Yes everybody. I’m doing ok. Thank you to those who stopped by and gave words of encouragement. I had the operation last Thursday and was warded for just one night. I remember the Wednesday night before, undecided on whether to go to work the next day. I had a meeting scheduled at 10am, so initially I had decided to go in for my 10 o’clock meeting then get hubby to drive me to the hospital. No can do. 6am found me already found me in profound pain that I decided to go directly to the hospital and get the operation over and done with.
It took me forever to get ready, partly because the pain had gotten so bad that I could hardly walk. Finally we all bundled into the car around 9.30am. The kids were still in their pajamas so after dropping me off at the hospital, hubby drove the kids and Nisa to my mom’s house. He asked one of the porters to take me to my Gynecology’s clinic. By that time, I was already ready to cry out from the pain. Oblivious to my predicament, the stupid man wheeled me upstairs. Before I had a chance to tell him “I need to see my doctor, NOW”, he left me in the middle of the hall, with my ticket number. Hell no!! No way am I gonna wait patiently to see the doctor with this kind of pain. Luckily I caught the doctor’s clerk passing by and told her that I needed to see the doc NOW, and she going to have to examine me NOW and admit me into the hospital NOW. Having tears running down my cheeks must have helped my situation coz within 2 minutes I entered the doctor’s office. Luckily hubby also arrived at the time (he borrowed my brother’s motorcycle) so he proceeded to explain to the doctor what I was going through. Within 20 minutes, I was warded and 20 minutes after that they prepped me for the operating theater. 1 ½ hours later I was wheeled back to my room, sleepy but no longer in pain.
The doc saw me the next day and explained the operating procedure. Eventhough they had performed marsupialization, a different procedure than before, she explained to me that chances of having BGA reoccur still existed, though had been significantly reduced. OK, I guess I can live with that. I really pray and hope I never get BGA again. It’s not something I would wish on even my worst enemies.
Stay chill everyone. Happy posts coming up soon.
I’ve talked abut my illness twice before; here and here. I guess I was kind of vague, partly because I was ashamed with what I had. However, I’ve decided to open up here and tell you more.
I have Bartholin's gland abscess (BGA). I’ve had it three times before, this is my fourth time. I am in pain, tolerable only because of the high dosage of painkillers my doctor prescribed me. The first 2 times I got BGA, I had to go for an operation to drain the fluid out. The third time, I got lucky and the swelling subsided by itself. This time, I’m not so lucky. Most probably tomorrow I’ll have to check in for another operation.
BGA is a women’s thing so you guys out there can relax. Lucky bastards. Don’t have to worry about labor pains; don’t have to worry about your vagina swelling up.
Most women don't even know they have a bartholin's gland, I had never heard of them myself until I googled “vagina infections”. It is a tiny gland inside each of the labia near the opening of the vagina, one gland on each side. They produce fluid that lubricates the vagina. Basically when a woman gets horny, those glands get working. Very important!! There are tiny ducts in the gland and if those get 'clogged' up by skin cells or secretions, it can form a cyst. If the cysts get infected, then they become BGA.
I hate BGA. I hate it with a f**king vengeance. I hate the way it robs me of my ability to function, to walk, sit down, and think. I hate the fact that it makes me scared to go to the toilet. I hate the ever throbbing sensation that starts from my crotch all the way down to the end of my toes. I hate the overwhelming pain.
Why am I talking about my embarrassing illness here? Why publicly on my blog, when I know people who know me will read about it and most probably look at me funny. Because I believe that knowledge is power. I believe women need to know about this. Men too, tell your wives, sisters and girlfriends. Also, this is not a married woman’s illness; I’ve heard that virgins can get BGA too. I wished my doctors had explained to me about BGA before, I would have known what to expect and figured out what to do in order to keep them at bay. If I had known what I know now about BGA, I wouldn’t have felt like a dirty idiot before. I wouldn’t have blamed lack of hygiene or too much sex. I wouldn’t have blamed hubby.
I know now that BGA can’t actively be prevented. According to statistics, about 2% of the female population gets BGA. Of course with my luck, I would be included within that bloody 2%. I read up on other women’s experience with BGA and they scare me. Each and every one talks about the pain over and over again. Trust me, you know how it feels when you get a really bad toothache? Imagine that pain in a very sensitive place and you get the idea.
