16/3/26 Mon: Was in tuition with JX at 10.30am when Dr Toh from NTFGH called and said they found out dad has a left hip fracture from his prostate MRI last Friday. He said dad should be brought to A and E as soon as possible. Dad did not complain of any pain on his hips though, so hopefully, it's only a hairline fracture. He was admitted, took some blood and x-ray scans on his hips and had to be warded for observation. *Mum's itchy skin issue is acting up again and it sounded like eczema to me because I'm also experiencing it on my fingers since December I think.* A doctor called back in the evening saying they will arrange for his pelvic MRI tomorrow to have a clearer look at the fracture and for a 2d echo cardiography because the heart team heard murmur in my dad's heart again while doing a pre-surgery check (in case he has to do hip surgery). They found low platelet count from his blood tests too, so they need to do more tests to find out more, if not I read from chatGPT it could risk more serious bleeding during surgery.
Had claypot rice that FIL made for dinner and Potato. Potato stir-fried shimeiji shrooms, red coral lettuce, celery and Swiss Chard to go along with the main too.
17/3/26 Tues: Spoken with dad three times today because I'm worried he'd get bored in the hospital and in case he becomes "confused" again like in December when he stayed for a week. He has done both the 2d echo cardiography and hip MRI today, and much as he wants to come home, we'd have to wait and see what the doctor says about his condition.
Potato cooked tomato-based minced meat penne with celery for dinner~ he added a bit of MSG and we both thought it was quite flavourful, albeit unsure if it was due to the MSG haha.18/3/26 Weds: Didn’t sleep too well the night before because my head feels weird the whole day. After tuition with SE, Potato and I ate dried jiak song mhk ($5.90 each) for lunch and the kueh was very little. Went NTFGH’s ward with mum to visit dad, who was practising walking with a physiotherapist. He looks much more stiffer in his walks and the left leg did not straighten fully either, so his muscle could have de-conditioned after two days of lying in bed. Now, mum has to look after him 24/7 when he goes home because a fall from him will be dangerous. Mum’s skin is really itchy since last Friday and she has some wounds over her hands, legs and body, so I told her to go see a Western doctor asap in case it’s scabies.
Had a good duck, cabbage and carrots hot soba that Potato cooked for dinner. Dr Tang called me then and shared dad’s conditions with regards to his subcapital fracture of left hip. He said dad’s condition is peculiar and he cannot ascertain for sure if dad’s femur fracture is an old or new one since he is not in painful and has strength in his left leg, so Dr Tang thinks it could be stable at the moment.
He say they usually recommend surgery for hip fractures (because mortality rate is 30% for those too pain to walk and lie in bed all day), but in dad’s case, because he has low blood and heart murmur - and did cardiography - with the team saying he is at “moderate risk” if he were to undergo surgery (though Dr Tang said he has done it for even riskier patients before), but after partial hip replacement, his ability to walk would be one level worse than before (i.e if previously walks normally means he will need a walking stick). We came to a joint decision not to since dad looks unwilling too.
A good thing is the MRI revealed his fracture side is not cancerous, albeit his prostate MRI’s still pending evaluation after they sent for further checks.
21/3/26 Sat: Back home at 6+pm from our JB trip with 30sLGEgang and Potato cooked ichiran ramen with cabbage and pork and chives dumplings for us for dinner because I didn’t feel like going out after my worsened PPPD symptoms since Wednesday.
22/3/26 Sun: Working sunday and Potato experimented with "three cups chicken" for dinner~ using light soy sauce, sesame oil and shao xing wine, and mixed in ginger, rock sugar and oyster shrooms... it was not bad, just a bit on the saltier side. Also had broccoli and a zhar to go along.
24/3/26 Tues: Did resistance cardio workout this morning... the routines were a bit boring but oh well. Decided to make bibimbap with pork collar meat this evening! Also added cordycep flowers in place of beansprouts... so-so. But one reminder for myself to mince the garlic finer in future because with that amount of raw ones, it got too spicy for me!
Finished reading “Before Your Memory Fades” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.
There is something appealing about the “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” series for me. I remember reading the first book years ago and images of a time-travelling cafe stayed in my mind since then.
