Passing of Youth

I had a shock when I saw Shandy’s obituary in the newspapers last Saturday. While I knew she was unwell, I didn’t know she was that sick….until I read her blog today http://www.shandysim.blogspot.com/
The shock of discovery, the pain and trauma during and post-treatments....at 30 years of age, she is still so young and should be enjoying life. But no, she had not wallowed in self-pity.

Shandy, you were so strong and you had fought well. RIP!

Christmas Eve Dinner

This is the first year that we are celebrating Christmas Eve with an “off-the-shelve/freezer-and-cleverly-assembled” dinner – roasted chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, pizzas, escargots, salads, ice cream etc. Great idea, no need to slave in front of the oven anymore! Maybe can try out for CNY Reunion Dinner too : )

The Final Leg to Eric’s Sec 1 Registration

Today was great – we managed to settle everything by 10am – deregistration at Victoria, registration at Dunman High, buy textbooks, uniforms, PE attire : )

Had a funny episode when trying out the uniforms: Eric couldn’t button up because there were only button holes but no buttons on his shirt, and we passed snide remarks about no quality checks done for such a so-called good school. Brought the shirt back to the vendor and told her that it is defective, no buttons etc. We were stunned when told that we need to buy our own buttons (????). Seeing our bewildered looks, the vendor explained that Dunman High uniforms use metallic buttons that need to be fitted in before wearing and removed before washing! Metallic buttons?? OMG, so chee-nah! Just can’t imagine my angmo-fied Eric wearing such a communistic-looking uniform :P

The Call

Halfway through lunch today, I received a call from Dunman High..yes, Eric has been accepted! I was smiling ear-to-ear after the call :D

Hubby and Eric were ecstatic when I broke the news. We will need to collect the Acceptance Letter from Dunman High tomorrow, bring to Victoria for sign-off/retrieve Eric’s report card, then return to Dunman High to complete administrative works, buy textbooks and uniforms. Yeah, now we’ll be able to have a peaceful Christmas and New Year!

Uncle’s Final Journey

This is the first time I have attended a Christian burial ceremony. In a simple yet solemn ceremony, we laid Tua Ku to rest with flowers, prayers and hymns. RIP Tua Ku!

Uncle’s Demise

Mum called this afternoon to inform about Tua Ku’s (her eldest brother) passing last evening. Hubby and I almost could not find our way there, despite combing the entire estate. We were at the verge of calling Susan when we suddenly saw this road that we somehow missed earlier….was it Tua Ku guiding us?

Margaret seemed fine, thankfully Lucy is there with her. It must be tough, losing her remaining parent and having to deal with so many things on top of her grief. Tua Ku looked so serene lying in the casket. I recalled the last time I visited him in hospital, I told him that I will see him at home when I next visit him. He nodded his head, as if he could hear me, as if he understood my words. Now, looking at him lying in the casket, my tears just streamed uncontrollably…

Life is so unpredictable… I saw Margaret and him shopping in Plaza Singapura the day before his op in Oct, the next I hear is the op and now he’s gone…. At 80, he has lived a good life with few regrets. Passing on may be a better option than being stuck in bed with no quality of life…

Eric's Secondary 1 Registration

Eric seemed pretty much his normal chirpy self this morning. We reached Victoria Secondary close to 8am, not many people here yet as registration was at 8.3am. The school is 7-story high as land space is quite tight. From the namelist posted, a number of Eric’s friends, schoolmates and ex-classmates from Poi Ching had been posted here too. He seemed happy about that…..

Registration was fast. We proceeded to the Hall at 8.30am and were ready to leave by 9.00am. I could see that Eric is deep in thoughts…he liked the culture, environment, his pals are here… I can see that he is starting to have doubts about appealing to Dunman High. Yet, he is unwilling to forgo the chance to appeal….is this a pride thing?

Since the appeal had to be submitted at Dunman High anyway, I suggested to Eric that we proceed there and then decide what to do thereafter.

On the way there, Eric seemed back to his normal self : ) The bus journey was short, but the walk from the bus-stop to the school was s….o…… l…o…..n……g…………. : ( By the time we reached there, both of us were feeling so hot and sweaty!

I had greatly underestimated the power of appeal. By the time we reached the appeal counters, there were already 6 arch-files of appeals, with more streaming in! Eric decided to proceed with the appeal, so in goes ours too. Results will only be known after Christmas, hopefully before New Year. , looks like we’ll need to gear up for a mad rush this year-end…..

Eric's Secondary 1 Posting Results

This morning, I received Eric’s Secondary 1 Posting Results – he was posted to Victoria Secondary, his second choice. Both Hubby and Eric were kind of cool about it: no smiles, excitement or enthusiasm, just a simple “OK”. Is this the calm before a storm?

