Home

I have been home for a week now. It's great to be home and have my Little Shadow following me whenever I go. At the same time, I miss being a 'kept' woman and doing nothing the whole day. Trying to get back into working hard and long hours without burning out...sigh!!! back to reality and working for my keep now... but it's good to be back!

Movers

Are you moving house any time soon? I was watching a programme about house movers a while back and i am very impressed with how efficient they are. They pack everything into boxes using proper packing material. Everything is packed and unpacked carefully. mover NYC does exactly this. They make house moving much easier for you and the children. So no more losing things or spending hours wrapping things up while moving house.

Insurance

Wholesale Life Insurance? Looking for a comprehensive comparison or quotes for life insurance? life insurance quotes is a one-stop website that gives you all the prices of different life insurance quotes on one page so that you can compare the prices online at same time to save you time and effort. Shopping for life insurance has never been easier!!!

Disposables

Adults with bladder problems do not have to embarrassed about their condition anymore. There are now incontinence supplies such as adult diapers that come in different sizes and for different reasons and sprays for freshening up so there is no more reason to be embarrassed by this condition. With supplies such as these, adults with bladder problems do not have to worry about embarrassing problems like wetting their beds or having embarrassing smells anymore.

Insurance

Fancy buying children insurance direct by mail? This is very conveniet cos u can do it by mail so there's no hassle having to talk to the agents or having to do a medical check up first! It's good value too cos it starts at only $1 to get your children insured should the inevitable happens.

Vacation

It's December now and vacation time!!! I was dreaming about where to go if I had money... I've decided that the Disney Vacation by Orlando vacations sounds like a very very good idea. They have long and short holidays which are perfect for my family and my nieces. Did I forget to mention I also would love to go to DisneyLand?!? Perfect for the young and old!

Survey

My company recently decided that we have to get the public's opnion about our newest product. But we couldn't figure out how to go about it so we decided to do a market research by a company that spcialises in this. No hassle at all for us!!!

Bags

When we went to Rome, we used the bag I brought over from kk. It's one of those wheelie bags and it was cheap when I bought it. So anyways, we thought we'd take only one bag to make things easier. Bad choice!!!! One of the wheels broke and won't turn properly while on the way to the train station. So we had to get a new bag in Rome. We looked at luggage sets and decided on 2 smaller but stronger bags. Quality do come at a price but it's well worth it!

Cables

One of our friends is in the midst of renovating his house. So we thought we would just pop over and say 'hi'. When we got there, he was sorting out some cables. The cables were different from the normal black cables, so I asked him about them. He said those were the latest fiber cable used for computer stuff. So IT people, check it out!

Peng's Visit

Peng came over and stayed with me two weekends ago. It's very nice of her to come and take care of me while Rick was away in Cairo that weekend and because I had just come out of the hospital, she was very nice and came over to make sure I was ok while Rick's away. Rick was so relieved.


It was sort of a crocheting weekend as well as a 'yong tau fu'/steamboat weekend. hehe...we made brinjal yong tau fu, courgette yong tau fu, wantan and mushroom yong tau fu but we forgot the tauhu! and then we made fishballs/... all in tom yam soup...hehehe..it's was heavenly since we can't get yong tau fu here...i think over that weekend, I put on like 1 kg!!!

It was fun..and I appreciate Peng coming over so much... that's what a really good friend is!

Cool Fire

I have always loved fireplaces. Cuddling in front of the fireplace with a loved one is one of the most romantic things you do. And curling up with a good book and a big soft cushion is the most relaxing thing to do on a cold night. However, a traditional fireplace is too dirty and not very environmentally friendly to cut down trees for firewood. An artficial fireplace is a thing of the past. The coolest thing now is to hv fire glass. It's very trendy, clean and environmentally friendly. And it's absolutely gorgeous to look at!!!

Lights

I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition yesterday and I am amazed at how much they can do in just a week. They can practically build a house from scratch and fill it up in a week. Amazing! But I think I enjoyed the interior designing the most. Especially when they go shopping for the lighting and furniture. And I think it's incredible how different lights can make such a big difference to a room. And ceiling light can change a room from shabby to chic.

