"Do you have diabetes?"

Yet again, I've been asked that question. This morning, I was back in the hospital for another round of dressing treatment. This is my third session at the hospital, and I've been served by a different nurse each time.

Today's nurse asked me when I had gone for operation. I told her the date. She was quite surprised, and wondered why my wound has not yet healed. The nurses who had treated me the first and second times overheard our conversation, and chipped in their comments of bewilderment too. "What, you are still coming back for dressing treatment?" "I thought you should have recovered by now?" "The skin hasn't grown yet?" "Why is the flesh yellowish in colour?" And then, one of them asked, "Do you have diabetes?"

Sigh, I told them I was tested for it soon after my operation, as the doctor wanted to find out why the infection on my thigh had gone SO wrong. But the test result was negative. I do not have diabetes.

After today, I wonder if I'm suffering from anything else.

Christmas Day

Today, my SgRunners friends went down for the ultra-marathon at MacRitchie Reservoir. They ran the required 5 laps around the reservoir (a total of 52.5 km), and some of them went on to run a few more. Philip, for example, ran 6 laps in total. Well done! How exciting! Pity I wasn't there with them, either to take part or to cheer them on. :( *sigh*

I woke up at around 11 am, had some noodles for lunch, and prepared to go down with my parents to Boon Lay to my brother's place where he wanted to host us to a BBQ. :) It was nice. My sis-in-law's mum and younger brother came as well. We had our chicken wings and sotong balls, and were also entertained by my bro's dog, Nuki.

Nuki the wonder dog

But the whole afternoon, I was feeling rather tired. Perhaps it was because of the late night I spent at the hotel yesterday. Or could it be due to a subconscious dread of starting work next Tuesday? Hmm....

Countdown to Christmas!

Today, I celebrated Christmas Eve with my former colleagues from DSTA at a hotel by the Singapore River.

Chee Kong, Chris Ang and I met at the hotel lobby at around 3 pm. It was quite a funny sight, the three of us checking in. I was still limping slightly. As for Chee Kong, he had gone for his triathlon training at Sentosa earlier in the morning, during which he fell off his bike and suffered grazes on his legs and shoulder. Chris Ang had recently undergone operation on his left leg, which left him limping as well. :) So the three of us hobbled our way from the Concierge to our room on the top floor of the hotel, carrying all sorts of Christmas goodies for our party later on.

Chee Keong arrived soon after, armed with his camera, and started taking pictures of us, the room, the view from our window, etc. He also brought with him a book that he was currently reading - "A Prison Diary" by Lord Jeffrey Archer (a book which I strongly recommmend). Soon after, Chee Keong slipped off to explore the swimming pool.

Next to arrive were Li Lian and Yiting, who brought with them some bottled drinks and some crisps. A little while later, the two ladies also went out to explore the hotel. The remaining three of us guys watched "Johnny English" on TV.

Audrey and Richard came next, but I didn't get to chat long with them. Instead, I went out with some of the guys to buy more food and drinks at Raffles City. By the time we got back (after picking Wilson up along the way), Audrey and Richard had already gone off for their next Christmas Eve appointment. In the meantime, Yi Ju and Ying Tat had turned up at the hotel and were watching "Bicentennial Man" with Li Lian and Chee Keong. Ming Jern, too, had also arrived, but he spent most of the evening talking on his mobile outside the hotel room.

At around 8 pm, we began to feast on the turkey, log cake and salad that Chee Kong had bought and/or prepared. Nan Yan (who was still nursing a bad sore throat), Ah Khen and their three kids, Zoey, Zoelin and Nigel, came by at around 8:45 pm. The children were active and playful, and enjoyed themselves thoroughly in the hotelroom. We played card games with them and watched "射鵰英雄传" on TV. Zoey also gave me a large Christmas greeting card that she had painted herself, and for that, I am very touched and grateful :)

It seemed that the whole evening, we just ate, drank, watched TV and enjoyed one another's company. :) But it was a great feeling, because these were such wonderful colleagues and friends of mine, and I missed them dearly ever since leaving DSTA for my new job.

