A day in a ward......

Atok still with the pleural tap and he is still feeling uncomfortable and still has difficulty with his breathing....hmmmm....

I stayed whole afternoon with my aunt Ju who came down from Darwin in the ward talking to him and keep him company.I think cik Ju must be bored stiff!!in the evening when my sisters and bro came we left together and went for dinner at 9pm at makan syiok....food ok ok...if you are hungry even if its not nice the plate is clean:)


Few patients were discharged leaving 4 empty beds but when evening came 2 new admissions all asthma cases.Mr Teo - the oxygen man was discharged in the afternoon and he went home with the oxygenless tube....hehehe....what a pity....the daughter in law was surprised when the nurse told her that even his was attached to the oxygen metre it wasn't on!!!so looks like he will be living with that oxygenless tube for sometimes.


Today I was reading the paper and saw the obituary of Mr Tan ( who had heart attacked) died peacefully yesterday.My deepest condolence to his family,because of our fathers we get to know each other.... a day in the ward makes a lot of difference in our live.




My hardworking helper .... but she can never remember to put things where they belongs when she cleans the cupboard etc .... double work for me!!!Atok say she a bit blur now when atok ask her something she answers another.....hehe....

Since aunt Ju spent the night at my place I did the cara lauk for our breakfast this morning and for lunch we ate yesterday rendang leftovers.

I let my helper go first to the hospital so that atok has someone to help him at lunch time and I will leave later around 3pm with fresh tea and his dinner and will stay till visiting time over at 8pm.

I will be going back to work as from monday 3rd March an won't be able to visit atok till I am off and hope atok will be comfortable.

till my next entry...........

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 1:10 PM 10 comments

Atok's update....




Atok had his pleural tap done yesterday and he is in a lot of pain ... who wouln't if you have a huge needle stuck into your chest wall to drain all the fluid and the picture above shows the gadgets.A big tube is draining the fluid plus some blood too and so far about 1000mls already in the container which is pumped.



The 2 girls doing their 2 hrly check on his blood pressure and oxygen level reading.

Poor atok he is really suffering .... when we wanted to leave he requested for us to stay longer as he was having shortness of breath.We stayed till almost 9.20pm .... I think he is scared that if anything happen to him we are not around.Insya'allah atok you will get better in a couple of days and can come home.

Atok next bed neighbour Mr Tan had a heart attack soon after his daughter left him,I was a little late coming and he was already in bad shape,I felt his body and it was cold and soon after the red code alert .... all the doctors and nurses were there doing their emergency treatment,screen were drawn and I can hear them pumping him ....... I left the ward not wanting to be there and sat in the tv room.....20 minutes later they revived him and he was transfered to the ICU.


Mr Teo finally got his oxygen:) no more oxygenless nasal canula...wonder if he can feel the different?





till my next entry.............

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 7:36 AM 13 comments

Happy Birthday......




Happy 58th birthday to myself 27th Feb 2008.

Yes its my birthday once again and how time flies .....
I thank his ALMIGHTY for giving me the chance to be a year older and for making my life a happy one to be amongst my family and friends.


Thank you maklang,kaklady and rina for the sms today .... tak sabar2 mereka .... hehehe .... TQ..TQ..TQ
and to Norabella adoiiiiiiii for that wishes in your blog.Unfortunately I will be spending the day at the hospital.....anyone care to have lunch with me at the hospital cafetaria???



Atok has not been well today,before I arrived he apparently was having double vision and feeling giddy and was unable to breathe .... he thought he was going!!the doctors came and an ECG was done stat with abnormal result.An urgent CT Scan of heart(angiogram 64slice)and thorax was orderded and done @ 3pm.He came back to the ward at 4.30pm and his ward MO came to speak to both of us.The findings ......... no embolism to his heart but his lungs are surrounded by fluids .. pneumothorax?? oops pleural effusion (thanx doc EL).They will be doing a pleural tap tomorrow and looks like its going to be another long day for me again.



