Polish 4h+
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Eat right
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| My dinner these days |
The first time it was due to her heart beating too fast. After she was admitted, her tachycardia turned into bradycardia (heart beating too slow) and the doctors advised her to put in a pace maker or else she may just pass away in her sleep. This of course frightened her and without a second thought she agreed to having the pace maker which costs around RM6400 (which all four of her children share the cost equally) just for the pace maker alone.
Second stay is for the insertion of the pace maker. The procedure went well and she just stayed overnight after the procedure and was discharged on the very next day. Instead of taking warfarin where she has to avoid eating food with vitamin K, she has chosen to take pradaxa to reduce the risk of having a stroke due to atrial fibrillation.
Third stay, she was admitted again due to her heart beating too fast (tachycardia) again. The pace maker is just to ensure that her heart does not beat too slow but it does not control her heart from beating too fast (170 or above heartbeats per minute). This round the doctors gave her Digoxin to control her heart from beating too fast and then adjusted her diabetic and high blood pressure medications before sending her home after around 5 days.
She chooses to undergo medication therapy instead of CABG so the medications have to be adjusted until it is suitable for her condition. I am amazed at her inner strength and perseverance when it comes to all these hospital stays. Her health may be weak but her will to live is strong and for this, I salute her.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
2 & 2
I went to the following fiesta and saw 4 hot air balloons. The day was sunny and hot but it was cool and windy under the shady trees, just right for a nice walk. A good long healthy walk. Ended the day feeling tired but happy.
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| Helicopter ride is available too |
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| Must be hot to be standing underneath the fire |
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| A colourful one |
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| Can you see the bridge? |
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| This is as high as it gets |
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| Pointer to the sky |
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Never again
Today I found out that I don't like nor want to eat fried food anymore. I used to love eating fish and chip but when I embark on a healthy eating journey recently, I stop eating fried food.
During lunch today, I suddenly decided to eat fish and chip in a cafe at a medical center where I was a visitor from 6.30am to 3.30pm and discovered that I no longer like to eat them. So no more fried food for me. Back to munching apples and greens.
During lunch today, I suddenly decided to eat fish and chip in a cafe at a medical center where I was a visitor from 6.30am to 3.30pm and discovered that I no longer like to eat them. So no more fried food for me. Back to munching apples and greens.
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| Not my big breakfast (chicken ham) 25, banana muffin 6.75, flat white 9.5 |
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| Not my latte 11.50 |
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| My seabass fish and chip 32 halfway through (98.30) |
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Taking care
With another 5 days to go, the 15 days celebration for Chinese New Year will be over. It was a low-key celebration for us this year as a month before CNY, my mother-in-law (early seventies) who is on medication for diabetes and high blood pressure was admitted twice to the hospital for tachycardia (heart beating too fast). For both times, the doctors couldn't find the cause but managed to bring her heart rate under control. Then they scheduled her for an angiogram with angioplasty if required.
The angiogram was done on her heart 3 days before CNY and the diagnosis: 3VD (three-vessel coronary artery disease). The doctors did not perform an angioplasty on her because of the high number of coronary arteries involved. Instead they will be having a discussion after CNY to see whether a cardiac bypass surgery is suitable for her.
Although all of us are worried about her health, it is still a good CNY for all of us. There were laughter and smiles as my in-laws spend precious quality time together with the children and grandchildren. Despite it being CNY where we were supposed to gorge ourselves silly with cookies and junk food, all of us ate healthy meals that are low in salt, low in sugar, and low in saturated fat so this means no waxed meat and no dried meat.
With this, all of us are reminded to take good care of our health. Once good health is lost, one will always be on medication until the time comes for us to say good bye.
The angiogram was done on her heart 3 days before CNY and the diagnosis: 3VD (three-vessel coronary artery disease). The doctors did not perform an angioplasty on her because of the high number of coronary arteries involved. Instead they will be having a discussion after CNY to see whether a cardiac bypass surgery is suitable for her.
Although all of us are worried about her health, it is still a good CNY for all of us. There were laughter and smiles as my in-laws spend precious quality time together with the children and grandchildren. Despite it being CNY where we were supposed to gorge ourselves silly with cookies and junk food, all of us ate healthy meals that are low in salt, low in sugar, and low in saturated fat so this means no waxed meat and no dried meat.
