On 2 days MC

Hi pple!

Yups am ill. 1st MC of the year since school started & it's for 2 days. Started feeling feverish & got the chills after dance practice on Sunday. But the time Bob Fitts concert started, felt quite bad. Should have gone home to rest as did not enjoy myself as I'd like to.

Throat is badly swollen & it hurts like mad when I swallow. Boo hoo & voice hoarse! But nothing that my beloved serratiopeptidase can't do!

Serratiopeptidase is an anti-inflammatory agent that can be used to pacify mild to moderate pain and inflammation. Common conditions associated with pain and inflammation include arthritis, trauma, surgery and fibermyalgia. Additionally, serratiopeptidase helps to reduce fluid retention in affected areas, which contributes to proper drainage and a quicker recovery. It is also important to note that many over-the-counter and prescription anti-inflammatories have negative side effects which serratiopeptidase does not share.

Am also feeling much better after lots of sleep & comfort food of porridge with carrots, spinach, canned peanuts & minced pork. :)

Read more: What Are the Uses of Serratiopeptidase? eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5562941_uses-serratiopeptidase.html#ixzz1IcMxlmzi

Day 16 of Hols: Changing of Toe Wound Dressing & Food

Day 12 of Hols: Nail Avulsion

Arrived bright & early at the clinic for my permanent partial nail removal surgery at SGH Podiatrist Dept.. Appt's at 11.10am but reached at 10.50am. So nervous & totally freaking out!
I was so nervous I broke out in cold sweat & the nurse had to keep giving me tissue! This was the amount I used!

Freshly bandaged toe, snug & tight, looks like a corn dog!

Had slight difficulty taking foot out of sandals. Will have to keep it elevated to reduce the swelling and pain. Took 2 panadols after lunch.

Yeah, lunch!

Day 8 of Hols: Char Siew & Bandaged Toe

Homecooked (coz was to lazy & cheap to eat out) lobster flavoured non-fried (so much healthier!) noodles with can of seasoned mushrooms, honey franks (so high class sounding right?) and a handful of fresh shitake mushrooms! It was yummy!
Finally got to eat the pies from Don bought last Thursday! Thank goodness we have an oven that kept the flaky pastry light & crispy.
Toe all bandaged up still want to wear nice nice sandals! Not too bad what!
Char siew bought from the the 24 hours NTUC at NEX Shopping Mall. It was nice & I finished the whole serving by myself! *Oops*

Day 6 of Hols: Toe Anguish & NEX Shopping Mall (again!)

Yeah, had abit of ingrown dug out by the podiatrist when I had my appt at the rehab centre at SGH.
After that, treated myself to some comfort food. Yeah, kaya toast & soft-boiled eggs AGAIN!

There's Crystal Jade Deli inside Cold Storage at NEX Shopping Mall, at the basement level. Cool! You can get their soya sauce chicken at $10 or roasted pork at $3.50 per 100g.

Celeste bought lots at Skin Food & the kind people there were generous with their samples, which I also got though I didn't buy anything from them!

1st time in wearing nail polish after so man years! Maybe it's time to dig out my stash of bottles of colours? This is a lovely matte colour from The Skin Food shop. I like! :)

Double Whammy!

Yeah, the toenail's ingrown again in less than 1 month! Argh! And it's deeper than the last time. Really have to consider permanent nail removal surgery. Have fixed appointment with SGH Podiatry on 27/11.
So drama right? *sigh* All will be well soon.

Soft & Tender!!

Right ankle still quite swollen. Went back to the doctor's for my 3rd day of MC. He confirmed there is no fracture, just a very bad sprain. Also no need to wear the hard ankle guard. Phew! As that would have cost a bomb.

Told to ice it a couple of times throughout the day. Just did. Ouch! Painful but think it's helping to bring down the swelling.

Going back to the chinese doctor tomorrow morning. Anticipating more pain! *shudder" :(

Pig Trotters Anyone???

I was at the Teacher's Network at Grange Road for Reading Mastery Training the whole of this week from 8.30am to 12.30pm.

The place is an old place & the staircases steps were a little higher than usual. Busy reading an SMS on my HP (lesson learnt!), I missed 2 steps & fell hard. There went my poor ankle, I knew it was a bad sprain. This took place on Wednesday at 10.30am.

Immediately, I texted my regular chinese doctor who I go to for my back. Thank goodness she was able to see me at around 1pm. I almost died of pain! As you all know, I've a very low pain threshold.

In the evening, it started to swell & I could not put my foot down to walk at all. Had a rough night but keeping it elevated helped lots.

I thank God for His hand of protection upon me as it could have been so much worse! :)

All About TOES!!!

Wound's healing fine, see the small section/wedge that has been cut out on the right corner of my big toe.

A kid of mine likes to chew on her toes & peel dry skin till there's raw red wound.

Sensory issue lah, coz don't feel much pain leh.

Ingrown Toenail AGAIN! Arrgghh!

Yeah...how cool that this seems to be an almost once a year thingy!

Went for my usual 3 monthly podiatrist visit & while she was cutting, cleaning & digging, she casually said "Oh the right side of your right big toe is slightly ingrown. Let me dig out & cut everything out for you now".

And she started digging in to dig out what was embedded happily. Not painful, just slight discomfort & a dull aching pain.

The very expensive antiseptic cream the podiatrist used on me. High class leh, around $32 per tube. She said I can use a cheaper lower end one at the moment, don't need the "cheem" one yet.

Though I was supposed to keep the dressing on & dry for next 2 days, after 1 whole day of chasing the kids in sandals, I don't think it was very hygienic to leave it on overnight. So removed the bandage to hop into shower & will apply tea tree oil (can right?) & redress the wound.