Mr Tan pulled his tube again from his nostril where they are feeding him from .... even with his hands tied!!!.....the staff had a hard time inserting another.



ok apek oxgyen is Mr Teo .... hehehe .... he is still using the oxygenless nasal canula and this time its not even at the right place....instead of into the nostril its at the side .... just wonder what he feels ???
cat cat see if I can snap a picture without him knowing:)




I think the longer I sit in this ward I see lots of things that we don't get to see in other wards .... one thing I really salute the staff of this ward esp the ITE nursing students they are one of a hell dedicated staff and very hard working.
Atok finally get his appetite back and now he ordered western meal and I get to share it with him ..... hehehe









till my next entry...........

Labels: atok/birthday

posted by Kak Elle at 12:01 AM 33 comments

Geli Hati........





Atok and his nasal cannula oxygen supply is a must for him as and when he requires it ....

yesterday the Head of the medical team came to do the rounds in the ward followed by his MO's who on other days will be doing themselves.When it comes to atok's bed the Head spoke to atok and ask of his well being ..... bla...bla...bla .... atok told him of his complains that he has been telling the MO's day after day of his pain of left leg/knee .... the Head examines atok himself and ........ and.......and hit the right spot that made atok yell and jerks his leg and at same time the Head too felt it that is the pain as he jumps back ..... after that all the MO's infront of atok kena scolding"and what have you done for it???".... if you ask me nothing as I've also been telling them of atok's difficulty to sit and stand.Last night bro in law help atok to do physio of bending his knee etc after massaging it and he did well ....





His repeat chest xray showed not much of improvement and the oxygen level in his blood test also seem low so they are doing a CTScan of the Brain to check if there's any blockage????and I have the feeling that atok may have a silent stroke while he was in hospital without our knowledge.



Mr Tan next bed on his right now been tube fed and both hands in boxing glove so he can't pull the ryle's tube in his nostril but few times I had to put the glove back for him somehow he manages to pull his hands out by putting his leg at the tip of the glove and pull his hand out .... pandai betul Mr Tan ni kan?





Yang mengelikan hati ye lah ah pek on atok's left ..... since this is a respiratory ward everyone in this ward have their own oxygen nasal cannula next to their bed....and this cartoon ah pek .... sori tak ingat nama dia nanti pergi visit atok will look whats his name ....hahaha ..... he ask for his nasal cannula and kept it in his drawer ..... don't know why I was looking at him and guess what???? he was using the it ......





this is what the nasal cannula looks like ... hahahaha ..... sahja aje dia gunakan ..... geli hati betul ..... hahahahahaha ...... I tak bolih tahan ...... nak tau kenapa????

it was not connected to the oxygen flow metre .... so takde oxygen lah ....... hahahhaaaaaa.......dah tu when my eyes meet the S/Nurse eyes we both geleng-geleng kepala macam cat-cat Robert ..... psycological agak nya he thinks it works!!!If only I brought my camera ....... hehehe


When my sisters came I told them and semua ketawa geli hati.....ada2 aje kan?macam2 kerena dlm cubicle ni.






till my next entry.............

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 8:53 AM 16 comments

Tikar Mengkuang....


Pembantu/penolong yang teramat rajin dah mula beroperasi jadi semua cerok di bersihkan yg dah lama saya tutup satu mata.Pepagi ni dia mula mencuci carpet di bawah coffee table jadi saya letak kan tikar mengkuang sebagai ganti...bolih tahan jugak.Kalau kita tengok betul2 tikar mengkuang ni cantik juga pattern dia so why not??

Tikar mengkuang dah lama juga saya beli dan kali pertama mengunakan nya ... mungkin bila carpet tu kering saya akan roll and simpan dulu bila sampai masa nya tikar ni saya akan mengulung nya takut bila bapak dah sihat bolih pulang takut tersandung dek tikar yg ringgan ni nanti jadi satu hal lagi.




Ni dia tikar mengkuang tu ... cantik kan pattern nya?Baru $9.00 aje.

Hari ni tak masak cuma mengoreng mee aje ... tu lah lunch dan juga dinner ......

dan juga cucur udang lagi hari tu nephew Shafiq nak lagi...masa membawa nya ke hospital..kali ni saya letak udang fresh lebih sikit so mangkin sedap lah bila di makan.

