Jason NS Appreciation Award

The Singapore Air Force (SAF) squadron that Jason was assigned to after his BMT, presented him an appreciation award for his outstanding service.

We are proud of his contribution to the SAF.

Jason is NSman

Jason completed his 2 years of service as a Full-time National Serviceman (NSF) in Singapore Air Force on 12 August 2015.

He is now an Operational Ready National Serviceman ( NSman ).

Time flies ..... and another major chapter or milestone achieved.

Congratulations and thanks for your contribution in defending our small country.

Happy 21st Birthday ..... Jason..!!!

We could not resist surprising Jason on the actual day itself, 17 March Monday.

We bought him a Manchester United (MU) training soccer t-shirt that afternoon when we were shopping at Tampines One.

 

We also put on MU shirts to have a family photo too..... ha..ha...

 

In fact, I also bought him a MU mug too.....!!!

Happy 21st Birthday, Jason !!!

We celebrated Jason 21st birthday a week earlier.

 

 

We bought him a dress watch for the occasion.

 

 

Well, Jason will always be our baby boy ..... ha.... ha.... so we told him...!!!



Jason's National Service(NS) Vocation

Since his graduation from Basic Military Training (BMT), Jas has been assigned to the Air Force and undergoing training for his Aviation Material Specialist (AMS) vocation.

As such, his uniform has been changed from green to lighter shade of blue.

This is what they called a No. 4 uniform.

 

 

Here is a photo of him in his No. 3 uniform, taken on day of his graduation ceremony after completing his AMS training.

 

 

Well, we are proud of his involvement in NS and his AMS vocation.



Jason BMT Graduation

Jas was enlisted on 13 August 2013 and we sent him off at Pulau Tekong.
( http://pcwthoughts.blogspot.sg/2013/08/jason-enlistment-to-ns.html )

Two months later, we attended his BMT graduation or Passing Out Ceremony at Sembawang Camp on Thu 10 Oct 2013 evening.

Jas has to march and stand in the rain during the ceremony but we were seated in the tent.

As expected, all the parents were excited and proud of their sons during the ceremony.

We were invited to enter the parade square and help our sons to put on their beret as a sign of graduation from recruit to Private.

 

We are indeed proud of his participation in the National Service (NS) and contribution to our country.

 

 

Jason has been assigned to the Singapore Air Force and will be undergoing another 2 weeks of his vocation training as an Aviation Materials Specialist (AMS); a store man and logistic staff in SAF.

 

 

Congratulations to Jason and all his mates on their graduation...!!!

Jason - Enlistment to NS

We sent Jason off to Pulau Tekong for his enlistment this morning.

First to MacDonald's for breakfast then to Tekong..... ring a bell..?
( First to Bata then to School...... the advertisement..)

Surprisingly, they let the parents take photos in Tekong so I joined in too....

Apparently, the movie... Ah Boys To Men, was filmed in BMT School 2 in Tekong and they are quite proud of its success.

Jason is assigned to Orion Company in BMT School 2 too......!

I remember someone said that the bunk looks like a chalet ... ha..ha...?
We saw that they were given 2 small pails for their laundry washing.... poor Boys...!!!

Jas just called us after 9:30pm and told us that he was assigned the upper bed and has an ex-classmate in the same bunk.

Proud of him and he will only be booking out on Fri 30 Aug .. so look forward to seeing him then.

Jason's Graduation Ceremony

Congrats to Jas for graduating with a Diploma in Human Resource Management with Psychology (DHRMP) from Singapore Polytechnic...!!!

 

We are so proud of your achievement.....!!!

Happy 20th Birthday, Jason..!!!

Time flies and Jason is now 20 years old.....!!!

 

 

Aunt Susan, from Penang,  happened to visiting us too....

 

Jason's NAPFA Test

Jason went for his NAPFA test at his school recently and got the full score of 30 points and awarded a GOLD for it.

He did some serious training for the test by jogging and swimming too.

As his right knee ACL Reconstruction Surgery was done a year ago, I was concerned that he may not do well for some of the stations like shuttle run.

Happy and proud of his achievements in the NAPFA test.

Jason Playing In A Band - JCC

Jason auditioned to play for the band in his Poly Japanese Culture Club (JCC) during the CCA Showcase 2012 festival.

He was selected and played for the JCC band on stage last week, his first public performance.
We were there to wathc his debut and I videoed it for him.

They played 3 Japanese songs and in the second song, Jas played solo in the later part of the song.

We are proud of him and I hope he will be able to take it further ( as a hobby and not a career... )since he seems to enjoy it so much.

BTW, he is playing with his newly acquired guitar as the old one has some problem and it was initially a bit too costly to repair it ( more than 50% of his guitar cost price , it was a cheap guitar though... ha..ha... ) so we decided to advance his graduation present and bought him a Fender Telecaster guitar since he has shown so much interest and progress in his guitar playing.



In case, you do not know Jas... he is the one on your right, playing the electric guitar.

