Medical Report ~ Ortho and Physio appointments

I've been having some back pains, especially my lower back, for some time now. Finally, one day after having unexplained backache, I decided to finally get it checked out. I figured, since I have medical coverage (at government clinics / hospitals only), I may as well make the best of it. Hence, I finally decided to make an appointment to see a specialist.

I tried to expedite the waiting time by going to a private GP to get a referral letter. Referral letter in hand, I was off to Selayang Hospital the very next day. However, all I got after a few hours of waiting was an appointment date, lolz~! The appointment was set to be one and a half months later!!

Finally, one and a half months passed, and the pain also subsided in time... Went to the hospital on 28th May 2008, directly to the Orthopedic Department, and took a number - #4; shouldn't be a long wait, according to the nurse at the counter. So, I settled down on a chair to wait my turn... I then noticed people getting up and crowded around something...

Tried to take some pictures using my phone ~ sorry about the blurry pics... phone is kinda old liao... Finally after the crowd cleared (about 10-15 minutes later), I managed to take a shot of what everyone was crowding around... It was a snack vendor - peddling snacks off a trolley!! Brilliant! Lolz...

After the vendor left, I was left to my own devices again... Phone + PDA = Devices to keep me entertained during the wait... *winks*

My supposedly "short" waiting time soon became one hour... then one and a half hours... Finally, after waiting for over 2 hours, I went to the counter to find out what was going on. It seems that the specialist I was supposed to see was on leave that day and his assisting nurse only found out about an hour ago... =S As a result, all the patients the specialist was supposed to see was distributed to the other medical officers that were working that day... Since I was "staff", I was given priority (they also kinda felt bad that they left me waiting clueless for so long kua...) to see the next medical officer that was available. I wondered whether or not I should've gone to check on the status earlier, hehe... *winks*

A couple of x-rays and a consult with the medical officer later, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and given a prescription, along with a referral for physiotherapy. The x-ray showed the lower back muscles in spasm, and the medical officer said that my backbone was too straight~!

Met an ex-colleague, who happened to be working at the satellite pharmacy, who filled my prescription - muscle relaxant and pain killers. The ironic thing was that my prescription was:
~ Myonal tid x2/52 (muscle relaxant, three times daily, for 3 weeks)
~ Tramadol prn (pain killer, when necessary)

What I got from the pharmacy: exactly 42 tablets of Myonal, but a box of 100's of pain killers... Wow, I didn't even know I was in that much pain, haha!! The ironic part, though, was I had back ache the day after the doctor's appointment, which I did not have on the day of the appointment... >.<

The physiotherapy appointment was scheduled 2 weeks later, so I found myself at the hospital again on 11th June 2008. Rushed to the hospital as I went to get some currency exchanged and picked up my bus ticket to Singapore before my physio appointment - will be off to Singapore that weekend. Was a bit late for my appointment. The nurses or attendants at the Physio department - not as friendly as the ones at Ortho... =(

When my turn finally came, I was left to stare at the wall for a while, waiting for the physioterrorist physiotherapist to come attend to me. When she finally came, *poke, poke* *poke* *OUCH!!* She hurt my shoulder~! Got a VERY painful massage and heat compression to relax the muscle... The heat compression helped the most, and after  about 10 minutes of heat therapy, the shoulder muscle relaxed and the pain subsided a bit. A little bit more massaging to relax the muscle and she then proceeded to teach me some back exercises. After learning a couple of back exercises, she led me to the "gym", where I was instructed to hang onto a ladder. The gravity pull can help to "straighten my back".

Things I learnt after the trip to the physioterrorist physiotherapist:
~ I can barely carry my own weight... and I'm supposed to be underweight some more... haha!
~ My case of scoliosis is quite mild, as the main problem is that my left and right sides are not even (one side is slightly higher than the other)
~ Back exercises that I was taught is supposed to help my condition, and I'm to do them regularly, i.e. everyday
~ I can only get time-off from the physiotherapist... No MC... so it was back to office after lunch...

Well, next physio appointment one month after... scheduled for 16th July 2008... (this time appointment after lunch, so I can go straight home after, hehe...) More updates after that lar... Now, gotta go do back exercise before I forget (again~!)

The Domestication of Kim? - A Beginning

It was productive Saturday indeed... Also, a "domestication" experience, haha!

1. Had (almost) a good sleep (Mom chucked me out of bed cos Dad wanted to go out for lunch - I slept very late the night before lar... so much for trying to make up for lost sleep, hehe!)

