I was quite excited about winning a consolation prize at a contest recently. It was hard for me to find time and transport to attend the prize giving ceremony but there was no other option because the prize would be forfeited if not collected on that day. That is what it said in the letter sent to me.

So one fine morning, dear hubby took time off to send me there. “Do you know how to get to the venue?” hubby asked. When I said I didn’t, he said “Leave it to me.” Then he confidently drove me to the place and we waited half an hour to get in. When we finally did, we were told that we were at the wrong place!

Oh my goodness, according to the time stated in the letter, the ceremony would have started. I quickly called the organisers who told me that it was ok because it hadn’t started. So we rushed there and even had to wait another half hour or so.

Finally, the time came, there was drumroll and the winners were announced one by one. And then they said “And that is the end of our consolation prize winners.” and went on to announce the first 3 prize winners and there were streamers and everything and I was left sitting there confused. They had forgotten about me! Hahaha.

Another poor chap was left out too. The organisers apologised profusely and gave us extra door gifts.
So being left out, turned out not so bad after all. We had extra gifts. Hubby said he would have preferred to have me go onstage to shake hands and smile so he can take my picture. lol.

Yesterday, I received another letter to collect another prize. Hehe. However, hubby commented that he can’t take time off to help me collect it anymore. Poor man. He has sent me to many weird and out of the way places to collect this and that. I think he must be very tired of my little contest winnings. I must win something bigger next time. So says the contest queen.

I read about the rise in deaths and complications or serious illnessess due to infectious deceases everyday. However to be told that I have active tuberculosis is another thing altogether. Though tuberculosis is treatable these days one must be diligent in taking the medications to prevent the TB from becoming drug resistant and very much harder to treat.

I read that the risk factors for acquiring TB include close-contact situations, alcohol and IV drug abuse, and certain diseases for example, (diabetes, cancer, and HIV) and occupations (for example, health-care workers). I am none of those and have not been in contact with any persons in these categories. I am a housewife who is home most of the time!

I thought TB was an “old” illness and we were vaccinated against it. I have sought another opinion and did further x-rays and I do not think I have TB. Still, it has been a nasty shock and I realise that I must not take my health for granted.

It has made me aware of the importance of our own health and well being.

However as I read more, I become more depressed. Reading about cancer and HIV makes me feel down. My own mother died of cancer 30 years ago. Now 30 years on we have not found any cure and people are still dying. Surely, in this time and age, surely we should be able to find a cure for all these illnesses?

Fortunately there are people like Dr Ann Duerr who throughout her career has been interested in the public health concerns of the developing world. It makes me comforted to know that there are people working very hard in these areas of medicine and research.

Dr Ann Duerr is with HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), which is an international partnership of research scientists, clinical trial sites, and community representatives working with industry and governments to speed the development and testing of preventive HIV vaccine candidates.

Dr Ann Duerr has extensively published in the field of biological and epidemiological determinants of HIV transmission.  Her work in the field has significantly contributed to the fight against HIV.

Yes, it is indeed reassuring to know that there are many people working hard to fight AIDS as well as other illnessess.

They say money is the root of all evil but sometimes it is good to have money. It can represent a big difference in services provided. For this post, I shall talk about the differences in health care services.

I was unfortunate enough to have to take 4-5 chest X-Rays last week.

At X-Ray facility No. 1, I had to wait in a room full of male foreign workers who were all there for FOMEMA health screening where a chest x-ray was included. When it was my turn, I was told to remove my top clothing and don a hospital gown that was hanging on a hook. There were about 2-3 gowns hanging on separate hooks. I presume that all the foreign male workers before me wore the same gown. The gown left a clear visible gap of my back for the male technician to view (not that it was very nice to view but still…..) I felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable. I hung my own clothing on the same hook where I took the hospital gown from. The changing room was in the same room as the x-ray room, just right beside it as a matter of fact, with a ring pulled cloth curtain.

I was told to press my chest in front of a metal plate (I am not very sure whether all the male foreign workers pressed themselves on the same plate or whether it was changed), the technician left the room and zaaaaap! Done. Or was it Zaaaap! and try again Zaaaap! Done. I can’t quite remember. The results took awhile so fearing that it may be misplaced or placed together with the stacks of foreign worker reports while I wait there for nothing, I went to the counter to ask when I could have my results politely. The person manning the counter answered back rudely. “You will get your results when your name is called lah!”