This is the first song and some introduction to the JCC.....
  


This is the 3rd song but the mike was not working well so you cannot hear the vocal very well but it was still a good performance by the band.

Jas seems to be enjoying himself and also made an impromptu jump near the near of the song, much to my surprise as his right knee has not completely recovered from the ACL tear.......

Well, hope you like and give them a LIKE in YouTube if they deserve it.......

Thanks for watching the videos.

Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar

Jason's electric guitar needed some repair and since it was quite expensive, almost 50% of the cost, we decided to buy him a new electric guitar.

After he has tried out some guitars over the 2 days, he has decided on a Fender Telecaster electric guitar.

Jason has been playing electric and acoustic guitars for 5 years+ and he now knows what he wants and still very keen on it, so we do not mind buying him a better guitar.

He is very happy with his new guitar.

The guitar case is a hard one and it looks like a sniper case...ha...ha... Quite heavy too, to protect the expensive guitar!

Well, we told him that this Fender Telecaster electric guitar is his graduation present which we have brought forward by a year.

Happy 19th Birthday, Jason!

Jason turned 19 this year and we celebrated it a few days before the actual day as Uncle Charles was visiting from Australia.

Happy 19th Birthday and may your wishes for the year come true........!

A toast of red wine to the birthday boy..!

In case, you are wondering what presents did Jason get for his birthday....?

We bought him the Call of Duty - Modern Warfare 3 ( COD-MW3 ) PC game and lots of hugs for the year...ha..ha...

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!

It is now 2 months+ after Jason's knee surgery and his right knee looks normal like before, no more swelling and pain.

The keyhole surgery wounds are still evident but have healed very well.

You can see the previous post that was done in Oct and you can see that the right knee was still swollen and looked more rounded; at http://pcwthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/10/jason-knee-surgery-progress.html

Jason is still undergong physiotherapy sessions, twice a week to strenghten his knee and just started to do some light jogging only. At least another 3 months of therapy is required.

Jason Knee Surgery Progress

Jason has his right knee ACL reconstruction surgery 1 month ago and recovering well.

He was off the crutches after our trip to Penang and now back to school which just started this Monday.

He is wearing a knee support to stabilise his knee as he is not 100% fit and he has to climb up a slope to get to his school on the top of a hill...!

Still some slight swelling around the knee and has attended 7 sessions of physiotherapy to-date to regain the strength of his muscles.

Jason's ex-Kinderland classmate, Ryan Tay, who was back from Geelong to take his NS medical tests dropped by to see him. Both of them have really grown up .....!

Video on Jason's Knee Surgery

The Dr briefly went through the operation done on Jason's knee to reconstruct his torn ACL, a week after the operation by showing us the video taken during the 20 minutes procedure.

I have edited the video to 6 minutes as some of Jason's friends were keen to see it; highlights of the operation.

It is not bloody but I hope you have the stomach to see it as it can be quite gruesome .......

Jason Recovering Well from ACL Reconstruction Surgery

Jas have been recovering at home for more than a week now and progress is good.

Last Sat, we went back to the Dr clinic and his dressing were removed. Dr put some sort of medical glue over the keyhole wounds and the glue will drop off in good time, on it own.

Jas has also been using the Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) machine for his knee therapy; flexing from 0 to 100 degrees.

He has also started physiotherapy treament, twice a week for 2-3 months.


He is off painkiller but still on crutches and using the cold gel to reduce the remaining swelling on the leg.

Knee Surgery - ACL Reconstruction

Jason came home with a bandaged knee after twisting it in a street soccer competition.

He said that he was running very fast, stopped and turned sideways suddenly, he heard a 'pop' sound like when you crack your knuckles.

Luckily, he got some cold ice water in a plastic bag to apply on his inured knee and stopped playing immediately.

The MRI scan showed a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and this ligament prevents the knee joint from slipping forward, no wonder Jas was complaining that while there were no pain and swelling, he felt something loose when he walked.

Jas was wearing a knee guard and using a walking stick until his surgery was done.

The Dr ( Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon) examined Jas legs and we were all give a very good talk on the knee joint and the ligaments. HE even did not look at the MRI but by stretching his injured leg in various directions, he was able to conclude the possible problem which was confirmed by the MRI.

We discussed the options and decided on taking his hamstring tendon to replaced the damaged ACL through keyhole surgery, scheduled for last Sat afternoon.

Jas will be on crutches for 2-3 weeks and then go for physiotherapy session for 3-6 months. HE should not be playing any sports for a year to ensure full recovery.

The surgery was a success and he stayed in the hospital for 3 days to get over the pain and learned how to use the crutches ( eg. walking and climbing the stairs as we live in a double storey terrace house ).

Today, Jas is still recovering at home with his crutches, exercise on the CPM machine and also using an ice wrap to manage the swelling on the leg.

The good news is that he is only using 1 painkiller drug instead of 3 when in the hospital.

Luckily, he is on 6 weeks end of 1st semester holidays.