2. Cleaned (a portion of) my room - this task had been procrastinated for a while, hehe! (Hopefully this momentum will keep going so I can finally revamp my room as well!!)

3. Helped cook dinner... Yeah, man... I cooked!! Lolz!!

Banana Fritters:

==> ==>

Chicken bites:
==> ==>

Other offerings on the dinner table:

(Assam Asparagus) &

(Bittergourd >.<)

4. Made cookies (or also known as "non-cookies") after clearing up after dinner... I was on a roll from the momentum, perhaps... hehe! Or maybe it's the nesting instinct, haha! (Since Mom was telling me I should learn to cook, etc... "if not how to find husband, get married...") So, cookies galore!! (Sorry, Shu Ling - if you read this, think you're already back in Penang when this was done... Next time lar)

I shall call it Cocoa Cornflake Crumble:

==>

So tired... yet can't seem to unwind quite yet... Gotta get up early tomorrow some more... haihz... Long day tomorrow... And then Monday will come, and it's back to work... again...

Christmas 2007

What a day!! Between waking up in the morning and putting my head down to sleep, I was barely home! I’m feeling the results of that today, haha! Thank God, it’s the end of the year and many are on leave – so the workload is also much slower. My brains can take its time to wake up while the rest of my body runs on autopilot. *winks*

Christmas 2007… in as few words as I possibly can summarize it:

Christmas Musical (The Christmas Shoes) during Christmas Service at church. Finally after weeks and weeks of practices, it was THE day… Ok lar, we had a performance on Sunday night at Putra Heights Community Centre – but comparatively, this audience is at least 10 times larger!! So… “survived” that. Was part of the choir and played one of the cast (which required a solo performance that to me, didn’t go that great).

Then, rushed home to go over to my cousin’s condo for Christmas lunch. Check out the food (or what’s left of it when we arrived, hehe)!

- On the table: Roast chicken with stuffing and gravy; Roast pork; Seafood spaghetti; Fried meehoon; Potato salad; Fresh veggie salad with honey mustard dressing; Chocolate cake; Cheese cake; White wine; Red wine; Plain water (on request) –

Of the four kiddos that were there, one was grumpy cos he didn’t get to go swimming at my cousin’s condo pool and another was cranky and moody cos he was just discharged from the hospital like the day before or something. Was in hospital due to pneumonia, I heard… He’s only like erm… 4 years old?? Poor thing.

- The kids with their prezzies… As usual, kiddos get all the “good stuff”?? –

Finally got home at around 5pm. Rested and took a shower. Left home about 6.30pm and headed over to aunt’s place for dinner.

7 adults. Pork rib (leftover; only 3 pieces – dad, sis and myself were the privileged few). Roast lamb. Roast chicken drumsticks. Fresh veggie salad with thousand island dressing. Riesling. Chocolate cake with ice cream. Rose syrup with lime (my aunt makes the best one I’ve tasted!!)

Cousin came back later after dinner to add to the numbers. The rest of the night was attempts at magic tricks (Us trying to follow in dad’s "David Blaine's street magic" footsteps), cracking jokes here and there – in short, a very jolly time indeed! Left at about 11 something.

Got home. Cleaned up. Watched some comedy on YouTube with the family. Sleep.

Today, woke up to the sound of my handphone’s alarm clock and the realization that I have to go to work.

Pushover

Am I a pushover? Is this why I'm so tired all the time lately? Or am I just being paranoid or exaggerating?

Perhaps I have been trying to please everyone? It feels like unlimited work within limited time; and at times it feels like I'm the only one who is doing the 'work' - if I don't do it, no one will... And nobody cares. >.<

But if no one is willing to do it, should I also follow the status quo and buat tak tahu (pretend not to notice)? Or should I "dare to be different" and take on 'the challenge' and 'stretch my limits'?

I'm really confused and in a 'dilemma' at times... All I can do is keep reminding myself that in the end, I'm working for One, not everyone... The rewards are in Heaven, and not on this earth... But it would help if things would relax a little bit every now and then - and cut me some slack... >.<

Noob. Stupid. Idiot. Me.

** Warning & Disclaimer : Flustered & Highly Flammable/Combustible **

Been so wrapped up trying to get so many things done, pleasing as many people as possible, within as little time as possible. Been so stressed and distracted being overly occupied that I am making stupid, noob mistakes - mistakes that maybe even a noob wouldn't usually make... haihz... So frustrated! (What to do when the person you're most frustrated with is yourself?!)