I left the party at 11:30 pm, catching a ride home from Ah Khen. I hope to be able to join them for the next monthly gathering...which should be back to Sentosa for a Saturday afternoon of games ;) Gosh, I hope I don't get called back to work that day.

One completed house...how many more are needed?

I have just received this picture from Hwee Kiang, a good friend of mine who works with Habitat for Humanity Singapore. It's a picture of one of the completed houses which my team helped to build during our short one-week house-building trip in July this year to Tibang Village, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (Banda Aceh was one of the worst hit areas by the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004.)

It has been a year since the terrible tragedy which swept away so many people's lives, families, homes and dreams. Habitat, like many other charitable organisations, has poured in much manpower and resources into the reconstruction efforts of the tsunami-striken areas. Yet, so much more remains to be done. My wish for the tsunami survivors this Christmas is that they will find serenity, peace, calm and stability in their lives.

I could have been a really rich kid

I've just been told that my great-grandfather used to be some really rich personality in Singapore. In his heyday, he owned two hotels, one laundrette and one tailor-shop that had an on-going business contract with the then-colonial British Army in Singapore for their military uniforms. He was a generous and hearty man. Unfortunately, as he grew older, he started being cheated of his property, thanks to crooked businessmen and mysteriously-appearing distant relatives who preyed on his trusting nature and kindness. By the time my dad entered in his early teens, the family had lost most of its fortune, save the roof under which they lived.

Gosh, I wonder how life for me would be, if I had been born into the household of a tycoon. Maybe I wouldn't have to slog so hard at work. And maybe I wouldn't have to think so much about my finances whenever I go shopping for gifts for friends. And maybe I would have worn something much more impressive than my blue windbreaker for my school's prom night.

*sigh* Reality is not that great, but I'll live...by the provident and magnificent grace of God, which all the wealth in the world cannot measure up to.

Final Medical Review

I went to the hospital today for a medical review, almost two weeks after the operation on my right thigh. The doctor who spoke with me in the consultation room was a smart-looking young chap, and he was very friendly. He noted that my wound was about 80% granulated (whatever that meant!) and that I was recovering quite well. "Another two weeks," he said, "and it'll just be a scar left." Great!

The doctor also extended my MC until this Friday, which meant that I won't be back in the office until next Tuesday (Monday is a public holiday, as Christmas falls on Sunday this year). Even then, I would still need to come by the hospital on Tuesday morning for another session of dressing.

The nurse who attended to me at the hospital today told me to lay off bananas, and "eat a guava every day". She was also quite optimistic that by Tuesday, my wound would have "dried out" and new skin would start to grow over it.

A visit from Felix

Felix came by this afternoon to visit me at my home. I haven't seen him in years. He happened to be in town on vacation from his business school in the States, and we had made an appointment on Sunday over MSN to meet up today.

Felix was my academic senior in secondary school and junior college, and later on, we were both in the same college at university. It was during our time together in Cambridge, in our varsity Christian fellowship circle, that I got to know him really well.

It was good to see Felix again today, even though we only spoke for about one and a half hours. He doesn't seem to have aged a day, but he certainly has gained a lot of valuable experience and knowledge by independently working, living and studying overseas, particularly in the US. He shared with me how he adapted to his hectic working life, and encouraged me, saying that I too would be able to adapt to the requirements of my current job, given enough time.

Felix and I also talked about some of our friends from college. But I don't think either of us had the time to catch up with most of them. We were, and are, such busy people! We talked about exercise. In the university, Felix was my source of inspiration to work out at the gym. We also talked my present obsession for running. It intrigued Felix that I run so much nowadays. Back in those varsity days, I was hardly the runner. At that time, the longest that I had ever jogged was for about 40 minutes. My usual weekly routine would be to start near the back gate of Christ's College, head down Jesus Lane, cut across Mid-Summers Common, run along the River Cam until I reached the farmhouse at Coton, before I u-turned back to the varsity campus. The weather was much drier and cooler in the UK, but to me at that time, it was still a very punishing affair to run that distance. And look at me now. I have completed a 42.195-km marathon in hot and humid Singapore! :)

Before Felix left, we took some pictures together on his digital camera, one of those slim and compact models. But the machine went dead after a few shots. I think it might be a battery problem, and I hope it's not anything more serious. But I suspect Felix was a bit disappointed that it happened, because he was due for a dinner appointment, and he probably wanted to use his camera there too.

