Today, marks the 3rd year.
And it's been 9 months since I last saw him.
To be honest, it just felt like any other ordinary day. The thoughts that were building up in me the last few weeks were all questions.
Is the flame still burning? Doesn't really feel like it.
Is there even any sparks? It's really questionable.
Who knows what will happen next year huh?
Maybe we're better off if we............... nevermind...... *sigh*
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
9:28 p.m. sydney time
and i'm going to bed.
Good night!! *yawns*
On a side note, 1.58kg bag of Reeses Peanut Butter cups was in the gym today. Any food in the gym = physio's consumption. Yummehhhh!!!! My eyes were so big it almost popped out....
Good night!! *yawns*
On a side note, 1.58kg bag of Reeses Peanut Butter cups was in the gym today. Any food in the gym = physio's consumption. Yummehhhh!!!! My eyes were so big it almost popped out....
Thursday, August 18, 2011
After 7 months...
Can't believe I've been in Sydney for 7 months straight. It's the longest I've been here. And for the record, I've been away from Auckland for more than a year now. WOW!!! Been looking forward to this weekend a lot. Sure, I would have been more excited if it was to fly to Auckland but this is gna be awesome too. Flights were so cheap, $97 one way. MUST buy! Ok, my cousin actually bought it for me and say no excuse, I have to go with her. haha!!! So yea.. as much as I enjoy my work, I really needed this break.
I am finally getting a break to get out of Sydney and off to Perth for a weekend to spend with my cousins, their kids, and my 3rd aunty. Excited!! The last time I went to Perth was when I was just a lil 10 year old. Now my cousin's daughter is 11! hahahaha!
Things to do in Perth?
- Visit and stay with aunty and cousins
- Meet up with Pearl - swimming friend back in the days....
- Squeeze in a run... hopefully by the beach, that'd be awesome!!!!
- Sleep ins!!!!!!!
- Shopping maybe? hehehe.. it is afterall... PAY week!!!!
:D :D
I am finally getting a break to get out of Sydney and off to Perth for a weekend to spend with my cousins, their kids, and my 3rd aunty. Excited!! The last time I went to Perth was when I was just a lil 10 year old. Now my cousin's daughter is 11! hahahaha!
Things to do in Perth?
- Visit and stay with aunty and cousins
- Meet up with Pearl - swimming friend back in the days....
- Squeeze in a run... hopefully by the beach, that'd be awesome!!!!
- Sleep ins!!!!!!!
- Shopping maybe? hehehe.. it is afterall... PAY week!!!!
:D :D
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Live life to the fullest (2)
So my patient with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is going home on Monday. Had her for the past 3 weeks.
And gosh! she got me thinking about how I want to live my life.... She's 42 and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was about 30. At such young age, she have already travelled the world, ran up every stairs she came across in Italy, walked the streets of Nepal, climbed Mt. Everest (i think that's like just the base, not to the top) and Machu Picchu... and other mountains I am not familiar with.... Went to the Bahamas ... Went to South Africa and let the locals take her and her sibling out for a night of fun and party not knowing the dangers being a naive 21 year old..... coming back safe and sound but with mum yelling like crazy.... all of these not knowing what was gonna hit her.
She definitely have live life to the fullest at such a young age. And luckily she did before she got diagnosed with MS. She told me how she was glad she did all of these before 'this' all happen. 'This' being the worst attack ever. Now she have no regrets at all. She's seen the world and is contented.
With relapsing-remitting MS, you never know when it will strike you again even after your first attack. The relapses are very unpredictable and is followed by months to years of quiet remission .... without you knowing, WHAM! it can strike again just like that. Many things can happen after an attack. You could lose the sensation in your hands, your feet, you'd get muscle weakness or spasms, an increase in muscle tone, you could develop double vision, you could lose your co-ordination and balance, and can come down to difficulty in initiating a movement. You could pretty much.... not be able to walk despite how hard you try.... And you have to start all over again. Like... Learning to walk....
With this type of MS, you can usually recover fully but some deficits will remain. For example, this lady of mine have loss the sensation and proprioception in her feet. She can't really feel the ground, doesn't really know that she's on the ground till she looks down. She can be stepping on someone's feet and not knowing that she's doing that till she looks. And this is bad because if you can't detect the different surface types, you'd easily lose your balance.
Ok, enough about me explaining what multiple sclerosis is. There's many different types. Google it if you're interested. Google will do a way better job than me explaining this.
Anyway, it has been an eye opener working with this patient aka my 'star pupil' as she puts it. Always so motivated, I usually have to ask her to stop her exercise and not overdo it. It is usually the opposite where I have to ask my other patients to keep going! It was so good to have her sitting next to my other patients in the gym as she motivates them and tell them.. it works! The exercises works! My patients would listen to her and start doing their exercises. I am gonna miss her for that!!!
I really enjoyed my time treating her. I'd take her for walks and she would tell me her travel stories and she would narrate as we walk along the ward. "So here we are in Rome... on your left, you could see the fountain of love...." And when I took her to climb stairs, she'd imagine it's Mt.Everest. My day was never dull I tell you.