This time, it’s the Donna Donna cafe in Hakodate. Having been to Hokkaido not long ago, I have some memories of the sea-level city and its surroundings, and Kawaguchi described it charmingly in his story. The stories of the daughter “Yayoi” and the comedian “Todoroki” travelling back in time to visit her dead parents and his dead wife, the sister “Yukika” and the young man “Reiji” travelling to the future to visit her older sister and the childhood sweetheart he realised he loves aims to tell readers one thing simply: cherish the moment now and do/say what you want with/to your love ones, because we never know what happens in life.
Time waits for no one. I am guilty, but am trying my best to reduce the possibility for regrets.
Rating: 4/5
25/3/26 Weds: Accompanied dad to see the urologist this afternoon with regards to his prostate MRI results and it turned out confusing! Dr Hong said she felt the enlarged prostate on his left side during physical examination (he has piles too… must be because he hasn’t drink enough water) but MRI showed the enlargement on the right side instead. She said it was still unclear from the MRI if it’s benign or cancerous, and given dad’s heart murmur, she prefer not to do GA surgery for biopsy, but gave us six months to consider transperineal ultrasound guided biopsy instead, which uses LA and with some side effects. She will also check his PSA level again then. *On a side note, I let him play “Unblock Me” and he was quite quick during the beginner rounds. Good job!*
26/3/26 Thurs: Delivered meals this morning and had this uncle complaining to me and demanding TOUCH provides him with fruit juice or banana because he doesn’t take other fruits. I can only help communicate his request again to TOUCH but he was grumpy and said the organisation didnt pick up his phone call etc.
Cooked my own tom yam maggie lunch so as to finish up the leftover pork collar slices. Also added cabbage, mushrooms and egg to it.
Rarely does mum not cook fish, instead we had braised meat for dinner tonight~ still nice. The chicken soup was good too.
27/3/26 Fri: Linh and I went for tower intermediate class with Phoebe this morning. Tried the rollover for the first time but I think my rotator cuffs are a bit stiff, hence though I managed to flip over, it was not smooth nor controlled. Had lunch with Linh but the ba chor mee ($4.8) was not nice, and my PPPD flared up quite badly as we were talking. Still was a little unbalanced when I got up and walked, but it was okay in a few minutes.
Had grilled chicken hotpot rice ($12.90+) at Sagye Lite for dinner with Jess. It was not bad. We were there for an hour before I shared with her my PPPD issue and we decided to go to IMM's Cedele for carrot cake dessert and chats. Shared with her my stress and JB trip recently, and it was a nice meet-up. Good to know PH and her have selected their unit at their new BTO in 2029 Q1 too! *Enjoyable chat but the longer hours had my brain fatigued so much so I felt rather imbalanced when talking to the MRT, and it only got better after I was alone lol.* 28/3/26 Sat: A day to rest and recharge for myself~ enjoyed Potato’s seared chicken, spinach and mushrooms spaghetti!
29/3/26 Sun: Enjoyed a nice pork belly sukiyaki with cabbage, tofu, beansprouts, mushrooms and enoki shrooms from Potato! I love the short grain rice with vinegar added in them~ On a side note, doctor has asked mum to go for a blood, urine and stool test after she said her skin is still very itchy after the antibiotics. It has been about three weeks now since her itch began, and doctor said it's most likely mite allergy. *I'm worried, but there are just too many things on my mind now, and I know very well worrying brings me nowhere, so I should wait for results and not let my mind run wild now.*
30/3/26 Mon: Dad did endoscopy this morning and his results came out clear. His duodenum was no longer narrow, so doctor has just arranged for him to go back for consultation and blood test in May. Mum also took blood tests for her itchy skin condition at a clinic this morning, and she has to see what the results say.
Potato acceded to my last-minute request of a meatless maggie dinner~ thanks dear! He had black fungus, carrots, beansprouts, bok choy, enoki shrooms, tofu, egg and king oyster shrooms in the tom yam maggie cooked in 20 minutes~
31/3/26 Tues: Resistance cardio starters class this morning with coach Emma and I sweated quite a bit haha.
Cooked black fungus with eggs, spinach with king oyster shrooms and pan-fried dumplings. I managed to pan-fry them quite nicely this time, albeit the eggs were bland haha. Still, I'm thankful Potato never minds my dishes even if they were not tasty.
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