Back in office, I surfed for information re appeals for admission to Dunman High, downloaded forms etc in readiness for submission should Eric decide to appeal. At 260, he was just at the cut-off for entry to Dunman High. His P6 Form Teacher Mrs Lee encouraged him to appeal, stating that he stands a very good chance. I assured him that Daddy and I will support him in whatever decision he makes. Rather than live with a “what if…”, I encouraged him to appeal if he wanted Dunman High so badly. Never mind if he is not successful, at least his conscience is clear as he had tried hence no “what ifs”.

Eric finally made the decision to appeal. The way he prepared for the appeal convinced me that he really meant business. I am proud that he had taken ownership of this matter, and I hope the appeal will be successful.

Horrors!!

Just when I was just starting to celebrate not having to wear eye shields to bed, I caught myself rubbing my eyes this morning!! Luckily there was no swelling or soreness, will need to be very careful....

Final Check-up

Yippee! Dr Cheng has given me a clean bill for my eyes, I can resume normal activities like before, and no more wearing eye shields to bed...3 cheers!

Buddy and Pudding

Got Buddy a companion today...it is a beautiful yellow with green patches on her belly. We named her Pudding. To avoid any escapades, the shop owner offered to trim their wings. The two got along really well and it's such a joy watching them preen each other, sing to each other....wonder if little budgies will come along soon? :P

Our new pet: Buddy

We decided to keep the budgie and named him Buddy. Got him a new cage, bird food, toys....didn't know keeping a bird can cost so much! Hope he enjoys his new home!

Surprise Visitor

On our way home today, Hubby and I found a little budgie at our lift lobby. In fact, I almost stepped on it as it was so tiny. It is a beautiful green and yellow budgie with black markings on its face and wings. We suspected that it must have escaped from its owner. I recalled that budgies are rather vulnerable to predators and lousy at finding food. Either way, they die. So we decided to keep it until we can find it an owner.

As it was already past 8, most of the pet shops were closed by now. We managed to borrow a cage to hold the budgie temporarily, until we find him an owner or buy him a new cage.

Black-Eyed Panda

Made an unscheduled visit to see Dr Cheng…had bad bruising on my left eye, must have rubbed a little too hard when putting on make-up last night. Luckily, all is well My next check-up will be on 20 Sep 2008. In the meanwhile, no rubbing, wetting of eyes, need to avoid areas with smoke, cooking fumes etc Looks like I’d need to ta-bao for the next 4 weeks when I return to work.

2nd Post-Op Checkup

Went for my 1-week post-op checkup with Dr Cheng. All is well: wounds are healing well, vision is relatively good :)

The Day After

Vision with my left eye was good, but I still can’t see with my right eye :( While I still feel weak, I felt so much better compared to yesterday :)

Dr Cheng was pleased with the op and cautioned me not to rub/wet my eyes. I’m still bothered with my right eye but guess there’s nothing I can do except to wait.

My eyes were still feeling sore and sensitive to light. What better option is there besides sleep? I could feel myself getting better as time goes by….Feeling pity for me, Hubby decided to bring me go shopping for a pair of shades!

At Parkway Parade, we avoided the eateries and places where there is smoke and fumes. As we were walking around, I suddenly realised that I could see with my right eye! Yippee! The bubble in my right eye had finally burst!

The Procedure

I reached the clinic at about 10am, and promptly proceeded to the day surgery centre on #16. A nurse helped to cleanse my eyes in readiness for the op. As I was about to doze off, Dr Cheng came by to bring me to his clinic. He needed to ‘mark’ my eyes as it would not be accurate to do so while I am lying down. I must have looked weird, looking fully clothed in hospital garb, marching about the clinic!

By now, I was feeling really grouchy... I had to fast for 6 hours before the op :( Since the op was scheduled for 12nn, effectively I have not eaten for almost 16 hours (since 7pm the night before)…

Before I could settle down in my bed, it was time for the op. What sounded like a simple 20-minutes op had not turned out to be that simple after al! I was swathed in sterile sheets, leaving just my eyes exposed. My eyes were then clipped opened, and a sheet of gel-like material was ‘plastered’ over my eyes (yes, over my eye balls too). Feeling all hot and uncomfortable under the sheets with strong bright overhead lights shinning right into my eyes, I cannot blink my eyes to shut off the lights nor lubricate my eyes…it was sheer torture. Additionally, I could hear Dr Cheng, Dr Lynn Yeo and the rep from ICL company discussing about the op…argghhh…

When Dr Cheng finally started the op, I was already feeling REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE :( While I didn’t feel pain, I could feel him prodding and poking my eyes. At times, it felt that he was about to poke through my eye balls. And I had to stare at the bright lights @!#$!%! The doctors should go for such an op too, walk through the customer's, I mean patient's corridor and understand how difficult it is to stare into bright lights without flinching. Dear God, please help me through this!

