Monday, October 16, 2006

Ain't I lucky...

Today, I was on my way to Expo to visit the Innovationation exhibition. In my hands was James Patterson's novel, titled Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. I had pre-registered for the event, and gosh I was one and a half hours late! But upon reaching expo and in midst of walking through the halls, I was so immersed in the reading that I couldn't really see what's ahead.

Then when I got to the last few pages, I realised that's it, I HAD to sit down and finish it. At the end of the book, I realised I had controlled the tears in my eyes, but I knew somehow I had tears in my heart.

This is what Patterson's books do to me. Not those thrillers, murder, suspense stories of his, but the heartwrenching novels about family, loss and love. I realised that books teach me so much about love and life that no other can ever teach me. I'm glad I found a hobby to keep myself occupied when jw is away. Keke.

The story of the five balls

This story is such a true fact but which most of us do not realise, or choose to ignore, till it all becomes too late.

It goes like this.

Life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called Work, Family, Health, Friends, and Integrity.

And you're keeping all of them in the air.

But one day, you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it bounces back.

The other four balls - family, health, friends, integrity - are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.

There are some things in life, once you lose them, they're gone forever. I don't know why I've felt so so strongly about this since I was little. Perhaps it's due to childhood, due to my past, or simply just because I agree with this statement whole-heartedly the first time I stumble upon it. But I've always believed in relishing in the joy of today, for tomorrow may never be the same again. The world will not be the same again, your loved ones may not be the same again, you yourself may not be the same again.

Which is why we ought to say the words "I Love You" when we have the chance. What's wrong with saying it every morning, every night, when you mean it from the abyss of your heart? What's wrong with letting him/her know? Is there anyone who gets tired of hearing these three words? Haha. Not me, definitely. Don't be stingy with your words. If you can't spare money, at least you can spread love.

The longed-for ships
Come empty home or founder on the deep
And eyes first lose their tears and then their sleep

Sad. So sad. A pity all of us will have to experience the feeling of loss. The feeling of crying, the feeling of pain, the feeling of devastation.

Will we all come to a point in time, hopefully not when we've already reached our twilight years, when we realise that we have overspent time of our lives burying ourselves in work, and neglected our family & friends? What do we gain by selling our souls to the company we work for? Yes, money is one. Colleagues might be another. Or maybe fame. But does that suffice for giving up the more important things in life? There are so many things in this world that are superficial, and one might wonder what do we carry away with us when we go into our graves. These are some of the countless questions that I always ask myself. & of cos, no one else can answer them except me myself since no one hears them.

I'm glad I'm not over-dedicating myself to my work. Yes i love my work and the people I work with and of cos' I put my best in everything I do. I also work hard for my future home, my future kids, my future life with jw. But more important than that, I clearly know and understand that jw, my parents, my family are far more important than my work. Far far more. & I want them to realise that, and know that I love them.

Teaching kids has been a passion of my life, and it's one that I will cling onto. People have asked me umpteenth times, why make myself so tired and struggle to work on weekends. If you think it's for the money, you are so wrong. If you think I'm not tired, you are wrong too. I hold onto it because it's a dream come true. It's a real love of my life, and it's something that conjures joy and happiness in my heart. How many of us can truly find that? It's so rare and it's such a beautiful gift that I will stay true to to this commitment for as long as I can. Joy has a way of overcoming fatigue, don't you know? At least, for me. =)

Gosh, I must be thinking alot tonight. I always do when I'm alone. It feels kinda nice to just think about my life, my past; & then dream about and look forward to my future. I don't know why I feel so happy tonight despite my cramps. Haha. That's good, I'm a lonely gal but I'm smiling. It's now 2.30am & I better get to bed since tmr is a Monday.. =) A brand new week waiting for me..

& for me, I'll be patiently waiting for jw to come back.. Have fun in Hawaii!!~

Ain't I lucky to have a lovely grandma, a great mum, and a wonderful bf who love me like I'm a little princess..

