My fiance has a retinal detachment :(

I have been absent from facebook of late.. It has been quite a challenge for me and Alex in the past few days. I wish I can tell you that it has been a fun adventure, alas it is not the case!

Alex just had an operation :( On his eye ... yes... his left eye to be exact .. He has pretty high degree of myopic ( near sightedness ) Myopic eyes are physically larger and longer than normal eyes and have thinner retinas at the periphery. This thin retina is more likely to break, forming small holes and tears that may progress to a detachment. 

So what exactly happen to Alex? After suffering from two retina tears and undergone laser surgery twice to repair those tears last month,  the retina gave way and had a slight detachment~! Yes, it took place all just 6 days ago. Did I mention that a retinal detachment can lead to total blindness!?

For more info on retinal detachment , you may read this 

It was a day surgery that took an hour to repair the detachment . A gas bubble was inserted to replace the vitreous (the jelly-like substance in the eye cavity) gell in the eye. All his laser and op to repair the retina were done at the Singapore National Eye Center ( located in SGH ) . 

There is no need for him to be warded..

After some rest at the day op recovery ward, we were able 

to go home after a couple of hours. 

That's him before and after his surgery. The bubble in his eye will take a few weeks to dissolve and also will take awhile for his vision to be clear.

Here's the most difficult part of his recovery..or anyone's 

recovery from retinal detachment surgery ...

Patients have been told to keep their face down and parallel to 

the ground as much as possible!! 

Yes.. pls look at his position after the op. 

He has to put his face down 24/7 except for meal times 

and going to the loo.. Yes..that includes sleeping time! 

So can you imagine how tiring is that on his back and neck!?!!?

This is how we improvise at home.. 

We got a memory foam travel pillow for him to place his face 

upon or for him to prop up his head when sleeping face down 

on his tummy. Oh, the swimming float doesn't do much ..

it just act as a support for the pillow when he is seated up..

As his vision is still very blur and he has two kinds of eye drops to be administered at different time intervals., I have been acting as his nurse , helping him for these couple of weeks. The initial two days he was sleeping most of the time, but as he got better, he was able to watch tv using the mirror.

It is not a fun journey I must say, but we will get through it :)  I am just glad the detachment was discovered and he is able to see.

So I have mild atopic eczema

The itchy condition started a few days before we went for our Bali trip. It started off on my legs.. I just kept scratching..then it got to my knees as well.. I kinda ignore it coz it's quite common for my skin to itch once awhile.  So off we went for our trip and soon we were back. The itch didn't really bother me when I was distracted with other things..or as I go about my daily life. It seems to escalate to a horrible uncontrollable extend when I am idle . So a few days after I got back from Bali, I went to consult my GP. She gave me some antihistamine ( which made me awfully drowsy ) and Physiogel AI cream to relive my itch.  As it is , I have been using Physiogel cream for awhile* the over the counter one* so I kinda know it will help. It did help a little but the itch persisted. Everyday I continued to  apply tons of cream and lotion over my arms and legs. Oh, I have also bought a new shower gel, one for sensitive and dry skin . It's not the best one coz I realized it has perfume ie it is not fragrance free

By week 3 of my itch, we decided that I should seek another opinion, this time round we went to Eu yan san , TCM. I was given a week's worth of powder medication to consume and tthe itch came and went..This went on another 3 weeks. I am tired and money has been spent! Yet I am still itching.. :(

By week 7, some tiny bumps started appearing on my right arm. My friends and Alex tried to assure me that it's prob.just dirt and that I have been scratching the area which explains the bumps. But after couple of days, the bumps didn't disappear even though I have applied some cream and stopped touching it. So with the bumps appearing, I decided it's time to see a dermatologist, so I managed to make an appt with a doctor . Just visited him few days ago and he kinda confirmed that my condition has got to do with dry skin.
Right now, with the medication ( Xyzal) and some creams he prescribed, I am not scratching much and the tiny bumps have subsided a bit .

As for diet wise, I have cut down on seafood..don't really wanna risk it. It's the worst feeling ever..the itchiness I mean. 

I bought the Eurerin one myself and 

the dermatologist gave the Avene one to me..

Preferred Avene now as I realised Eucerin has

 perfume as one of it's ingredients

I am also trying not to use products that contains paraben as it could be a source of where my itching comes from.. also, paraben have been found in extremely low concentrations in breast cancer tumors. A lot of our skincare products as well as cosmatics contain this chemical..so to totally remove it from our lives is kinda difficult. So I am trying to cut down on it as much as I can.

The small tube was from my GP, and the bigger tube 

is what I have been using all this while..
I like Physiogel as the cream doesn't leave u feeling all 

oily. It really works into the skin..

They are not cheap by the way..

 

 I like this too! Of coz the formula is not as good as

Phyisogel or the tube the doc prescribed

But it's cheap! Only $10 for this bottle.. 

I use this in between my other creams..

This is prescribed cream. Not found over the counter.. 

has to be applied over moist skin. The doc told me 

to gently dab my skin after shower and apply this 

within 3 mins :P and if I need to apply again, I had to 

slightly dampen my skin again then apply the cream.

 

 Another prescribed cream by the doc.. 

for areas with rash.. in my case, on my arms..

They are clearing up quite well..

This is how the rash and bumps look 

like on my arm... ;(

I use Avene thermal water when 

I need to moist my skin..

 

Parts of my legs and hands are still dry.. 

I know this will not clear up so fast.. 

I need to have patience as well as applying moisturizer everyday! 

Wish me luck in this battle..

The One who had a bad health episode

With the recent hospitalization , it has bring the number of times I have been warded to the nice number of 4.