After a good x minutes, he was finally done with my right eye : ) and proceeded to do my left eye :( Since I am going to be stuck for a while more on the op table, I decided to request for my blanket to be removed as I was feeling really warm! And guess what? The warmth was due to the bed warmer that the op theatre staff had turned on! You can imagine my relief when the warmer was turned off…immense coolness : ) Anyway, with the experience from my right eye (and feeling much cooler), I could cope with the op on my left eye much better.

After what seemed like eternity, the op was completed!! I was wheeled back to the ward to rest and have some beverage. If you think the worst is over, you were so wrong! For the next few hours, I puked everything and anything that went into my stomach…water, Milo, biscuits, medicines… Dr Cheng was so worried that he popped up a few times to check on me. Throughout the dizziness and vomiting, I suddenly realised that I could not see with my right eye! Oh no, did the op fail? Dr Cheng said it was due to a bubble trapped behind the lens and that it will be absorbed by the eye in a few days’ time……

When I felt a little better, I called Hubby to fetch me home. When he came, he was shocked to find me sitting in a wheelchair at the reception :P I filled him in on my earlier dizzy spells and vomiting while waiting for the bills to be processed. After settling the bills, I was wheeled to see Dr Cheng. My eye pressure seemed normal but he just could not understand why I had such severe vomiting.

When I reached home, I just fell onto bed and slept :D! For a good 2 hours, I rested. When I woke up at 9+pm, I was well enough to even feel hungry. I felt so much better after a few bites and the hot shower. Things are getting better I hoped!

Counting down

Finally, the day has come! After years of waiting, I will be going for my ICL op at 12nn today. I am experiencing mixed feelings…excitement, fear, apprehension, anticipation, joy….

Count-down to the big day

Returned to see Dr Cheng for a follow-up. Thank goodness all is well… Counting down to the big day now…

BIL PI Laser

Today was the day when Dr Cheng made 2 tiny holes in my eyes. I arrived at the clinic at about 7.25am, no one was in yet : ( When the clinic assistant finally came, I was given a letter and told to proceed to Mt E. Check-in was simple, though I wished the staff were a little friendlier. Luckily the nurse at the procedure room was a lot nicer. She administered some eye drops and chatted with me while waiting for Dr Cheng. At about 8.30am, Dr Cheng came and we proceeded with the procedure.

The procedure was fairly simple: A large-size contact lens was fitted into my right eye, I just had to stare into a machine and after a few flashes of very bright light from the laser, it was done! The same was repeated for my left eye. The only discomfort I felt was the bright flashes of light I had to endure : (

When settling the payment, I was surprised that I could use my MediSave to pay for the procedure (contrary to what Dr Cheng said). Seems like his info was not so updated afterall….

Prep works prior to ICL

During and post-ICL, the eye pressure is expected to increase. To allow the eye to regulate the built-up pressure, 2 tiny holes will be lasered in my eyes. Dr Cheng had arranged for me to go for the BIL PI laser on 16 Aug 08. Seems like ICL is not such a simple procedure afterall...

The Final Decision

Hubby had been a great pillar of strength and support in helping me make this decision.
His analysis:

• SNEC may be cheaper but doing both eyes on different occasions is not only inconvenient, it is also disruptive to my work.
• Given his busy schedule, Dr Chan may not afford the post-op time and care that I would need.
• As for the fees, Hubby will be sponsoring the full sum! Yippee!

The decision is made: I will proceed to do the ICL procedure with Dr Cheng.

The Dilemma

Shucks! SNEC also offers ICL now! Of all times, they had to offer it now, just after my consultation with Dr Cheng : (
SNEC charges about S$1.5k cheaper than Dr Cheng's fees, but they can only complete the ICL procedure for both eyes on different days (their policy). This translates into inconvenience and delays. In terms of doctors, Dr Chan (SNEC) is definitely my preferred choice due to his experience in this field. But fixing an appointment with him can be quite tough..what if he is outstationed/busy when I have pos-op complications???
Costs, confidence and convenience...what will it be??

The Verdict

After an agonising wait of 2 weeks, the test results are finally out: I am eligible for ICL procedure. Never knew that I could feel relieved, elated and worried at the same time - relieved that there is finally closure to my long wait; elated that I was eligible for the procedure and worried because I'll have to make a huge decision. Dr Cheng explained what to expect and the costs. Estimated to be around S$8.5k, it certainly will not be an easy decision to make. I need to think it over.

The long wait...

10 years, yes, I have waited for 10 long years before ICL (Implantable Contact Len) is approved in Singapore. While waiting for the procedure to be approved for use in Singapore, I was 100% sure that I would want to go for it once it is made availble. Now that this option is finally opened to me, my mind is in a whirl, I am not so sure anymore....
Dr Cheng suggested that I proceed with eye tests to determine if I am suitable for ICL. Who knows, I may not even be a suitable candidate!