Healthy, Safe, Prosperous & Happy Chinese New Year - 2012 Dragon Year

My family & I wish all of you a Healthy, Safe, Prosperous and Happy Chinese New Year in 2012 - the Dragon Year....!!!

Typically, we would have a steamboat dinner for our own reunion dinner on the eve of CNY but as Jason was hospitalised for his dengue fever to monitor his blood count and we were not sure when he could be discharged, we did not plan for it.

However, we managed to find a cosy place nearby to have our reunion dinner and we enjoyed it as the food was good and it was very quiet too.

As usual, we always have a family photo taken on the 1st day of CNY.

Dengue - Jas Discharged

On Wed, Jas blood count went down to 76K and the GP referred him to be hospitalised for closer observation.

We chose to be admitted to A&E in Mt E as he went to Mt E for his right knee ACL reconstruction surgery last Sept.

His blood count dropped to  66K on Thu but crept up to 93K on Fri so he was discharged yesterday afternoon.

While he was there, the rashes became more evident and they were getting itchy too!

We are indeed very happy to be home for the coming Chinese New Year.

As reported in the papers on Thu, the outbreak is not over yet and there are now 10 dengue cases in our housing estate. NEA has issued all the houses an urgent notice on dengue awareness and the steps that we should take to manage this outbreak.

We now apply mosquito repellent and spray the house with Shelltox more often.

Anyway, we are glad that Jason is on the road to a full recovery.

So wishing all of you a HEALTHY and SAFE Chinese New Year...!

Dengue Fever

The new year started with Jason having quite a bad sore throat and he recovered from it after taking some antibiotics for 5 days.

After a few days, he came down with fever and it happened to be Friday the 13th morning ....a coincidence ?

He had a very high fever, hitting 39.2 C and hovering in the 38 C range. Even after sponging him with wet towels and asking him to take a shower, the fever refused to come down. So after dinner, we decided to return to the clinic but it was closed so we went to the Raffles 7x24 clinic instead. They could not find anything wrong and the medication given seems correct so we went home.

That night, his temperature continued to hover between 38 and 39 C and he shivered quite badly when I sponged him with a few wet towels, a few times. Eventually, I gave up as I was too tired from lack of sleep... around 4am.

On Sat morning, I called the clinic and after discussing with the GP his condition and also the fact that there was at least once case of dengue fever in our area, I took Jas to the hospital lab to test for dengue fever.

After 2 hours of waiting, the GP called me and that Jas indeed has dengue fever but his blood count was still within range but at the lower end, borderline... at 156!

We have to monitor the blood count ( esp the white cells count ) daily to ensure that it did not drop below 80 else he needs to be warded and have a blood transfusion.

The blood count dropped to 120 on Sunday and it is now 121 today.... a good sign that it is going up ..we hope!

So another blood test tomorrow morning!

BTW, in between the fever, he vomited and also has diarrhoea so it was really tough on him and he did not eat well on the first 2 days. He lost 3 kg, so far!

His case is considered a mild dengue fever, according to the GP.

There is no medication to treat dengue fever other than some panadol or paracetamol to help with the headache and fever. Just need to ride it out...... sigh

We hope he wil be back to his normal self by end of this week, latest... and celebrate the Chinese New Year then!

Relections of Year 2011

Happy New Year to all of you...!

Another year has flown by..... time really flies indeed..!

One year older and wiser.. I hope.... ha..ha....

First half of 2011 was not very eventful.

The family managed to go back to Penang in April for 'Cheng Beng' and my brother from Australia also joined us for the occassion.

BUT the second half of the year was not so good especially in the health aspects.

My mum-in-law fell down in July and snce then has been warded in TTSH almost once every 2 months for different ailments.

My mum did not eat well and lost weight considerably in 3Q and was sickly. So the family flew home to see her despite the fact that Jas was on crutches.

Finally, Jas twisted his right knee and had a full ACL Reconstruction keyhole surgery in September.



On a positive side, we won an iMac 27 inch PC in 3Q which we sold away and use the proceeds to buy an iPad and an iPhone 4s instead.

So what would I like to see in the new year?

I stop making new year resolution as I do not even remember what they were last year and it seems that it is not working too!

I hope 2012 will be a much more healthier and safer year for all of us.

I have also taken up Project 360, to take a photo daily and post it on the website. I started it on Christmas Day - 25 December 2011 to try out the website.

Why Project 360?

I like photography and since my iPhone has a camera and it is always with me during my waking hours, it will be great if I can take a photo daily to record my life or interest.

I am also trying out 2 iPhone apps so I have a total of 3 Project 360 in motion.

Check it out at this site for the PC version at
http://365project.org/

You may want to consider taking up PRoject 360 one day.

A very Happy New Year to you again and I wish you good health and some wealth too.... in 2012 !