I’m hoping my opening up would help some person out there who might be going through the same thing. I want you to know that there’s no shame in getting BGA; it’s not your fault. It’s just dumb bad luck.
Pray for me tomorrow.
To know more about Bartholin's gland abscesses, you can google it or click here, here or here for more info.
God damn it!! This happens every year. Hubby’s birthday is next Monday and of course, I’m strapped for cash and out of ideas for what to get him. I asked him what he wanted and with a grin, he said a Toyota Wish would be nice. Suuurrrree, let me just check my savings account…wonderful, just enough to make half a months’ payment. Yippeee!!
I only have myself to blame. I’ve spoilt hubby with extravagant presents every birthday and anniversary that he’s begun to expect them. Sure, he doesn’t ask for them, but if I were to not buy him anything for next week, you can bet he’ll feel some kind of disappointment.
Thing is, I love buying hubby presents. I love seeing his face, the way it lights up when he opens up the wrapping and sees what I have for him.
I need ideas. I think gadget-wise, he’s pretty much set. I could take him out for lunch but that’s sounds just so lame. So people!! Put on your thinking caps and give me some ideas on what to get for hubby. Many thanks in advance.
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I was on mc today. My illness, the one I thought was in remission, has reared its ugly head again. I went to the doctor and she gave me some pain killers, antibiotics and something for the swelling. There’s not much else I can do but pray that the things just subsides and doesn’t get any worse. I’ll hate to have to go for the operation again.
I found out that someone googled “Sexy Puchong Girls” and was directed to my blog.
I am horrified!!
What vile creatures have roamed my blog and defiled my sacred place? What unholy thoughts went through their mind when they saw pictures of my precious girls?
Urgh…I need to go home and take a bath. A scrub bath.
The play was. how should I say this…different. There were some good bits and some not so good bits, but I’ll get into that in a while.
Tickets for M! is sold out, so for those who wanted to wait for a review and then decide whether to go see it, you’re too late. They had an extra show yesterday but I heard a lot of the tickets were snapped up by the corporate companies. But never fear, unlike Puteri Gunung Ledang (which I’m still kind of galat for missing it), M! isn’t what you would call A Must See Production.
The storyline goes like this; M! and Sepi are childhood friends. M! mom is a kampong tailor, famous for being able to create designs that..emm, enhances the female form. Whatever. For some reason, M!’s mom gets pregnant (there’s no mention whatsoever of the father though), and dies when giving birth to M!’s brother. The weird thing is M!’s brother is born with a needle in his hand. He’s considered to be a cursed child and is taken away by the village people. The needle is given to M!, who gives it to Sepi for safekeeping.
Fast forward 20 years or so and M! is now a famous designer. He’s the talk of the town and his bigheadedness causes him to forget about Sepi, his muse. Sepi is angry with M! and in her rage, gives away the needle to Kerabat, M!’s rival. However M! and Sepi make up and decide to get married. Kerabat, who I think is in love with Sepi, decides to take revenge by using the needle to create a poisonous dress for Sepi and M!. In the end, only M! wears the clothes given by Kerabat and dies. Turns out Kerabat is M!’s brother. Kerabat regrets his actions and Sepi is left wailing into the night in her wedding gown.
What I Liked About M!
The costumes. The theme of the show was about fashion, so you would expect the costumes would be extravaganza. And they were. I especially loved Sepi’s wedding gown. It was white, with sparkling diamonds on the bodice and back. Sepi is a beautiful girl to begin with, and in the gown, she just shined. I also loved the costumes that were parade during Kerabat’s fashion show. I think Tom Abang Saufi created those. Divine!!
The singing. Doreen Tang as Sepi was really good. Her soprano voice was just perfect for the role. Kerabat, played by George Chan, was also impeccable. He stole every scene he was in. Unfortunately, the main role M!, played by Khir Rahman, didn’t impress me all that much. His singing was under par, compared to the rest of the cast. I think because his background was more of a rock star (Khir was part of the rock group, Iklim), whenever he sang it felt more like being at a rock concert instead of a theatre. Other impressive singers were Maizurah Hamzah, who played M!’s mom, Azean Irdawaty, who played Cik Tom and Peter Ong, who played Solomon. I also have to play tribute to the child actress, Elyssa Murni Johari, who played Sepi as a child. This girl is only 12 years old but has the confidence of an adult. Word is, she’s cutting an album soon so we’ll be hearing lots more from her.