Atok masih complain SOB so oxygen tubing mmg di sebelah katil bila2 perlu bolih gunakan....hari ni doctor ordered another xray for his left leg/knee,mmg knee dia bengkak sekali dan di sebelah betis dia bolih rasa macam ada tumbuhan keras padan lah dia selalu kata sakit sebab tu susah nak berdiri.

Tentang Mr Tan pesakit sebelah dia yg selalu lucutkan seluar dan diaper nya....hari ni saya berbual dgn anak dia ... Mr Tan dah 78 yrs old dan mula nyanyuk sikit so apa yg dia buat bukan kehendak nya.Hari ni masih tak bolih minum atau makan dia kena NIL BY MOUTH bukan kerena pergi opration atau preparation tapi mengikut anak nya apa2 yg dia makan atau minum selalu nya masuk ke paru2 dan bukan perut dia...itu yg menyebabkan dia selalu sesak nafas dan sudah beberapa kali turns blue....dia asyik memanggil minta tolong"aunty I am hungry".....

Hari ni dah 3 kali dia cabut IV needle dari lengan dia .... rupa nya dia nak minum air dari drip tu .... sungguh kesian ... masa dia mencabut kali ketiga saya terus mengambil dari nya kang di masuk kemulut nya dgn jarum tu jadi satu hal pulak.Saya explain ngan dia yg dia tak bolih minum ikut arahan doctor ... masa tu anak dia dah pulang...tak tau lah kalau dia faham atau tidak.Saya bersyukur kepada NYA yg atok walaupun tak bolih makan dan minum 3 hari tu dia tak mengamok tapikan saya playcheat juga .... hahaha .... masa membasahkan bibir nya dgn ice ada juga saya bagi dia ice untuk di hisap mengeringkan tekak dia ..... hahaha....

till my next entry..................

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 9:46 PM 6 comments

Another parcel....

I received another parcel today actually it arrived yesterday and since I was at the hospital the delivery guy left a note under my door and I called the skynet company and arranged for another delivery thats today.




THANK YOU MAKLANG,PAKLANG,ALONG,ANGAH,MAYA AND HAKIM for these lovely early birthday present:) this time byk juga dapat early presents eh?My sis Aini sms to say that she also bought a COACH bag for lunch just for wallet and mobile....thank you...thank you...but will only get to touch it when she comes back from her states holiday end of this week.


They are so pretty especially with the additional lovely pink rose RE by that gifted hands of non other -maklang.Sungguh cantik sayang pulak nak gunakan .... nampak2 sorok dlm laci ..... hehehe






Any orders?? cepat-cepat sebelum kedai maklang tutup mengambil tempahan lagi ..... hahaha


Atok went for a repeat chest xray this afternoon re his pneumonia unfortunately being saturday I was unable to get a report.He is very chatty today but then after dinner he complains of SOB so now he is on oxygen again....atok bila nak baik ni?....macam suka aje duduk kat hospital:)He asks how long has he been in hospital??? he lost count of the days too....ada satu patient cina di sebelah nya yg suka buat strip-tease show(tidak sengaja tau)...tanggalkan seluar dah tu diaper nya lucut ke buku lali ..... adoi pek what are you doing lah?????..... kesian nurses yg bertugas.




till my next entry.................

Labels: Birthday/gifts and atok.

posted by Kak Elle at 10:13 PM 12 comments

TGIF....


I had the best last nite...I was so tired but I finally was able to YM with maklang after so many days spending my evening at the hospital.So this morning I am a little energetic and crave for cucur udang.Early morning went to the market to stock my freezer.

TGIF and after tonite ada yg akan membantu I am so hahaha ...... the biggest happy smiley I can find.My indon helper will be here if applications successful by early of next month then I will have a helper so going to work will be breeze for me.Yes I am jobless the month od February no work no salary......adoiiiiiiiiiiiiii.


Atok is allowed soft diet yesterday and maybe today too so for lunch today I did the ginger chicken with sesame oil for him to go with his porridge.






Then someone sms me last night 'lama tak makan sambal blacan' so here it is done it this morning too ........

I added a bit of cili padi and my gosh ..... pedassssssssss sikit.

