Dear Scribble Book...

I left an empty note book for my dad to scribble last week. He finally put it to good use. He started scribbling yesterday. His first 2 pages contained the list of food that he is craving for.

Daddy's Cravings!

In case you can't read his writing. Below is the list:
1) Chee Cheong Fun - sauce? (Dad is not sure what sauce he wants)
2) Stir Fried Maggi Mee
3) Potato Bun
4) Ham Chim Peng
5) Roti Canai + Dahl?
6) Omellete (plain?)
7) Japanese Spanish Mackerel
8) Yong Tau Foo (Tau Foo Pok, Bitter gourd, Brinjal)
9) Tau Foo Fah - hot
10) Cendol (no ice)
11) Coconut Water (Fresh Thai King)
12) Lo Hong Koh Drink
13) Ling Chee Kang drink (warm)
14) Red Bean soup (hot)
15) Kraft's Cheddar Cheese
16) Sweet Potato (whole)
17) Wan Tan Mee (dry)
18) Mushroom soup (Canned?)
19) Pumpkin seeds (organic)
20) Apricot seeds (organic)
21) Orange fruit
22) Peach fruit
23) Mango fruit
24) Bread (for sandwich) type?

He listed down 24 types of food that he would love to have. Well, it's now on his blog. So when he's back, he'll be able to take a look at what he was craving for and satisfy his cravings. :)

My dad also monitored his own progress yesterday. By jotting down what he had orally and how much milk he is taking. He's also monitoring his amount of urination. (The nurses jots down in his chart but dad would like to keep his own record.)

Daddy's progress on 26th May 2009

Tonight was a different experience for me and I think for all of us too. After dinner, daddy shared with us his experience last night and this morning. He had difficulty passing motion and also difficulty breathing. He gave credit to one of the nurses who was there to accompany him throughout his ordeal. After the ordeal, he felt much better but very tired. He then rested the whole day.

It came to his mind something that my sister shared with him last time. Happiness is about having something to do, someone to love and something to look forward to.

Daddy said he knows that he has more than just one person to love. So that's something that he already have.

He needs something to look forward to. He asked his dietitian to help him draft out a schedule of how he should be progressing, so that he has something to look forward to.

As for something to do, he found the "Scribble Book" a good way for him to keep himself occupied. He also thought of studying Sudoku. So he asked us to print out manuals or basic rules of Sudoku, so that he can learn a skill while he is resting and it will also help him keep his mind occupied.

Daddy also shared with us the new regime that he has worked out with the dietitian. They planned the regime properly and daddy is hoping that this new regime would help him.

Total of 1425 calories & 83 g of Protein a day!

I'm very happy that daddy manage to talk to us for a good 30minutes today. He felt much better pouring it all out. He said that he would love to do this every day provided that he has the energy to do so.

The moment daddy ended his sharing session, I thank God for all that He has done. He has given all of us strength & patience. I know that daddy may/may not share as much tomorrow but I'm just thankful that he was given so much strength to pour his heart out.

Daddy, you are indeed my hero! I love you daddy!

I'm confident that the day for you to say "I'M BACK!" will be arriving soon! :)

From 60 to 70

My dad increased his milk intake 2 days ago. He started off with 40ml an hour then the dietician increased it to 60ml per hour. Now he is consuming 70ml per hour. 

So far his body is accepting it well. We are thankful that daddy can take in more these days. He drinks half bowl of soup for lunch & dinner orally. A few sips of water orally every hour. 

His abdominal area is slightly smaller now. Perhaps the body has regained strength and the fluids will slowly drain out by itself just as how the Dr has said. Praise the Lord!

Prove of achievement! :)

Let's Exercise!

My dad is more hardworking now. He will make sure that he exercises every 1-2 hours. The physiotherapist would introduce new moves to him every morning and he will have to do "today's move" continuously throughout the day.

I believe I can fly!

Here's one of the "moves" that he has to do. 

He doesn't converse much these days because he will cough when he speaks. So he will usually just answer us with sign languages or if he have to, he will speak slowly. He wasn't coughing that much yesterday when I met him. 

Let's pray for his lungs to relax soon. :)

Let me check who texted me.

My dad playing with his HTC Touch. Keeping himself updated by logging on to the internet using his phone. :)

Updates: Small Surgery & Ham Chim Peng!

My apologies for not updating daddy's journey, it's difficult for me to update at night without my laptop at home. My dad is still in the hospital and every day he has something new. I shall just wrap them up from where I've left.

My dad went for a small surgery last Friday (15 May 2009). He had some pain at the end of his scar. When he showed the Dr, Dr immediately knew that it was the leftover thread that is inside his abdominal muscle. The thread was suppose to dissolve by itself but because my dad is skinny, it didn't.

