang Jaya. The officer said that mum could still apply online but he advised us to walk-in because there was a special lane for senior citizen. It would be fast and easy. Mum just needed to bring her old passport and her IC. Photograph would be taken there too and so no need to bring along passport photos. So, Ban and I brought mum there soon after her visa to Australia was granted. However, halfway there, we discovered that she forgot to bring her old passport. Panic set in. Ban, who was driving, asked me whether we should turn back home or not. I asked for s...

A while back in Butterworth, Ban, my mum and I went out for dinner with Ban driving my mum's car. We wanted to test the new RFID tag (the condo uses it for residence's car's exit/entry). It didn't work the night before and so I moved it to another part of the windscreen. It worked when we went out. Me: Do you know what this means? Mum: It means mum has to be in the car. Me: *laughed* Ban: Noooo. Me: That's a very good guess. Here's another: that means Daniel has to drive the car. Mum: *laughed* Ban: Nooo, it doesn't mean that either. 😂

Couple months ago, I bought Seremban beef noodle from KBN @Damansara Uptown for my mum and sister. I received detailed instruction from the bosses on how to transport them to Butterworth, which include the use of ice blocks. I was worried that I didn't have enough ice blocks and so I wanted to buy one on Lazada. I saw that buying two would be cheaper per block because of voucher. Well, an extra would be good and I bought them. Later, it arrived:   It's a pack of 50 of them and I ordered two packs @@