I will update on atok when I get back tonite and for everyone's info remember I wrote about a pakcik in a corner bed with a pilot fighter mask? They pulled his respirator yesterday afternoon when I was there and his family were there reading the yassin and he passed away peacfully at 8pm.....al-fathiha and takziah untuk keluarga arwah.He was a chain smoker and his lungs collapsed.

till my next entry............

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 11:10 AM 19 comments

A-Z.....

Atok went into hospital for a #arm but end up with so many complications A-Z....
They did all investigations from top to toe and so many diagnosis were found...at least for sure we know what treatment will be involved...
Its common of the elderly generations to have so many complications one leads to another and seem like no ending.......urrrgggggggghhhhh!

He is off oxygen as yesterday and only allowed CLEAR FLUID which is limited to 1litre a day ... hmmm another hungry day for him its so pitiful and hope today he will be allowed at least some porridge.Anyway I've steamed half a seabass for him for lunch if not allowed I will just let him have the soup.



He had an echogram done yesterday afternoon and it looks his heart also not too good ..... ya ALLAH sampai di sini sahja lah hendak nya tiada lagi cubaan untuk atok.....amin.



To all my cyber friends harap maaf ye if I can't bloghop or leave a comment these few weeks my time are mostly spent at the hospital.Even if I managed to read your entries I am unable to leave a comment sometimes....by the time I reach home I am ready to zzzzzzzz......
When things are more settled I will be more active again.




till my next entry.................

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 9:58 AM 19 comments

Atok's update....

Yesterday tuesday was another long day for me at the hospital....tante and me arrived around 1pm and we went straight to atok's room and they were preparing him for another scope which I wasn't aware of because the last scope he had I was asked to sign the consent form.He was on his 2nd pint of blood transfussion and the scope was arranged as an urgent procedure as his Hb dropped very low.


We both accompanied him to the Endoscopy Centre and waited at the waiting area....the scope will take 2 hours and lucky I brought my book to read.Atok was finally wheeled out after almost 2 hours.After they settled him in his room the doctor and his team came to examine him and I had the opportunity to meet his new chest physician Dr Khoo and from him I learnt that they found fresh bleeding in the stomach which was not reported during the previous scope....hmmm... just wonder how come!!!!
Anyway they managed to clamp the vessels so hopefully no more bleeding and atok haemoglobin reading should come back to normal soon.



Poor atok hasn't had a drop of water since the night before and we told him after the scope he can have something unfortunately because of the new-found finding of the source of bleeding he had to be NIL BY MOUTH again till this morning.He was indeed very thirsty and dry so I wet his lips with ice cubes.He kept saying nothing will go wrong just let him eat and drink and he is even willing to go for another scope if the corrected vessels burst!!!...atok...atok...


Atok is out from isolation and transferred to the open ward and I tell you this is first time I am seeing a respritory ward..where you see patients with lungs problems.....one elderly malay in a corner bed has a mask like those pilot fighters plane....so sad his elderly wife is with him all day.
Almost all the patients here are the elderly ..... take note atok is eagerly waiting for daybreak and hoping that the doctor will give the green light that he can eat today.


My thanks to all who smes me and phone calls from faraway places with words of encouragement ..... my hugs to all of you and a BIG




till my next entry..............

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 6:52 AM 14 comments

Transfer....

Atok hasn't been well since yesterday as I wrote before ... he has shortness of breathe and chest discomfort.They did and ECG which showed normal tracing.

I visited him as usual at lunch time and fed him and he only ate half of the rice and fish and as usual will doze off to sleep soon after....at 1.30pm he was wheeled to the OPD for a chest xray.I left to do some shopping nearby and he was still at the xray dept when I came back from my errand so the cakes I bought for him I left it on his table and went home.


At 4.45pm St Luke's called me to inform me that atok has to be transfered back to the hospital as his chest xray showed a bad chest infection of L MZ and due to his old fracture of the ribs he couldn't breathe properly.I rushed to SLH and start to sms the siblings to inform them of the latest news.SLH already arranged for an ambulance at 6pm thank god my sister Lina came and my bro Fandi who took time off from work also came in time.I went in the ambulance with Lina and Fandi in his car later with my sil....
At the emergency unit atok was sent straight in as he came by ambulance but we waited for almost 4 hrs before he was sent to the ward as they were waiting for the blood result.

