Krabi

We plan this trip quite last minute as Esther only let us know of her coming back date last month. Our initial plan is to go Langkawi but the air tickets for this year are all sold out. Hence we settle for Krabi.

Our B&B htel in Krabi - Harvest House

I wonder if we brought the rain from Singapore to Krabi. The minute we touch down, it turned cloudy and throughout our 3 days stay there, it was raining almost all the time. So much for wishing to suntan and using my sunglasses.

One year ago...

"Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,

But be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,

But for the heart to conquer it

Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,

But hope for the patience to win my freedom."

These are the words that accompanied me one year ago when i was waiting anxiously in the Tianjin hospital ward for my turn. Time seems to crawl slowly everyday. Me and mum would pass time watching CCTV shows. Haha, i still remembered our favorite show " 媳妇的眼泪". Lucky there are TV show entertainment, if not it will be hard to pass the days.

Ftness Assessment

Last friday had my appointment with the physiotherapist (Kathry) to learn some bone building and resistance exercise to improve my bone density. The session is a Fitness Assessment whereby she took weight, height, BP etc and showed me some muscle building exercise. Less that 45 min and guess what, the session cost $70.50.

New NRIC & Passport

Today i went to ICA to collect my new NRIC and passport. With e-appointment, collection is a breeze and so much faster. Blood group is no longer indicated in the new NRIC, except that not much changes on the new IC. Oh yeah, my name is now 陈俐云. The new passport is totally different. Passport number is no longer IC number, photo is black & white and the ist page with the name is a hard thick page.

Omhealth

Ayurvedic medicine - alternative natural healing methods is something that i have always been interested in.

Yesterday i went with Hui to attend the Power Beauty Health Talk conducted by Bryan Gan at Civil Service Club (Tessensohn Road). Bryan is an aromatherapist who has over the years do a lot of research on natural healing/beauty methods and conduct workshops on beauty, body wellness with positive thinking, work life balance. He also appears on i-weekly, FM 97.2 and TV. http://bryanomhealth.blogspot.com/

The talk was very interesting. Bryan shares some of his oil aromatheray treatment for different conditions, beauty tips and recipes with the class. One thing i like about him is that he will back up with medical test results on the before and after. I am especially convinced by his collagen testing. Ok, i will continue to eat Quaker Oats every morning and maybe next time add "gou qi zi" to my Quaker Oats like him.

The talk ends at about 9.30pm. By the time, me and hui walk back to City Square Mall, almost all the eatery have closed. In the end, we must settle for KFC, which of of us are reluctant as KFC is not a healthy food. But i guess we can't be picky, even KFC we are their last customer.

U look like Myanmar !

Haha... today one auntie from the temple say i don't look like Chinese but looks like i'm from Myanmar. Hmm... I had people saying i look like Malaysian, Thai, Malay or Indonesian but looking like Myanmar is something new for me. Last time, i used to feel offended when someone says i look like Malaysian or Malay but over the years i have found it interesting that i have unique features that resemble other races and not like a usual Singaporean Chinese face. I even have first time Malay strangers speaking Malay to me and getting a dumb look from me.

Health is good and i have people telling me that i look better now. Well, have grown more meaty and tummy is showing now. Haiz... my curse is always my tummy. My mum is my worst critique, always telling me to about my tummy. I will console myself saying: "Who cares, health is more important than having a tummy." Well afterall i'm still 2kg underweight.

Turning 30 ...

Another decade has passed in my life.

It seems only yesterday that i have just graduated from Polytechnic and entered into the workforce. Starting from a simple innocent girl working as a Lab Tech to being a Recruitment Consultant now. So many things have happened in between. I have also gone through a major setback with my kidney failure in 2007. I still remembered spending my 27th birthday in the hospital doing my vascular surgery. This was a year that i will never forget. Although the two and a half years of dialysis life was difficult, i have learnt and grown up. Looking forward... perhaps this ordeal is something that i have to go through in life to change my perspectiveand thinking. Sometimes looking back, i marvel at how i manage to go through the two and a half years with all the restrictions and pain. I really embrace my freedom of time and less food restrictions now. Health is essence and valuable.

2010 marks a new birth, new beginning and turning point in my life. Turning 30 years old but the age actually doesn't bother me much. I believe it is the quality but not the quantity that matters. I hope i can be a better person in the years ahead and most importantly be healthy.

Happy Birthday

Today i celebrated my birthday with my family in advance. Mum bought for me a Tiramisu cake and we will be going to Pu Tien for dinner later. Birthday this year is special for me because it mark a new life (new kidney), new hope and a new journey for me.