Finally, I got my results. Not a very pretty one. Very frightening in fact. It says that I have active tuberculosis. I paid RM30 for that X-Ray.

At X-Ray facility No. 2, I waited in a more comfortable room watching CNN while waiting. I was brought to a changing room. There were 2 maybe 3 changing rooms with doors that could be locked. I was told to remove my top and don two hospital gowns, one over the other. I don’t  know why two. Maybe it was because it was very cold so it is to make  you feel more comfortable or so that there wouldn’t be any gaps of skin shown. I could put my own clothing in a locker with a key. There was a picture showing how to wear the gowns. Worn gowns are discarded in a bin in the changing room.

After changing I was told to wait awhile. Then they called me into the x-ray room. This time the x-ray of the chest was to be done from the back. It was a very awkward angle. The girl techinician who was trying to assist me did her best not to touch me but when she accidentally did, she would apologise. As it was rather awkward position, they took the x-ray 3 times before getting it right. Sigh.

I had to wait awhile for the x-ray too. When I approached the counter, they told me that it was ready but they had to get it typed out first. I paid RM45 for that x-ray.

At x-ray facility 2, I noticed a datin with a two carat diamond ring. When it was her turn to do the x-ray, I noticed, she walked right out afterwards with the report. No waiting time.

So, yes, money talks!

Do I wish to have more money. For the differences above, yes I do but more importantly, I wish for happiness and good health.

These days, quite often when I read the papers, I would read about how we are now working towards a less exam-oriented education system for obvious reasons blah blah blah.

So it was to my utter shock when I was handed papers for my son to study when I went to confirm a place for him for Standard One next year. “Study this. He will be tested in February.” the clerk told me.

Huh????? The papers had sukukata, words and sentences in Malay. Wow! I thought he was entering Standard One to learn ABCs and 123s but now he will be tested in Malay sentences in February!?

Oh and not only in February too. He will be tested 3 times a year?????? That is what I understand from this article in the Star about the Literacy and Numeracy (LINUS) programme that was started this year 2010. The objective of this programme is to ensure that “ALL Malaysian children without learning disabilities should be able to read and write Bahasa Malaysia, and do basic mathematics by Year Four.”  Right. Right. Oh I see. So why is he being tested on Malay sentences in Year One on the second month of schooling??????

See what this mum has to say about the Linus programme. Here is another opinion from MYsinchew.com

After completing 3 days of antibiotics, I had fever and chills on Saturday and Sunday. Great, just great! Went to see a GP to get more antibiotics, fever and cough medicine.

I am still thinking of whether to go back to the National Respiratory Center for further evaluation. I am afraid of going there. Afraid of having to wait for long periods of time in a roomful of sick people with airborne respiratory sickness.

I am still wondering whether a radiologist had been too gung ho in stating I have active TB since this radiologist sees foreign workers in and out regularly for Fomema testing and wants to err on the cautious side…. the other way.

Should I sue the radiologist for mental anguish or should I kiss him or her profusely for getting me to seek medical intervention early? Sigh. I don’t know which.

The kids are recovering from their cough and cold now but the husband just caught it. We are perpetually caught in this unmerry go round of sickness. Round and round we go. This month alone, the boy has gone to the doctor twice (once was for vaccination), the girl twice, the man once, myself three times plus twice to the dentist. The girl has another upcoming doctor appointment and I have two more dental visits and one other doctor appointment.

$$$$$ flying out through the window almost as fast as virusses and bacterias flying in.

Three months ago my son had cough and cold. I got it too. The doctor I saw suggested that I do a chest X-Ray because he said he heard water in my lungs but he could not be sure. He thought I might have pneumonia. I didn’t go for an X-Ray because I was too busy (as usual) and I didn’t feel that sick. The doctor gave me several rounds of antibiotics to take.

The cold went away but the night time cough remained… till now. The phlegm turned from yellow to colourless indicating that the infection was gone.

This week the boy caught cough and cold again. As usual, he passed it round the family and my phlegm turned yellow again. So I went to see the doctor and decided to do a chest x-ray as well.

To my shock, the radiologist stated that I had active TB! The doctor asked whether I had any sudden loss of weight, loss of appetite or fever. The doctor said he would not treat me and sent me off to the National Respiratory Centre for further tests. He said my whole family may be called in for screening. So off I went to do a phlegm test. I was told to cough out some phlegm where they would put it under microscope to check for the presence of the bacteria that causes TB.