With this, all of us are reminded to take good care of our health. Once good health is lost, one will always be on medication until the time comes for us to say good bye.
Monday, November 14, 2011
PIP Joint
Two days ago, while I was sleeping, I could feel a throbbing pain in my index finger joint on my right hand and the pain woke me up. To be exact - it is the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint. Then the pain was gone but reappeared randomly on and off. Just that one joint and there is no swelling, no redness, no numbness and no stiffness.
Just forty and experiencing the onset of arthritis so soon?
Thursday, June 2, 2011
鳳梨酥 (Pineapple Cake)
********* Updated on Sunday 5 June 2011 *********
I realised that I couldn't tell the size of the pineapple cakes from my photos here. Just for the record, in general the dimensions of a pineapple cake are: 2 inches (length) x 1.5 inches (width) x 0.8 of an inch (thickness). Of course there are exceptions, some are smaller by 0.5" and some are larger by 0.5". So far, I have not seen one bigger than 2.5" x 2" or smaller than 1" x 1".
Website: www.yjs.com.tw
Normal Price: TWD440
Discounted Price: TWD 410 (~RM43 or USD14) for 20 pieces in a gift box (~RM2.15each).
Notable Taste: The pineapple paste is darker in colour and the taste of the fillings is similar to Malacca nyonya pineapple tarts.
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| Note the darker fillings in the cake on the right |
Normal Price: TWD400
Discounted Price: TWD 370 (~RM39 or USD13) for 20 pieces in a gift box (~RM1.95each).
*End of update* Updated on Sunday 5 June 2011 *
My mother just came back from Taipei and she gave me all these pineapple cakes that were made in Taiwan. I am making some short notes here so that I know which ones to buy when I go to Taiwan.
Unlike the rest of the pineapple cakes which are square in shape, this one is round. It is also known as Native Pineapple Cake and according to the FAQ on its website this is because "It’s made from genuine Native Pineapple and is totally different from so-called Pineapple Cake made from squash or artificial scents and flavoring."
***My note: the common pineapple paste in pineapple cake made in Taiwan is generally made out of pineapple and lots of winter melon so please check the ingredients listed on the box if you are looking to buy pineapple cake with fillings made mainly with pineapple.***
Price: TWD430 (~RM45 or USD15) for 18 pieces in a gift box (~RM2.5each).
Calories per Serving (30g): 135.75kcal
They cater for international delivery to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and USA (too bad Malaysia is not in the list). Notable taste: The pastry crust tastes like it has cheese in it. Will I buy: Yes
Square in shape (as shown in the following photo). Price: TWD300 (~RM32 or USD10) for 20 pieces (~RM1.6 each). Notable taste: The pastry crust has a strong milky taste which I like. Will I buy: Definite yes
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| Source: http://www.food168.com.tw/poducts-list-1.htm |
Square in shape. Price: TWD520 (~RM54 or USD18) for 20 pieces (~RM2.7 each). Notable taste: The pastry crust has a strong buttery taste. Will I buy: Yes
Square in shape. Price: TWD220 (~RM24 or USD8) for 16 pieces (~RM1.5 each). Notable taste: The pineapple paste is too sweet and does not taste natural.
Will I buy: No
As my spouse does not like to eat food items made from butter or milk, these are all for me so I will eat one every other day to ensure that my sugar intake does not go up too much in a day.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
An anxious week
Last week was a very busy and emotional week for me. Someone close to me discovered a small lump in her breast and I accompanied her to the hospital to have a mammogram done.
She went into the mammography room by herself - I did not go into the room with her. While doing the mammogram, the person-in-charge of handling the machine sort of mentioned that the lump couldn't be seen clearly and that the doctor may ask for an ultrasound to be done. We then waited. Before the doctor could see us to explain about the results of the mammogram, one of the nurse asked us to go and have the breast ultrasound done. At that time, we were kind of in a daze so we went to queue up to have the breast ultrasound done.
After waiting for some time, we were called into the ultrasound room. This time I stayed with her. The radiologist could see the lump which was about 1.2cm by 0.7cm clearly through the ultrasound image. She then mentioned that a biopsy need to be done to test whether it is cancerous or not and it could be done immediately by her.
