Walk With Nature

17 June 2009

I woke up early in the morning and still wondering…. am I having Tinnitus ?  Together with my wife, we went for my favorite Pan-Mee breakfast before heading to the hospital. We arrived around 8.30am and went to the admission counter to do the necessary documentations, including the RM1,000 as deposit.

I waited in an admission waiting room and then later guided by a nurse to first floor. There, another nurse took over and I was informed to change my cloths and wear those that they prepared for surgery uses. She also informed my wife to come back after 2 hours. The nurse was very polite and shared with me some information regarding the ear illnesses. I had to sleep on a movable bed while waiting for the surgery. I had no watch but it was quite a long waiting time before the “surgeon” arrived. He greeted me from far and said the surgery would start in a short while. He also asked me how many days medical leave I wanted, I told him one day, guess what ? He was so kind to ask me, “Are you sure one day is enough ? You don’t want 2 days ?” My answer to him was “No”.

A nurse pushed me into the surgical room and transferred me onto a surgical bed. The “surgeon” came and explained to me that he would put some liquid into my left ear so that I would not feel pain but it was not guaranteed that my ear would be 100% felt numb. He then left and said the liquid has to be inside for about 10 minutes to take effect. Time passed, he came back and they used a cloth to cover my head, with an opened-hole so that my ear could be seen. Then, he started to insert a tube into my ear and suck out the water, I could hear the sucking sound and felt a bit of stinging pain. The process was pretty fast, then almost come to the end, he told me he would insert a small tube into my ear so that the water could flow out easily. I felt extremely pain when he pushed it deep inside my ear and I almost moved my whole body up, he knew I was in pain and apologized to me and said “ok, it’s done” ! While I am writing this, I still can imagine the pain that I was suffering. The “surgeon” told me he would not give me any antibiotic medicine, I listened without saying or asking since he is a doctor cum ENT surgeon, he should know what was good for me.

I was then transferred back to a the previous movable bed and push into another room for observation. They put one small clip onto one of my fingers. There was one monitor showing my heart beat, blood pressure reading and etc. I laid there for about 35 minutes before a nurse moved me to another room for me to change back my cloths. She then told me to wait outside and a nurse would bring me to the discharge counter and gave me a queue number. I waited about 20 minutes and when it was my turn, I went to the counter. Guess how much was the bill ?

It was RM1,498.75 !!!

Only the consultant fee alone, I was charged RM750 for surgery and RM100 for ward review !!!

I paid the amount, the staff told me to take the medicine at the pharmacy. I thought the “surgeon” said there was no medicine for me ? Or was I misunderstood his sentence…. no antibiotic but would prescribed other “take home drug” for me ? I took the medicine and went home with my wife.  That night, after dinner, I took the medicine according to the instruction printed on the pack.  The irritating sound still there during bed time but I was able to sleep.

To continue…..

If you think a lady without an arm and a man with a leg cannot be a dancer, then you must think again after watching this tremendous couple who can overcome all the obstacles.

Dear Runners, More than 12,500 of you turned up and ran today !

This statement was posted on SCKLM facebook. Yes, it was a very huge crowd there at Dataran Merdeka this morning, the weather was good and there were few VIPs there also. Everything seemed so perfect at the beginning of the run, not until I finished my 10km run at the finishing line. No body there to inform us where to collect the finisher’s medal and certificate, only few ladies were busy scanning the timing device.  At the end, I did not have medal and certificate ! I went for drinks and Banana and waited for my friends who took part in 5km fun run category.

I met them, the 5km was supposed to start at 7.45am but it started at 8am. The race was supposed to be 5km but they finished in less than 20 minutes. I am not saying my friends are not good runners but they were not wearing the underwear outside.  What happened was that there were no proper guide, signboard or direction along the 5km route.  They were just following the 5km crowds who lead all the way until they reached the finishing line. They broke the running record ! Completed 5km in less than 20 minutes ! We were discussing the topic repeatedly and was so sure that the distance was less than 5km.

While updating my Running Events, I discovered that the organizer has set up its site on facebook and there were many runners wrote to complaint about the event, ; no water supply, bad organized for 5km category and etc. Even the star newspaper also wrote about the event. Well, for water supply, in my category, I did not see any short supply along the way. There were volunteers there to guide us also at certain distance. But organizer, I guess you still have to look into these complaints seriously.

By the way, I finished my run in 1 hour 12 minutes and position at 736. Out of total 2,503 finishers in men’s 10km category, am I considered not bad ?

Oh yes, there are also many pictures taken during the race, click here to see.

Read More >>

Anyone had suffered from tinnitus before ?  At this moment, I am still not sure if I am having tinnitus, pardon me for lacking of such knowledge. I tried to search the Internet to find out what is tinnitus and I got the answer as ” Tinnitus is a ringing, swishing, or other type of noise that seems to originate in the ear or head”.

Well, based on the above sentence, I think I am having Tinnitus but for every consequence, there must be a cause and I believe it started about one month ago. I suppose you understand that when we want to answer our cellphone with hands free, there is a set of earphone for us to pluck into our ear. This earphone normally has a piece of “protector” attached on it.  I lost them for about a week but did not buy a new set to replace. Soon after that, my ear started to feel itch for few days. I took it easy and subsequently, it became swollen. By now, most of us would go to consult a doctor to have some antibiotic medicines but I still did not do so. Another few days passed, the swell subsided. I thought everything was back to normal but it was not !

Soon, I could hear buzzing noise inside my ear, I thought it was due to the water that have flow inside when I took my shower the other night. Again, I was wrong, the buzz did not disappear and I felt very irritating. Then only I went to consult a GP.

She examined my ear using an otoscope and later prescribed me an ear drops and1 pack of  C-Flox 500 that contained 10 tablets.

I took the medicine until I found out that this C-Flox actually is used to treat infection for lungs, skin, bones and joints, kidney and bladder, prostate and bowel and it does not work against infection caused by virus such as flu, colds or fungi. By that time, I have taken 9 tablets and my ear conditions did not show any improvement.

Less than a week after consulting the GP, I started to have fever and went back to the same GP again. She checked my temperature and it was 37.4 Celsius. I also told her my ear condition and she wrote a letter to refer me to a specialist of my choice, I chose one private hospital that is near to my house, the one where my mother had admitted before she passed away in 1996. In addition, she also prescribed me FEDAC and Carinox tablets.

Fedac                                                                   Carinox

I got a medical leave on the same day and I went to the hospital while on my way home to see one of the ENT specialist there. Upon examining my ear with otoscope, he said there was water inside and he needed to suck it out. Using a tiny metal tube, he slowly inserted it into my ear and guys, I can tell you, this is no good ! It was painful when the tube reached deep inside my ear, yet he could not do the suction due to my pain.

You know what next ? Immediately, he asked me to do a minor surgery to suck out the water tomorrow morning and he also wanted me to stay in hospital for a night but I rejected because the medical bill would definitely be high and I did not see any reason for me to be admitted since he said it was only a minor surgey, which took only about 1 or 2 hours. He also asked me to sign something like “consent letter” on the spot, explaining it was a standard procedure prior surgery.

Can I say it was my ignorance or my stupidity that I did not seek second opinion before I went to the so called “minor surgery” ? The “surgeon” has repeatedly told me to come on time because he would put me as first patient in his list on that D-day.  He also emphasized to me that my condition was not very bad and need not be worried. I took it for granted, thinking to end all this quick so that my life would go back to normal. It really affected my daily life for having such an irritating noise inside my ear.  To continue …………..

Guys, this is funny !   Please be considerate when you are in cinema, else the Ghost will come after you !