It's a clear and sunny day!

It's clear in Roland Garros and hopefully there will be no more rains that will delay the French Open.

Say bye bye to my ear block!

It's also a clear and sunny day for me! Finally my ear block is gone. I've went through suction with an ENT specialist, Prof. Prepa at UM Specialist Centre yesterday. It's painless and in fact it's quite a cool experience (that's exactly what Che-Cheh convinced me).

Guess what? After the procedure, I can't stop smiling from ear to ear. It feels like a heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulder (or ears). I wasn't comfortable at the beginning and even a little bit now because it feels like I've just discover my superpower hearing. Now I realized how sound polluted our environment is!

Thank you everyone especially my loved ones for their patience, love and understanding. I know I've been moody for the past 2 weeks due to 'I can't hear you, you can't hear me' and 'you don't understand me' kind of situations. Thanks a lot to my boss for her understanding as well. And I can't thank enough of my blogging circle of friends here for your support and advice!

By the way, a lot of people have suggested that Prof Prepa is a very good ENT specialist. Now I'm one of them. I'm going to get him a thank you card later after work.

(Image from Getty Images)

Listening to my own voice (part 2)

Finally this morning I said to myself I had enough. I've been suffering for a week now due to ear blocked and it has been affecting my work, relationship and my lifestyle. I can't communicate properly due to partial hearing loss.

I thought probably Cerumol has helped me to loosen the wax and it's time to get a small procedure done. I am not entire mentally ready for the suction but I just can't take it anymore. Meeting an ENT expert is my last resort. Thank you to Che-Cheh for giving me some advice and confidence. It does help!

So I went to UM Specialist Centre (UMSC) and was consulted by Prof Dr. Prepa. I was told to use the ear drop (Cerumol) for few more days (in a correct way and sufficient amount) until the wax has loosen. And by Friday he'll have the suction procedure done.

Hence I still have to bear with the echo of my own voice inside my head. Haih... I need a dose or two of the French Open matches to numb myself already.

Listening to my own voice...

I'm taking a break from blogging for awhile. I've been experiencing ear block for about a week now and not in the mood to do anything. I've been physically distracted and not able to concentrate at work, no appetite, no interest to do any kind of activities except rest and hoping to regain my full hearing soon.

I've seen GP, applying Cerumol every day and night to loosen the earwax and started to drink salt water and barley to reduce heatiness. Worse come to worst I'll have to go to ENT and do suction or syringing which I really hope not.

In the meanwhile I'll just continue to listen to my own internalized voice (which I don't really enjoy) and the quietness of the surrounding.

Will be back soon.

Eminem exceeds 200 lbs and rushed to hospital due to heart problem

Everyone is so concern about weight and yet the majority of us never determine enough when it comes to losing weight. And that includes me.

I always give the same excuses, that I don't have the time to cook and when it comes to eat outside, I can't get any healthy food. And going for an evening jog is almost impossible as I usually work late. The excuses can go on and on.

Many people are finding it hard to make that decision to take action to lose weight. Even celebrity like Eminem knows he is getting fat back in the year 2006. The rapper hasn't been serious about hitting the gym.

And today, he is in the news for having complications from pneumonia. It is said that his weight has exceeded 200 lbs and having serious heart condition and severe pneumonia.

He has been released from the hospital now and resting at home.

(btw, this is a photochopped picture of Eminem that I came about in the internet)

rest day

I had a tough day working yesterday because of eye infection/stress. I couldn't even eat since yesterday because I was too distress by the situation.

I thought long hours of sleep last night would help but it didn't. Believe it or not, I could barely open my eyes because its muscles were so weak.

This morning I was taken to the nearest clinic. Even the doctor didn't want to stare long into my eyes. He gave me an eye drop, medicines to relax eye muscles and to relieve pain and itchiness and asked me to take 2 days off.
After taken the medicines and sleep for the whole day, now I'm fresh and my eyes are okay again. I'm not sensitive to light anymore. I can even blog right now. So I'm going back to work tomorrow. Miss my work.

So guys, don't concentrate too much on your work or in front of your computer for long hours. Always remember to take a break in between work. I have no problem when I was younger but I guess age is catching up.

crohn's disease

Yesterday, I finally saw my teenage student, A. We were supposed to start our tuition class in January. However we had to delay the class until yesterday due to his illness, which he told me was known as Crohn's disease.

I was quite shock to see how much weight he had lost during the school holiday. I remember very well that our last class was in November and he was still the chubby looking boy. It was heartbreaking for me to see him losing 9 kg in just 2 months.

I decided to read about the disease starting with wikipedia. According to the site, it is said that the usual onset is between 15 and 30 years of age, with no difference between men and women. The main gastrointestinal symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, which may be bloody, and weight loss.

The cause of Crohn's disease is not known. It is only known that the disease occurs when the immune system contributes to damage of the gastrointestinal tract by causing inflammation.

My student, A, will be on a long term medication and would not be able to take part in any outdoor activity. I hope the doctors will be able to help him recover soon.

wear mask, please........

I was lucky to avoid the worst haze in PJ a couple of days ago. When I came back from Penang this evening, I expected a lot of people to wear masks (as seen on newspaper) in KL and PJ. However, a lot of people are still ignorant and avoid wearing one. I presume these are the reasons why people still have not get a mask for themselves.

1. Wearing mask is not cool and embarassing.
2. Still have not decide which mask is better, the conical mask or the surgical mask. (Perhaps the SDU mask is even better, but where to get?)
3. It's out of stock!
4. Waiting for Malaysian Crescent Society or health ministry to distribute free mask rather than buying the pricey mask at pharmacy or 7-Eleven.
5. There's not much difference between the normal (polluted) days and the hazy days in KL.
6. Smoking is more hazardous because it kills. That's why our government campaigning for anti-smoking but not anti-haze although we suffered from it every year since 1997.
7. ONLY two districts are in the state of emergency. So, we are still safe.
8. We do not receive any wide coverage from the international media or support from WHO. It means our condition is not that bad.