He was admitted to Isolation ward and place in a single room and only 2 visitors allowed each time.We have to put on the mask and wash our hands before and after leaving the room so that no extra germs or bacteria will be spread.



Atok in his single room with a/c and tv too ... best lah for him and he certainly like the room....unfortunately once his infection settle he will be in the open ward again.They ha started him with strong anti-biotic and hopefully he can recover soon.He hasn't even start on his therapy and now he is back to NUH again.


It has been a tiring day for me so its good nite and ciya again.




till my next entry...........

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 11:59 PM 20 comments

Not well.....


Atok is not well again yesterday he was on continuous oxygen again after complaining of chest pain and difficulty in breathing.He looks weak and tired and he is in dreamland again....sad he asks where he is now?.... Hope he feels better today ... will update when I see him later.

In the mean while my doa for him to get well soon.





Many faces of Will as an interval till my next entry...........

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 9:59 AM 19 comments

St Luke's Hospital

Alhamdulillah atok is well enough to be transferred to St Luke's Hospital today.The polyps biopsy is benign alhamdulillah to that too.He has to work hard now to do his therapy so he can be on his feet again even if its 80%...we are not expecting him to be 100% as before.He likes being in St Luke's as the staff are all very pleasant afterall they are specialised in looking after the elderly.The staff 50% are either from Philipines or Mynmar but they are very dedicated with their job.



As I've guessed atok hallucinations and flash back was due to his pain killer!!!!I spoke to the ward medical social worker and told him of my obseravtions and he informed the MO of the ward and this st**** woman think atok is having early Alzheimer ... instead I ask her to try and stop the medication and we see how he will be???.... he is his own self ..... that medicine made him so drowsy and once he closes his eyes he will start to talk in his sleep like what we say in malay ..'mamai'...



Atok in his new bed with my sis Lina at dinner time .... now he is manja want to be fed by us....kesian juga and his left hand is swollen.








Atok is on the ground floor of 5 bedded room surrounded by greeneries around ..... the hospital has new upgrading last year so it looks much better than 4 yrs ago...most of the donations are from churches and big companies....





This little corner is just outside atok's ward and ni lah tempat org tak sakit makan....hehehe
Aini and Kam having dinner of my taucu telor and rice.Esok they both and little Adrina are off to the states visiting my other sister Maria.They made the plan long ago and was worried when atok was ill .... worst come to worst they will cancel the trip but atok is better now syukur alhamdulillah.


My special thanks to all my blogger friends who had in many ways gave me moral support during the crucial times....thank you ALLAH for giving these friends to me.




till my next entry..............

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 8:41 PM 16 comments

Another day....









Happy valentines day to everyone and the roses are for all of you who are always in my and thoughts.Have a nice day with the loved ones mine will be spent at NUH visiting atok.





Just as well Aini & myself went early today at 11am as when we arrived atok was about to go to the nuclear science department which was unknown to us so we asked the nurses and they told us the doctor ordered the test as all the xrays of the pelvis and knees showed no # but atok is still having lots of pain when moved.He went for the MRI of the bones,we followed him to the nuclear science floor where he was given a dye iv and after half an hour was pushed back to the ward till the scan at 2pm.





I cooked nasi lemak an atok had half a bowl which is good sign at least he is eating now & a mugful of tea.


Today he was seen by the dietician abt his diet as I've told you before his kidney is affected he had a raised creatinine and potassium even though the result has improved we still need to take care otherwise he may have dysfunction kidney.... we left him soon after he went for the MRI as we both have errands to do.





Aini has appt with the dentist and hairdresser while I have to send my e-billing invoices to my accts dept at my main branch at Orchard Rd.It was nice to meet my colleagues again at the main branch.....chatted with them for a while and then to M&S to get more stuff......and I bought these............

Digestives biscuits for atok (high fibre) an for myself ( reduced fat).... and also atok feberet ginger biscuit for his wind/gas.

Bought for myself new u**** and since they are having offer of 50% for 2nd set so I bought 2 sets an also my b**.....hehehe...censored.... I have tried other popular brand but somehow M&S has comfortable fitting for me.