So Dr performed a short surgery (only lasted for 20 minutes) on him on that very day.

WARNING: The image below may be too much for some. Do continue reading with a brave heart!

The part that caused the pain. Can you see the black spot? That's where the thread is.

After the surgery, my dad was given Antibiotics. The Antibiotics made dad cough a lot. He had trouble sleeping at night for the next few nights until he asked the Dr if he could stop taking the Antibiotics. The Dr grant him his wish.

One day, I was telling my parents about my dream. I woke up wanting to eat something. As I said "Hey mummy & daddy, I woke up from my nap and I thought of eating... " then my dad proclaimed "HAM CHIM PENG" before I could finish my sentence. (It's a chinese delicacy. Red bean covered with flour and deep fried.) That put a smile on my face. It's good that he's craving for food.

The next day, my mum told me my dad wants to have "Yau Char Kuey". His love for these fried fritters is back! Unfortunately, he'll have to wait patiently.

The next day, he told my mum that he would like to have some cake. :) My mum was craving for Pandan Layer Cake. So she asked my sister to get Pandan Layer Cake. So they had Pandan Layer Cake for dessert (I'm not a fan of Pandan Layer Cake.) and my dad got a few mouthful of it too. :) [In case you are worried, we have asked the Dr's permission before feeding daddy Pandan Layer Cake.]

YUM! Pandan Layer Cake time!

My dad is currently doing some exercises on his bed and also some recommended exercises standing up and walking by the physiotherapist. So far the exercise is helping him but it does make him cough. Perhaps his lungs are exercising too. 

I thank you all for your concern as I can see that many have visited the site and left with disappointment. My apologies once again and I will do my best to update everyone more often. :)

Day 12: Spanish Mackerel

We were watching tv in the hospital and daddy suddenly told me "I miss the Japanese Spanish Mackerel (Saba Teriyaki)."

I told mum and she said that I can buy it for lunch and let him have some.

Before having some Saba, he asked if he could try the hospital's Egg Mayo sandwich. I gave him one small bite and we have to keep reminding him to chew before he swallow. I had Udon for lunch, he asked if he could have a strand of noodle. So I gave him one. 

After 20minutes, he wants the Saba. I gave him bit by bit. After 3 bites, he asked if he could finish the whole fish. My mum went.. "NOooo!!! not everything!" (She's afraid that he may feel bloated.)

Then he decided to have a "look" at the fish and ask me to hand it to him. He said he wants to have the skin and again my mum stopped him. (The fish skin is burnt. No good for cancer patients.)

Mmmm...can I have it all?

Daddy feeding himself one last bite before mummy stop him. He didn't take anymore solids for the rest of the day. Not too much in one day. 

Bit by bit.. as the Malay saying goes "Sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit!" 

(Well of course, daddy can't have a mountain of food. :P )

Day 11: Shall we dance?

My dad is taking the tube feeding well. His daily intake is 1,500 calories. The dietician said that it's more than the expected calories per day. So he should be building muscles.

However, his belly is still bloated. Bigger than before he was admitted into the hospital. Dr said that the only way to take the fluid is out is through medication. He don't want to puncture daddy because it may cause complication and would make things worse. Patience is the key!

Here's daddy, taking his daily 15 minutes walk. The dietician suggested him to consult a physiotherapist but dad said he would do exercises himself. He does some stretching exercises when he is lying down or sitting down.

Shall we dance?

Daddy look like he is dancing with his feeding tube when he moves up & down holding the tube in one hand. :)

Day 10: No more drips!

The Dr removed the drips yesterday. Hopefully daddy's belly would be smaller now that there isn't anymore fluid pumping in.

Dr is happy with daddy's progress. He will start daddy on soft food and monitor him for a few days before sending him home. :)

Let me guide you!

Daddy asked the nurse to remove the tube from the machine because he needs to use the toilet. He had to teach the nurse how to wrap the end of the tube so that milk won't spill out. The nurses here are very humble, so they just follow his instructions. :)

AHhhhh.. relieved!

Daddy resting after using the toilet. He is sitting on a tube (the head nurse suggested him to sit on it whenever he sits on a chair). Spot his right hand? No more drips! :)

I can't wait for daddy to be home so that I can spend more time with him. Even though we don't usually talk when we are together (my mum calls it "heart to heart" talk). Silent but yet we understand each other the best. Probably because I'm not much of a talker and so is my dad. We can spend a few hours in the same room, not saying much. Especially in car rides, we can be silent throughout the journey. Yet, I'm daddy's girl. :)

Day 9: Room 6335

My dad was moved from Level 5 to Level 6 yesterday. Right after daddy moved to his new room, the nurses check his back. (Afraid that he may get a bed sore.) They saw red spots at this tail bone & pelvic bone and they immediately informed the head nurse.

