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Everybody I know seems to be falling sick for the last couple of weeks. The number of times my family and I had visited the clinic in just one week alone is probably more than the number of times I get to see my parents this whole month! (Okay, slightly exaggerating here.)
Last Thursday (22.04.2010) I left work early because P had called me up in the evening to let me know Misha and Mika were having a (high) temperature. The night before they both, along with Anaqi, have been coughing very badly and their noses were runny. So, we brought them to their pediatrician @ Tampines1 that night. It’s the only Children Clinic nearby that opens after 6.30pm and accepts my company medical card.
Just as we step through the door we saw a familiar face. Liza was there too! And no, she wasn’t there for a check-up by the PD (she was at the RM section waiting for her queue number to be called).
After waiting for a fair bit at the waiting area, Anaqi’s name was called for diagnosis. He alone was prescribed with Salbutamol (wheeze), Zyrtec (runny nose), Prospan (cough) and Paracetamol (fever). Mika was called next and was prescribed the same medication as Anaqi, with Dexchlorpheniramine replacing Zyrtec, and an additional antibiotic for his yellowish mucus. Finally, it was Misha’s turn and she was prescribed the same medication as Mika, plus Vitamin supplements, Kids’ Wash/Cleanser and Moisturizer for her dry skin.
In the end, it looked as though we’d gone on a medicine-shopping frenzy!
Kids’ medicine to bring home.
The next day (23.04.2010) an hour after we had sent Mika to his childcare center in the morning, his teacher called me up to inform that his temperature shot up to 38.5°, and I was asked to fetch him home immediately. P volunteered to fetch him after I conveyed the message over the phone.
That night, all three had their temperature yo-yo-ing throughout. I had to stay awake to sponge and monitor them.
On Saturday, their temperature subsided and there were no fever. I figured I could then bring them out in the evening, either to Parkway or Vivo City or Marina. That I did. We went to catch the fireworks display at the The Helix bridge opening in Marina.
Pretty fireworks on display
Fast forward to Monday night (26.04.2010) all those bad germs must have gotten onto me. I was feeling feverish. It didn’t help that my packed dinner (or supper rather) almost turned bad. The morning after, I felt phlegm accumulating in my throat and made me wheeze pretty bad. On the way to work in my car, I was wheezing so bad that I demanded P to drop me off at RMG clinic at Ogilvy Centre.
There, I had an asthma attack. The moment I stepped in to doctor’s room, before I get a chance to be seated, the doctor knew I was having trouble breathing! Then, I was instructed to go on a nebulizer treatment.
That’s me inhaling Salbutamol gas.
This must have been my Karma for arguing with Mom on Chocolates = Cough equation earlier that morning. Padan muka aku!
After the treatment, I felt lightheaded and was quivering despite being relieved that I was wheezing no more (at least for that morning). I was given a two-day medical leave.
That same night, as if things could not have gotten any worse, Anaqi was seen to have spots all over his body – more prominently around his mouth. Initially we suspected it could be due to medicine allergy so I proposed to bring him to see the PD again that night. To my surprise, the doctor confirmed it was a case of HFMD plus viral rash!
Spots on his foot.
Spots on his mouth.
“This normally takes about 7 to 10 days to fully recover. Please make sure his kakak and abang (brother and sister) don’t get near him”, the PD advised.
So there we go – today, on my second day of sick leave – I’ve to attend to a cranky Anaqi, get grocery to cook for us, cook, attend to Anaqi, send Misha to school, fetch Misha from school, attend to Anaqi, fetch Mika from school, finally eat, and then attend to Anaqi again. Faint, can?
I hope everyone gets better soon, otherwise plans set for this weekend (a BBQ & Baby J’s birthday party) have to be given a miss.
It’s been a while since I last update on Anaqi’s cardiac condition. Back in May 2009 – weeks into his presence into this world – news of him having two holes in his heart daunted upon me. When cardiologists mentioned of the probability of a heart surgery, I was distraught. In fact, the whole family was. I prayed hard that it’ll never happen and that the holes will eventually get smaller and close on their own.
In case you haven’t heard, this was the entry I posted last year on my blog: http://aprima.org/2009/05/28/echocardiogram
Back then, his echocardiogram report was as follow:
Early in this year, on 6th Jan, I had brought Anaqi for a follow up check-up at KKH. His cardiologists said they could still hear slight murmurs in his heart when they listened via their stethoscopes. To confirm, they did another echocardiogram to scan his heart.
He slept soundly during the whole diagnosis, which took about an hour or so to complete. It seemed as though it had gone on for hours.
Last year when Anaqi did his first scan, I wasn’t focusing on the screens and was oblivious to the beeps and readings (that was before the doctors broke the news about the holes in his heart). The images on the screen looked similar to what I’ve seen during my FA scan when Anaqi was inside me. This time I paid attention to every single detail. His sleeping helped me focus better.
The result made me beamed a hundred dollar smile. Alhamdulillah, I was informed that one of his holes (the ventricular septal defect – VSD) has spontaneously closed! Which was surprising because the VSD was much bigger than his ASD (atrial septal defect). His ASD is still there however it has reduced in size to about 2.9mm. This is indeed great news! He no longer need to consume his medication – diuretics - for flushing out fluid from his lungs due to the mix of oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood flowing into them. His next follow up check-up will be in December this year. I hope then it will bear even better news for us, insyallah.
His scan results on 6th Jan.
I was gonna post something but the mind suddenly went blank. Blame it on the flu meds I’m on, it is making me damn drowsy.
(darn, I can’t even spell things right…)
Better catch some sleep before the husband gets home – hopefully with some nice packed food! (am hungry!)
