Cha Hua exam

15 July 2008

Today is the cha hua exam. Oh no, w/o teacher's guidance, i'm not so confident that i cha all the previous arrangements that i have learned. Teacher let us draw lots of the arrangement that we must be tested on. Phew, i got the long shape arrangement, one that i like and is easier for me.

Teacher assigned red rose (10), white orchid (5), forget me not (5) and leaves for the long shape arrangement. The red rose were very pretty as they were well bloom and big. I concentrate in arranging my flowers for the long shape and finally its done. Oops... something is wrong somewhere though the whole arrangement looked very nice. "Yours is long shape ah, i thought its round shape" noted an auntie from my class. Ya hor, i forgot to arrange longer leaves and flowers at the 2 sides to make it a long shape. Oh no, can it still be saved? Quickly, i went to get more leaves and tried to make the leaves long, but the flowers were cut too short and cannot be lengthened. Aiya, whatever lah, as long as i'm happy with the arrangement and its passable. Not bad the end results were quite good. Haha... probably because the flowers were beautiful.

246 PM

15 July 2008

I went to NKF for the orientation placement programme today. They passed me an orientation pack with a slip of paper (written Aljunied DC Blk 102, 246 PM). OMG... 246PM, does it mean 2.46pm? What an odd timing? Haha... later then i found out that i got it wrongly. Its actually 2, 4, 6 (tue, thurs, sat) 3rd shift (pm).

Kidney Trading Debate

06 July 2008



I read with interest over the organ transplant debate in the newspaper recently. The debate started since the news & newspaper publicize the case of organ trading between the CK Tang chief and an indonesian - Sulaiman. I pity both the donor and Mr CK Tang. Mr CK Tang was alrady on the verge of receiving the organ and getting a new lease of life but it was all in vain at the last minute. I can imagine his hope being tarnished and worst still, a simple hope of life and survivor was termed illegal w/o even having the transplant done. If he had the transplant at least all the troubles would have been well worth. The donor - a simple minded indonesian was jailed and fined for this case. Is it his fault? A desire for money and a better way of life? What is illegal in this case is definitely a controversial topic. I guess any topic that concerns humananity are controversial.



Being a kidney failure patient myself, i could identify with Mr CK Tang and his hope for survival. Given his age, waiting for an organ is impossible for him and dialysis is the only option for him untill he pass off. I have seen elderly patients in my dialysis centre and seen their pain and agony. Some are crippled due to other health conditions. I am thankful that i am still young and able to endure the difficulties. I also wonder how long i can last to be fit with dialysis. Stories i have heard scarded me but there is nothing i could do. Being on dialysis is like putting yourself on a machine and theres nothing you can do besides allowing the machine to manage you. Mr CK Tang has all the money in the world to purchase the organ but this also highlight the fact that money cannot buy health. Giving up a kidney for a normal person will not do a donor any harm but who will do it if it was not for someone close or for some forms of returns? As long as the donor is willing, what is wrong or illegal? Pierre Pang donated part of his liver to Andrea, that was noble of him. If it weren't for him, Andrea would not have lived till today. I hope MOH would review the policy in the near future and sees things from the patients' point of view instead...

Updates as at June 2008

28 Jun 2008

I went for a haircut today. Haha... cut it short, feel so refreshed now. If only everything can start afresh like having a haircut, cut away the unwanted and starting afresh again. If only...

Time flies, it is now June in 2008. I have been undergoing dialysis for a year already unconsciously. Ironically, my life now revolves around work, dialysis, family and occasional outings with friends. Someone once told me: "Only with acceptance comes adaptibily and change." I believe its true. I been through the stages of denial, acceptance and now adapting to the lifestyle and making the best out of it. Changes is continuous occurring as when i'm registered with NKF next time, the schedule will change again. Hope everything will be better. I am thankful for my boss - Joyce who is tolerant and allow me the flexibility such that i can make the changes smoothly. She is a really nice person, i have really learnt a lot from her. Lily (my colleague) too. Relationship with my mum also grew closer during this period. She is always there for me. I have learnt to enjoy the little things in life, eating & enjoying what i am able to eat, cooking healthy meals, flower arrangement and new hobby (baking - after doing it once at hongguang's house). Btw... i think i eat a lot nowadays, cos i always feel empty after dialysis. When i thought i can gain a bit of weight, the nurses will suck all the weight gain out saying that its water weight (which is true, i guess). Like what Joe said once, dialysis is like a free slimming treatment.

