On the 22th of April, he told me that his surgery was scheduled on 26th April, and I got really worked up. Here is the story:
The endocrinologist at TTSH diagnosed him with Cushing's and followed up with him for the months of Jan to Mar, and prescribed him with medicine to adjust his potassium and cortisol levels. He is a very meticulous person and thus took some time to monitor and analyse his condition, before coming to a main decision at each phase of monitoring. He wanted Simba to have his cortisol level lowered by a great margin before the surgery can be proceeded. The surgery was intended to be done in Mar, but the decision to have him operated shifted to April, and then to June. His reason for the delay was the risk of complications post surgery, one of which was blood clots in the legs as a result of high cortisol level.
His parents got so distressed and impatient, and worry that the more the doctor procrastinate, the tumour has already grown bigger and would trigger more problems in Simba's health, and went ahead to ask for a second opinion from Mount E.
Both the endocrinologist and surgeon at Mount E were assertive in their advice for Simba to be operated soon, without waiting for his cortisol level to be lowered first. If he continues to wait, his symptoms would worsen, and he's going to suffer more from them.
"Better to be safe than to be sorry" was my opinion. The tears just flowed when I advised Simba not to be in a haste on his choice, and to reconsider his parents' and his decision as blood clots in the legs can cause drastic consequences, but in the end, I gave in because I knew I could trust his judgement, and did not hinder his decision to go ahead with the surgery.
Accompanied by his parents and I, Simba went through the administration and got prepared for the surgery on 26th April. He got a little tense during the administration, because of my overwhelming anxiety (They say anxiety is contagious, aren't they so true?), but despite the spontaneous look on my face, I spoke from experience and assured him to trust the surgeon. All that the patient could do then was to cooperate by keeping calm before and post sugery. Basically, I told him that his job was to just sleep and the tumour will be removed on its own. Lol.
After the registration, we followed the nurse to his ward so that he could get ready for the surgery. Here is Simba changed in his surgical robe!
I followed through the whole procedure of his preparation of the surgery before the door of the operating theatre shut on me. Got really emotional while standing outside the waiting room to eavesdrop on the anaesthetist's advice to him about pain management post surgery. Why does he have to go through all this? I then understood why people always say it's your loved ones who hurt the most when you are sick and why the wedding vow includes the part of "love in sickness and in health".
Couldn't really keep my mind in focus at work that day, hence left early and scooted to the hospital with a feeling of being suffocated by emotions on the way.
He was already in the ward (see pic below) when I reached, and looked really exhausted, but greeted me with such lightheartedness that I became so impressed. He pretended to sleep but wriggled his toes and wish me happy birthday occasionally to catch my attention (I was always busy talking to his parents).
Although his parents were really superstitious about taking pictures in a ward, they couldn't quit their habit of taking some especially they came to explore a new place.
His robe was not worn on properly as his parents didn't know how to put it back on for him after showing me his surgical cuts. Lol.
Suaidah, our NTU coursemate, who is working in the hospital as a Biomedical Engineer currently, saw us at the registration area, and came to visit him after his op. :D
Being very familiarised with the ward, she taught Simba to use all the controls at his convenience. Lol. She also demonstrated how to play Angry Birds on Smart TV using the remote! I was so touched that she specially brought over a extravagant gift for Simba the next morning (It was a Saturday morning) when she returned home really late that day because of the visiting.
Joe, Miao and her boyfriend came soon after.
Poor Joe reached early but went to the wrong Mount E and had to take a cab over.
Miao told us to give sad looks when Simba looked so filled with delight. Lol.
Spent the next hour playing Angry Birds. Simba didn't have the energy to talk or stay awake, so I entertained his visitors lol. But I was so apologetic that when he said he wanted to pee and needed privacy I didn't hear it and was still happily chatting with my friends, and that I didn't discover Simba struggling to stay awake until Miao's observant boyfriend told us so. What a "great" girlfriend he has! Lol.
He felt so much better the next day, and regained his appetite. His parents gave me the nod for deciding the menu for the next 2 days, but were so angry when they discovered I chose hamburger as his lunch. Lol! Wait, I can explain... He ate Chinese food the previous day, and the Malay and Indian food involved curry, which were unhealthy too.
The sinful hamburger for a patient who had just undergone a surgery. Look at that oreo cheesecake; I ordered it as his dessert so that I could have it for myself lol.
Colleagues and friends visited and some even wrote Get Well Soon cards. So sweet of them!
Solo picture of the oreo cheesecake before I savoured it.
27th April. My birthday. Simba's parents bought me a small slice of cake and his brother came with a cookies and cream cupcake from Twelve Cupcakes later. Omg. I regretted eating that oreo cheesecake in the first place!
The 2 cakes that I ate with difficulty. Lol.
Birthday girl on the hospital bed. Cute pic with Simba pretending as if there were no occasion, and his brother photobombing.
Simba trying to act suave in his monk-like hospital robe. Lol.
Lol. Miao said Simba was always the background in all the pics he took with me at the ward.
Happy birthday to me!
Simba surprised me when his sec sch friends came into the ward with a cake and a bouquet of flowers singing the birthday song to me. That was the first time I met his friends and they sang a song to me with my name in it ("Happy birthday to hui jin...")! He only walked a small distance from the door to me and stood for a few photos before his wounds hurt and had to get back to bed after that. He also asked his mum to bring his gift for me he bought a week before. Effort appreciated! :D
Three of his long-term friends who helped in the surprise. :D
I only saw this old picture of them before, and thought they are not only similar in their looks, but have similar height and weight (ostracising Simba). Lol.
And girls, these are the 4 best men u are gonna deal with next time. I think they are really nice people, since they endured through the annoying youtube videos Simba showed to them in the ward. Lol. Simba said you can torture them whichever and whatever way u want and they will play along. :D
Mount E's classy food and classy ward.
Thank you friends who have visited. Thanks to my girls and Joe who have showed concern about Jun Wen's progress. :D
Jun Wen has been a undefeatable person; he never complains, never blames anyone or god regardless of how difficult the situation may get. His take on life is admirable; he stays positive and takes things in his stride. He never once showed signs of defeat or despair throughout this period, and tried as best as he could to fight the high levels of cortisol; he abstained from drinking coffee, slept at 11pm everyday, did workouts specially for limbs strengthening, took medicine punctually and switched to a hairfall retaining shampoo.
During the most recent consultation with the surgeon, we learnt that the tumour was completely eradicated and was assessed to be benign. This was such great news!
I guess his positive psychological state accelerated the rate of his recovery. He began with walking short distances on the second day post surgery, and increased these distances at the park. Now at 2 weeks post surgery he can watch Ironman 3 in the theatre and chat over coffee at Starbucks. I read from Google that after the removal of the tumour, the patients return to their original healthy state after half a year of dieting. In fact, I think his face has slimmed down a little now.
Simba. 15 days post surgery. His double chin is gone! Lol.
For a student who studied Biology for many years and couldn't remember a single thing from it, I applauded myself for knowing Cushing's Disease by heart. I was almost registering myself for the support group for Cushing's.
The ordeal is so over. :D
Wishing Simba a speedy recovery!
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