No pain at all, just have to be careful not to hit the wound or have a kid stomp on it. It happened before. Hope it heals in time for me to wear covered shoes to church on Sunday.

Paying My Dues at the Blood Bank

Soaking My Feet

Pail of hot warmish (got such a term?) water

Finly grinded medical herbs

A tablespooon & a half full of powder into the water

In my feet go!

Ooohh relaxing, soothing & feet smooth after the soak. Lots of moisturizer after that. This is supposed to help draw toxins out from the body, helps one sleep better & even lose weight!

I *heart* swimming so so much!

I used to dread swimming as I fear they will damaged my lovely, long & luscious (not to mention) expensive freshly colored & newly rebonded hair!

Now that my locks have been chopped & it has been ages since I last colored, heck, who cares about chlorine & what have u?!?

It can frizz away all it wants, I could hardly care. Why? Coz I am enjoying myself so so much in the pool!

From WedMD.com: Water's buoyancy accommodates the unfit as well as the fit. Water cushions stiff joints or fragile bones that might be injured by the impact of land exercises. When immersed to the waist, your body bears just 50% of its weight; immersed to the chest, it's 25%-35%; and to the neck, 10%.

There u go! Enough reason for me to go jump into the pool! Yes, a splashing I've been!

I was late in arriving at Sgoon swimming pool @ 8.30pm on Tuesday evening. Wanting to get my money's worth before they chase us out of the pool by 9pm, I managed to swim 20 laps in 30 mins. Not bad eh?

On Wednesday evening, I managed to swim 30 laps at a leisurely pace....

At the rate I am going, I will need to top up by swimming store-value card soon!

Exercise Diary (Part 1)

I've just renewed my gym membership at The Serangoon CC for 1 year ($155). So far after using it for 6 months, I have been quite disciplined in hitting it regularly (about 2-3 times a week) on top of my swimming (at least once a week), aerobics dance (on Mondays) & Salsa dance lessons (on Saturdays).

At the gym, I will either briskwalk, cycle on the stationary bike (as I can't cycle for nuts in real life!) or get on the cross-trainer for at least 30 mins & max. of 60mins. Then about 30 mins of weights to tone up the thighs & arms, this also increases my bone density mass & strengthens my muscles.

At the pool, i usually swim at least 20 laps (50 metres per lap). So far my record is 28 laps in 50 mins. Am gradually aiming for 30 laps in 45 mins time or less! That is if I am not busy yakking with friends in the pool or "banging" into people who don't swim but just stand around! It irritates me coz they see me approaching & they don't give away. *sigh*

To get my money's worth, I will also usually lug my hair conditioner treatments to the shower in the gym or pool at the same time. So that my mom will not "complain" & nag me for hogging the bathroom & wasting water!

From March thus far, I've lost 6 kgs since I started exercising intensively (45-90 mins each time)on a regular basis. Friends & colleagues have commented on the obvious weight loss & I am very encouraged by it. Though the scales aren't going down as fast as I wish it would, some of my clothes have gotten looser & I can also now fit into some of the clothes which I previously can't.

Thank you to those who have been affirming me proactively & some of you have joined me too! I do appreciate all your love, concern, support & advice very much! It does make the difference, esp. when the aches & pains come by!

I can afford to lose more but this means even more hard work! But I know I can do it!

I can do all things thru' Christ who strengthens me! (including losing weight!) Amen?

Plantar Fasciitis. OUCH!

Plantar fasciitis is a painful inflammatory condition of the foot caused by excessive wear to the plantar fascia that supports the arch or by biomechanical faults that cause abnormal pronation.^[1] The pain usually is felt on the underside of the heel, and is often most intense with the first steps of the day. It is commonly associated with long periods of weight bearing or sudden changes in weight bearing or activity. Obesity, weight gain, jobs that require a lot of walking on hard surfaces, shoes with little or no arch support, and inactivity are also associated with the condition.

Plantar fasciitis was formerly called "a dog's heel" in the United Kingdom. It is sometimes known as "flip-flop disease" among US podiatrists. The condition often results in a heel spur on the calcaneus, in which case it is the underlying condition, and not the spur itself, which produces the pain.

The mainstays of treatment are stretching the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia, resting, keeping off the foot as much as possible, discontinuing aggravating activity, cold compression therapy, contrast bath therapy, weight loss, arch support and heel lifts, and taping. Care should be taken to wear supportive and stable shoes. Patients should avoid open-back shoes, sandals, "flip-flops", and any shoes without a raised heel.

⁽From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

See anything new?

My new insoles that cost a freaking $55 (w/o GST yet!) It took abit of getting used to. But if it helps relief the pain, why not?

The podiatrist trimmed my nails very neatly. They look so nice now! She was very quick at it, I am impressed! She also commented that my feet had very good blood circulation coz there was plenty of hair growth! Eeerr....

The blue insoles are only temporary. I should consider more expensive permanent ones which will last me a lifetime & cost about $260. *faint*

So Brave lor......

The original

Some "tools" I need to get it right

Lots of "goodies" & helpful stuff in the dressing package

Removing the JelloNet that was kinda stuck to the wound. I had to saturate the whole thing with lots of saline before I was able to pull it out w/o hurting

For the curious: This is how the wound looks like. The left side at the base of the wound are abit white caused by wetness. But don't look like there's any infection coz there's not much pain & I'm not running a high fever.

To soothe & protect. Could not find JelloNet thus got Bactigras instead.

It's JelloNet's cousin

Ever so gently after applying a layer of antibiotic ointment to prevent infection

The final outcome. Looks clumsy if u compare it with the original. Hey! What do u expect? Not too bad right? *grin*

Aftermath.....