The overall energy from the cast. You could sense that they were all really into the play and everyone was proud to be part of it. The dancers were great, plus all the background singers were also energetic. 4 months of intensive training and you would think they would have been bored to death of the play.
What I Didn’t Like About M!
The sets. They were too simple and the crew recycled most of them again and again. The props also were very simple and could have been greatly improved. When you think about how many sponsors this production managed to secure, you have to wonder where all that money went to. Disappointing.
The songs. They were horrible. Sorry, there’s just no two ways around it. The songs, how can I explain this, were random, had no rhythm, unmemorable. There were times were I thought the singers just randomly sang their notes, going high or low whenever they wanted to.
Some inappropriate scenes. I went to see the show with my mom and brother, and there were some scenes that made me a little uncomfortable. I guess the director was trying to be too liberal but in an Eastern culture, some scenes could have been toned down. Did M! cup Sepi’s breast when he took the needle from her necklace? Did Kerabat kiss her neck when they sang their duet together? A lot of flesh was flashed about and plenty of cleavage too. I never knew the makcik-makciks at the kampong wore such sexy outfits.
Overall, I think M! was an ambitious project to undertake. I applaud the effort but I also think there were several parts that could have been greatly improved. There were some funny bits (when Sepi said yes to M!’s marriage proposal and when Kerabat called Sepi, si Sunyi Sepi) but the storyline was jerky and the dialogue was too poetic and flowery. It made it even more difficult for people to understand what was going on. The subtitles didn’t help as they only translated what was easy to translate. It would have helped immersive if they had a narrator of some kind to explain the storyline.
In conclusion, when comparing M! to other productions I’ve seen like Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Cats, I’ll have to say Malaysian theatre still has a long way to go before they’re up to par. However my mom enjoyed herself, and to me that's what made it all worth while.
The House is finally complete. No more major renovation, except for the built-in closets. Saturday was spent cleaning the entire house and garden. Well, I didn’t participate as I was the official babysitter but everyone else did. Even Dania. Pictures coming soon.
Sunday, I took my mom to see M! The Opera at Istana Budaya. Review coming soon.
Sorry I can’t update more but I’ve just come out from two concurrent meetings and I’m high on caffeine and kuih cokodok. Bananas make me bananas.
One the things my mother always used to lecture me about was my stubborn streak. I was so stubborn as a child; even a mule would respect me. There were so many times that I would go on hunger strikes, just to show my stubbornness. I guess it’s true when my mom said to me, “Just you wait until you have kids of your own, then you’ll know what it feels like.”
Dania isn’t what I would call a stubborn child. I mean, she has her moments but she’s very easily bought over with soft-spoken words and signs of encouragements. Dina, on the other hand, is a totally different case. If she gets it in her head NOT to do something, no amount of sweet talk will get her to do it.
For instance like last night. As usual, hubby would bring the kids up to sleep around 9pm and sometimes he would fall asleep also. So most of the time, I’m downstairs watching TV by myself, until 11 or 12pm. I would normally take my bath right before I go to sleep coz it helps me sleep better. I can hear my mom tsking me for doing this (taking late night showers).
So last night, I must have made more noise than usual during my bath coz Dina woke up. I lay down beside her and tried to get her to go back to sleep. After several attempts, I just gave up and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. Usually Dina would fallow suit, seeing how there’s nobody for her to play and talk with but last night she felt awake enough to give herself a tour of the bedroom and proceeded playing with my handbag and all its contents.
I gave her 10 minutes before I whispered loudly, “Dina, come back to sleep.” I must have spooked her somewhat coz she scrambled back to her mattress and plopped herself face down into her pillow, hitting her sister in the face with her head. She gave a little groan then proceeded to stay in that position. I watched her for a couple of minutes then tried to move her into a more comfortable position. Everytime I did, she went back into the same position; face down into her pillow with half her body on top of her sister. This went on for quite a while, until I finally gave up and whispered to her, “Fine, sleep like that, you stubborn little girl.”
Of course, once I had crawled up into bed, Dina changed position into the more comfortable one I had tried to put her in earlier. As I watched her settle down and fall asleep, I heard my mom’s voice, “Just you wait!”