Last week ying took me to Auntie Ouyang (she had 2 kidney transplant done before - one from her father and one from china). She is very nice and I understand a lot from her. Will consider transplant as an alternative. Today read from the news abt the CK Tang CEO who bought a kidney from an Indonesian illegally and caught caught. Dr Lye is the doctor in charge of his case. The health minister mentioned in the news that the average wait for a transplant for those on the waiting list is 9 years. Seems so long... Better don't think so much, time wld pass unconsciously if you don't harp on it.

I have been working at Staff Solutions since Jan 2008. So fast, its been 6 months. Economy is bad now and sales had not been so good for this month. Employers are choosy and some companies are freezing their headcount. Yesterday, Joyce spoke to me on how to improve my performance. I also feel that i need to do something to improve my sales. Time is my limitation since i cannot commit full-time to the job. I really need to plan and come up with a strategy to work better. Jia you ba, Liyun.

Holiday at genting

20 June 2008

Came back from my genting trip 2 days ago. It was a relaxing trip, though short. I went shopping, movies (only 12 RM), eating and casino (didn't gamble, only play the jackpot for a while, don't understand how it goes) with Qin qin jie jie etc. Nothing much to do there actually...

How time flies, its is approaching the end of June soon.

Application to NKF

30 May 2008

Today i went with mum to NKF for application. This is my 2nd attempt to apply for doing my dialysis at NKF.

The appointment was fixed at 3pm but we reach at 3.30pm. It was raining heavily when we went there. Luckily i brought mum along with me, she is good at telling them how i need the subsidy like bargaining in the market. Have to applaud her for that. Our means test interview was conducted by Ms Charlene Chua. She is a very nice lady and was very helpful. Unlike the last time when i was there, i got rejected immediately. It has been a year since the last time. A lot of things has changed... Charlene approved my NKF application and offered to apply for subsidy for me. Yippy, i passed the first step of the application. Tomorrow i will go to SGH Medical Record Office and apply for the medical report by the doctor to submit to NKF. This is the 2nd step and will take abt 3 weeks to 1 month depending on the speed of the doctor. The medical record will cost anoth $85.27. Finally i need to be assesed by the NKF doctor fo suitability. What a long process, think will take abt 2 months for the entire process.

In future i have to adapt to having dialysis 3x per week as NKF does not allow compromise unlike privae dialysis centre. Tomorrow have to break the news to Staff nurse Fuzar (RTC-Hougang) my intention to transfer to NKF. The nurses at RTC were very good to me, i appreciate and will miss them.

20 May 2008

Collected my blood test results from the doctor today. OMG! Everything is high. So scary. My liver enzymes (ALT & AST) were escalating high. God, why like that? I already try to control everything already although i admit i did relax more nowadays. Sianz... Doctor told me to go for dialysis 3 times per week, to clean off all the toxins. I shld do that. Toxins build up in the body is not good. I will try to reapply for NKF again...

Alanine transaminase transfers an amino group from alanine to a-ketoglutarate. Its high levels in blood indicate alcoholic or viral hepatitis, CCF, liver damage, or biliary duct problems. However its levels fluctuate over the course of the day and even during strenuous activity. Aspartate transamine facilitates the conversion of aspartate and a-ketoglutarate to oxaloacetate and glutamate. It is raised in acute liver damage, damage to RBCs, cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, kidney and brain tissue.

Have to go on strict diet regime again. Very difficult as mum is such a great cook and always buy good stuff to eat. Gan ba teh, jia you!!