Cai Mummy's stroke of not so good health

cai mummy has never had any issue with food so we were all caught off guard when she came down with food allergy from the wedding dinner reception that she attended on Sunday night ... it was so bad that the Alfred sent her into KTPH A&E for a steroid jab on Monday night after the medication from the polyclinic failed to make the itch and the swelling any better... 

laughed at her for her huge swollen ears when i visited her on Tuesday afternoon only to be scared stiff when we realised that she couldnt talk and had no strength to sit upright for her medication...

called for the ambulance and she was sent to KTPH A&E immediately... 

we were told mummy had a stroke!!! on top of her stage 4 cancer!!! WTF!!! 

we were also told to prepare for the worst... all cried buckets... told Angela to fly back in the next possible flight... 

cai mummy on her first night at the hospital... totally sedated... could only open her eyes less than 3 seconds every time the doctors & nurses tried to wake her up to assess her level of conciousness... 

i was so scared, so worried, so helpless that i was super awake while staying vigil by her bedside... and also when i reached home the next afternoon... 

still very sedated on Wednesday evening... could stay awake for less than 8 seconds before dozing back into lalaland.... couldnt pinpoin whether it was due to the food allergy, the stroke or all the medication... 

Alfred kept vigil on the 2nd night... 

family conference with the doc on Thursday morning ... from all the scans & test they did on cai mummy the last 2 days, it was confirmed that mummy suffered a serious stroke due to blockage on her left brain impacting the mobility on her right side of the body, her speech and swallowing function... doc also asked us to prepare for the worst again as the 3rd to 5th night are the most critical for a stroke patient as the brain is likely to swell. And if it swells too much, a surgery to remove part of the skull to accommodate the swelling brain is needed and this surgery is of super high risk given mummy's super high blood pressure of 210+... =S 

grouchy face welcomed me on Thursday afternoon... she seemed to be able to respond to the nurses' and doctors' repeated instruction on raising her arms and legs but would look blankly at us when we tried to communicate with her... 

cai mummy looked kind of cute in her still swollen chubby face... 

flower from chunyang

 holding the wet towel to bring down her fever in style.... 

Angela and bf kept vigil on the 3rd night... 

this greeted me on Friday morning... this grouchy face made me feel that she was being upset with me lo... =S 

mummy, 要加油哦！

sleeping in style... 

Alfred brought her her 臭臭 and she smiled... =) 

Alvin and gf accompanied her on the 4th night... 

then it was back to me for the 5th night.... this night informed me that i am aging... my body is aging... =S.... my back has never felt so much pain & discomfort that i couldnt find a comfy position to sleep in after the 15 hours overnight shift.... 

Alfred took the last night on Sunday and though mum's brain is still swelling and bleeding and is controlled by lowering her BP and she has to be hospitalised for another 2 weeks, we are thankful to observe that 

mummy can recognise people, can play scissor paper stone... can feel shy, angry, funny... can smile... can nod her head in approval and pucker her face in dislike... can produce a few sound... can write the only word she knows... can feel slight sensation on her right side... can swallow a little... can stroll on her ipad and watch videos... can play homescape... can read newspaper...

she is improving day by day and we are all very happy at each and every little milestone she regains... =D

i am so so so thankful and glad that the 3 younger 蔡家宝s have grown up into responsible adults... each helping to take care of the different aspects of mummy's canteen, the house's beautification, housework and rental etc... 

update update on 25 September:  

Her condition is stable enough for her to be transferred to the community hospital liao... =) 

much thanks for medishield life, $340 is deducted from my medisave for cai mummy's 15 days of hospitalisation ... 

mummy's a fighter, we are fighters ... we will conquer this together!!! 

Lene's Hatchday Date

it has become a tradition to go on Lene's Hatchday Date on Teacher's Day... and i chose to have lunch at Arteastiq @ Dhoby Ghaut this year cos i just love basking in the sun while in aircon... wahahahaha

selfie time while waiting for the birthday girl to arrive... make-up + good camera phone = pretty me... 

 Ginger tea for her and lychee tea for me... 

luv the lychees in the tea... hee

salmon with greens for her 

and satay chicken with prawn mee for me

took two couple photos but she deleted the nicer one accidentally and gave order that the not so nice one cannot be featured on this blog... so no couple photo this year... =S 

popped into SOTA for this year's Yellow Ribbon Community Art & Poetry Exhibition

thought these were cool... 

My favourite piece 

an idea which i can set up as an early finisher activity... =) 

Present Shower Teacher's Day 2019

Celebration started in school with the collections of goodies from the kiddos and colleagues.... 

My favourite is always the hand drawn cards

Yes, i know... =)  

looks like a scene from our art room... =D

this was from Sylvia

a personally designed tile ... so interesting 

variety of edibles 

chocolate is always the hot favourite while that bottle of bird nest is the first for me.... 

cups and water bottles are the norm too... 

pens & notebooks..... luv luv.... 

flowers  

lip care, face care, body care, hand care.... well taken care of from head to toe... =D 

first time receiving an appreciation email from a parent for Art... she reminded me that yes, i had somehow managed to stop kids from asking me if their artwork is nice a not simply by asking if they think their artwork is nice a not and why do they think it's nice or how can they improve on it if they think it's not nice enough because the first and most important person that they have to impress is always they themselves as an artist.... =D 



sweet sweet note from fellow art teacher 


the biggest 安慰 came from the school leaders  


they had customised a tote bag for all the teachers and prepared a personalised note for each of us


... this note is really important to me as a teacher as it reaffirms the teaching philosophy which i shared with them during my moments of doubt and reassures me that the school is totally acceptable to the way i teach and manage my pupils, especially those whom i see as needing more love, more understanding and more chances ... 

felt really really very happy cos Teacher's Day also marked the start of 10 days of 自然醒... WOOHOO!!!