It has been 9 months... the most recent results of my blood tests all were good, except for my Cholesterol, AST and ALT. I really don't understand why my cholesterol is elevated (moderate)?? I have been watching my diet, avoiding oily & fried food and its still elevated. And also i have been doing morning walk almost every day. Could it be due to the medication i'm taking? Could be, because when i met up with Janice last wednesday, she also said her cholesterol is high. Hmm... now must work harder to keep it down. AST & ALT don't seems to go down a lot since my CMV, remain at about the same level since April, wonder what cause the elevation or is it because it will take a long time to go down?

Batam Trip

Went to Batam for 2D1N, to celebrate Staff Solutions anniversary. This was my first trip out of Singapore after coming back from my transplant.

We stayed in Panorama Regency Hotel which is quite cozy and comfortable (I believed its their 5 star hotel). On the 2nd day, we went to Nagoya Hill shopping centre to shop. We bought quite a lot of stuff from the hypermart there (equivalent to our Carrefour), some stuff are really cheap. Had lunch at A&W (a fast food restaurant that we can no longer find in Singapore).

Though the trip is short, it was quite enjoyable.

XS no more

Today i wore my XS skirt to work and found that it has become tighter and i guess i can no longer fit into XS clothes already. So sad... Haha!

Previously i was thin due to my dialysis and i always had difficulty buying pants or skirts as even S size seems too big for me. I remembered there was once when a neighbourhood uncle who took the same lift as me commented and asked "Why are you so thin?" I only gave him an awkward smile but thought to myself: "I also didn't want to be so thin, i'm sick thats why."

Now that i'm gaining weight and getting back to my old size, i'm feeling a bit sad and having mixed feelings. Women still like to be as slim and thin as possible. But not to worry i am still very glad that i am getting stronger and healthier (even though putting on meat).

六个月了...

六个月了...

有时在夜里当我躺在床上想起以前洗肾后手被bandaged up, 睡觉时每次都要小心不要压到伤口, 所以try not to 翻来翻去. 先在无论要怎么睡都可以. 以前每次要 follow the Two Four Six dialysis schedule, 当时我的生活好象就环绕着Two Four Six 走, One Three Five & Sunday is my only free and available time. 时间也因此过得很快. 现在能有更多时间, 而且没有那么多food restrictions, 吃东西时不须要一直想着potassium, phosphate 和sodium. Blood Pressure 也不会高了.

每当想起以上的一切我都很庆欣也很感恩我有机会换肾并切让我过回正常的新生活. 我一定要好好真惜和照顾身体, 保持身体健康. Hope the next time i go for my blood tests and follow up, everything will be good and well.

1st May 2010

Labour day today but no off in lieu for me. So sad!

Economy has really picked up since December 2009. Recalling back to 2009 when it is employer's market, now has become the reverse - Employee's market. 风水轮流转! Regardless whether it is employer's market or employee's market, it is still as hard to fill orders. Working in recruitment has really taught me a lot of things since i started. Tolerance, patience, motivation and being thick skinned are some of the strengths that i have acquired along the way. Being able to take things easy is also something that i have learned. Unexpected and crazy things can occur anytime, anyday. My philosophy is to always remind myself to smile and approach life with a positive attitude.

Health is improving and latest blood results are good. Have gained some weight also, i think milk really works in a way. Time passes real quickly when one is at work, before i know it, i have started work for 2 months and now is the month of May, which means half of 2010 gone. How fast!

Four months and counting...

It has been four months since my kidney transplant...

I'm glad and blessed to say that kidney function (creatinine) has been good, just have to watch out for potassium. But i have learned to play around with potassium levels and to avoid high potassium foods near my blood test dates, so it has been good these few times. For the last 2 months since my CMV infection and taking Valganciclovir, blood levels have been on the haywire and low side. No matter what i eat, the Hb count don't seem to improve much. After Dr Goh stop the Valganciclovir 3 weeks ago, i feel better overall. For example, i won't pant after just walking a distance, don't feel so lethargic and sleepy at work etc. I can now go for my morning walk and take the stairs back home after my walk. My last consultation on 6 Apr have shown that my Hb and WBC level improving greatly though still a bit from the ideal range. I believe with time, it will improve.

Ok, weight wise, still increasing slowly. Since coming back, i have put on about 4Kg. My friends have suggested that i take more full cream milk as weight put on faster if one takes full cream milk. However, i always prefer low-fat, high calcium milk compared to fresh milk. Maybe i should switch to fresh milk since they say so. Anyway the dietician say that if i don't put on weight the next time she sees me, she is going to give me milk supplement. In the past, I never like to drink milk, i think thats why i never grow tall. But now, i have to take to improve my calcium as well as to gain weight. So ironic!

Recent Updates (23/03/10)

Have started work on 1st March and it has been about 3 weeks now. Getting back to work is better than staying at home, at least its not so boring and tiring. I am slowly getting used to the working life, though will feel tired sometimes during the day and at the end of the day. Not bad, since starting work, i have closed 1 HR order with NCS.