I tried as hard as I could but I could not cough out any phlegm, only saliva. The result was negative. I wonder how accurate that is since I could not produce any phlegm. After the test, I was told to go home and call the next day for an appointment date to see the pakar respiratori. I did as I was told. I called the next morning and was given an appointment at the end of this month!

Geeez! I can’t wait that long! So I hunted for another specialist at a private centre, went to the National Respiratory Centre to collect my results and off I went to see him. He did not think that the x-ray was remarkable but suggested that I do another x-ray from another angle. They did the x-ray 3 times! 3 times plus 1 time from the earlier x-ray plus 4 times from my dentist this month. I am now radiating with radiation!

Well, anyway, the radiologist stated that what he saw here and in the other x-ray is a Ghon’s Focus. I checked the internet and have some rather vague idea of it. I think it means a primary lesion caused by the TB bacteria, somthing like that.

However, the doctor disagreed with this finding. He thinks it is a granuloma (he explained to me that it may be an old scar left behind by an old infection) and sent me home with 3 days of antibiotics and various cough and cold medicine.

My two children have been sick since the beggining of this week, both missing 4 days of school. In a Chinese school, when you miss 4 days of school, it means lots of catching up to do afterwards. I have two more dentist visits to go to fix back my tooth.

Most importantly, I feel fine. No fever, no loss of appetite, still putting on weight as usual. For the first time, I am happy to put on weight. I am not sure about going back to the Respiratory Centre for the evaluation since the phlegm test was negative and the private specialise says he thinks it is not necessary to pursue it further for now. TB is an airborne decease. There were many sick people there. An old man was coughing out blood. Going there may have inadvertently exposed me to TB even if I don’t have it!

Such a week! The boy is back to school today but the girl is still at home. I hope we have a calming weekend and everybody gets some good sleep. When will all this end? Our medical expenses keep on going up!

More lemons are being thrown at me continuously (if you read my Mothering Times blog you would know) and I feel like Bozo the Clown here. Punch! Ouch! Punch! Ouch! Punch! Ouch! But I am still standing. How long before my air runs out?

It is July 2010. This week, the fruits from my Chinese New Year calamansi plants started to drop off rapidly. I was surprised they lasted this long! I had expected all the bright orange fruits to drop off right after Chinese New Year. They didn’t. They dropped only a few at a time. However this week, they started dropping off rapidly.

Then I noticed tiny white flowers growing. They look pretty and smell nice. I have two plants. One is in the sun, the other in the shade. The one in the sun has a moderate amount of flowers now. The one in the shade has none.

I love to see flowers growing. I love to have plants in my house. It is nice to see things growing. I feel alive to see growing things. The kids love watching plants grow too. Once in a while, we would go to the garden shop at a supermarket and they would pick out a packet of seeds each. We would plant them. When they grow and start sprouting fruits, flowers or vegetables, they would be delighted.

It is the most simple and basic form of science, an easy and fun way to teach young children about the living things around them. Otherwise, they may not even notice or stop to smell the flowers, just like adults who have forgotten to stop and smell the flowers because even children these days have crazy mad schedules.

My internet line was out again, since Saturday, hence the silence. Whereas previously I would have suffered from a severe online withdrawal syndrome, this time I didn’t because after more than 4 years blogging, I have finally reached a stage where I don’t HAVE to check my blog every few minutes.

After a report made on Saturday at 3pm and several phone calls later (each lasting more than half an hour of going through the same troubleshooting drills), two men came to my house to check all the phones in my house on Tuesday at noon.

They informed us that the fault was not a physical fault on our side so they will rectify it on their end. By evening, the internet connection was restored. There was only one fault though. THEY CHANGED MY TELEPHONE NUMBER! They gave me someone else’s number by mistake.

Imagine what thoughts must have crossed that someone else when he called home to speak to his wife only to have my husband answer the call. lol.

After another phone call, they restored my telephone number on Wednesday but when “back came my old number, away went my internet connection” again.

Finally, after yet another phone call, they reopened my file which was considered closed and resolved (whatever where they thinking. Resolved? Hardly, we were back to square one). At last, by yesterday afternoon, I was able to get back online again.

That got me thinking… what ISP does everyone use? What sort of package? Care to share?

I wonder if my children will remember their toys the way I remember mine.

