Day +955 : Happy Valentine’s Day!

I am fine today.

Today is Valentine’s Day. We hosted a cell group meeting in our house this evening, so there is no celebration today. However, my wife and I registered for a special Valentine’s Day dinner organised by our church tomorrow, but due to some technical reasons, the event was postponed to 1 March 2009 :-(

I would like to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Some Valentine’s Day cards for you and me :-) All these cards are from 123greetings.com.

On good friends 
Love, music and life
On family

See you next post :-)

Day +954 : My money, your money

I am fine today.

The instructor who conducted the marriage lesson in our church told us one interesting experience that he had with his wife. His wife kept her bank accounts and savings secret from him even long time after they got married. He said he didn’t know why her wife behaved as such but I guess, she must be worried that her husband might abuse her savings. So it was safer to keep it secret.

We found out later that many couples in the group also experienced this kind of situation. And I believe the reason this happens is because the couple still haven’t establish a level of trust where they could fully trust each other. The “secret” somehow gives them a sense of security; if you betray me, I still have money :-)

When my wife and I got married, we didn't have much – no car, no house, no properties, and no savings. And I also don’t mind to tell you that even the marriage expenses was bored by my mother which we only managed to pay back many years later :-)

Apart from an old motorcycle, we had none. But the important thing is that we have each other :-) Since we had nothing, it was even easier for us to trust each other completely :-)

We didn’t have to keep secret of each other’s savings. My money is your money and your money is my money.

Until today, my wife still entrusted all her bank accounts to me. This means that whenever I encounter any financial shortage, I just transfer money from her account :-) She never bothers how much I transfer from her account and also don’t even bother how much balance she still has.

She trusts me and I trust her, and with this, life is wonderful :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +953 : More Mileage, More Savings, More Vroom?

I am fine today.

Have you heard of a product called AutoMax NanoTech Fuel Enhancer (NFE) which claimed to save fuel up to 28%? This product is marketed by Cosway.

Cosway says that the product gives the following benefits:

• Saves fuel up to 28% - Varies from 8% - 28%, depending on engines, road and traffic conditions, climate and driving habits
  
• Increases engine power up to 20% - Enhances combustion for a smoother-running engine with quicker acceleration and increased power
  
• Eliminates engine knocks & extends engine life - By keeping the combustion chamber clean, it eliminates engine knocks and helps maintain a quiet and smooth-running engine for a longer time
  
• Saves on maintenance - A cleaner engine prolongs life expectancy of the oil filter, engine oils last at least twice longer, thus reduces maintenance costs
  
• Reduces harmful emissions up to 98% - Resulting in a cleaner and healthier environment
  

I decided to try the product. The price per bottle is RM39.8 and there was a promotion – buy 4 free 6 – July last year. I got 10 bottles with the price of RM159.2.

I gave one to my brother, Richard, and he came to a conclusion that no noticeable fuel saving was observed after using this product.

I did a research on my Proton Perdana for  6 months, and the result is a follow:

Before using NFE, driving a distance of one km would need about 0.14L, but after adding it, the average fuel usage was still around 0.14L per km.

I have to conclude that the product doesn’t work as claimed. The claims are too good to be true. If you really want to give it a try, don’t buy it. Just let me know. I will give one to you free :-)

More Mileage, More Savings, More Vroom? Not really. "More wastage, More troublesome, More disappointment" should be the right one :-(

 See you next post :-)

Day +952 : Not osteoporosis but tendon contracture

I am fine today.

I went to see a rheumatologist, Dr. Yeap, in Klinik Pakar Puchong yesterday afternoon. She is a visiting doctor to the clinic.

I told her my medical history and then showed her my wrist problem as I blogged on Day +916 : Alamak! My bone . The problem is that I couldn't bend my wrist much, and generally, all my joints become stiffer. 

The doctor asked me to close my hand tightly with all fingers bend against the palm. She then discovered that my wrist could bend as a normal person under such hand posture. But if I straightened the fingers, then I couldn’t bend my wrist much :-(

With this, she was very quick to point out that the problem lies in the tendon. She suspected the tendon is either thickened or shortened, pulling the hand when all the fingers are extended.

The next question is why this happens? She found out from her electronic dictionary that this tendon contracture could be part of GVHD.

I found out later that on a website that:

Occasionally patients with chronic GVHD experience "contractures," a tightening of the tendons in pints that makes extending or contracting their arms and legs difficult. Chronic GVHD can also affect the lungs, causing wheezing, bronchitis, or pneumonia.

You can read the full article about GVHD here. The article is not only very informative but easy to understand too.

The doctor would like to refer me to Hand Specialist to do a tendon biopsy to confirm her diagnosis. However, I asked her to write a letter to my haematologists about my condition and let them decide what should be the next course of action.

After the doctor completed the letter, she looked at me and laugh :-)

“Very interesting! This is the first time I see this,” she said.

“Sorry! I can’t do much about this,” she continued.

The consultancy fee is RM80. I will bring the letter to my haematologist next Monday.

See you next post :-)

Day +951 : Free tickets

I am fine today.