Golf

Nike has always have very trendy stuff like sportswear, equipment, etc... I have always liked their trainers and sportswear because they are very fashionable. To be honest, I don't fancy golf or anything associated with golf much,... but I have to admit that the Nike golf range is something to rave about. This range make the world of golf look very trendy and interesting all of a sudden.

Getaway

Been working too hard? Need a break and chill out? Fancy a weekend getaway? Branson Missouri has fabulous packages and fantastic attractions and entertainment for a perfect vacation to unwind and have fun! You can even customise your own vacation package if u don't like wat they are offering. You can choose to go to the theme parks, live performances, shopping, museums, water rides, etc... there's anything and everything for everyone!

Truck

As I am browsing through truck accessories, I am beginning to think that you can do some much with a truck that you can't with a normal car, especially not with my little Kancil at home! I don think my little Kancil can even fit a toolbox in the boot. And I don suppose there's space for a rack in my Kancil, do I? I wonder if I can drive a truck... the last tiem I tried, my bum only just reached the seat... I don suppose I hv grown taller since then??

Extra help

We were doing our budgeting the other day, it was a mess. He insisted on doing it his way and writing his own program for it. It was confusing. What if one day we intend to hv our own business? He's definitely staying away from the budgeting! I'm turning to budgeting software. No fuss, no hassle and ready-made!

Hospital Stay-Part3

Everyday, it was blood test in the morning and pills to take, then blood sugar test, then pulse record. By Monday, the nurses only came every 2 hours. By Tuesday, again I was disappointed cos I couldn't go home yet!!! One more day they said, to make sure everything is ok and I don end up back there again. So on Tuesday, the respiratory nurses came and showed me how to use inhalers, a physiotherapist to show me how to breathe properly so I can make sure my lungs get exercises to expand properly and so I can expel the phelgm from my lungs.

Apparently, Reading has high cases of asthma because it's in the Thames Valley. No wonder I got sick!!! And it all started cos I got wet in the rain....sigh!!!! and ppl blame it on my smoking??? sigh!!!!

Anyways, I tried walking on my own on Monday cos I was dying to get out and wanted to show them I am better.

Also, I hate the jabs they were giving me for my muscles cos you hardly move in the hospital so the muscles get lazy. Those bloody jabs hurt like mad. It's like having fire injected into your stomach cos it has to be where there's a lot of flesh. Up till now, the holes of the jabs are red and i have a bruise on my stomach.



And my arm was swollen from the drips and my arm felt like it was bursting out of my skin.


My knees were wobbly and still are even today. I get tired very quickly now. I can't smoke and dying from the cravings. I feel ugly cos my hair is falling out for some reason and I had flakes on my scalp which I never had before. My nose is peeling. My throat is still very dry. My eye sight for some reason is horrible and I have to wear glasses 24/7 now. And for the past few days I had to clear my nose of dried blood from the oxygen. All horrible.

Hospital Stay-Part 2

Right continuing on my adventure, I had to a peak flow test which is basically measuring how much air u hv in ur lungs. heheh..a normal measurement for me is supposed to be at 350-400...On sat, mine was only at 70. Dahlah I didn't hv any air, I had to do the usual 3 readings to get the best one...the nurse came back after 5 mins and said because I sucked at the test, I had to do another reading in case I did it wrong...and because the reading was so low, the docs were scared I'd die or something so kept me in and wouldn't let me go home. Poor Rick had to stay with me. It was about 11pm when they moved me into the HMU(Higher Monitoring Unit) where I was hooked up to the machines that monitor my pulse, oxygen level, I was on sodium drip and another which is some kind of medicine for the lungs or something. I had to hv liquid antibiotics injected into my blood, oxygen mask on, Nebulisers to open my airways every hour, and the nurses had to check my vital stats every hour. Poor Rick had to sleep on the chair with me facing the machine. I think he did that to monitor my readings whih I only just realised. So all thru the night, every hour the nurse came and took my stats. And more Arterial Blood Tests.


