Just last Wednesday, I was tested for ECG and was diagnosed with an abnormal one. I got pretty emotional about it and wrote an impulsive entry which I deleted soon after. It was only a few days back that I got the ultrasound results back and was so relieved when the heart specialist told me I have a perfectly normal heart!
So here is the then emo post:
"My surgery would most probably be delayed. :(
I went to see the anaesthetist yesterday and she was quite sure that I was ready for the surgery until she saw my ECG (Electrocardiogram) results.
I cleared my doubts on General Anaesthesia with her by pointing out that some of my friends commented about some people not waking up from GA. She assured me that young patients with no medical history usually wake up from anaesthesia and those who did not are generally older patients who have heart problems. She persuaded me to go ahead with GA instead of LA (Local Anaesthesia) as LA doesn't work for some patients and runs the risk (1/200,000) of being injected into one of the nerves at the end of the spinal cord which in turn causes paralysis. (OMG!) And usually young patients like me in their first surgery would be very nervous and being awake the whole time would be firstly uncomfortable since they would have to sit upright, painful if the dose isn't enough, and mostly terrifying since they would watch the surgeon operate on them. And the worst part is that the surgeon's performance might be affected by the patient's anxiety.
In conclusion GA is safe for young patients since the anaesthetist on duty would be monitoring the patient's condition throughout the surgery and half an hour post surgery when the patient is moved to a special care room.
I told her about the heart murmur I had when I was young, but she told me not to worry about it since she didn't hear these murmurs after examining me.
And after all that was said, I went to have my ECG taken and the bad news came. A normal ECG is composed of a P wave, a QRS complex and a T wave. My recorded trace has all of these except that the T wave is a trough instead of a crest. :(
The anaesthetist had to send me to the cardiologist in National Heart Centre before my surgery to be 100% sure that my heart is going to accept anaesthesia. She said, "It could be nothing but it is something that we must look out for." I spent the night sleeping well and thinking that it could be really nothing.
It was until my cardiologist told me earlier on that I could be suffering from either a blockage in the artery which is highly impossible or Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (a condition in which a part of the heart muscles are thicker than other parts, making it harder for the heart to pump blood or fill with blood.) that I became really paranoid. However, he has seen cases of normal people born with abnormal ECG. I asked him if cases of healthy people with abnormal ECG is common and his reply was, "It's not COMMON common, but it's not uncommon." So what I deduce from how he phrase himself was that there is a high chance of me contracting Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, a type of heart failure. I let the tears flow freely while waiting for payment to be done at the cashier's.
It's scary how you can discover one medical condition after another. I have consulted the orthopaedic specialist, the orthopaedic surgeon, the physiotherapist and now the cardiologist.
Life is kind of hard in 2012.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy can be controlled with regular medication and regular exercises but differ in individuals. It may worsen very quickly or slowly. People with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are at higher risk for sudden death than the normal population. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a well-known cause of sudden death in athletes. Almost half of deaths in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy happen during or just after the patient has done some type of physical activity.
It is an inherited disease (Dad has a hole in his heart but maybe he didn't know he has this) so if I am really diagnosed with it my brothers have to go for ECG examinations too. There is a 50% chance of offsprings having it if the parent has it."
Was feeling hopeful about my upcoming surgery after this false alarm!
My kitchen looks totally fabulous now after the revamp! It's a total successful face-lift! You are invited to take a good look at it when you drop by my house. (I had the before-and-after photos of it but I left it with CS to take photos of mice for our research as I will be on hospitalization leave next week. Post them up soon!)
Finally down to my last entry on Kukup!
Blogging about short getaways triggered the desire in me to make more similar retreats by travelling to other places. Can't wait for the bad leg to recover! :)
Before bedtime, the guys played a game of Shadow Hunter with our newfound friend, a Thai from another lab. I was sleeping soundly on the sofa while they were engaging themselves with it.
Always thankful that Jun Wen can make friends so quickly and accept everyone for who they are. This is no wonder Tuck Wei and all love him for eternity.
The next morning.
All the local delights including you tiao and my favourite ondeh ondeh were served by hardworking local guides early in the morning.