As we were still in a daze, we agreed and signed the necessary forms in the ultrasound room. I sat there watching the whole core needle biopsy procedure. It was not a pretty sight. First the radiologist disinfect and numb the area to be cut. Then she made a small cut on the breast near the lump and then poke the core needle inside. With one hand on the ultrasound scanner scanning the breast to provide her with the image of the position of the lump to guide her needle and one hand on the core needle, the radiologist dug around inside the breast and tried her best to get 4 samples from the lump.
At last it was done. A small plaster was placed on the small wound and a huge plaster was wrapped around half the upper torso to prevent bleeding. We were advised to remove the huge plaster after 9 hours and the small plaster after 2 days. If there were signs of bleeding we would need to go to the ER.
The biopsy result would be out in about 2 days. I thought a breast surgeon would talk to us about the result of the mammogram but no, we were not seen by a breast surgeon and at that time, we did not ask to see one as we were tired and would just want to go home. As it was a Thursday, we were told that we could leave and were asked to call the hospital next Tuesday for the result and to collect all the images and result reports if they were ready by then.
For a digital mammogram, ultrasound, core needle biopsy procedure, biopsy lab test, and misc medication and about 4 hours spent in the private hospital, the total cost was RM1388. A small price to pay to get the result.
On Saturday, the hospital called me and told me that the result was out. The lump was not cancerous. On Monday, we went to collect the reports and images and were advised to consult a breast surgeon on follow-up actions for the lump.
We were glad to hear the result but there are some questions remaining such as since the lump was small, it was quite difficult to collect tissue samples from it via core needle procedure so were the 4 tissue samples collected for the biopsy came totally from the lump or some were from the tissues around the lump?
Everything happened so fast on that day that we did not have time to think much before doing the core needle biopsy. Somehow I felt that everything was rushed and to me, the core needle biopsy was an invasive procedure which we need more time to think and to decide on whether to have it done or not and where to have it done. There could have been another biopsy procedure which we could have opted to do.
On hindsight, there were risks on what was done. First, something could have gone wrong during the core needle biopsy as the general health of the person was not known - her blood pressure was not taken to check her health situation before the biopsy was done. Second, there is always a risk of infection for the small cut that was done for the biopsy.
A better way of handling this situation would have been:
1. Perform the mammogram.
2. Wait for the result of the mammogram and consult with a breast surgeon about the result.
3. Go home, read up on mammograms and breast lumps and think.
4. Go back to do an ultrasound.
5. Consult a breast surgeon on the result of the ultrasound.
6. Go home, read up on core needle biopsy and other procedures of doing biopsy.
7. Talk to people to find a doctor who is very skillful in doing biopsy.
8. Consult with that doctor and perform a full check up to ascertain the general health/well being of the person.
9. Find out which biopsy procedure is recommended to be done.
10. Decide on whether to do the biopsy or not based on information gathered.
11. Schedule for the biopsy.
12. Then only have the biopsy done.
So now we are monitoring the lump in the breast and will not act so hastily as before.
In general, for women above 20, it is recommended that breast self examination to be done every month. For women above 40, it is recommended that they undergo mammography once a year.
She went into the mammography room by herself - I did not go into the room with her. While doing the mammogram, the person-in-charge of handling the machine sort of mentioned that the lump couldn't be seen clearly and that the doctor may ask for an ultrasound to be done. We then waited. Before the doctor could see us to explain about the results of the mammogram, one of the nurse asked us to go and have the breast ultrasound done. At that time, we were kind of in a daze so we went to queue up to have the breast ultrasound done.
After waiting for some time, we were called into the ultrasound room. This time I stayed with her. The radiologist could see the lump which was about 1.2cm by 0.7cm clearly through the ultrasound image. She then mentioned that a biopsy need to be done to test whether it is cancerous or not and it could be done immediately by her.
As we were still in a daze, we agreed and signed the necessary forms in the ultrasound room. I sat there watching the whole core needle biopsy procedure. It was not a pretty sight. First the radiologist disinfect and numb the area to be cut. Then she made a small cut on the breast near the lump and then poke the core needle inside. With one hand on the ultrasound scanner scanning the breast to provide her with the image of the position of the lump to guide her needle and one hand on the core needle, the radiologist dug around inside the breast and tried her best to get 4 samples from the lump.
At last it was done. A small plaster was placed on the small wound and a huge plaster was wrapped around half the upper torso to prevent bleeding. We were advised to remove the huge plaster after 9 hours and the small plaster after 2 days. If there were signs of bleeding we would need to go to the ER.