An appointment was set up on 25th May for Anaqi to undergo an echocardiogram at the Cardiac Centre at KKH. After a detailed analysis, it turns out that his PD’s suspicion indeed holds true. Anaqi is diagnosed to have "moderate to large perimembranous ventricular septal defect with inlet extension (VSD), moderate atrial septal defect (ASD), high pulmonary pressure". In short, he has two holes in his heart – one in the upper chambers (atrium) and one (slighter bigger) in the lower chambers (ventricle).
Here’s a detailed graphical representation of ASD, VSD versus the normal heart.
According to KKH website library, the left atrium and ventricle is normally at a highler pressure than the right, so the defects allow blood to flow from the left to the right. Blood is shunted across and re-circulated back to the lungs. The effects of having "extra" blood flowing across into the right atrium/ventricle are:
- ASD – The right-sided upper heart chamber (right atrium) and right-sided lower heart chamber (right ventricle) become dilated to accommodate this extra blood volume.
- VSD – The left-sided upper heart chamber (left atrium) and left-sided lower heart chamber (left ventricle) can become dilated to accommodate the extra blood volume returning from the lungs.
- The lungs becomes more "wet" or even become "flooded" with this extra re-circulated blood.
- The blood pressure in the lungs increases.
The degree at which these effects occur would depend on the size of the ASD/VSD and the amount of blood that is re-circulated back to the lungs. This can range from insignificant to severe.
Here’s a graphical representation of blood flow of a heart with ASD/VSD (courtesy of KKH):
According to the cardiologist who did his scan, this is treatable – so this is good news! Anaqi will need to undergo periodic review to see if, over time, the holes will eventually get smaller, or if otherwise, he may need some medication to "buy time" before he’s ready to undergo surgery.
Let’s all hope for the best for the little one.
I received a phonecall from Misha’s form teacher today informing me of some tiny spots on her palms & feet. Her temperature was measured at 37.4 deg c so that was still alright. When I arrived some time in the afternoon, she was already being isolated in the principal’s office.
Just a couple of weeks back, her centre had one reported case of chickenpox, but they had taken the necessary measures to contain the virus. I was advised to bring Misha to the doctor for confirmation as to whether this is a case of HFMD or chickenpox. We went to see the GP, but she couldn’t confirm the case and referred Misha to a specialist. I later made an appointment at 7.15pm at the Children’s Centre since the clinic reopens after 6.30pm on weekdays.
Once again, the doctor’s diagnosis was not conclusive since the spots on her feet are mostly clutered at her toes (which is rarely so for HFMD, whose blisters are mostly clustered on the sole of the foot). She did mention that one tiny dot on her palm do resemble a blister in the case of HFMD, but it could also be something else. When the doctor checked on her mouth, there was no trace of any ulcers (phew). I was then asked to monitor her situation for the next three days, and if her condition worsen tomorrow, I should return back to the clinic for re-assessment. So we shall see…
In my earlier post, I did mentioned that Misha’s appetite had improved slightly, but for the last two days she was back to refusing any food (and now even milk feed). I am not sure if it is due to a her being unwell, or discomfort (or it could be teething too). She kept on whining and crying whenever we attempt to give her food/milk/water (I’m used to this by now).
Here’s some info on HFMD: http://www.hpb.gov.sg/health_articles/hfmd/
From the symptoms checklist,
In the news today (April 1st, 2008): 702 more HFMD cases reported
To Misha: Hope this is just false alarm, okay? Mummy and Daddy got plans this weekend tau. Take care, and eat well!
What started as a sheer dry cough, ended up in a series of phlegm hoarking and endless convulsive barfing. Since last Wednesday, Misha was having what we thought was just a mild cough. She had it a couple of times before but it hadn’t turned too serious to warrant a visit to the doctor.But this time it turned so bad that on Friday night we had taken her to see her pedriatrician.
*happily playing while waiting for her name to be called*
That same night we had mixed her prescribed Promethezine into her milk feed after she had refused to consume the medicine on its own. In less than 10 minutes, she started to cough out loud with what sounded like accumulated phlegm in her throat. All of a sudden, she began to throw up all of her milk along with traces of whatever she had back at school *erghh*.
The next day, she was feeling slightly better. We went out for a late lunch at Yew Tee, and she was being her jovial self once more. …pictures while waiting for food…
Last Saturday, I had sent my son, Mika, for the mandatory circumcision by Dr. Tahir at Crescent Clinic. Alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly. Both P and I were not allowed in the surgical room and we had to wait outside until the whole procedure was completed. This is opposed to the time when I had sent my first-born daughter to Balkis clinic for her circumcision (where I was allowed to hold her legs and witness the procedure).
Whilst outside, I heard his cries and I felt a tinge of pain in my heart. But his cry lasted only a few minutes. After that, he stopped, and I was dying to know what happened. After about 15 minutes, one of the doctor’s assistants brought him out of the surgical room and handed him to me (along with his foreskin tightly sealed in a piece of plastic). Surprisingly, my boy seemed to look alright and managed a smile. How brave.
Back at home, I was very curious to know how the procedure was done. Looking at his foreskin through that piece of plastic triggered my inquisitive mind, so I googled and came across this site.
Seeing THAT, I thought to myself, thank GOD I did not witness it at all!
Yesterday, I had brought Mika to the clinic again for his follow up check-up, and the doctor said everything’s normal and the area was showing sign of healing. The plastic ring on his penis is said to “drop off” within 5 to 8 days, and he said I should continue to bathe him as normal.
Alhamdulillah, semuanya dah selamat.