Felix will fly back to the US after Christmas. In the meantime, I wish him a very blessed Christmas here with his family and friends in Singapore. :) Take care, bro. :)

Red is a Good Color (again)

Monday...dressing day. I received the same comments from the nurse. "Look, it's nice and red. Good colour."

I'm due to go to the hospital on Wednesday for a review with the doctor. I wonder if he'll say the same things to me. And I wonder when the skin will start to grow over that red, open patch of raw muscle...

Predicted best running times

Seal posted a link to this interesting running site. I keyed in my average race-time for 10-km, and the website generated the above predicted best running times for me. Gosh, if the predictions are accurate, I will need to "up" my training, so as to cut 40 minutes off my marathon timing.

又过了一天

今早八点钟就起了身。吃了花生酱三明治，服了抗生素药丸。之后，开始阅读上周末刚从邻里图书馆借来的《家中自学西班牙语参考书》。我自学这外国语已有一段时期，就是还没掌握了它。凭目前的水准，虽然能够阅读些较简单的新闻报道、故事书以及小说，譬如巴西名作家保罗·科埃略的作品《第五座山》，但是我仍未能够下笔写出文法正确，用词恰当的句字。会话方面更是不用说了。家中、工作及社交的环境并不宜使用西班牙语聊天，练习的机会、场合何在？

中午，妈妈从熟食中心买回了热腾腾白鸡义烧饭。爸妈我三人一起用餐。

三点。我翻阅些杂志。看着，看着，眼睛儿慢慢地合拢，不知不觉地就睡觉了。睡得很不安。虽然在家中休息养病了十几天，精神仍非常差，做起事儿，也提不起十分精神，一直感道疲累。希望下个礼拜五，当我回返工作岗位时，精神会好些儿。

This was supposed to be the season to be jolly

I just chatted briefly with Chris Ang over MSN. He's warded in the hospital right now, after having undergone a long-overdue operation on his knee earlier today. But he said he would be discharged by tomorrow and would report straight to work. Hopefully, the operation will mend his problematic knee once and for all, and he'll soon be able to enjoy all his favourite sports without pain in the future. I wish him all the best in his recovery.

Of late, it seems that many of my relatives too have been in hospital. One of my paternal uncles was warded a week before I was, after being bitten in his garden by a rat which refused to open its mouth after it had sunk its teeth into my uncle's finger. Around the same time, one of my maternal uncles fell off a ladder in his workshop, and injured himself quite badly too. Two days ago, another maternal uncle suffered a stroke and collapsed in an elevator near his home. He is now still in hospital, and my aunt, who isn't in very good health herself, is visibly worn out by the whole ordeal. *sigh*

In this month of December, some of the other SgRunners too have been going to the hospital to visit their beloved family members -- but for their privacy, I shan't mention any names here. I just want to say that I'm fervently praying for the recovery of their loved ones, as well as for the recovery of the members of my whole extended family.

I'm sorry that all these had to happen near Christmas. We were all supposed to be happy and enjoy the festive season, and not spend our time grimacing in pain, lying on hospital beds or being worried sick for our loved ones.

It may grow OUT

The nurse told me a frightening piece of news today. She said that my flesh in my thigh cavity was growing nicely, but it might just grow OUT of the wound, before new skin is able to grow over the hole and seal it up. *Gulp* But I'm not to worry, she said, it only might happen. I'll find out the answer for myself on Monday when I go back to the polyclinic and get a fresh set of dressing for my leg.

有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎

Ying Rui and Chee Kong just came by to my house for a short visit to see how I was doing. They also brought me some chocolate :) Thanks! We chatted in my room for about an hour on a wide range of topics, including how I landed in hospital and how my former DSTA colleagues were doing. It was really good to catch up with the both of them. Chee Kong also told me about the Fullerton Hotel event that he was organising on Christmas Day, and encouraged me to go along for it. He said that even if I wasn't able to go swimming (because of my wound), I could at least sun-tan by the poolside and enjoy the company of the rest of the guys and gals there. It's a nice suggestion. I can't wait to meet up with more friends, and get brown again. Thanks again to Ying Rui and Chee Kong for visiting...I really appreciate it!

