needle equals pain

its 12 noon on a sunday afternoon..... THE WIFE and junior are having their nap and i am in front of the computer thinking of the curry puffs from old chang kee.... the thing with old chang kee is that if you have loads of it often enough, many years down the road, you will be old and chunky.... hmmmm....

we were at the docs for juniors 16 months jap.... frankly i have lost count of the number of injections that junior needs and when they are due.... THE WIFE is the one keeping tabs... me? i am just the one paying for it... whoever said that being a daddy dosent pay? i have been paying through my nose... hmmmm..... we were at the clinic at 11.30 for an 11 am appointment... the clinic is jam packed with parents with their babies and maids.... theres even one maid chasing behind some kid trying to feed her lunch or something..... the easy part is that junior dont need to be carried when we are waiting, he is able to wander around the play corner and mingle..... but among the kids at the play corner, he seems the smallest..... it wasnt long before his name were called and we were in the docs office....

doc: so why are you here today?

me: for his jap...

doc: oh... the 16 month one...

me: i think so....

doc: i see he can walk very well already..... does he response to his name? is he able to pick up small things with his two fingers? does he knows at least 10 words? can he point to his ear nose and mouth?

me: err.... yes.... yes.... i think so.... yes.... yes.....

doc: very good... he seems to know quite a few words.....

THE WIFE: yah... but he still looks pretty small to me....

doc: not to worry able that.... as long as he is eating well.... nature will take its course... but he seems to be slightly below the average weight and height for his age....

me: should i be worried?

doc: not to worry... its not too bad, he is still somewhere in the average.... right, daddy pull down his diapers.... the injection we are giving today might cause some rashes and a slight fever in five days time... if it happens, just give him some fever medicine

me: we just let the rash run its course? i dont have to come running back to you?

doc: no.....

with that, the good doctor jap junior in his little buns and junior let loose with his lungs.... tears are rolling down his little eyes.... junior is starting to associate the needle with pain... i wonder why..... hmmmm.....

little monkey hidding in the cave

its 15 past 11pm... THE WIFE and junior have both turned in, i am still burning the midnight oil on my report due tomorrow... who says that home-work only happen at school?..... hmmmm

we were at the docs today.... it was our second scheduled but third visit to him and thats not including the middle of the night visit with him at the hospial a month ago....for someone in the first trimester, thats a lot of visits.... hmmmmm... we were at his clinic at seven after work for a first come first serve visit, luckily theres only one lady ahead of us... it wasnt long before we were called in.....

doc: hello.... how are we today? are the rashes gone?
THE WIFE: yah, the rashes are gone...
doc: did the doctor gave you a note to pass to me?
(dr thio refered us to a skin doc for THE WIFEs rashes during our last visit with him. A blood test, a course of anti-biotics and consultations cost us $480)
me: nope, but he sure was expensive..... that visit costs us $480 and his clinic dont take nets or credit cards... i think he expects people to walk around with loads of cash...
doc: okay..... so what did he say?
THE WIFE: he mentioned someting about an infection and the virus coming together and little blood vessels breaking up near the skin...
me: but she seems to be getting better if she stayed away from seafood....
doc: hmmm.... you got another appointment with him?
THE WIFE: yah... two weeks later...
doc: maybe he would post me a note or something..... right.. so how are you? you seem to be losing weight...
THE WIFE: yah, i cant seem to keep any meals down, been vomiting three to four times a day.... doc: okay.... lets see how the baby is doing....
(the nurse readies the wife and we are looking at the screen)
doc: here we are... the baby looks fine... i can see limbs forming... he seems to be dancing....
me: hmmm... can i have a picture of that?
doc: no... i will give you something better... after all you paid $480....
me: hmmm....
doc: here.... this 3 d picture would be better... we can see that the facial features are forming... everthing looks very good to me.....

yup... that shy little fella, hiding behind the wall is me number two....

GONG XI FA CAI

its 20 to midnite on a thursday nite... the first day of the lunar new year... THE WIFE and junior are in bed, i am just trying to take stock of the new year... we ended the year of the pig in a hospital.... THE WIFE was having rashes, achy joints and a swollen ankle.... we started the year of the rat in the same hospital... junior had a 39 degrees fever....

THE WIFE was feeling terrible all day yesterday... she could barely get out of bed in the morning and was limping all around the house because of her swollen ankle the whole day... funny thing is, she didnt knock her legs on anything... she just woke up in the morning with a rash and swollen ankle.... she was puking after every meal and feeling crappy all day... i reckon it has something to do with her pregnancy.... she dont seem to be running a temperature though..... after the reunion dinner, we decided to go seek a doctors help, we reckon that we should get this thing sorted out before the holidays.....

we got to the hospital at 8.20 pm... there seems to be quite a few other sick people there as well... we waited an hour before we were in the docs office... the doc looked at THE WIFE, did a once over... before concluding that it might have something to do with her pregnancy.... hmmmm... he ordered a blood test just to make sure... and he adviced us to go see our gyne once the holiday is over... the whole thing cost us $80 and 3 hours... not too bad i guess, considering that we did a blood test and it is on chinese new years eve.....

today started out to be a pretty normal day... THE WIFE is getting better, her joints dont ach as much... we were at me folks house when junior started to get cranky.... at first i thought he just wanted his nap... but after his nap, he is still cranky and seems to be running a temperature... its back to the hospital....

we got to the hospital at about 7... its not as crowded as yesterday... the nurse took juniors temperature... 38.5 degrees.... yup, junior is still running a temperature.... we were told to wait at a separated waiting area for fever patients... it wasnt too long before the doc showed up.....


doc: so how long has he had the fever?
me: since this afternoon....
doc: okay, anybody sick at home?
me: i had a fever last week... could it be because he is growing out his teeth? that why hes got the fever?
doc: fever for growing teeth would not be over 37.5..... it could be a virual infection.... normally i would order a blood test if the fever is over two days old... but hes only got it this afternoon....
THE WIFE: he has been cranky all day...
doc: hmmm.... in that case, i think it better to do a blood test.... and maybe a urine test as well.... wait outside, my nurse would tend to you shortly.....

an hour and a blood test later....

doc: good news, the blood test is normal... i will prescribe some anti-biotics and paracetomal... he should be okay... if his fever dont go away by saturday, come back...
me: okay....

this second visit set us back $110... considering that we did a blood test and it is the first day of chinese new year... its not too bad... hmmmm....