Monday, October 09, 2006

Thalassaemia - It's confirmed

Last Saturday, I went to collect my blood test results (finally, after 2 months!!) & it's confirmed that I'm a carrier of thalassaemia. Uh oh. Luckily it's minor, not major. So I'm alpha-thalassamic, meaning my haemoglobin molecules have an inability to manufacture enough alpha chains. Quite cheem rite?

I guess alot of people dunno what is thalassaemia, cos' I didn't know too till I had the body check-up. It never harms to know more, and all I hope for now is that my children will not be affected. So junwei, you better not have thalassaemia too k? Hee. *prays hard* Doc says as long as you're not, our children will be fine. I dun wanna make my kids suffer by going through blood transfusion every month.

What Is Thalassaemia?
Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder which is caused by an abnormal gene. A person with thalassaemia is unable to produce normal, functioning haemoglobin in the blood.

Haemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. When the body is not able to produce normal, functioning haemoglobin, the affected person suffers from anaemia.

Thalassaemia is passed on from parent to child and can affect both males and females. In Singapore, about 3% of the population are carriers of the thalassaemia gene.

What Are The Types Of Thalassaemia?
There are two types of thalassaemia:
(1) Thalassaemia minor (thalassaemia trait)

(2) Thalassaemia major

A person who has inherited one thalassaemia gene is said to have thalassaemia minor (thalassaemia trait).He or she is healthy and leads a normal life. Most people with thalassaemia minor do not know that they have it. However, the affected persons can pass on the abnormal gene to their children.

Thalassaemia major is a severe form of anaemia. The affected person has inherited two thalassaemia genes, one from each parent. He or she may look normal at birth but within 1 - 2 years of life, will suffer from severe anaemia, which leads to poor growth and development as well as a shorter lifespan.

The affected person will need blood transfusion every month to sustain life. At present, a bone marrow transplant is the only hope of possible cure for thalassaemia major.

How Is Thalassaemia Inherited?
If only one parent has thalassaemia minor, the following can occur:

- 50% chance of having a child with thalassaemia minor
- 50% chance of having a normal child
- None of the couple's children will get thalassaemia major.

If both parents have thalassaemia minor, the following can occur:

- 25% chance of having a child with thalassaemia major
- 50% chance of having a child with thalassaemia minor
- 25% chance of having a normal child

The chances are the same with each pregnancy, no matter how many children the couple may have.

Who Should Go For Thalassaemia Screening?
Since thalassaemia can be passed on from one generation to another, you and your partner should go for a thalassaemia screening if you are:
- Planning to get married
- Starting a family.

Thalassaemia screening involves a simple blood test and is available at all polyclinics.

Symptoms & dangers
The symptoms of Thalassaemia major may include: paleness, jaundice, or yellow coloured skin, failure to thrive, if young, enlarged spleen and liver and bony abnormalities, especially of the facial bones.

Children with Thalassaemia major are normal at birth but become anaemic between the ages of three months and eighteen months. They become pale; unable to eat and sleep well, and may vomit their feeds. If not treated, they usually die between one and eight years old.

The only treatment for Thalassaemia major is regular blood transfusions, usually every three or four weeks. Most children, if given such transfusions, grow normally and live normally into their 20s. After each blood transfusion, the red cells in the new blood are broken down slowly over the next four months.

But the iron from the red blood cells stays in the body. An individual who has frequent red blood cell transfusions can develop iron overload. And herein lies the danger - if this iron is not removed, it builds up and can damage the liver, the heart and other parts of the body. If this damage is not prevented, most people with Thalassaemia major die before they are twenty years old.

So, other treatment must come into play. Now the only way to remove the extra iron from the body is to give injections of a drug called Desferrioxamine (Desferal). This medication starts usually between the ages of 4 to 8 years old. The injections are given using a portable battery-operated pump. This slowly empties a syringe over 6-7 hours. The pump is used 5-7 nights of every week, therefore treatment takes place in the home.

There are risks with any blood transfusion. These include an allergic reaction, infection, and sometimes hepatitis or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. At present, the only permanent cure for Thalassemia major is a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). BMT however, does not guarantee a cure. In some centres, 85% survived but were not cured, 8 % reverted to normal and were cured and 7% rejected the graft and died as a result of complications. Bone marrow present in the cavities of bone is the site for formation of blood cells that are released into the circulation.