The biopsy result would be out in about 2 days. I thought a breast surgeon would talk to us about the result of the mammogram but no, we were not seen by a breast surgeon and at that time, we did not ask to see one as we were tired and would just want to go home. As it was a Thursday, we were told that we could leave and were asked to call the hospital next Tuesday for the result and to collect all the images and result reports if they were ready by then.
For a digital mammogram, ultrasound, core needle biopsy procedure, biopsy lab test, and misc medication and about 4 hours spent in the private hospital, the total cost was RM1388. A small price to pay to get the result.
On Saturday, the hospital called me and told me that the result was out. The lump was not cancerous. On Monday, we went to collect the reports and images and were advised to consult a breast surgeon on follow-up actions for the lump.
We were glad to hear the result but there are some questions remaining such as since the lump was small, it was quite difficult to collect tissue samples from it via core needle procedure so were the 4 tissue samples collected for the biopsy came totally from the lump or some were from the tissues around the lump?
Everything happened so fast on that day that we did not have time to think much before doing the core needle biopsy. Somehow I felt that everything was rushed and to me, the core needle biopsy was an invasive procedure which we need more time to think and to decide on whether to have it done or not and where to have it done. There could have been another biopsy procedure which we could have opted to do.
On hindsight, there were risks on what was done. First, something could have gone wrong during the core needle biopsy as the general health of the person was not known - her blood pressure was not taken to check her health situation before the biopsy was done. Second, there is always a risk of infection for the small cut that was done for the biopsy.
A better way of handling this situation would have been:
1. Perform the mammogram.
2. Wait for the result of the mammogram and consult with a breast surgeon about the result.
3. Go home, read up on mammograms and breast lumps and think.
4. Go back to do an ultrasound.
5. Consult a breast surgeon on the result of the ultrasound.
6. Go home, read up on core needle biopsy and other procedures of doing biopsy.
7. Talk to people to find a doctor who is very skillful in doing biopsy.
8. Consult with that doctor and perform a full check up to ascertain the general health/well being of the person.
9. Find out which biopsy procedure is recommended to be done.
10. Decide on whether to do the biopsy or not based on information gathered.
11. Schedule for the biopsy.
12. Then only have the biopsy done.
So now we are monitoring the lump in the breast and will not act so hastily as before.
In general, for women above 20, it is recommended that breast self examination to be done every month. For women above 40, it is recommended that they undergo mammography once a year.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Pro-choice & Pro-life
I was watching an episode of Boston Legal the other day where a young girl seeks a judicial bypass so that she can get an abortion without parental approval since her mother refused to give her consent. I then looked up the terms pro-choice and pro-life on the web.
From the online merriam-webster dictionary, pro-choice (1975) just means "favoring the legalization of abortion" whereas pro-life (1971) means "opposed to abortion".
Then wikipedia on pro-choice and pro-life states that:
I also came across this informative webpage that summarises the abortion laws of most countries in the world. It has charts that show for what reasons and under what conditions abortion is legal in each country. The reasons it lists are:
Life: to save the life of the mother
Health: to preserve the physical health of the mother
Mental: to preserve the mental health of the mother
Rape: in cases of rape and incest
Defect: when the unborn child has medical problems or birth defects
Social: for social and/or economic reasons, (cannot afford to support a child)
Demand: available on demand, no reason need be given
From its tables, I am surprised to see that China and Singapore (1974 Termination of Pregnancy Act) have very liberal abortion law. For Malaysia, its penal code was amended in 1989 (Act A727 of 1989) to allow abortion in the first trimester if the woman's life or physical or mental health is endangered by the pregnancy.
For reference, I copied the following tables (please click on the charts for a larger image) from the webpage above as follows:
After my reading, I would not want to use the terms pro-choice and pro-life because while I am all for life, I am also very much in favour of women being given the choice to choose what they want to do with their lives and bodies. How about you?
From the online merriam-webster dictionary, pro-choice (1975) just means "favoring the legalization of abortion" whereas pro-life (1971) means "opposed to abortion".
Then wikipedia on pro-choice and pro-life states that:
"Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light ("Pro-choice" implies the alternative viewpoint is "anti-choice", while "pro-life" implies the alternative viewpoint is "pro-death" or "anti-life")".The neutral terms to use are the terms “in favor of abortion rights” and “opposed to abortion rights”.