Yes, yes, I’m guilty for not updating my blog for so long. I apologize for the long silence; it’s just that work has been crazy the past few weeks. The suckers even have me on call on weekends!! It hasn’t slowed down but then work will always be there. Anyway, this post I dedicate to Syikin who pestered me to update my blog anyhow. Hehe..
So much has happened since I last updated. My parents’ new house in Shah Alam is finally done and now my mom has gone into crazy packing mode. I’m afraid of going to her house, in case I’ll be sucked into vortex of boxes and bubble wrap. I dropped off some boxes at her house at a time when I specifically knew she wouldn’t be in. Bad daughter!! I really should go help her pack but then what use are my three brothers, then?!! Huh? Bros…pack your crap and then help ibu pack hers!!!
I’m excited to see the finished house. Since I only get to see it on weekends, everytime I go something new has been added. On weekdays, my mom calls me to give updates. Everyday, its one dilemma after another. First there was problem with the lighting and then the ceiling caved in after a heavy rainfall. Then everybody wanted different colors for their own bedroom. More contractor problems then the alarms didn’t work. The renovation project was supposed to be done end of 2005, which of course didn’t happen. The end date was pushed to end of January 2006, which was again pushed to before Chinese New Year. Then after a BIG row between my mom and the contractor, things finally picked up this last week. Now what’s left is to clean up and move all the stuff from the old house to the new house. Considering how much crap, err stuff, my mom has, I anticipate that may take another month or so.
What else has happened? Oya, we got some new people joining the department. One of them used to be a newscaster from NTV7. All these changes have me thinking about our new department structure and what it may mean for me workwise. There’s still no news on any upgrading exercises, which sucks coz I’m supposed to be up for one this year. I’m gonna lay low until we’ve finalize on the new structure and direction for the department then think hard about my next move. If things look ok, then I might just stay in my comfort zone. I’ve come this far, I can survive another 4 years. If things suck to high heavens, then I guess I either change departments or start looking for another job.
Well, everyone knows about the hike in oil prices. For me it means my dream of owning an MPV is getting further and further into the distance. It also means we, as a family, really have to start changing our lifestyle. I can’t do much when it comes to food; I can’t bear not going without chocolate for more than a week and the kids absolutely have to drink Vitagen once a day. So cutting down on food is not an option. However, we have started cutting down on other stuff. Like shower foam. Use soap. It’s cheaper and they last longer. Same goes for shampoo. Do I really need a separate shampoo and conditioner? I’ve started using Rejoice again, it’s cheaper and it works. We’ve started using store branded items instead of the regular branded ones. Hey, all those cents add up, right?
Oo, Lost is on. I’ll write more later.
Just grabbing a few minutes here to post an entry before I go for one of my many meetings of the day.
Mohammad Naqib. That’s my baby nephew. Sorry, no pictures yet, but I’ll describe him for you. Tiny, gangly like the father, with thin, blond hair. You read right, his hair is blond!! Or rather auburn. Light brown. Whatever, it’s not black. MIL said it’s normal for some babies to have brown hair at first then it falls out and the black, permanent hair grow in.
He’s tiny, weighing in at 2.2kg when he was born. Kind of surprising coz SIL was healthy when pregnant, not a bout of morning sickness. Hubby kept looking at Naqib asking “where’s the meat on this kid?”, both of his daughters came out round and chubby. Hahaha. But he’s healthy and has a fine set of lungs on him. Alhamdulillah.
I haven’t updates much on my girls lately. Dina has started talking in German so instead of just Bababababa, she has now added Googibiloba, ugabanana and sheeebinono to her vocabulary. She now knows when to nod to mean yes and when to shake her head and scream to mean NO! She’s learned to put her milk bottle on the table when she’s done and to take her shoes from the shoe rack when she wants to go outside. She can push herself forward on her bike, instead of just backwards. She likes sitting in my lap to read her books to me, with arms and intonation going up and down as she narrates the story. She adores her big sister, even when they’re fighting over the same toy.
Dania has grown so much, it’s alarming. I can’t believe she’s going to be four in 2 months time. She loves drawing, coloring and reading. She loves playing her computer games and has gotten into the habit of drawing up a second chair to the computer table so that Dina can join in too. I don’t know when it started but every night now before she goes to bed, she would give me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Goodnight Ibu, Assalamualaikum. Bless that child, for every gray hair she gives me with her antics, she makes up for it with her love and cuteness.
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