I've learnt a lot. Not only how to really find the deficits and treat them specifically. But also... a better idea on how I should live my life. Which is really.... not to hold back and live it to the fullest. Enjoy and make the most out of it. Don't save it for next time before it's too late. You never know what's ahead of you. In her case, being diagnosed with MS. But yea... anything can just be around the corner waiting for you. *touch wood* nothing bad will happen to me ... i'm just saying.... you just never know..... Definitely going to miss her presence. Yes I've admitted and treated many other patients, but I have never felt so satisfied this time. I guess it's more satisfying with neuro patients compared to orthopaedic. Because it's more challenging. Seeing the changes happening slowly but surely. Today was just THE BEST surprise.. not only to her... but to me. She came in, completed 75m during a 6 min walk test with a rollator frame. And this morning, she completed 160m with walking sticks. Double the distance! Test not completely standardized because doctors were walking up and down the corridors this morning doing their ward rounds and hence the distraction. She would have done better. But I'm over the moon with 160m! Wooot woooot!!!!!!
And so... to my other half, Ah Swan, our 25 year old plan will definitely have to go in plan! No backing out. We have to do it. And so is our 30 year old plan..... Hahaha! As long as we complete all those, I'd be contented. Haha!!
And gosh! she got me thinking about how I want to live my life.... She's 42 and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was about 30. At such young age, she have already travelled the world, ran up every stairs she came across in Italy, walked the streets of Nepal, climbed Mt. Everest (i think that's like just the base, not to the top) and Machu Picchu... and other mountains I am not familiar with.... Went to the Bahamas ... Went to South Africa and let the locals take her and her sibling out for a night of fun and party not knowing the dangers being a naive 21 year old..... coming back safe and sound but with mum yelling like crazy.... all of these not knowing what was gonna hit her.
She definitely have live life to the fullest at such a young age. And luckily she did before she got diagnosed with MS. She told me how she was glad she did all of these before 'this' all happen. 'This' being the worst attack ever. Now she have no regrets at all. She's seen the world and is contented.
With relapsing-remitting MS, you never know when it will strike you again even after your first attack. The relapses are very unpredictable and is followed by months to years of quiet remission .... without you knowing, WHAM! it can strike again just like that. Many things can happen after an attack. You could lose the sensation in your hands, your feet, you'd get muscle weakness or spasms, an increase in muscle tone, you could develop double vision, you could lose your co-ordination and balance, and can come down to difficulty in initiating a movement. You could pretty much.... not be able to walk despite how hard you try.... And you have to start all over again. Like... Learning to walk....
With this type of MS, you can usually recover fully but some deficits will remain. For example, this lady of mine have loss the sensation and proprioception in her feet. She can't really feel the ground, doesn't really know that she's on the ground till she looks down. She can be stepping on someone's feet and not knowing that she's doing that till she looks. And this is bad because if you can't detect the different surface types, you'd easily lose your balance.
Ok, enough about me explaining what multiple sclerosis is. There's many different types. Google it if you're interested. Google will do a way better job than me explaining this.
Anyway, it has been an eye opener working with this patient aka my 'star pupil' as she puts it. Always so motivated, I usually have to ask her to stop her exercise and not overdo it. It is usually the opposite where I have to ask my other patients to keep going! It was so good to have her sitting next to my other patients in the gym as she motivates them and tell them.. it works! The exercises works! My patients would listen to her and start doing their exercises. I am gonna miss her for that!!!
I really enjoyed my time treating her. I'd take her for walks and she would tell me her travel stories and she would narrate as we walk along the ward. "So here we are in Rome... on your left, you could see the fountain of love...." And when I took her to climb stairs, she'd imagine it's Mt.Everest. My day was never dull I tell you.
I've learnt a lot. Not only how to really find the deficits and treat them specifically. But also... a better idea on how I should live my life. Which is really.... not to hold back and live it to the fullest. Enjoy and make the most out of it. Don't save it for next time before it's too late. You never know what's ahead of you. In her case, being diagnosed with MS. But yea... anything can just be around the corner waiting for you. *touch wood* nothing bad will happen to me ... i'm just saying.... you just never know..... Definitely going to miss her presence. Yes I've admitted and treated many other patients, but I have never felt so satisfied this time. I guess it's more satisfying with neuro patients compared to orthopaedic. Because it's more challenging. Seeing the changes happening slowly but surely. Today was just THE BEST surprise.. not only to her... but to me. She came in, completed 75m during a 6 min walk test with a rollator frame. And this morning, she completed 160m with walking sticks. Double the distance! Test not completely standardized because doctors were walking up and down the corridors this morning doing their ward rounds and hence the distraction. She would have done better. But I'm over the moon with 160m! Wooot woooot!!!!!!
And so... to my other half, Ah Swan, our 25 year old plan will definitely have to go in plan! No backing out. We have to do it. And so is our 30 year old plan..... Hahaha! As long as we complete all those, I'd be contented. Haha!!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Work's great!!!
Despite the run of difficult, demanding patients I have...