A possible visit!

YR sms-ed me earlier today, and asked if it would be okay if she popped over at my place for a short visit tomorrow to see how I was doing. That's excellent news :) I can't wait to have friends coming over.

El cartorce de deciembre

Hoy es el cartorce de deciembre, miércoles. Por la tarde. Estoy en mi habitación. No puedo trabajar, porque aún tengo una herida en la pierna. No puedo también salir de la casa para ver a los amigos míos, ir a compras, correr en el parque público o tomar el sol en la playa. Por estos razónes, tengo una pocita tristeza. Tengo mucho tiempo ahora, pero ¿qué debería hacer?

dejavu

i look around - four walls - massive thick slabs - virtual prison - one door - but can't get out - window grille - steel vertical bars - i look out - freedom beckons - steel vertical bars - i look in - breathe - breathe - breathe - time crawls - invisible chains - i seek contact - where is life - SMS - MSN - chatrooms - friends digitised - depersonalised - distant - at work - busy - on call - they have no time - time crawls - on my end - television - same ads - same unstimulating programs - where is life - need to move - need to run - stare at wound - breathe - breathe - breathe - reality check - i look around - four walls - massive thick slabs - virtual prison - one door - but can't get out - window grille - steel vertical bars - i look out - freedom beckons - steel vertical bars - i look in - breathe - breathe - breathe - time crawls - invisible chains - i seek contact - where is life - SMS - MSN - chatrooms - friends digitised - depersonalised - distant - at work - busy - on call - they have no time - time crawls - on my end - television - same ads - same unstimulating programs - where is life - need to move - need to run - stare at wound - breathe - breathe - breathe - reality check - dejavu

Red is a good sign.

A new nurse handled my dressing today. The wound looks redder than before, but she assured me that it was healing okay, and that red was a healthy colour for muscle. *cringe*

After washing the area with gauze soaked with saline solution, the nurse stuffed a fresh piece of gauze, coated with some duodermal gel that is to aid healing, into the hole in my thigh. I took a picture of that too, and I guess that makes a nicer picture (below) than of the raw hole itself (today's image here).

Death by monotony

I've been spending this whole week either in hospital or at home (with mandatory daily trips to the polyclinic). The boredom is killing me. There's only so much TV I can watch, so much sleep I can get in bed, so much work that I can do off my take-home office laptop, so much online games I can play. The monotony is driving me nuts.

I can't go church, or go to the gym, or meet up with my friends. Today, I can't even go help cheer on my SgRunners friends for their MR25 Time Trial. :(

I wish I had some friends with me.

A "mouth" in my thigh

Today, I went for my daily dressing treatment at the polyclinic. The pain was much less, and I had mustered enough courage to actually look at my wound after the nurses removed the bandages and gauze. It looks like a small mouth - except it didn't have teeth or a tongue. Freaky. I took a picture (do not click on the link if you're the faint-hearted sort...) of it with my mobile phone.

New Nerves?

As of this afternoon, I have had the strangest sensation in my right thigh (where the doctors had operated on). The muscle there keeps "jumping" and "twitching" on its own. It feels really weird, and sometimes it just makes me cringe. My dad says it is probably because new (and therefore extremely sensitive) nerve fibres are growing and they are causing my thigh muscle to contract at the slightest stimuli. I'll need to verify this with the nurses tomorrow. But right now, all I can say is...that the sensation is very freaky. :P

Dressing at the Polyclinic

Yesterday, I made my first trip to the polyclinic for my dressing treatment.

Negotiating down a couple of flights of stairs on a pair of crutches from where I live to the lift-lobby storey took a while. I am still not too good with crutches, but I suppose that will require time and more experience. Once my parents and I were downstairs, we flagged a cab, and took a ride to the polyclinic.

Waiting time was quite short (about 15 minutes) because I had a referral letter from the hospital and was hence directed straight to the waiting area outside the dressing room. When my number was called, I went in. My parents waited outside...which was good because the dressing treatment was a painful affair, and I didn't want them to see me in a state of tears.