Nasi Lemak wrapped in Pandan leaves which are in turn wrapped in newspapers. What lied in the Pandan leaves came as a surprise - it was only some peanuts, ikan bilis with rice.
Hard boiled eggs can never be lacking in a lovely morning hearty breakfast.
Old school way of putting forks and spoons in a cup. Lol.
I like NESCAFE packeted coffee and love the green one (forgot the flavor) most! :D
After breakfast, Simba and I scouted the area for our usual photo-taking sessions, which in particular, was his way of saying goodbye to the foreign place. (Yes, we were going to head back to Singapore that day.)
We reached that spot where CS and Jonathan sat on to enjoy the breezy wind and look emo, hence the copycat would try to exaggerate and look emo too.
He kind of lost it though.
He then instruct me to capture a shot which conveys the message that he would jump into the waters after saying the last goodbye. Lol. This "prefect" picture was perfected after a couple of shots, after he felt satisfied with his professional acting skills.
The chalet we had our vacation in.
The chalet can hold a maximum capacity of 24 people since it has 3 rooms with 8 beds in each. Been sometime since I last saw double-decker beds.
An abandoned something.
My colleagues told me what it was but I couldn't really remember what it is for although I knew it was something related to what they did in their childhood.
Then it was almost time to return home and our last tour in Kukup was to visit the kelong farm.
This boy was a rather rude but adorable tour guide. The way he put on a stern face and spitted out some harsh words as he spoke was really astonishing but cute.
He swiftly got hold of the crab by casting a small net over it and grab it skilfully, while giving us a brief description of it.
A zoom-in on the food that the fishes in the pond feed on. You just have to put bits of food near the edge of the wooden bar and not worry about those fishes in the pond having no food to eat as they would slam the water around them to propel food on the bar into the pond with much precision.
This cute little girl was posing with the crab and just as we thought she was so bold, the crab moved a little, frightening her! Her immediate reaction was to throw it back into the pond. Lol. Heard some other tourists commenting that the crab is such a poor thing since it would be thrown into the pond plenty of times a day depending on the number of times tourists come by.
--- End of my Kukup experience!
Time to go onto an entry on Shi Xing's birthday!
He suggested going to Magic of Chong Qing Hot Pot at Tanglin Shopping Centre as he went to have buffet there a few times and love the food!
You may just have the urge of going to a nice steamboat buffet after viewing the following photos. I love steamboat buffets but it is such a pity now that I'm trying hard to lose some weight but it's all worth the sacrifice when I can fit in a dream wedding gown few years down the road. Lol.
Magic sauce to eliminate the spiciness of the Ma La food.
Ling and Calvin sat opposite me so steam from the steamboat interrupted us, making this photo so misty and dreamy.
The rest thought that this resembles a drama's DVD cover!
The already cooked food were yummy too.. :D
The dessert that was condemned by me lol.
And then.. What's a birthday without friends?
Presenting to you my friends of 10-12 years.. Omg.. Am I old or what?
And what's a birthday without a sincere gift? We took pains in arriving at a conclusion of which color and design of a cardholder to buy for him.
Thanks Calvin for handing the present to him for us!
And went to buffet dinner at Riverwalk Tandoor on a Friday! :D You must be thinking that I am not honouring my promise to lose weight but I need to clarify that Jun Wen chose this buffet for dinner! He is not in favour of my determination of losing weight and hence the sabotage once a week. His thinking was that we were trying so hard to eat less every other day and so we should feast once a week. (I am never gonna lose more weight this way!)
Him deciding what to scoop for us. The buffet is easy on our wallets as it costs much lesser than our usual buffets but of course it doesn't have as many varieties and you get really full after trying out all the curries. Lol.
The ultimate dish Naan that makes me wanna go back to the restaurant next time!
They left such unforgettable taste in me, so much so that we ordered one more plate of them.
A plate of curry and vegs.
A plate of all kinds of meat with a variety of colors. Sinful sinful.
Not long after, we were so full from the curry. And it's dessert time!
Look at those people behind me and you would find that they are all Indians! We were one of the few Chinese there.
The sweet dessert.
Blog again soon. I will be too bored in the hospital and blogging will surely keep me occupied.
Blog again soon. I will be too bored in the hospital and blogging will surely keep me occupied.
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