The head nurse then came to suggest my dad to apply a certain type of cream to prevent his skin from rotting and change his bed to air bed (which cost RM39 extra per night). My dad agreed to her suggestion cause he wouldn't want to deal with another type of pain.

So far, he's feeling comfortable with the cream and the air bed. At least his backbone feels more comfortable now. (Thank God for the nurses. They are so caring! God bless them.Well, they could have just left my dad there and don't bother to check his back.)

My mum likes the view in this room. It is a better scenery. However, it is very warm in the afternoon as the sun would shine in. They will have to turn on the air conditioner.

The HTC boys!

Han asked daddy about an application on his phone (which is also a HTC). Daddy was showing him the application on his phone. (They look like they are playing a game together.. hahaha..)

Touch here then there. :)

He has been playing with his hp and also watching tv more often now. He even asked me to bring his spectacles today so that he could read the highlights shown on CNN. (He have to strain his eyes to read it at the moment.)

The dietician increased daddy's milk intake. She also added Prosure into the mixture. It gave daddy discomfort initially. He just started yesterday, so hopefully he didn't have any discomfort at night. Soon the Dr would remove the drips, which would help daddy to reduce the fluid in his abdominal area. 

Let's pray for daddy's body to be able to adapt to this new recipe. :)

Comments disappeared

Hey everyone!

I could not trace back the comments made on the previous posts. Something must have gone wrong when I was exporting and importing between blogs.

My apologies for the technical error. Your previous thoughts and wishes will be kept in my heart.

Cheers,

ce5nt's daughter

The end of the 1st of trimester..

My dad ended his first trimester taking chinese herbal medicine given by the Acupuncturist.

Here are some photos of him taking his chinese herbal medicine...

Herbal Medicine Tarik!

He will "tarik" the medicine himself so that the medicine won't get stuck at the bottom of the cup.

Daddy's favourite: Black Dates!

As he eats this, he would repeatedly tell us that this is the best food that he has ever tasted since his operation. It's easy to eat, nice and he don't mind eating it the whole day. The pleasure on his face when he eats it is priceless! He'll go "Mmmmm, this is nice! Mmmmm, this is the best!" :)

The start of the second trimester wasn't very interesting for daddy as he was admitted into the hospital. His treasure hunt mates convinced him to use the tube feeding and we are all very happy that they succeeded in persuading him.

(Thank you guys once again. Words can't express how much we appreciate you making the effort to help daddy to be brave!)

Checking in to the hospital wasn't easy this time around as there were so many emergency cases. We had to wait for nearly 3 hours before dad was sent to his ward. This time around they gave him a room in Level 5 which my parents did not prefer. They prefer to be at Level 6 because the nurses there are more experienced in dealing with daddy. 

However, Level 6 is currently under renovation. My mum "booked" a room for daddy to be moved up to Level 6 next week when the renovation is completed. Some of the nurses from Level 6 were at Level 5 and they could recognize my parents and welcome daddy to go to Level 6 next week upon hearing my mum's request.

Here's some photos to mark daddy's journey at the beginning of his 2nd trimester...

Day 2: Spot the tube?

He was listening to my sister. She was telling him about her first day at work.He didn't respond much because the tube was disturbing his throat. So he couldn't really talk.

The food and the gadgets to feed daddy.

Apparently Wyeth stop producing Enercal. So we had to grab whatever Enercal that is left in the market.

Day 3: Sitting down waiting for the nurse to feed him.

He could talk a little more by Day 3. He could instruct the nurse how much to feed him.

Manual tube feeding.

Daddy told me to snap a photo. I'm assuming that he wants me to snap it so that I could put it up on my blog to show his friends. :)

Day 4: Auto-feed

The dietician decided to use the machine to feed daddy. He gets more this way. The machine would pump in 10cc of Enercal every 15minutes. 

He was talking to Han when I snapped this photo. He could speak normally and we were surprised by his energy level as he kept giving Han advice. Praise the Lord! :)

Day 7: Getting used to tube feeding

Daddy had to change his tube yesterday because the tube slipped out when he was bathing. He made sure that the Dr used the soft silicon tube and also made sure that the nurses knows how to feed him.

Daddy is also on drips with Potassium to help him re-hydrate his blood and kidney.

I'm glad that daddy made progress. His lower abdominal area is still bloated. The Dr told him to be patient. He needs to regain his energy before his body can remove the fluid naturally. Daddy showed some signs of impatience initially but he is much better now. He could read the papers, watch tv, play with his handphone, answer phone calls (when he is comfortable) and he could talk to us with his normal voice. :)

I Thank you Lord for blessing daddy with strength and healing daddy. May you continue to shower him with your Love and the fruits of the spirit. Amen.