My brother, Richard, alerted me last night that AirAsia was going to offer free seats to all flight destinations starting at 0 hours today. The booking period is from 10 February 2009 to 15 February 2005 and the travelling period is from 12 October 2009 to 31 January 2010.

I woke up 11:45pm and managed to purchase free seats for flight between KL and Sibu, departing on 23 November 2008 and returning on 7 December 20008. Though the airfare is free, we still have to pay the administration fee, airport taxes and luggage handling charges.

The total amount that I paid for 7 persons, including my mother-in-law, was RM480 only :-) Bear in mind that this is the cost of return flight. On way flight for 7 persons cost RM240, cheap?

With this arrangement, we can use the annual government free air tickets during peak season, most probably during next year’s Chinese New Year :-) We haven’t been celebrating Chinese New Year at our home village for more than 10 years.

The details - click to get a larger view
See you next post :-)

Day +950 : Mother-in-law’s Spring Roll and Acar

I am fine today.

My mother-in-law is very good at making spring roll and acar. She made spring roll for the dinner today. And every Chinese New Year, she would make acar, to be eaten with home-made prawn cracker which was produced by my father-in-law in Sarawak.

The spring roll
Zoom in view
Acar
A zoom in view
Aaron likes prawn cracker
Adriel showing her prawn cracker topped with acar
See you next post :-)

Day +949 : A sermon and a sharing in a day

I am fine today.

I gave a sermon in the church today. This was the second sermon I delivered after bone marrow transplant :-)

In the evening, I was invited to give a sharing on how I faced the crisis of my life in a Chinese New Year gathering organised by another church.

The attendees

Everyone was hungry...
Spring toss
Sharing
Presenting the song - It's a miracle that I live (我活着是神迹)
Part of the audience listening attentively to my sharing

Though the preparation of the sermon was a very tough job, I thank God for giving me opportunity to serve him.

See you next post :-)

Day +948 : Chinese New Year Potluck Dinner

I am fine today.

Our church organised a Chinese New Year potluck dinner this evening. Many church members turned up for the event and as usual, many delicacies were presented by expert cooks from the church :-)

My appetite was not that good recently and thus couldn’t eat much. However, there was something even more meaningful than eating – that is fellowship :-)

Let me “share” with you the foods that we had.

Braised pork leg with bean curd and eggs - our contribution
The bean curd and eggs, separated out from the pork and sauce
Spring toss - our contribution also :-)
Crispy chocolate cookies - our contribution too :-)
Sweet and sour fish fillet?
Vinegar pork leg
Pork cook with red wine residuum
Pork cook with black fungus
Wild boar meat
Curry chicken
Herbal chicken
Another flavour of herbal chicken
Fish fingers in salad sauce
Stuffed bean curd
Fried fish balls
Seafood mix veggie
Mix veggie
Another one

Fried Mee Hoon
Fried potatoes
Varieties of cookies and fruits
We are busy now...
Aaron and Mother-in-law
Isaac and Joseph
Daniel Ng & Daniel Ting :-)
Games after the dinner
See you next post :-)

Day +947 : Follow-up – Ophthalmology Clinic

I am fine today.

My appointment is at 9:30am this morning. I went to UH at 8:45am but only managed to reach there at 10:30am :-( What a heavy traffic!

I saw the ophthalmologist at 12:00am. This time they had my file ready and a different ophthalmologist was seeing me. “All glands were destroyed…” he told me. He asked me to continue to use the preservative free “Tears Naturale Free” to lubricate my eyes.

During my last follow-up, the doctor tried to change the “Tears Naturale Free” to Systane, to be used together with an ointment called Fucithalmic. But I experienced sandy feeling on both eyes after applying Systane, and furthermore, my eyes became red and sore :-( I switched back to “Tears Naturale Free” after that.

Since not much can be done, the next appointment was arranged 6 months later.

After seeing the ophthalmologist, I rushed to Haemotology Clinic to see haemotologists. I would like to let them have a look at my chest x-ray film that was taken on Wednesday.

The haematologist was very kind. He attended to me almost immediately even though he still had a patient to go. He found out that the pleural effusion (fluid retention) was new as the last chest x-ray taken June last year didn’t have it.

He told me that many things can lead to pleural effusion, in which infection is one of them. He sent my sputum for analysis. Apart from today’s sample, I need to send another two sputum samples; on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

I will do another chest x-ray during my next bone marrow transplant (BMT) clinic follow-up. If the pleural effusion becomes worst, then we have to find out the cause.

I am very glad that I made a good decision on Wednesday to take the chest x-ray and also to see the haematologist today. I just hope that the pleural effusion will subside during my next follow-up.   

See you next post :-)

Day +946 : Egg of LiChun (立春立蛋)

I am fine today.

My wife called from school yesterday noon time, saying that it was particularly easy to make an egg stood up during that particular time because it was LiChun (立春). The teachers in the school were demonstrating this to her.

What is LiChun? Quote from Wikipedia:

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms (節氣). Lìchūn (pīnyīn) or Risshun (rōmaji) (Chinese and Japanese: 立春; Korean: 입춘; Vietnamese: Lập xuân; literally: "start of spring") is the 1st solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 330°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 315°. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around February 4 and ends around February 18 (February 19 East Asia time).