When I was young, I fell in love with a princess doll. I l admired it and wanted it so much. It was a princess doll with a beautiful fluffy turquoise gown. I can’t remember whether I ever got that doll but I remember wanting it real bad. Haha.

I remember I had a doll house with little doll furniture. I loved that. I can’t remember whether it came with real working lights. It certainly isn’t as sofisticated as the toy houses we have these days but I loved it all the same.

Those were my favourites. In those days we didn’t have many toys. I also had other toys, which were really my dad’s favourites, like the roullette set. He used to play that one with me so often. Haha. I think he was practising for his occassional Genting trip. lol.

I also had a tricycle and a little car. You had to sit in it and push it along with your feet to make it move but the point is, it was big enough to sit in so it resembled a real car in that sense. That is what makes it exciting. I would not have remembered the car if not for the little old black and white photo of me posing beside it.

I am the last, the baby of the family. So I was more fortunate to have that many toys. My husband always has this remark for the kids.

“You have so many toys. Do you know how many toys your daddy had as a kid”

And the kids would chorus together ”One or Two daddy!”  We do this when reminding the kids to cherish their toys.

I wonder if my kids will remember their toys the way I do. Toys and play are really an important part of growing up and learning. We learn from play. Sometimes we do role play and act out our frustration and anger.

My daughter is very different from me. She is an intellectual who prefers intellectual toys. She does not care for dolls and dollhouses. “What can they do mum?” she asks. “Why, you can change its clothes and comb its hair”  I replied and she gives me a funny look.

She prefers books and crafts and other things you can make and do. I thnk her favourite toy is a drawing block. She loves to collect stationary. She won’t use them. She loves them so much, she will keep them to admire. She prefers to read and draw, write, sing or make up her own stories and uses words to express her feelings. The other day she asks me “Have you ever seen a mother who won’t forgive the whole day?” Oh dearie me…. She likes to make up “Have you ever seen” remarks. She and her brother would ask each other “Have  you ever seen a dinosaur walking in the room”? or something like that and they would laugh at their own ridiculous comments. The more ridiculous the better. Then she asks me “Have you ever seen a mother who would not laugh at my jokes?” Gulp.Yup. She is one litte kid who is very good with her words.

As for the boy, well, he likes cars, cars and more cars. Especially little cars that he can line up along with little people. He often talks or sings to himself as he plays. Sometimes it is really amusing to eavesdrop on him and he would look a little embarrassed and smile sheepishly if I repeat what he said. It is his way of sorting out things in his little world.

Ahh toys… Whenever the man buys a train set or remote control car to play with the kids, I am reminded of my roulette set and the toys my man never had as a kid. Quite often when we are at the toy store, it is as much a pleasure for us to shop perhaps even more so than the pleasure of the kid receiving the toy. Quite often we buy things that we like and never had. There is also the pleasure of imagining the pleasure and thrill that each kid would get when receiving a toy. Too bad, I have no chance to play with the barbie dolls that I never had as a kid with my girl since she scorns them.

Do you remember your toys? What is your kid’s favourite toy? Do you buy too many toys?

The other day when I was collecting my child’s report card, I was speaking to another parent. She is Indian and her child is attending Chinese School like my child.

What is amazing, is the fact that she has planned for her child’s education from very early on. She has another child who is at the moment attending a Chinese kindergarten. She sent both kids to Chinese kindy from age 4 and in addition to that they have a private tutor coming in to teach them Chinese. She says I have to do this because we are not Chinese and I don’t speak Chinese.

Imagine that. What focus. She knows exactly what she wants for her kids and plans for it. Not like me. I don’t speak Chinese at all too but I remember I was still half minded and undecided about Chinese school right up to the first day of school! No plan at all. I was playing ding dong between Chinese School and Kebangsaan school and could not make up my mind.

As a result the kids were not prepared the way she had prepared her kids. They attended a normal kindy with only an hour of Chinese. My first child could not speak Mandarin by the time she started Primary 1. Looks like I have not learned from my mistake. The second child still does not know  how to speak Mandarin and he is going to Primary 1 in 6 months. Whereas this parent, of Indian descent has a kid who spoke fluent Mandarin by the time he attended Primary 1.

I’m afraid, I can’t look that far when it comes to my kid’s education. I have met parents who have all their children’s education fully mapped out. Where they want to sent them to Secondary Education and further Education etc. As for me, I haven’t looked beyond the Primary Years yet and am still undecided.