The nurses in the dressing room were very understanding and kept telling me to relax. But I found that I couldn't. The pain which I had experienced in hospital seemed to have left a deep scar in my memory, and I began to tense up the moment I saw one of the nurses bring out the tray with the bottle of antiseptic liquid, pincers, gauze and bandages. They suggested many ideas for me to relax, including singing to myself, thinking positive thoughts, counting to 100, imagining my girlfriend was with me etc. I tried the singing, and buried my face under my cap and waistpouch. I couldn't bring myself to see what the nurses would do to me.

The procedure seemed to take forever. The nurse in charge of my dressing had to stop several times because she couldn't bear to continue when she saw that I was in such a state of distress. She poured more liquid into the small cavity in my thigh, and allowed the gauze (which had been stuffed inside the cavity the previous day and which had been soaked with body fluids released by the raw flesh in the cavity) to soften further for easier removal. Each time she started again to dig out the old gauze with her pincers, I could feel the metal prodding against the raw flesh in my thigh, and gosh, did the tears stream down my face!

Eventually, the dressing procedure was over. It was less painful than the previous two occasions (in hospital), but took far longer to complete. I cannot imagine having to do this every day until my wound recovers...

Singapore Marathon

I just saw the links to some of the pictures taken over the past few days by my friends in SgRunners. :)

Some of my favourite pictures are reproduced below:

From L-R: Reno, Ong, CheeryRunner, Balasing and DO at Suntec Swensens for pre-Marathon Carbo-Loading (3 Nov 2005)


TLR's nephew, Fahd, with Reno at the 30-km SgRunners Support Point (4 Nov 2005)


My buddy Chris Ang, 75% into his virgin marathon (4 Nov 2005)


Some of the SgRunners who were present at the Marathon (4 Nov 2005)


Another group shot at the end of the Marathon (4 Nov 2005)


The SgRunners Support Team. From L-R: Reno, whr, Fd and Cosmic_Wind (4 Nov 2005)

Hospital...there and back again.

Spent the last few days in hospital...the chain of events...according to my fallible memory...

MONDAY

7:20 am - I wake up. The pain due to the swelling in my thigh has become unbearable. I still have no idea which terrible insect "kissed" me in the leg and left me with an infection zone of about 12 cm in diameter.

8:00 am - With Mum's advice, I decide to go to see the family GP. I hobble out of the house. Mum comes with me.

8:20 am - Mum and I arrive at the GP. GP looks at the swelling, and says I should go to the hospital, but he also advises that it would be cheaper to get a referral from the polyclinic. Hobbling is too tedious, so Mum and I flag a taxi to go there.

8:30 am - Mum and I arrive at the polyclinic, and we register to see a doctor.

8:45 am - Dad joins us at the polyclinic.

9:40 am - My number is called, and I go in to see the polyclinic doctor. He makes an immediate recommendation that I go to one of the local hospitals for surgery. He adds that I should be prepared to be hospitalised.

9:45 am - I go to Room 14 of the polyclinic, where I am handed a referral letter.

10:00 am - Mum and I head back home to grab some essentials. Dad leaves us for his own medical appointment at another hospital.

10:20 am - Mum and I leave home for the "Accident and Emergency" of the recommended hospital by taxi.

10:45 am - We arrive at A&E. I am given a wheelchair to seat in.

2:30 pm - My name is called. Mum and I enter the consultation room to see the hospital senior consultant. She says I should have surgery and be hospitalised. She says that someone at the reception will sort out the ward/bed numbers.

2:40 pm - The lady at the reception says that it will take some time to confirm the ward/bed number. I ask if there would be any problems if Mum and I go get lunch in the meantime. The lady indicates that we can go and eat.

2:45 pm - Mum and I have lunch at the hospital Kopitiam.

3:20 pm - Mum and I return to the reception area. A nurse pushes me off to my bed in my ward. Mum follows behind.

3:30 pm - Another nurse informs me that I shouldn't have eaten anything. The operation requires me to stay off all food and drink for at least 6 hours. I crawl into the bed, feeling nervous and unwell.

