Of Having Pets and Tinting Our House

One thing that I learnt from staying home (to take care of Hubby after the surgery) is how hot it actually gets in the house! When we first looked at the Cahaya SPK master plan, my main concern was how it needs to be a corner house with a dead end, for safety purposes. Hubby's main concern? The price. But that's besides the point.

Unfortunately, we didn't even ask whether our new home would be facing the morning or the afternoon sun. So of course we got the worse of the two. And after a week of surviving through the heat, I told Hubby, enough is enough! How the hell did the maid and Aiden survive the heat? And there is simply no way that we were going to live in this heat during Ramadhan. So finally Hubby succumbed and agreed to tinting the house.

Apart from the welcoming the new house look, we also welcomed new family members to the house! Hubby wanted to get a pet for Aiden and both him and I agreed that a cat wouldn't be suitable (it is simply too heartbreaking for me) so in the end he decided to get some fishy fish fish for Aiden!

Off we went to the biggest kedai ikan in Shah Alam. Xian Leng is the name of this place (I googled it!) and it is right beside Wet World. I swear, this shop has one of the best selections of fish, comparable to Pets Wonderland!

Aiden got so excited when we arrived. He wanted to jump in!!

Wandering by himself, mesmerized by the fish.

Then he realized that I wasn't right behind him and so he cried out for me to come closer.

"See Mummy, there, fish!" he said with a pout...

They not only sell fish, they have guinea pigs too! Super cute.

Pretty polka dotted ikan pari.

Aiden's own mini aquarium.

Look at his excited face. He just couldn't wait to give the fish mamam food!

Waiting patiently for Daddy to open the plastic bag filled with fish.

Spooning the fish into the aquarium with Mummy's senduk sup (soup ladle). Iskh!

The next day it got so unbearably hot in the house and we were so worried that the fish wouldn't be able to take the heat so Hubby decided to plop in a few ice cubes into the tank.

Seriously, the water was so hot that the ice cube melted in a couple of seconds!

Thank god the next day the tinting guys came!!!

Tinting the dining hall windows.

And the living hall of course. The living hall has floor to ceiling windows which isn't really conducive for keeping the heat out.

We were debating for the longest time between going for green or brown. In the end we settled for green. See how much difference the tint made to the living hall window? The guy claimed that it would reflect 80% off the heat. And he was right!

And this is how our tinted house looks like!

Thank You, IJN!

In a nutshell, Alhamdulillah, it all went well.

I guess there was a silver lining from the postponement of the surgery after all. Because we had spent a week at the first class single standard room, we knew how the rooms looked like and how the nurses were, and therefore we enquired about upgrading ourselves to a deluxe room. And surprisingly, I found out that for private paying patients, the price for a single standard and a deluxe room was exactly the same! I only had to pay a (refundable) deposit, in case of insurance coverage issues.

And the best part was, it was the only ward which had no stipulated visiting hours. Therefore Aiden could come in and out anytime he wanted (or rather anytime I found to be convenient for us), and there was no rush to get him out of the ward before 8pm!

Huge windows with plenty of sunlight - definitely good for a recovering patient!

The view from our window, although we can barely see KLCC since there was a gigantic building under construction blocking that view.

There was even a welcome pack!

The comfortable waiting area and the nurses' counter.

So if you're ever in IJN (which I sincerely hope you avoid), get a room on level 4!

Once we had moved in and had a late lunch, the nurses brought us to see the physiotherapist at the IJN old block. There, we were counseled about how the lung was going to collapse during a bypass surgery and the exercises that Hubby needed to do to increase his lung capacity back to normal. Then we met the junior surgeon who explained how the surgery was going to be done and the risks associated with it. And finally, close to 7pm (these poor doctors work around the clock, do they?), we met the anaesthetist and signed a consent form for the surgery. By the time we got back to the room, panic had began to set in. Like a sudden realisation that the surgery was going to go on in the next few hours!

Hubby's family arrived just after Isyak and by the time they left (including Aiden), it was close to midnight so after prayers we both just laid side by side on the hospital bed, watching TV, not saying a single word. It was simply our way of comforting each other without saying anything.

Since Hubby's surgery was scheduled to be the first one in the morning, come 530am I was already up, getting ready to pick up Aiden from my aunt's house to bring him to the hospital. Meanwhile, Hubby's family unfortunately had overslept so they drove over with F1 speed and managed to arrive close to 7am. Hubby was wheeled in at 730am.

This was after we had all sent Hubby to the OT. Aiden insisted on going on the same bed his Daddy used to get to the OT so the nurses offered to wheel him back to the ward. I did not follow since I had to wait at the OT waiting room, but according to my SILs, he behaved really well!

