2nd Dec 2009
Back to reality of being a caregiver---Day 8 ---There was diarrhoea the day before and the abdomen was beginning to feel bloated and so many tests and investigation have to be carried out. Potassium level was low and so they had to drip it in. There was this very uncomfortable or painful feeling that never seemed to subside at the wrist. Pastor Kien Seng visited LG and his presence has always been a great comfort to us. (May God bless him for that.)
Lim Gee told me that the Senior Staff nurse Lim Ah Buay who attended to him is also born on the same day, same month and same year as him.How coincidental!.Will always remember her now.
3rd Dec 2009
LG'S mother is finally taking a break from SGH---On the whole it is a relatively quiet day for LG ( Dr Lim also seems to be taking a break too) except for the diarrhoea that LG seemed to have no control. He did try to take very short naps which is constantly interrupted by the nurses who were always diligently checking or injecting fluids( potassium again!) into his drip.The wounds and marks on his hands is a testimony of the our battle against NHL.Mrs Singam(She called yesterday) called him in the evening to check on his progress. Tomorrow will probably be another day of waiting, hoping and trusting.......
4th Dec 2009
No food since breakfast and they had to do a blood transfusion before being taken down for the procedure to put in the stent (THEY DID NOT WHEEL HIM DOWN TILL 715PM). Most likely he has to stay over the weekend for further observation.We are happy to say good-bye to the urine bag which he has accompanied him for a month! Perhaps the nurses' burden will be a little lighter.WARD 48 IS ONE OF THE BUSIEST WARD IN SGH ACCORDING TO Nurse Maureen.The nurses are indeed overworked .OH GOD there are too many sick people!
6th Dec 2009
This is what LG sees from his bed (Singapore's tallest public housing project The Pinnacle@Duxton)-- can be considered city view! Thank God he has such a lovely view. I once commented that doctors breezed in and out of the wards and they mapped out the the battle plan against cancer with admmirable speed. Today I manage to catch the December breeze, Dr Lim( first time I saw him in casual wear--I think its Sunday) stayed long enough for a photo to be taken. He was concerned about the low potassium level and ordered an ECG to be done immediately. They had to use 4 ECG machines before they got one that works. LG was advised to mask up by Dr Loh as the adjacent patient's blood-curdling cough is rather worrying. More replacement today- potasium chloride again! and the nurse promise it will not be so painful(she lied). We still need to get the ice pack to relieve the pain. It grieves me a lot to see the nurses looking for new places to prick his 2 arms as so many areas are already injured.......please God make LG strong and fight on..... He slept blissfully for more than an hour until another injection had to be given for a balance between the input and output of liquid.
Back to reality of being a caregiver---Day 8 ---There was diarrhoea the day before and the abdomen was beginning to feel bloated and so many tests and investigation have to be carried out. Potassium level was low and so they had to drip it in. There was this very uncomfortable or painful feeling that never seemed to subside at the wrist. Pastor Kien Seng visited LG and his presence has always been a great comfort to us. (May God bless him for that.)
However, the good news from Dr Lim S T is : CT scan results showed that all the tumours have been significantly reduced, I could sense that he was more optimistic and the discomfort that L G is feeling is probably the side-effect of the chemo. God is good all the time!
3rd Dec 2009
LG'S mother is finally taking a break from SGH---On the whole it is a relatively quiet day for LG ( Dr Lim also seems to be taking a break too) except for the diarrhoea that LG seemed to have no control. He did try to take very short naps which is constantly interrupted by the nurses who were always diligently checking or injecting fluids( potassium again!) into his drip.The wounds and marks on his hands is a testimony of the our battle against NHL.Mrs Singam(She called yesterday) called him in the evening to check on his progress. Tomorrow will probably be another day of waiting, hoping and trusting.......4th Dec 2009
As he had a slight fever this early morning and the white blood count is slowly dropping, the doctors felt that it is best to put in a J-stent ( will be done in the pm ) in the urethra to protect the kidneys at the same time remove the external tube and urine bag. So far he has been on the antibiotic drip to clear infections and of course the very painful Potassium drip is still on - wish we could just take bananas or water melon which also has potassium.
No food since breakfast and they had to do a blood transfusion before being taken down for the procedure to put in the stent (THEY DID NOT WHEEL HIM DOWN TILL 715PM). Most likely he has to stay over the weekend for further observation.We are happy to say good-bye to the urine bag which he has accompanied him for a month! Perhaps the nurses' burden will be a little lighter.WARD 48 IS ONE OF THE BUSIEST WARD IN SGH ACCORDING TO Nurse Maureen.The nurses are indeed overworked .OH GOD there are too many sick people!5th Dec 2009
As there is fever this morning about 38 degrees Celsius, more blood culture needs to be taken. The fever seems to come and go and it is really very difficult to sleep with visiotrs to other patients talking loudly, nurses performing their routine checks on blood pressure and temperature taking and the adjacent patient 's rasping cough sends shivers through every cell in our bodies as the fear of infection is very real! As LG's output of liquid is not in tandem with the input, a nurse has to give him an injection-- see picture.Today we have more of the Potassium chloride( 3 bags) -- which is of course very painful and his digestive system seems to be behaving badly. Continue to pray for relief from discomfort and 6th Uncle came to visit, it was a good distraction though he has been pretty drowsy the whole day.
As there is fever this morning about 38 degrees Celsius, more blood culture needs to be taken. The fever seems to come and go and it is really very difficult to sleep with visiotrs to other patients talking loudly, nurses performing their routine checks on blood pressure and temperature taking and the adjacent patient 's rasping cough sends shivers through every cell in our bodies as the fear of infection is very real! As LG's output of liquid is not in tandem with the input, a nurse has to give him an injection-- see picture.Today we have more of the Potassium chloride( 3 bags) -- which is of course very painful and his digestive system seems to be behaving badly. Continue to pray for relief from discomfort and 6th Uncle came to visit, it was a good distraction though he has been pretty drowsy the whole day.6th Dec 2009
This is what LG sees from his bed (Singapore's tallest public housing project The Pinnacle@Duxton)-- can be considered city view! Thank God he has such a lovely view. I once commented that doctors breezed in and out of the wards and they mapped out the the battle plan against cancer with admmirable speed. Today I manage to catch the December breeze, Dr Lim( first time I saw him in casual wear--I think its Sunday) stayed long enough for a photo to be taken. He was concerned about the low potassium level and ordered an ECG to be done immediately. They had to use 4 ECG machines before they got one that works. LG was advised to mask up by Dr Loh as the adjacent patient's blood-curdling cough is rather worrying. More replacement today- potasium chloride again! and the nurse promise it will not be so painful(she lied). We still need to get the ice pack to relieve the pain. It grieves me a lot to see the nurses looking for new places to prick his 2 arms as so many areas are already injured.......please God make LG strong and fight on..... He slept blissfully for more than an hour until another injection had to be given for a balance between the input and output of liquid.
Time seem to creep by with unbearable slowness as we eye the various drips that is connected to him. We have to alert the nurse that a drip is finishing to prevent backflow of blood. However, with the creative use of technological gagdets, we spent our time meaningfully. Lim Gee's favourite chef ( my mother) came and served him with her award-winning porridge made from the finest ingredients( of course very expensive and labour-intensive) that is a sure cure for all ailments. Henry Ong ( permitted only 5 mins) also came and brought much cheer( leave-related matters and a get-well card from LG's colleagues) to us. Another 4 bags of the Potassium Chloride have to be dripped in again. Decide to buy potassium-rich food tomorrow!
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