Bone marrow is obtained from a healthy and matching donor usually a sibling brother or sister, a parent or other close relative whose tissue will match that of a patient. Bone marrow obtained from donors is given to the patients just like ordinary blood transfusion. In 2 to 3 weeks' times the "mother cells" from donor bone marrow start producing normal haemoglobin forming cells. This will then render the patient transfusion free if the transplant is successful. The high risk involved is possible death over failure.

What Should I Do If I Have Thalassaemia Minor?
If you or your partner has thalassaemia minor, both of you should see a doctor for genetic counselling before you plan to get married or have a child. The doctor will explain the risks and discuss the choices you have. He may refer you to the National Thalassaemia Registry for further counselling.

The National Thalassaemia Registry provides genetic counselling for people with thalassaemia and screening for their families. The staff at the Registry will be able to answer your questions about this blood disorder.

NATIONAL THALASSAEMIA REGISTRY
Level 7 Children's TowerKK Women's & Children's Hospital
100 Bukit Timah RoadSingapore 229899
Tel: 6394 1863-66 or Fax: 6394 1867
Email: Nat.Thal.Reg@kkh.com.sg

Well, now the registry has my name in their record liaoz. I hope kor kor doesn't have thalassaemia, and that I was the only child who inherited it from our parents. So that he & Mabel can give birth to healthy and happy kids next time.

Life is so unpredictable sometimes, but to all my friends out there, please take good care of yourselves and don't take good health for granted k?

~Summer~ 10:29 AM

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Our BBQ celebration.. Simple & nice..

Last Sat, me and Junwei decided to have a BBQ. Not the first time, but this time round it feels different becos' we're celebrating our 38th month of being together. Happy 38th Monthliversary!! That's 3 years & 2 months, which feels like a long long time to me.

Anyway, back to the BBQ, guess where we held it? ECP? Neh. Pasir Ris Park? Neh. We had it in the comfort of being near our home. Right at Hougang Blk 964 11th storey. Keke. At the lift lobby area where there was a huge empty space. Cool!!

We bought quite a variety of food from Sheng Siong, including chicken wings/drumsticks, smoked bacon (my fav of fav!), fish, sotong, sausages, beancurd tofu (r u sure this can be bbq-ed.. but no harm trying). & for lunch, we tried frying carrot cake on our own!! U noe, u can buy those tubes of carrot cake or yam from the supermarts, then u juz add in ur own ingredients and go fry. Sounds easy hor? But it's not if you wanna make it yummy-licious.

Being the tired soul that I was after my teaching that day, I actually slept till 11pm. GOSH. I jumped up, startling even myself, for fear that I missed the entire BBQ and it was all over. In a state of semi-consciousness, I rushed out and thankfully the thoughtful jw was waiting for me to wake up and he had marinated all the food already. (Oh man, call myself a girl.) So we happily went to set up the pit.

Who knows, perhaps the charcoal hates us and it has gone into hibernation, for it refused to burn up despite jw's nice formation of fire starters (lots of it!!) and charcoal. Uncle said it must be lousy charcoal that's overburnt. We spent 1.5hours trying our luck and with the same persistence as the charcoal, we didn't wanna give up. Come on, it's 1.00am and I want my dinner!!

We decided to try igniting a super duper huge fire and see how it works. Hehe. So we used up another BOX of fire starters. After much effort and fanning and perspiration, we finally got it started!! Oh wow!! First, the fire was too small to peng anything. Now, it's too big and everything gets chao da. Which one would u choose? I would gladly choose the second one and eat burnt food rather than raw food. =)

All in all, it was a fun, simple and peaceful night that we had. Even though we didn't finish the food, even though there was a lot of after work to do, even though the food could be yummier, but what's more blissful than spending a night at home with your most loved one.. I don't know.. We just felt happy, and that's the only important thing.

Till the next BBQ.. (& this time muz buy better quality charcoal.. ;p)

~Summer~ 11:15 PM