I rushed home from office after receiving the call to balance an egg, but no matter how I hard try, the egg didn’t stand up :-(

I told my wife that I couldn’t make the egg to stand. She said that the right time to balance the egg had passed. Even the teachers in school had difficulty to balance the egg again.

However, my wife asked someone to take the photo to prove that it worked that time.

The photo taken in school
The newspaper also reported this (click to have a larger view)

But according to Wikipedia, balancing an egg is not particulary difficult at any time of the year. And as far as science knows, no physical influence of other celestial bodies on the egg can affect its balance as required by the folk belief.

You can read the article "Egg of Li Chun" here.

I am still trying...

See you next post :-)

Day +945 : Breathlessness

I experienced breathlessness recently. I always felt that I didn’t breathe in enough air whether I was moving or at rest. This made me getting tired very fast.

In order to make sure that my lung is in good condition, I went to see my family doctor. After “hearing” my lung through stethoscope, the doctor suspected pleural effusion or water retention (积水) on the right lung.

 He referred me to Columbia Asia Hospital – Puchong to have a chest x-ray.

Findings:

1. There is mild right pleural effusion.
   
2. Bilateral apical pleural thickening noted.
   
3. The lungs are clear.
   
4. The heart size is within normal limits.
   
5. Normal vascular marking seen.
   
6. Normal mediastinal contour and no hilar lymphadenopathy.
   
7. The rib cage is normal.
   

The film (click to get a larger view)

The pleural effusion area is on the lower right of the lung (mirror image - left is right, right is left). The healthy one should be like the lower left lung with a nice tip pointing down. Due to accumulation of water on the right side, the tip is missing.

There is pleural thickening on the top part of both lungs.  Quote from the internet, bilateral apical pleural thickening is

thickening of the lung lining at the top portion of both lungs.  It may also be called apical "capping".  It is thought to be due to inflammation or swelling that happened in the distant past.  Generally it doesn’t cause problems.

Don't worry about the bright long bar on top of the lung. It is florescent tube outside the lung; not something funny and shiny that grows inside my lung :-) 

Doctor said the mild pleural effusion should not cause difficulty in breathing as what I have experienced. Then what could be the cause? Could it be due to the stiffening of the joints on the chest that reduce the elasticity of the lung cavity?

Upon doctor’s recommendation, I am going to see a rheumatologist  (joints specialist) in Puchong next Tuesday.

I will also present the chest x-ray findings to my haematologist in the coming follow-up on 16 February.

See you next post :-)

Day +944 : “Can you tell me one good thing about your husband?”

I am fine today.

A church member who was deeply unsatisfied with her husband experienced an emotional collapse during the Chinese New Year. She was crying and wailing at home. My wife and I rushed to the scene after receiving a call from her husband.

It took us about 30 minutes to calm her down through singing Christian songs.

After that, she started to complain about her husband. She was pouring out tons of complaints that made anyone present breathless, and some of these complaints were about matters that happened many years ago. She got a wonderful memory in this sense, unfortunately. We saw a heart full of bitterness and hatred, and of course this lead to a miserable life, not only for herself but for everyone in the family.

“Can you tell me one good thing about your husband?” I asked.

“None!” she answered without hesitation.

With this, we came to a conclusion that the problem was more on the wife’s side. It is impossible for her not to recall one good thing about her spouse in almost 20 years of marriage, but bitterness and hatred make this possible.

Complaint leads to a miserable life and appreciation result in a joyful life.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

A joyful life is a life that give thanks in all circumstances :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +943 : “Tolong (help)”

I am fine today.

I am getting a lot better today, thanks God for His protection and also my wife and children who took good care of me :-)

Someone told me that he committed two traffic offences on a highway yesterday – over speeding and driving with an expired driving license. A team of policemen who organized the roadblock stopped him and told him that he was driving at 104km/h on the stretch of the highway where the speed limit was 90km/h only. And worst still, his driving license was expired many months ago. The two offences would result in a fine of RM600.

Instead of issuing summon to him, the policemen asked him to “tolong (help)” them. This is very interesting because most of the time it is the offenders that ask the policemen to “tolong” them but in this case, the policemen are asking for help :-)

They said if he was willing to “tolong” them with RM100 only, they will let him go.

“I am a Christian, I cannot “tolong” you this way,” he told them.

“Either you summon me or let me go,” he added.

 In the end, the policemen “tolong” him, letting him go without issuing summon :-)

I wonder when this kind of open corruption practice will be eradicated in this country.

See you next post :-)

Day +942 : Heavy coughing

I am fine today.

I experienced heavy coughing and felt quite weak and tired today. In fact, my health condition was not so good for the past few days, experiencing sore body and tiredness.

Fortunately, I have many children :-) The two boys are now “powerful” enough to give me a good massage that eases the soreness very effectively.

Apart from coughing, I felt burning sensation of my body which made me think that I am going to develop fever.

I hope my condition will improve after a good rest tonight.

See you next post :-)