Forthnights

Happy New Year 2009

I can't believe its the end of the year again. Why does they year always seem to sneak up behind you and pass you by just when you aren't looking? A quick status check on all the things that are happening in my life, Despite all the wave of bad things happening of late, I suppose I have to conclude that at this very moment in my life, things aren't too bad.

My dad FINALLY moved out and started divorce proceedings with his wife.. Yes, the skinny-selfabsorbed-loveless-down-right-evil b**ch is finally out of his life. Or, at least, its the start of that end. Sorry if I seem a bit harsh, but truth be told, that woman has been nothing but misery and suffering since day one. I openly told my father that I was glad he was walking away from that disaster of a marriage. It had already eaten up so much of him, eroded him and made him into some bitter and broken old man, to the point that one day, I just had to confess to him that he was no longer the same man I knew growing up. He started looking for a job again, but into his 50's, its hard trying to find anyone willing to take him in, what with the global recession already underway. But still, its a good progress. Even in his 50's, I believe it's not too late to start picking up your life again.

Brother finally left his job and got a job in a hospital as a marketing executive. Not sure if that is exactly his cup of tea, but oh well, better than his last job in manufacturing. After what seems like a year squatting in his pastors house, he has finally gotten a place of his own. Funny, the timing couldn't been any better, since my dad was just at the brink of walking out of his marriage and needed a place to stay anyway. They moved into an apartment about 10 minutes away from me. In what would be the biggest news for my brother this year, HE FINALLY GOT A GIRLFRIEND. I never imagined I would need to say it, but ITS ABOUT TIME! I had always been somewhat uncomforable at the fact that my brother was already into his mid twentys and never even had a girlfriend. I am not sure how or when exactly (he was very hush hush about it, being first love and all) but he finally found himself a rather pleasant and friendly girlfriend, whom I am already preparing to be my sister in law (or maybe I am just jumping the gun here). My father complains that he's all devoted to her 110% now, but hey what do you expect right?

My mom... aah... what to say about my mom. Where to begin really. We put her in a nursing home, just 10 minutes away from my place actually. Its a home solely for women suffering from mental illness. So I guess you could say she fits the bill perfectly. As far as I can tell, she seems to be OK in the place. Unlike in other places, they leave her to her own devices, so she's free to lie around the whole day and not doing anything. She finally did get off using a wheelchair, but she's still heavily dependent on her walker. She got the final few stiches on her head removed, and the hair is slowly growing back. In a month or two, you would never had guess she was hit by a lorry and just nearly missed death. In a rather ironic and rather cruel kind of way, the accident was in way good, since she can no longer just take off and run away so easily again. I brought her for a CT scan, and it showed that she has a small fracture in her lower back bone, just missing some nerve points. The pain she felt a few weeks ago has subsided and from the looks of it, she might even have a full recovery in a few months.

And what about my darling girlfriend? Well, she last quite a bit of weight ever since taking this meal replacement drink and herbal tea.It seems one of the key things about loosing weight is actually drinking enough water and eating right. Most of us think of dieting as not eating at all, but according to her new found wisdom, its more about eating the right foods, in the right amounts, at the right time. I must say, she's been looking in quite good shape compared to recent years. She took up roasting and baking recently, and through badgering, cajoling, persuading and lots hinting, she somehow managed to convince me to buy a small over for her. She's been starting to make shepards pie, and being the official food taster, I cant say its too good for my belly either.

Anyway, sorry for not posting more often. The phone cables in my apartments were stolen by vandals and our entire block of apartments have been without a phone line or internet for the past few weeks and will probably continue for a few more weeks. At the moment, yours truly is sitting in Starbucks, sitting coffee, and finally spending some alone time just mucking around and doing my own thing. Since I missed the dateline, happy belated Christmas to one and all.. and oh ya... Happy new year too. Its really amazing how a year can pass by just like that, and sometimes you really start to wonder things can slip you by so fast... but in the end, I think the best way to live this life, is one day at a time...

Happy new year friend.

posted by Compulsive Blogger @ 7:43 pm Comments: 1

Bad Wave @ year end

There seems to be a wave of bad things happening recently.

My grandmother suffered a stroke recently, her second actually. From what I heard, her first stroke came when she was in her 20's while giving birth to my uncle. She's over eighty now, and when it happened, she was staying with my aunt. My father was there the day it happened, and she was starting to slur in her speech a lot. By the time my father left, he got a call that she couldn't take at all, and ther rushed her to the hospital. She was in the hospital for about 3 days, and sadly she can no longer talk, eat or walk around. Doctors said that the blood clot in her brains are too many and to small to do anything about. If it were just a single major clot they would usually recommend surgery. But in my grandmothers case, the only option is to give her some very specific medication. Problem is that the medicine is quite harmful and 10~15% dont survive it, and given my grandmother's health, the chances look even slimer. That means that she will pretty much remain the way she is for what's left of her life, unable to walk, talk or eat.

My uncle suffered a heart attack barely a week later. He had been having chest pains the entire day. Her wife (my father's sister) was staying with my grandmother and uncle, still recooperating from her surgery to remove part of her liver due to cancer. Not suspecting much, my cousin brought him to a nearby clinic. The doctor seemed to dismiss the case too casually, and just prescribed regular aspirings and such, suspecting was just some sort of minor ailment. But 4 hours later, late into the evening, his condition seemed to only worsen. They brought him back to the same clinic, and this time, after consultation with a more senior medical officer, they asked my cousins to rush him to a hospital immediately. It was only then that they realised he was having a heart attack. In the hospital, the doctors told my cousins that had they come in any later, my uncle would have been beyond saying. The first few hours of a heart attack are critical to the outcome of treatment.

A friend of mine urgently flew all the way back from Australia, just to see her grandmother, who suffered some sort of shock / complications due to diabetes, and for 2 straight weeks, she put in day shifts and 12 hour night shifts just sitting by her grandmothers side, just in case she passes away. Doctors could not even estimate how long she had to stay in hospital, and the entire family were unsure how long this would stay this way. Her grandma was also disable and bed ridden from this latest medical episode.

Another friend of mine was warded into the intensive care unit (still there) due to complications to her asthma disease. It got so bad that her breathing was abstructed and she had to be rushed to hospital. Just barely a year ago, she just went through an operation to clear her airway so that she could breathe properly again. Maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the environment, but whatever it was, her condition suddenly became critical and she was warded, and from what I know, she had asthma attacks on a daily basis. Every single day, concerned friends would forward text messages with latest updates on how she was doing. None of us have had a chance to visit because of her extremely fragile condition, the doctors and family discourages us to come until she is better.

Truth be told, it seem like some sort of bizzare wave of negativity. How can all these things happen within the course of just a few weeks? They say there are no such things as coincidences. And having four major medical incidences known to me from within my immediate social circle certainly seems like something beyong a mere coincidence.

posted by Compulsive Blogger @ 1:07 am Comments: 1