Sigh! The doc came and said very nicely that they had to do another of the test to make sure my blood is taking in the oxygen I was breathing in. So ok...first, he tried my wrist. Couldn't get blood. Then he said try the inside of my elbow... couldn't get blood. He was so apologetic and said normally he would get blood but for some reason he coudln't get any tonight from me. Poor thing, so I said try again...but he wouldn't and he asked another doc to come and do the test. This time, the lady doc said to give me an anesthetic so I don feel it. but what she didn't say was the anesthetic jab is already painful in itself. at least, it wasn't as painful as the test. so they got blood finally. These test are horrible! It's been a week now and my wrists are bruised like I was tortured and I hardly have strength in my wrists and when you press on them, they still hurt so it hurt everytime they took a pulse reading from my wrist.

So all thru the night, I was drifting in and out of it. I realise now that because I had a lower concentration of oxygen in my blood, it was hard to concentrate on anything and there are snatches of memories that I look for. Anyways, I felt better the next day but they were pills and pills of medication to take early in the morning, afternoon ang night and the drips going into my arm. And I was famished by Sunday afternoon. I had nothing to eat on Sat. when I did try, I throw up so I gave up. Then Sunday, I tried again cos I was getting really hungry and shaking from the Nebulisers and steriods and antibiotics they were giving me. I only managed soup and tea.

And because I had been on oxygen since 4pm sat, my nose was starting to hurt cos oxygen is very dry. And by sunday afternoon, I have tried 4 kinds of oxygen masks. One for the nose so I can eat, one for the Nebuliser, one for normal breathing and one with a bag. The inside of my nose was starting to hurt and the skin on my nose was starting to peel. and on Sunday, they still weren't sure what was wrong with me cos I never had a history of asthma, and they wanted to rule other things out.


On Sunday, Rick went home in the morning to rest and came back to me in the evening to have dinner with me. Then he went home for the night. Mistake!!! Sunday night was the scariest night I have ever had! In the afternoon, the patient who was admitted the same time I was has passed away. That night, a lady came in and was vomitting blood non-stop. she was on the bed opposite mine and because the nurses were so busy trying to get rid of the blood, they forgot to pull the curtains and I had to watch everything. I tried not to but it was hard when she's opposite hen I think she got really serious and then only they pulled the curtains and started wheeling resuscitation machines in and more nurses came in and the alarm light was on. I asked a nurse to pull the curtains around me cos I was by then terrified! I should have asked her to stay with me when she offered but I was trying to be brave and I knew they didn't have enough nurses. That was one night, I never ever ever want to experience again!!!

Hospital Stay-Part 1

Some many things have suddenly happened in the last days that I am still trying to come to terms with and trying to work out exactly what had happened. Well, all I remember is my cough got worse overnight on fri/sat. I got up at 3am on sat struggling to breathe. It was really scary cos I couldn't get enough air in my lungs and I felt I was suffocating. My chest felt like something was restraining it and I coudln't inhale air properly, I was wheezing and coughing and coudln't feel I was inhaling air. I panicked and woke Rick up which was difficult cos I couldn't get a word out of my mouth. I shook him and he was blur but after 15 mins or so, i finally got him to sit up and i think only then did he realise I was in trouble. U must be wondering why we didn't call for the ambulance...well, I thought that would pass later in the morning. But it didn't. Morning came and we called my Chinese Doc. He said to go in and see him at 2 pm. so we waited and I was getting bad. I kept struggling to breathe and was really starting to panic. The doc's place is only 3 mins walk from our apartment but I couldn't do it. so we called for a taxi. putting my coat on, wearing my shoes, trying to get to the door was too much.

getting downstairs was a nightmare! I had to sit really still on the stairs to wait for the taxi. and it was football day so taxis were scarce. it was a struggle getting into the taxi but I managed. when we got to the doc's place, Rick had to half carry me into the doc's office. The doc took one look at me and said 'we must send her to the hospital now!' by then, I was sobbing for breathe and was really in a panic. But I remember this stupid woman who works at the tattoo shop opposite the doc poking her head in and asking if I was pregnant! hahahha..if I was dying, i would hv screamed at her!!! I suppose she meant well. anyway, the doc and Rick bundled me out looking for a taxi again. there was none so rick had to call for one which took 20 mins to get there. everyone who saw me was worried and was asking if I was ok. in the taxi, i felt like i was suffocating so i had to have the windows down and was fighting for air. The taxi driver got scared I think and tried to get to the emergency unit as quickly as he could. but the ride was rough on my breathing.