Since the surgery was estimated to be about 4-5 hours, we assumed that the surgery would only be done by 12ish, therefore Hubby's family returned home for a shower and breakfast while I waited (with my sister, who arrived just minutes after Hubby was wheeled into the OT). There was also another family waiting at the waiting area and they all recited the Yassin as a group, so you can imagine how intense the atmosphere was for us. And it didn't help that the last time I waited at the waiting area (during Hubby's minor surgery), a lady was called into the OT by one of the nurses who told her that the doctor wanted to see her. And when the lady returned to the waiting room she was sobbing as she called her sister to tell her that their mother had passed away. So yes, it was a very scary moment for me.

At about 10-ish, I saw a couple of nurses from the fourth floor wheeling the second patient due to be operated after Hubby. I had befriended a chinese lady sitting beside me, who was a supplier for some medical equipments and was waiting for a meeting with one of the doctors. Since she was really well versed with the hospital, she told me that it was normal for them to wheel down the second patient when they were starting to stitch up the first patient. Immediately I panicked. 3 hours in and they were already closing in on my husband??? It could only mean that the surgery was an easy success or it was bad news. I started pacing up and down the waiting area. I simply could not think.

Alhamdulillah, the surgeon came out at about 1130am and told us the good news. He asked where Hubby's parents were so I had to make up a white lie about them being on the way! Hubby was eventually sent to the ICU close to 1230pm. I took pictures of when he was still asleep, with all the wires running into his body and a huge suction hose in his mouth - but they are pretty personal pictures so I cannot publish them here.

Hubby was in the ICU for 2 days and then at the HDU (High Dependency Unit) for 1 day. Finally he was moved back into the normal wards. When we escorted him from the HDU to the wards, he was shivering in pain and was so down and depressed. Why was he shivering you ask? Because it was the first day that they had cut his morphin and put him on panadols. Yes, you read that right. Panadol! Orang migrain bolehlah makan panadol, but after an open heart surgery, you give panadol??? Poor Hubby couldn't even talk since he was in pain. And as his lung had collapsed, there was a lot of liquid in his lungs which came out as phelgm. He was literally shaking from the pain when he had to cough his phelgm out. Our request for a higher painkiller was only approved in the evening as the surgeon was in the OT all day long, and after the painkiller, I finally saw a smile on his face.

During the recovery period, we were given the biggest room (excluding the suites) on the floor.

Very spacious!

Hubby's relatives from Perak (his Dad's side) made a trip down to see him and we managed to fill up the whole room! Cannot imagine how much noise we must have made that morning.

Godiva chocolates from Hubby's department mates.

Thank you to all who came to visit us - our relatives, our neighbours, the BBGS gang, the ex-office mates, the current office mates (and even the owner of Hubby's company!) and last but not least, thank you IJN for the successful surgery, the extremely capable surgeons and cardiologists, and the excellent bedside manners your nurses provided to us during the past 9 days.

Alhamdulillah, it all went well!

Solace in Running

Recently, I found tranquility and peace of mind in running.

Previous excuses I used to give to myself when I was too LAZY to run were:

• I much rather spend that time with Aiden.
• The treadmill is in the guest room.
• I cannot bear leaving Aiden at home alone while I drive to the clubhouse for a run at the gym.
• I'm tired from a long day at work. I'll do it tomorrow.

However, after being saddled with so many issues surrounding Hubby's surgery, slowly but surely I felt like I was going to crack. Crack from the pressure, the sheer exhaustion, juggling family and work priorities, all of this while still having to put up a smile at the end of the day and reassure everyone that everything will be alright.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not forcing myself to be all smiles, all day, everyday. I am naturally born like that. Friends close to me know that I usually keep all these pent up emotions and sweep them under the carpet until one day it goes kaboom and you see me crash.

But somehow, I found solace in running. One day, I just slipped on my running shoes and started running towards the hills of Cahaya SPK. The hills are actually part of Precinct 1 - where the bungalow lots are. Not even a single house has been built except for one under construction. Previously some of us would run up daily but then when security became an issue, it became such a taboo to run there. But the day I started running, I guess I just didn't care. I just needed to get away.

InsyaAllah, everything will be okay...

A Week In IJN

So if you guys are wondering whether the surgery was successful or not, guess what? Our surgery date was postponed - not once, but twice! So the most recent date we were promised is this week! It was very frustrating emotionally for us. Imagine, preparing yourselves mentally for such a major surgery only to find out that you have to wait some more. Worse, I had to inform family members, especially mine who had taken leave and planned to drive down from Ipoh to be with me during the surgery. Not to mention the distress Aiden had to go through everytime we drop him off at my aunt's house or the unpacking and repacking we had to do. I sincerely hope there is a silver lining amidst all of these chaos.

We were actually already on the way to IJN when we received the call telling us about the postponement. But in the end they told us to proceed to IJN anyway because Hubby had to do a minor procedure called a cardiac catheterization to measure his lung pressure.