Tomorrow we will know all the results and I am keeping my fingers crossed.... let it be good news.

To Faezin Happy Birthday from aunty in sg ..... study hard and achieve good result .... kalau tak nanti mak kawinkan........

till my next entry...................

Labels: atok/valentine/birthday

posted by Kak Elle at 10:10 PM 17 comments

Award and atok....

I received this friendly site award from kaklady and from the bottom of my heart thank you kaklady for sharing:)

I think everyone in the blogsphere deserve this award so please copy & paste it into your blogs .... I am sharing it with all of you.

Today 12th Feb '08 is my longest visit at the National University Hospital .... Aini an myself arrived at 10am to be with atok so that he won't feel scared going for the scope.Unfortunately he was uncooperative last night into taking the prep...the lavage to cleanse his bowel.It was only this morning the nurses manage to talk him into taking it .... so when we arrived 'dia tengah melabur'......

He understands he was going for the scope and unhappy that he couln't drink as its part of the prep...try explaining to him the reason and he finally eccepted it.Since his prep was delayed so his endoscopy and colonoscopy was delayed till late afternoon....oh wow just imagine not having a drop of water at all.

We left him at 12noon when My brother came to visit an afterall he was sleeping.Aini and myself went to have buffet lunch at The Hyatts....at Straits Kitchen....we gave ourselves a treat....hahaha .... all the yummylicious spread of over 50 dishes oo..la..la....well the reason we went all the way to Hyatt was because we need to arrange an airticket for Marilou to fly in to help look after atok when he is discharged....as requested by Marilou we booked Cebu Airline as she can picks the ticket from Manila.Since it was a short notice to purchase the ticket we had to pay the full price of $366 one way but the return flight only $99... and with airport taxes the bill come to $600 plus.

Marilou will stay for 2 months and hopefully the indon maid is ready to fly in and sit for her test set by the ministry before she can commence and that too on condition she pass her test plus her medical.So this is the arrangement we have made so far and once Marilou is here I can start on my new job....no work no salary lah!!!!

We came back to the hospital at 3.30pm and atok was ready to leave the ward for the endoscopy... we accompanied him all the way and waited at the endoscopy centre.Atok finally came out at 5.50pm an thats almost 2 hours he was in there.He asks for water I guess he must be very thirsty an hungry too.When dinner was served I fed him the porrigde an he finished half of that plus an orange and 2 cupsful of tea and water.He was sleeping when we left him at 7.30pm.

I was given a copy his scope report and they found a duodenal ulcer in his stomach and 2 polyps in the rectum and they had sent it for biopsy and dear friends please let us pray together that the biopsy will be benign........ they found no fresh bleeding so we are still wondering whats the cause of the up an down haemoglobin..... iron deficiency???

till my next entry...............

Labels: atok

posted by Kak Elle at 8:54 PM 13 comments

Gift.....

I haven't been home the last 3 days .... been sleeping at my youngest sis place afterall I am not working and need to be at the hospital at lunch time an most time I will go with Aini.To tell the truth this is 1st time I stayed so long away from from home besides being away on holiday.


Simah for your info I will start on my new job only in March now due to atok still being in hospital.


As usual Aini and me were there at lunch today and atok was going for his uroflow test at the urology centre an then after for xray of his pelvis as he's complaining of pain in that area.Whilst there the doctor came to speak to us about his losing blood so they want our consent for a scope tomorrow which I did and hope the findings will be negative.



The doc also warn us that if all findings are normal atok maybe discharge and we have decided ...there's 2 maids to choose from .... let see ok who we will get.



We left soon after they wheeled him and today I decide to come home ....missing my bed.....hehehe


I went to the letter box and amongst the many mails I found a package from Belgium .........

A lovely gift from Mush,Brecht and Nora.....THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LOVELY GIFT AND THOUGHTS.....btw my b'day not till almost end of Feb.......once again terima kasih Mush.

till my next entry..............

Labels: Birthday/gifts and atok.

posted by Kak Elle at 3:54 PM 21 comments

Last 2 days...

Labels: Family/atok

posted by Kak Elle at 7:04 PM 14 comments