by the time, we got to the emergency unit, it was a struggle getting into the lobby. and we had to register me which I coudln't do cos I had no breathe. The stupid receptionist kept asking why I don hv an NHS number why I don have a GP here. Stupid! Rick was getting annoyed by then. So we sat down and waited for about 2 hours before a nurse came to look at me. after a few questions and seeing how i was struggling to breathe, they wheeled me in finally!

Before that, while we were waiting, a man was discharged. I think he and his wife are either on NHS relief or was a case with someone or something. Anyways, they didn't have enough money for the taxi to their house. The Case Worker didn't have enough as well so she was going in and out of the emergency unit lobby trying to get in touch with the man's family or something to work something out. That went on like for almost half an hour. The Caseworker was outisde making a call and Rick went out to her and gave her £20 cos they had £10 already for the taxi home. This man is really one in a million!!! I was so touched and proud of what he did.

Ok so after 2 hours of waiting, they finally wheeled me in and interviewed me which Rick had to answer for me cos I coudln't answer. They put me on Nebulisers and oxygen to open my airways cos they suspected I was having an asthma attack but I didn't hv asthma then. So they put me on that and left cos there was a trauma in emergency. so while i was on the oxygen, I wasn't struggling that much. They put me in for a chest x-ray and brought to another assessment room to see doctors to figure out what was wrong with me cos when they take the oxygen away, I was struggling again. So again an interview of my medical history, so they can figure what was happening to me, whether it was asthma, lung infection, pneumonia or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cos I smoke.


I had to do an ECG test, blood tests, speaking test, x-ray. The killer was when the doc asked that I do a arterial blood gas test(ABG). That hurt like mad cos they can only take blood from an artery on my wrists for that test to see how much oxygen and carbon dioxide i was taking. Think of the pain of a normal blood test taken from a vein on ur elbow and multiple that by 5-8 times cos the artery is deeper and smaller and they hv to dig for it. It took the doc, a pediatrician, 3 times to get blood from the artery. Imagine feeling a needle in the middle of ur wrist near the bone! Not nice!!! It's been a week now and my wrists are still bruised and the needle holes are still there, where they stuck the needles in are still sore and I don hv much strength in my wrists and I feel the sore when i use strength from my wrists. I suppose it's the artery which is brusied and sore and not the muscles. sigh!!!

Then after about 4 hrs, they decided they want me to stay overnight in a ward because I couldn't do without the oxygen. While deciding which ward to put me in, they dumped me into a normal ward first with about 5 rounds of docs coming to see me every half hour or so asking me the same questions about my medical history. And more arterial blood tests and normal blood tests, more Nebulisers and oxygen and drips and magnesium drip. So we were in that ward for about 5 or 6 hours. Then at about 11+pm, they decided to move me to the HMU(Higher Monitering Unit)which is apparently one unit away from ICU. Cos my pulse was 155+ and wasn't going down and I couldn't breathe without oxygen. I'm still trying to fit in some missing bits and pieces of what happened these few days.

So that was what happened on Sat. This post actually took 3/4 of today to finish. I'll continue telling my adventure in my next post. Oh the pics will be blur cos my hands kept shaking from all the Nebulisers and steroids I was on.

Headaches

Some people are very lucky they hardly get a headache throughout their lives... My sister and I both happen to be in the unlucky group of people who get headaches all the time. I used to get migraine headaches very badly that would drive me to bed in tears! By doing research and lots of reading and being a bit more aware, people can learn to know what triggers their headaches and get headache treatment to reduce their pain fast.

Pens Pens Pens

I love pens! I used to have a big collection of pens...some can be used...others are only for show... I love the bold colours and different shapes pens come in, fat, skinny, big, tiny, fluffy!!! I love them all...check out these promotional pens! They come in fantastic colours and types.