3:40 pm - A nurse inserts an IV needle into my left hand. Ouch. She then injects a stream of antibiotics through the IV needle directly into my bloodstream. I feel the cool antibiotics rush up my forearm through my blood vessels.

4:15 pm - Mum leaves for home, while I begin to doze off.

5:00 pm - I am awakened by a nurse. She gets me into my wheelchair, and pushes me to the X-ray department. I get two X-rays taken of my right thigh. Apparently, the doctors were concerned that the infection on my thigh could have spread to my thigh bone.

5:20 pm - I am wheeled back to my bed.

7:00 pm - Dinner-time in the ward, but I am not given anything to eat or drink.

8:00 pm - Mum and Dad arrives for a visit.

8:15 pm - My colleagues from work turn up - Eu Gin, Joanne, Yi Chiun and Wei Wen. They bring a balloon and much laughter. Yi Chiun passes me my phone charger which I had left in the office. Eu Gin passes me a book from Chew Qi. Meanwhile, Mum and Dad goes out of the ward to give my colleagues and I some time together.

9:00 pm - My colleagues leave. Mum and Dad comes back into the ward.

9:30 pm - Mum and Dad goes home. I gradually fall asleep.

11:45 pm - I am awakened by a male nurse. He hands me an operating gown, and requests that I change into it. I ask if I could go to the toilet and change there. He nods.

11:55 pm - I return to the ward, wearing the operating gown. There are now two male nurses there. They lift me onto a trolley, lay me down, and tuck a thin blanket around me. They then push me out of the ward towards the operating theatre.

TUESDAY

12:05 am - I have arrived at waiting area of the operating theatre. The anasthetist asks if I have any drug allergies or whether I am on medication. I reply in the negative. He says that's great.

12:10 am - I am wheeled into the operating theatre. The anasthetist says he will give me a quick jab. I watch him insert the needle.

6:00 am - I awake to the sounds of a fellow ward-mate clamouring to go to the toilet. I realise that operation is already over and I am back in my ward. I see the huge, thick bandages around my right thigh. I also realise, from this point forward, I cannot move around without a wheelchair anymore.

8:00 am - Breakfast. It is delicious. It is my first meal in the ward since I checked in.

10:15 am - A staff nurse pops by and says it is time to change the dressing of my wound. What would happen in the next five minutes is pure, indescribeable pain.

10:20 am - The staff nurse leaves my bed. I am in tears. I ask another nurse for tissues to dry my eyes.

11:00 am - A doctor comes by to inspect me. He says I need a blood test. He suspects I might have diabetes. Because of the blood test, I will be put on a food- and drink-fast from midnight tonight.

12:15 pm - Lunch is served. I eat as much as I can.

1:15 pm - My colleagues from work come by to visit - Eric, Joanne, Chew Qi, Wei Wen, Mark and Eu Gin. They pass me some chocolate ice-cream, as well as a get-well card.

1:45 pm - My colleagues leave.

2:10 pm - Two female nurses draw the curtains around my bed, take off my operation gown and give me a good "towelling" and "wiping". They joke that I look too young to be working, and that I should have a girlfriend. They also dress me in the normal hospital garb.

3:30 pm - Dad comes by briefly, then adjourns for his own appointment at some other department in NUH.

3:45 pm - Tea-Break Time. I get Milo with biscuits. Yummy.

4:45 pm - I am awakened by a tall man standing at the foot of my bed. He points to a fruit basket left on the table, and waves a receipt in front of my face. Ah, my employer has sent some fruits. I duly sign the receipt, and the deliveryman goes off.

6:30 pm - Dad comes back again. His appointment is over. Mum also arrives from home at the same time. I bet they must have coordinated to come at the same time. Mum serves me some of her excellent home-brewed lotus soup.

6:45 pm - Dinner is served in the ward.

7:15 pm - My pal, Chee Keong, comes by for a visit. Mum and Dad goes out to the corridor. Chee Keong and I chat for a good while. I enjoy his company.

8:00 pm - Chee Keong leaves. Mum and Dad comes back in.

8:45 pm - Chee Kong and Chris Ang arrive to visit. This time, Mum and Dad leaves the ward and heads off for home. Chee Kong and Chris Ang talk with me about Sunday's marathon, and how we can train to improve our timings.