Recently, I've been trying to apply for credit cards from a couple of banks. So, a call "from the bank" should be quite common and expected, right? However, it began to get a bit fishy when the caller who claimed to be from the bank is asking for information - "confirmation of information" to be exact... Being very distracted and unattentive, I've already entertained a few calls and dutifully provided the information requested for without even thinking twice... (I trust people too easily... haihz)

I really hope the calls were genuinely from the bank... So busy and frustrated already - don't want to have to deal with possible frauds, etc... haihz...

Help!!

The Pictoral Post

If a picture paints a thousand words, then paint this...

Two cents...

Sunday service was mainly inspiring testimonies from two people. Both testified of God's goodness in their work - both in the corporate world and in ministry. Makes me think what about me? What can I do to make a difference in my workplace?

Attended the Bahasa Malaysia service along with Shi Wei, mostly to give moral support to Ps. Tim, who was sharing that day. He shared about God's people stepping into our heritage. Here are the points... I'll translate for those of you who need it. =)

1. Ingatilah kebaikan Tuhan (Joshua 24:2-13)
(Remember God's goodness)
2. Buatlah pilihan yang bijak (Joshua 24:14-15)
(Make wise decisions)
3. Bersedialah untuk melepaskan dirimu (Joshua 24: 19-24)
(Be prepared to let go of yourself)
4. Jadilah saksi terhadap diri sendiri (Joshua 24:26-27)
(Be accountable to yourself)

As he was sharing these points, the questions arose again - What can I do to make a difference at my workplace? And the answer (or at least I think it is the answer...) came - to BE different. Some of my colleagues tell me that eventually I will be very curt when dealing with applicants. As it is, I am already told that I'm being too nice and I will be "pushed around" by the applicants. This would explain why some of them are also curt when talking among colleagues, or maybe just to me? =S

So, I'm going to (sorry if this is straying from the intentions of the sermon points...) apply these points by:
1. Remembering God's goodness of placing me at my workplace - I love my job, but not necessarily the stress that I have to face at times.
2. Making the wise decision to honour God in all I do - remembering that my work is for God, so I will be different and hopefully, make a difference! =)
3. Letting go and let God take control of my work - I am currently doing the workload of two people and can only run on the strength and wisdom from God.
4. Being accountable by "writing" this down - hoping that one day when I look at this post again, I can smile and be thankful for the ways God has seen me through.

** I believe God's words speak differently and individually to each person. Hence, the above points are how the sharing has spoken into my heart and into my life. I hope the sermon points will also bless you and touch your heart in a special way... God bless!

Fried brains?

I wonder if I'd managed to fry my brains...

Yesterday afternoon, I had to attend a seminar in KL. I'd already woken up in the morning feeling lethargic and a sore throat about to happen. Went into office in the morning and took some herbal pills to (hopefully) reduce heatiness (is that how you spell it?). However, I started sniffling the whole day - someone actually commented that I sounded as though I was crying! =S

Well, in the afternoon, after getting a quick bite for lunch, despite still feeling rather sick, I began my "adventure" to KL. The reason I'm calling it an "adventure" is because I wasn't too sure how to get there, but managed to get some directions from a few friends (Thanks, y'all...)

Thankfully, I made it there without getting lost. Went with another 2 colleagues in a convoy. The convoy leader roughly knows how to get there... phew! It was rather funny cos all three cars took turns to lead when trying to guess which building we were supposed to get to, haha!

Anyhoo, the seminar is another story in itself, so I'm not going into the details. Roughly, I had to sit through a seminar on crystal healing... some New Age concept. The presenter started his talk by going around and banging his "singing bowl" and placing it in front of the forehead. That "singing bowl" produced such a ringing that my head was spinning... =S (already feeling sick enough ler... haihz)

Well, by the time I got back home, I was feeling kinda drained, exhausted and sick. Decided to take my temperature cos I felt body ache and feverish. Wondered if it was just hay fever, otherwise the sniffles were actually because of flu. The thermometer read 38 degrees Celcius! Being one who dislikes Panadol (somehow it makes me feel sicker after taking it... I know this sounds wierd, but I feel like puking after taking paracetamol - active ingredient of Panadol), I rested a little bit and then went out for dinner and Prayer Meeting.