This time round it wasn't a planned one unlike the previous 3 times.

A few days prior to my stay, I was plagued with a bad episode of back pains which stemmed from the neck and shoulders. I could feel the strain when I tried to bend my head downwards towards my chest. I seek medical attention from the polyclinic near my office and was given painkillers to ease my agonizing back pains . Come that saturday, 18 Sept, I woke up with the same dull ache on my back plus my stomach was bloated badly ( it resembled a tummy of 3 months pregnancy) . Yeah, I am still waiting for the full medical report that will be delivered to me next friday as to why anyone can bloat even on a empty tummy.

So I did feed myself some of my breakfast oats and a loud burp came out right after my 5 mouthful. That burp would be my cue to stop eating. I went on with the morning but couldn't managed to get out of my room as sitting was bad...so I tried lying down..which was not much of a relive given my back pains. Imagine some rocks on your back as you lie on your bed and when you tried to turn to your sides, the rocks were transferred to your tummy..pressing you. That was how bad it was.

I drifted off to sleep and only managed to have a few mouthful of porridge my mum cooked at 5 pm. I was still badly bloated and was burping as well. Thinking back...i prob.should not have eaten.

Everyone at home was preparing to attend a distant relative's wedding dinner and so came 7pm, it was just my brother attending to me. My heart was pumping fast, and my fingers were all stiff and clenched..I had no control over them, and that got me really worried.

I was already very groggy and feeling terribly sick and had wanted to visit the clinic that was supposed to open at 7pm on Saturdays. But that was never the case. Bloody clinic never did open ..we waited at home till 8pm mind you...and the sickening shutters remained shut!

So before I could drag my poor sick body to a 24 hour clinic, I have had some pukey feeling. So in to the toilet I go and slumped my body down to the bowl. Sat there for a mere 1 min but felt like eternity. I broke out in cold sweat as I sat there and fingers were clenched up and even had mild tremors.

I had to ask my brother to help me out and off we sped off in a cab to Raffles Hospital (they have a 24 hr medical center m it's just 5 mins from my place.. I couldn't bear the wait at TTSH ). I got to see the doc after 20mins and after accessing my condition, the doc decided it would be best for me to be warded. He also gave me an injection to clam me down as my blood pressure was far too high. My aunt and uncle arrived shortly n did the admissions for me.

Things got better when I climbed onto the bed in the 4 bedded ward but still feeling sick. Blood was taken for testing and I soon rested for the night as I was totally wiped out with the pain and shock. thankfully I had my phone with me and I could still seek solace

One of the perks of staying in a private hospital would be the wide range of food... With my gastric issues looming, the doc has given strict instructions as to what I could consume as I had more tests to undergo during my stay. So below are some photos of my meals during my stay...

My bloated tummy got better on Sunday morning

I managed to wolf down 2 of the sandwiches here
Delicious egg mayo

I opted for the chinese meal
lotus soup, steamed fish and veggie

Some friends came visiting
Dear Nicole n Chris came too...
bringing with them Maria:D

They were happily munching on grapes
which Wei ting bought for me..but sadly, it was
on the 'no no' food list. So I can't eat them


This was my sunday dinner
dory fish with pasta and boiled veg.
Nicole helped herself to the soup
since I couldn't possibly fininsh it all


Monday breakfast
was mushroom egg omelette n hash browns
I only ate the egg



I managed to eat almost half of the porridge here
for lunch :)


It has been a week since I was discharged and
I will be going for the review with the doc
next friday. .. Wish me luck!


Note to self :
Needs to excerise , cut down on junk food, watch diet
and stay healthy.

Overcoming her dental fears! Done!

The moment has arrived . At 10.30am this morning to be exact. I was torn into pieces. I took heavy strides as I walk from my flat to the dental clinic . My heart was about to pop out as I pushed the door open to the clinic. The lady recept greeted me and I was shown into the doctor's room in no less than 3 minutes.

A pleasant looking gentleman of early 40s appear from the adjourning room . I was a little apprehensive still as to how I will be treated under his probing :X Boy was he awfully gentle when he speaks! Dr. Lim is soft spoken, plus he speaks well and in a comforting manner, thus alleviating some of my fears.

I had to prepare him mentally for what I think could be one of his worst night mare..so I recounted my fears of dentists and told him that my condition could be really bad. As I laid back on the chair, many silly thoughts ran by my mind. Now what if I bleed real bad? what if it was 'irrpairable' ? haha..lots of 'what ifs' running around.

So as it is, I am deemed as very 'holey' ( no floating halos above my head ) . The major issue has been addressed and I'll have to return to patch up the smaller cavities . Dr. Lim had to reassure me that it will be quite pain free with the local anesthesia ..though I still seriously dislike the sound of the drill.

There was a minor hiccup during the patching process as my gums were quite senstive and started to bleed. So Dr. Lim had to stop it. So it took slightly longer time than usual to fix it. But it has been done! :D

It really took alot for me to gather the courage to face up to my fears. Thankfully it was not as bad as I thought. With that said, I have promised myself not to procrastinate when it comes to dental issues. It's just not worth it..not to mention the costs!

Dental fear is real. I mean those who has gone thru bad experience would probably understand how I feel.

Here's some advice to over come this horrible fear.

The most important step to overcoming dental anxiety is finding a good dentist and you should always start with a list of dentists so that you have options. A good dentist is one who:

• is patient
• is highly competent
• endeavors to make each meeting pain free
• genuinely cares about you
• has the ability to nurture you through past traumas.

Ask friends and family for a list of dentists that they would recommend

I still clammed up and still get very tensed
But it is a big step for me to face up to it