9:15 pm - Chee Kong and Chris Ang leave. I try to get some sleep. It is stuffy in the ward, and my wound hurts. I also drink some water. Once it is midnight, I will not be allowed to consume any food or drink.

WEDNESDAY

3:20 am - I wake up, and ring for the nurse. I need to use the toilet. She brings me a bottle.

7:25 am - I wake up a second time today -- this time, by my phone. Mum is calling. I answer her call. She wonders if I have woken up.

8:00 am - Breakfast is served, but again, I don't get any portions. I can't eat anything before my blood test.

8:10 am - Two doctors come by, and instructs a nurse to remove the dressing on my thigh. The pain is acute as she lifts the bandages together with bits of my flesh and blood plasma. The doctors check the cavity in my thigh, and reinforces the need for me to do a diabetes test. Despite my protests of pain, they insist that I should check out of the hospital today.

8:20 am - A houseman comes by and draws my blood for the test. The pain is nothing, compared to that when removing and applying dressing.

9:45 am - The staff nurse arrives with her tools to perform dressing on my thigh. I bury my head under my pillow, and choke on my own tears and groans.

10:30 am - A nurse removes the IV needle from my left hand. A technician removes cables, tags and wires from my bed. It seems like the hospital can't wait to send me off.

12:00 pm - Lunch is served. I eat like a horse.

12:30 pm - Penguin comes by for a surprise visit. I am very glad to see her.

12:35 pm - Mum and Dad arrives, preparing to check me out of the hospital.

12:45 pm - Penguin makes a move.

1:00 pm - The staff nurse arrives, and explains the check-out procedures to us. We spot that the MC is printed with some errors. She smiles and says that she will get the doctor to issue a new and correct one. Upon Dad's inquiry, the nurse tells us that the X-ray test and blood test were negative. The infection had not spread to the bone, and I do not have diabetes.

1:20 pm - Dad has another medical appointment elsewhere. He decides to go off for his appointment. Mum and I will deal with the checking-out on our own.

1:30 pm - The nurse returns with all the remaining documents. All is well. But Mum and I are told that there is no wheelchair or crutches up for rental. I dread to think how I will move around at home. Mum rings up Uncle, who had earlier agreed to fetch us from the hospital.

1:45 pm - Uncle arrives with his car, and Mum and I "hop" in. After Mum explains our predicament (no wheelchair/crutches), Uncle tells us that he has a spare set of crutches in his house. Thank goodness. He drives us to his place, pick up the crutches, and then he sends Mum and I back home.

2:15 pm - I am finally back home.

Discomfort

I don't know if it's because I had soaked in too much sun today, or whether it's the effect of the medication I'm taking. I'm feeling very flu-ish, drowsy and there's a headache setting in...coupled with the dull, throbbing sensation where the insect had stung me. Argh...this is horrible...and I didn't EVEN run the marathon today.

The Marathon Today!

Today, I got at 6:10 am, caught the MRT to Eunos where I met Fd and Cosmic_Wind at 7:15 am. We took a ride in TLR's dad's car, and arrived at the 30-km mark along the marathon route in East Coast Park. whr joined us there. At about 7:30 am, as we were in the midst of setting up the table, banner, drinks and medical aid kits, there was a loud blaring announcement: "Stay off the road. Runner approaching." Gosh, the first runner had already reached the 30-km mark just 1 hr 36 minutes into the race. Amazing! It turned out to be a whole group of fast runners (Kenyans, I think). After them, the rest of the runners started passing us by. The first SgRunner to arrive at our support station was TLR. And then we received "visits" from (in no particular order) DO, Kops21, DreamRunner, IronManDreamer, Tiwazz, Skyvers, Wildcat, Cyberkinetic, Sanji, 136, Astrogirl, Alvo, Smallfoot, Commando, Cookie, Mythos, CheeryRunner, Yojanjan, Carine, Penguin, and many more, including non-SgRunners who though that we were the official drinks-cum-musclerub-cum-vaseline provision station for the marathon! :) whr did a good job in providing massage for some of these runners. ;)

It was a good run for everyone, I guess. The main complaints were the standard: hot weather and cramps. I had a good time myself, cheering the runners on, and doing my best to give them the "support" they needed. I saw quite a number of buddies on the road today, including Gary, Yeow Hin, Chairman, Ong, Derrick, Eugenia, Kok Leong, Hosea, Mark, Chung Kiat, Chris Ang, Zac, Chee Kong, Kelvin Koh and Hai Siang. :) It was great!