Since discharged in February for CMV, i have to go for follow up almost every week to monitor my blood results. RBC, WBC & HB counts have been on the low side because of taking Valganciclovir and the dosage has been reduced every week. Today, Dr Angeline finally said that i can be taken off the medicine. Hope my cell count will be stabilized thereafter.

Underweight but i'm not anorexia! Why am i not gaining weight?

I am considered severely underweight by the doctors and dietician since i came back from my transplant (weighing only 29.5Kg). My god, i think this is my weight when i was in Primary School. Well, I lost about 6kg after the surgery and given my dry weight(35Kg) during dialysis is already very low, its a no wonder that i'm severely underweight.

I thought i will gain back my weight pretty fast given the good food and nutrition that mum was feeding me, but apparently it was not so. After 3 months, i have only put on about 2kg. I remembered the dietician asking me in the hospital whether i am suffering from anorexia, what a joke, i love to eat, how can i be suffering from anorexia.

The slow weight gain didn't bother me much untill i realized the problems it brought. When i was hospitalised for CMV, the doctors said my immunity is very low, partly due to the immunosuppresant i'm taking and also because of my small body size. Then as i did more research on the internet, i found that low blood pressure and irregular menstruation could also be due to loss of weight. Furthermore, i could feel that my stamina is not as good as before and body being weaker.

Ok, so the crucial thing now is to gain back my weight and be more healthy. According to my research on the internet, in order to gain weight, one need to consume more calories. The dietician asked me to eat oil (good oil like olive oil & seasame oil) to gain calories. Sounds oily, so i didn't really follow his advice. Well, maybe the reason why i'm gaining weight so slowly is because i have been following a good diet, low sugar, low salt, low cholesterol, less oil, therefore low calories. Haha...

CMV

The transplant coordinator called me on 28 Jan to inform me that my blood is tested positive for CMV and asked me to be admitted so for the injection to bring the virus down. Initially i thought i will only be hospitalised for 1 - 2 days for the injection but it turned out otherwise...

Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is a common virus that infects most people worldwide. CMV infection is usually harmless and rarely causes illness. A healthy immune system can hold the virus in check. However, if a person's immune system is seriously weakened in any way, the virus can become active and cause CMV disease. Because i am taking immunosuppresants, my immune system is weakened and according to the doctor, almost zero, henceforth the CMV becomes active. After i am admitted, the doctor immediately reduce my immunosuppresant dosage and the eye doctor also came to check whether my eyes are affected by the virus. Everything turn out to be ok except that i am positive for CMV.

So everyday i have to be on the ganciclovir (anti-viral medication) drip for 1 hr at 8am and 8pm. The rest of the day, there's nothing to do and its so boring staying in the hospital. Although there is TV in the room, watching TV all day also bores me. I finished all the 5 megazines which i have. In the end, i asked my brother to bring my laptop and story books for me. Thanks to hongguang too for bring 4 storybooks for me while i was warded.

Dr Angelene Goh came to see me when i was warded and inform me that she will be taking over from Dr Roger Tan to see me in future. She told me that she can only let me be discharged when the CMV is complete negative, i.e when the level falls to 0. But the CMV is really stubborn, it falls to 10 then to 3 then to 2 in the 2nd week but not 0. The worst thing is the CMV blood test is not taken everyday but every 2-3 days and the test takes 1 day for the results. So everyday is waiting, waiting untill fedup.

This year Chinese New Year i still have to stay in hospital although Dr Goh allowed me to go on home leave. I went home after my morning drip on new year eve and the first day of CNY. Home sweet home :) CNY this year is special to me as i really treasure the time i went back home and spend with my family. Staying in the hospital has brought me closer to my family as i know they really cares about me.

I was discharged on 16/2/10, the 3rd day of CNY as my CMV is tested negative. Thank god!

Dr Roger Tan is leaving

I went for my medical follow up with Dr Roger Tan yesterday on 04/01/2010. This is my first medical follow-up at M clinic after my transplant.

The blood tests done yesterday were quite good except that FK506 concentration and potassium level is high. Dr Roger Tan again reduce my dosage for FK. He gave me the appointment for the next follow up to be 2 weeks later. He said that that will be the last time i see him. Huh? What does he mean? He explained that he will be going over to Gleneagles/East Shore hospital next month.

For a while, i was shocked and asked him why the sudden decision but he said that he has actually planned 2 months ago but as i was going to China, he kept the plans from me. He is leaving... i feel sad. I'm going to miss him, he is such a nice doctor. On the other hand, i should support his decision because going to private hospital will always be better for him in terms of prospect and development. He is too nice a doctor and don't go by the books, government hospital is not suitable for him.

He is one of the 过客 in my life that i will remember always. I appreciate all that he has done for me and hope that he will do well in his future endeavors.