I gotta admit... work's still awesome!! Because praises from one or two patients can just make it all better again :)
I got a patient back on a walking stick in 3 weeks when last time, it took her 5 weeks to get back on it. She said I'm the best physio :) And I'm gorgeous and she wants to intro me to her hot cousin (i'm taking that as a compliment. lol!). And she gave me a box of mini cupcakes from The Cupcake Factory the other day (of course, I shared it).
And there's other patients who wants to matchmake me with their grandsons. Italian men... hmmnnnn.... hahahaha! should I consider? haha! just kidding!
Apart from that, I am very well fed at work. BBQ lunch for staff, pot luck lunch within the allied health department, kitchen staff treating all the staff do a cooked lunch...... ohh god!!! not forgetting the endless chocolates and lollies lying around the physio gym... one of the physio was given 3 boxes of ferero rocher by a patient of hers and it's now on the table for all to share!!!!
It's no wonder I have to keep up with my running!!!
Friday, August 05, 2011
Ballet Revolucion
I think I am one of those people who succumbs to TV ads.
If you think that video was impressive, wait till you watch the live performance. Totally mind-blowing. Took my cousin along with me as I have been wanting to treat her to something for quite awhile now. I felt like I was watching So You Think You Can Dance/Step Up live ....... but better! It was a combination of ballet, hip-hop and contemporary - the Cuban way. The sounds span from flamenco and Cuban Jazz to hits by artists such as Enrique Iglesias's Hero, Shakira's Hips Don't Lie, Ricky Martin's She Bangs, Beyonce's Single Ladies, Usher's DJ got us falling in love again, and my favourite, Cee Lo Green's Forget You, because of it's quirkiness and humour. Love it!!! Plus, they had a live band that was playing/singing all these songs and they were pretty good. I was a bit skeptical to buy tickets for the final show in Sydney as performance might lack energy and enthusiasm as the dancers have been performing for few nights in a row.
But my oh my was I wrong! The moment they came on stage, you could tell that they were full of energy and passion. Couldn't keep my eyes off the stage from the very start till the end. Didn't even wanna blink! I have to admit, I couldn't stop staring and the bodies of the male dancers quite a bit... when they had their shirts off. OMG! Hot hot hot!!!!!! nice chiselled bodies... the abs.... aHhhHHHHH!! *screams*
Love the way they ended the show. They 'ended' with a modern ballet dance to Prince's Purple Rain and everyone was calling for an encore. I'd be kinda disappointed if they had really ended it with a ballet and they did not fail to disappoint. They came out again (i'm sure it's all planned....) dancing to more modern hip hop songs, filled with even more buzz than ever. The audiences were all clapping to the beats while they were dancing and the live band did a great job to include the audience. There couldn't be a better closing than this I reckon'. Final show in Sydney - AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
After two weeks, I am still buzzing!!!!
I spent AUD 186.40.... biggest spending ever for 2 hours of entertainment. No regrets :) (of course must have no regrets... it's 186 bucks man! lol!) The joy of earning money ---> spending it!!! We were waving spirit fingers ever since. Haha!!!
If you think that video was impressive, wait till you watch the live performance. Totally mind-blowing. Took my cousin along with me as I have been wanting to treat her to something for quite awhile now. I felt like I was watching So You Think You Can Dance/Step Up live ....... but better! It was a combination of ballet, hip-hop and contemporary - the Cuban way. The sounds span from flamenco and Cuban Jazz to hits by artists such as Enrique Iglesias's Hero, Shakira's Hips Don't Lie, Ricky Martin's She Bangs, Beyonce's Single Ladies, Usher's DJ got us falling in love again, and my favourite, Cee Lo Green's Forget You, because of it's quirkiness and humour. Love it!!! Plus, they had a live band that was playing/singing all these songs and they were pretty good. I was a bit skeptical to buy tickets for the final show in Sydney as performance might lack energy and enthusiasm as the dancers have been performing for few nights in a row.
But my oh my was I wrong! The moment they came on stage, you could tell that they were full of energy and passion. Couldn't keep my eyes off the stage from the very start till the end. Didn't even wanna blink! I have to admit, I couldn't stop staring and the bodies of the male dancers quite a bit... when they had their shirts off. OMG! Hot hot hot!!!!!! nice chiselled bodies... the abs.... aHhhHHHHH!! *screams*
Love the way they ended the show. They 'ended' with a modern ballet dance to Prince's Purple Rain and everyone was calling for an encore. I'd be kinda disappointed if they had really ended it with a ballet and they did not fail to disappoint. They came out again (i'm sure it's all planned....) dancing to more modern hip hop songs, filled with even more buzz than ever. The audiences were all clapping to the beats while they were dancing and the live band did a great job to include the audience. There couldn't be a better closing than this I reckon'. Final show in Sydney - AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
After two weeks, I am still buzzing!!!!
I spent AUD 186.40.... biggest spending ever for 2 hours of entertainment. No regrets :) (of course must have no regrets... it's 186 bucks man! lol!) The joy of earning money ---> spending it!!! We were waving spirit fingers ever since. Haha!!!