I also came across this informative webpage that summarises the abortion laws of most countries in the world. It has charts that show for what reasons and under what conditions abortion is legal in each country. The reasons it lists are:
Life: to save the life of the mother
Health: to preserve the physical health of the mother
Mental: to preserve the mental health of the mother
Rape: in cases of rape and incest
Defect: when the unborn child has medical problems or birth defects
Social: for social and/or economic reasons, (cannot afford to support a child)
Demand: available on demand, no reason need be given
From its tables, I am surprised to see that China and Singapore (1974 Termination of Pregnancy Act) have very liberal abortion law. For Malaysia, its penal code was amended in 1989 (Act A727 of 1989) to allow abortion in the first trimester if the woman's life or physical or mental health is endangered by the pregnancy.
For reference, I copied the following tables (please click on the charts for a larger image) from the webpage above as follows:
After my reading, I would not want to use the terms pro-choice and pro-life because while I am all for life, I am also very much in favour of women being given the choice to choose what they want to do with their lives and bodies. How about you?
Saturday, March 27, 2010
10 to 6
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."So from today onwards, I will go to sleep at 10pm in order to wake up at 6am and still get 8 hours of sleep. Hope I will be able to make this into a habit.
- Benjamin Franklin
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
To admit or not to admit
For the past few days, I have been going daily to a government hospital to visit a relative who was admitted for tests and observation. It was a few days into CNY that my relative felt that her heart was beating too fast and after meals, she would have pain all over her upper torso. She self-medicated for a week before deciding to see a doctor and get a referral to be admitted to the hospital for tests. One year short of 70, with diabetes, high blood pressure and a history of heart disease, she does not look sick at all but she can tell that something is not right with her body this time.
The main thing that struck me during these visits was the sheer boringness of a hospital stay for the patient. Once visiting hours were over, there was nothing interesting for the patient to do except to lie there and wait for more tests to be carried out by the doctors. Sure, the patient could read a book and watch tv but the mind is not there and it is not enjoyable to read a book or watch tv lying down on a hospital bed with machines sticking to one's body.
Seeing this, it does not surprise me that some people would endure pain and discomfort to avoid a hospital stay and having tests done on them. Now I wonder which category do I belong to:
A. Someone who will consult a doctor and go to the hospital for tests when feeling some pain.
or
B. Someone who will endure pain and discomfort for as long as they can in order to avoid going to the hospital for tests.
I couldn't decide but I believe that there is a kind of pain that is so excruciating that one would not be able to endure it at all and would be forced to go to the hospital whether one likes it or not. But for everyone else, I would prefer them to be in category A because it is better for them and also for me if they get admitted to the hospital when they could still do it than for them to be found unconscious by someone else and be admitted then. For in the latter case, the condition would be serious and perhaps even fatal.
So it pays to make extra effort to take good care of one's health by exercising regularly and eating healthy food in moderation. Not to achieve eternal life but to avoid the sheer boringness of a hospital stay.
The main thing that struck me during these visits was the sheer boringness of a hospital stay for the patient. Once visiting hours were over, there was nothing interesting for the patient to do except to lie there and wait for more tests to be carried out by the doctors. Sure, the patient could read a book and watch tv but the mind is not there and it is not enjoyable to read a book or watch tv lying down on a hospital bed with machines sticking to one's body.
Seeing this, it does not surprise me that some people would endure pain and discomfort to avoid a hospital stay and having tests done on them. Now I wonder which category do I belong to:
A. Someone who will consult a doctor and go to the hospital for tests when feeling some pain.
or
B. Someone who will endure pain and discomfort for as long as they can in order to avoid going to the hospital for tests.
I couldn't decide but I believe that there is a kind of pain that is so excruciating that one would not be able to endure it at all and would be forced to go to the hospital whether one likes it or not. But for everyone else, I would prefer them to be in category A because it is better for them and also for me if they get admitted to the hospital when they could still do it than for them to be found unconscious by someone else and be admitted then. For in the latter case, the condition would be serious and perhaps even fatal.
So it pays to make extra effort to take good care of one's health by exercising regularly and eating healthy food in moderation. Not to achieve eternal life but to avoid the sheer boringness of a hospital stay.
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