At Prayer Meeting, I was requested to sing backup for Pastor Timothy who was songleading. I was wondering how I was going to manage this because my throat was sore and scratchy, but I just trusted that God would make a way. Pastor Timothy lead the worship team in prayer before we started, and by the end of the prayer - praise God... throat was A-okay for singing! =)

Still had chills and body ache by the end of Prayer Meeting though. Went home and measured temperature again - an average of 38.3 degrees Celcius. One time the reading was actually 38.5 degrees Celcius!! =S

So, a cup of milk and two Panadols an hour later (forced to take Panadol already since the fever was so high... an hour later cos I fell asleep after having the milk, hehe...), it was wet towel on forehead for the rest of the night in an attempt to lower the fever. My head felt like it was about to explode at certain times... Recalling people telling me how high fever can cause brain damage didn't really help the situation much. Already feel like my brains were being barbecued as it is... =S All I could to was ask God to relieve the pain, and soon, I was asleep.

Praise God, this morning when I woke up, temperature was at 36.5 degrees Celcius... normal! =) Then only I realized that I could've really fried my brains cos I recall hearing somewhere that one degree above normal was already considered high fever, whereas two degrees above normal is quite critical liao. Thinking back, I was actually considering going to the hospital last night, but was too tired and in pain to want to move after getting home. Thank God, I think I didn't fry my brains... but I think I may have possibly been close to it, though... =S

In any case, praise God for healing and protection over me! =)

Highlights from my first business trip

Well, work has been really busy lately... Really REALLY busy!! =S However, was blessed with an opportunity to be included in a recent business trip to Sg. Petani, Kedah... My first time travelling for work purposes, woo hoo! It was definitely... interesting. In various ways, hehe. Here's the highlights from the trip and the various 'interesting' happenings! Enjoy!!


First, I got myself to the airport earlier than expected. Checked in. No more window seats, sighz. Oh well, moving on... When I got to the boarding checkpoint, as usual, had to walk through a metal detector... which, unfortunately for me, I seem to have set off!! Hey, no weapons on me lar!! I suspect it was the overload of metallic accessories... As a result, I got body checked, sighz!! -.-" I suspect the metal hairclip set me over the threshold of 'allowable' metallic items to pass through the detector, as I didn't set off the detector when I didn't wear my hair up with that clip during my return flight. =S


<-- Accessories I had on, minus a necklace and a bracelet, which I didn't want to take off for photography sake <-- My plane to Penang!! Flew in to Penang International Airport and then by car to Sg. Petani. Because our transport was stuck on the Penang bridge due to a massive traffic jam, we were 'stranded' at the airport in Penang for about an hour. One of the more unusual things I noticed was this lady hurriedly walking INTO the airport... while zipping up her jeans!! =S Perhaps she really needed to go to the toilet and forgot that she's gotta be in it before unzipping??? At the end of my first workday, I checked into my hotel room!! A whole big room and a whole big bed... for one little me, hehe! Check it out... <-- Various angles of my room... before it started to look lived in, hehe! <-- I don't believe this... they provide detergent, haha! Too bad the place I had to spend 2 weeks at didn't... would've been useful then. <-- View of hotel at night... =) Sg. Petani is a relatively small town... so you can imagine how wonderfully surprised I was to find a mall!! Within walking distance from my hotel, some more, hehehe!! *grinz* Didn't get a chance to go shopping la, but from the outside, it looks like this little mall only has Parkson Ria and Giant in it... Well, it IS still better than nothing, no? *winks* <-- Petani Parade!!

Home is where the heartache is...

Tired of pretendin'
Of being stronger than I am
Tired of giving in
And being the sacrificial lamb

When home is no longer refuge
But where the heartache lie
Oh Lord, be my safe refuge
And hold me when I cry

A smile outside
But broken inside
What's for real, what's not?
Too much doubt

Observations put to words...

1. Isn't it ironic, how it seems that the people you care about the most, appreciates you least?
2. It is often the case that if you can do it once, you can (and most likely will) do it again.
3. Funny how it seems that expectations tend to leave you feeling worse.
4. If you see the brighter side, there's a chance that you're in the dark.
5. [Saw this somewhere] : The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting right beside them knowing you can't have them.
6. One of the most cruel things you can do to someone is to be absent, despite being present.
7. Lies : the selective withholding of truth; the manipulation of truth.
8. Isn't it sad that no one knows how to take responsibility anymore? Most people these days just find a reason then bail out.
9. Is it worth hardening your heart so the pain will cease?

People say 'shit happens'... but what to do when it feels like diarrhea?

I think the title speaks for itself.

It's been a long week. A long month. A long time. Too many complications. Too many things to think about, to consider.

The bright side? Hopefully, a light at the end of the dark tunnel!