Apart from this postponement issue (in which our cardiologist advised us to be patient and to put up with the surgeon's schedule since in the end, it is his hands that we want to do the repair), all my previous experiences with IJN has been fabulous. Okay, there is this one lady at the admission counter who was a bit kerek but then again she meets all kinds of Tom, Dick and Harry daily so I guess she's forgivable. And IJN impressed me again with their new wing of the hospital - the elevators, the interior designing, the rooms (the deluxe rooms even have wood laminated floors!), the food and most importantly the ensuites! Since my entitlement for every admission is a first class single standard room, this was extended to Hubby as well and I have to say, the rooms are even better than the ones in Gleneagles!

Sorry for the poor picture, the lighting was bad and I desperately need an iPhone upgrade. Anyway this is the single standard room. I even had a pull down bed for myself! Ample chairs in the room with a flat screen TV.

My bed is right beside the ensuite. No complaints there as I definitely appreciate the bed rather than having to resort to a foldable beach chair. Even Prince Court provides a sofa bed, so to have a bed with fresh sheets daily is definitely comfortable!

Cheerful stickers in the room. The only downside is the television channels. Don't expect to get Astro around here. You only get local TV, and even then the reception isn't that great. You can also choose to buy a card which will get you a day of unlimited selected movies. Will probably try that our next trip here.

The room in the morning, very bright and sunny! Was a bit jakun with the soap they provided with the in-room sink. You step on an inflatable bubble on the floor to dispense the foam soap. Very hygienic, I must say.

See how my pull-down bed magically hides itself into the cabinet? Designed to match the wardrobe right beside it.

Toilet looks brand new and clean, with new tiling and a solid surface sink.

Nice eh?

Colourful mosaics for the shower, similar to what you would normally see in a modern kitchen backsplash! And the shower curtain in blue.

Nurses wheeling Hubby out for his minor surgery. Very professional and attentive nurses. Each shift they will assign one nurse to one patient so whenever you press the call bell, the same nurse will attend to you. She is also expected to know your case as well, so she knows which doctor to call and your medication dosage.

Three meals are provided per day with morning break and supper drinks. They provide a menu which is changed daily, and you are required to pre-order one day before. They can also prepare meals for a single person who is taking care of the patient, at a pre-determined price. I must say, the food is quite tasty although the portions are quite small. Dinner timing is also not suitable for us as they serve it at 6pm, so by 9pm Hubby is hungry again. Thank god my aunt's place is close by, so whenever I send Aiden to her house at night, I have my dinner and tapau dinner for Hubby as well.

The nurses' counter.

The walkway to the wards.

Funny story, Aiden was on the bed while Hubby was outside talking to the doctor when a Malay lady opened the door and walked into our room exclaiming "Ini ke yang sakit?" (Is this the one who is sick - referring to Aiden.) I had to quickly clarify that Aiden wasn't sick, and she actually gave a sigh of relief then walked out. I guess she was genuinely concerned that a small toddler would have heart problems.

We, on the other hand, are so used to seeing toddlers and babies at IJN that we don't even bat an eye when one walks in front of us. This is because, everytime Hubby has an appointment in IJN, he always meets with a Paediatric Cardiologist as Hubby's heart condition is a congenital one (he was born with it). All the nurses at the Paediatric Department knows him because he is usually the only adult patient around there. Just last week we saw this tiny tiny baby in an incubator being wheeled into the cardiologist room. The baby was probably quarter the size of Aiden (who was Alhamdulillah, a healthy 4.1kg baby). It breaks my heart everytime I see something like see this and usually I would say a quick prayer of thanks that Aiden was born healthy.

Six hours after the minor surgery, Hubby was allowed to stand up, and we were shocked when he started bleeding from the incision at his groin on the right. Turned out that the nurses did not plaster the area well! And Hubby also had to stay on a few days because he developed hematoma (internal bleeding) at the incision at his groin on the left, which is quite normal since they had to puncture his artery to insert the catheter. So he was sent to do an ultrasound to check whether there was any active bleeding. Thankfully there was none so we were finally allowed to go home on Tuesday afternoon. That's 5 days in the hospital - excluding the weekend as we opted for home leave.

Back home, we were greeted with my family members who came all the way from Ipoh. I guess my Dad panicked when he heard that Hubby was bleeding so the whole gang came down to visit us.

Hubby was so happy to have a home-cooked lunch for a change!

My Dad's first visit since we moved house!

And since we had so many visitors, SIL and I baked pastries for tea. Silly me wrote Aiden's name on the pastry but of course after it was baked it didn't show!

So tomorrow we're checking into IJN again, and hopefully the surgery runs as planned. Please join us in praying for a successful surgery. And thanks for all the words of encouragement that you have left in my previous post. I sincerely appreciate each and everyone of them.