At about 11 am, we packed up our station, and headed back to the Padang, to the finishing line. As usual, the SgRunners did the photo-taking, chit-chatting, encouraging and all that pleasant stuff that runners do at the end of a challenging race. But I didn't join the SgRunners for lunch. I went instead to eat and drink coffee with my former DSTA running friends who had also completed the 42-km. Yingrui was there too. :) I haven't seen them in ages, and I was glad to find them in good health and in excellent spirit.

After that, I headed west to Tiong Bahru where I met up with Grace and Pong for tea. I showed Grace - trained as a doctor in the UK - the area of my thigh where a cursed insect had stung me, and she said that if the antibiotics didn't have an effect after 1-2 more days, I may want to consider to go to the hospital and ask for an intravenous antibiotic injection. Grace and Pong are getting married in April 2006, and I have been asked if I would like to be the emcee for the wedding. I'd love to! :)

Circles of Pain

I was stung in the thigh by an uncompassionate insect earlier in the week. Now the wound has become infected. Where the insect stung is a tiny white circle, followed a concentric dark red circle of about 2 cm in diameter and a larger dark pink circle of about 6 cm in diameter. Where the flesh is pink, I can feel slight pain when I press upon it. Where it is dark red, all it takes is a brief brush of the hand to trigger off massive jolts of pain. Even walking around in long pants/jeans/berms hurt, because the fabric rubs against those circles of pain. Where the flesh is white, I only need to touch it once to learn my lesson NOT to touch it again.

So today, I spent over 2 hours waiting at the polyclinic to see the doctor for the insect sting, spoke to the doctor for about 3 minutes, and was discharged with a stack of antibiotics and some antibiotic cream. :P But good news. Doc also said that my foot injury (which I had reported to him two weeks ago) was neither a fracture nor gout. But he couldn't quite pin-point what the problem was, and recommended that I stay away from running for another couple of weeks.

After paying my medical bill, I went down to Suntec City and met up with the SgRunners for lunch at Suntec Swensens. It was great to meet up with the gang. I also popped by Swissotel, where some of my friends were putting up for the night before race-day tomorrow.

It's all quite exciting, really. Hosea from Habitat for Humanity Singapore is running. Paul from Club Rainbow is running. Mark from my present office is running. Sharon and the rest of the Y-Runners are running. My chums from my former workplace are running. The SgRunners are running, and so are my Mt Faber SAFRA running pals. Everyone's talking about hydration, nutritution, carbo-loading, power-gels, stretching, hitting the wall, going for the next forthcoming overseas marathon, personal best timings, pacing, etc. *sigh* I wish I were running too. *sigh* I'm out because of my foot injury, and to make matters worse, there are those horrible circles of pain on my thigh.

Tomorrow, I'll wake up early and meet Fd, Cosmic_Wind and whr to man the SgRunners support station along the 42-km route, near the ECP MacDonalds. It's the least I can do to participate in the Marathon...short of running it myself.

Mid-Week Review

My week got off to a bad and shaky start, but it has been gradually improving. Maybe it's the effect of the good o' Christmas mood setting in. Anyway, I've accepted the fact that I will not be running in the marathon this year, but hey, life goes on right?

I haven't had the time to really keep up with the SgRunners forum, and so I only have the foggiest idea what is expected of me as a helper in the SgRunners support team for Sunday's marathon. But I did manage to find out that a makan session has been arranged on Saturday, and there's a space for me, so that's good :) I can't wait to meet up with everyone again.

I received an SMS from TLR last night. It was very encouraging. SgRunners means a lot to me, and I am extremely grateful for the friends that I have made there. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to my good buddies in DSTA, as well as my current colleagues. You guys are simply the best...being there for me to cheer me up when I'm feeling down.

The weekend is near, and I'm feeling positively excited.