Heart Sick (3)

My cardiologist introduced me to a cardiothoracic surgeon who explained to me my conditions in detail; they found 1 blockage in my coronary arteries and 2 other narrowing ones. As I had a heart attack earlier, and failed to seek treatment sooner, my condition was classified a ‘heart failure’ case. The surgeon even mentioned I would have been qualified for heart transplant if I were in the US, but it’s not so possible in M’sia.

I had no other options but an open heart surgery called ‘Cabbage’. Yes that’s what the doc said and I was as confused… He actually meant CABG, Coronary Artery Bypass-Graft Surgery.

In lay-man’s language, they plan to:

1. knock me off by an anesthetist;
2. open up my chest;
3. stop my heart;
4. start the mechanical ventilation machine;
5. harvest 3 of the arteries and/or veins from elsewhere of my body (yes there are spare parts!) and graft it to the coronary arteries to bypass the blocked and narrowing ones;
6. restart my heart (and crossed their fingers).


He estimated my surgery would take 5-6 hours considering I was a heart failure patient, and would stay in the hospital bed for 10+ days after the surgery.

Worst case scenario for me? The doc said I’d die in the operating theater lah! I know Albus Dumbledore once said, “to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure”; but hey I’m not even prepared and too young to die!! (don’t tell me you don’t know who’s Albus Dumbledore… )

Doc: So, do you have any more questions?
Me: ..... I need a second opinion.


-HS

SMART Project (1)

This is a typical scene on a rainy day in the KL City: pools of puddle on the road, covering all the potholes making driving even more difficult (unless you are driving on a 4-wheel-drive) thus slowing down traffic tremendously; broken down traffic lights don’t help either. 30 minutes just to pass a 300m stretch is not uncommon especially during peak office hours.

Q: What can make you feel worst?

A: When you actually got stuck in this situation on top of a RM1.9b, "SMART Tunnel" Project - A storm drainage and road structure, which was dubbed “a major national project” in Malaysia. Once completed, it is said to be the longest stormwater tunnel in South East Asia and second longest in Asia. Malaysia Boleh!

This project was even featured in Discovery Channel’s Extreme Engineering recently. I haven’t got a chance to watch this program, but I’m pretty sure this was not shown in the documentary…

Q: If one can come up with such multi-billion Ringgit brilliant ideas, then how difficult it will be to manage potholes and simple drainage systems beside the roads on the surface? And why, manhole covers have to be built right in the middle of the roads? Cars and bikes tend to avoid such uneven road surfaces even on dry condition thus endangering all the road users.

A: Pay toll to use the new SMART Tunnel. Malaysia Boleh-lah!

-HS

Chinese New Year

Happy New Year!

This is my first CNY since my heart surgery 7 months ago.

Any difference from the previous years? Oh yes… I eat less, drink less, travel less, but I forgive more, pray more and definitely value my life even more.

I wish all my friends Good Health and a Happy Year!

-HS

I-RAT-ique insurgents

How to catch a rat.
The dirty, disease ridden, sewage living type not the two legged ones.
I don’t have any problems with rats or cockroaches (that’s another story) while living in a high rise. But since moving to a house, these critters are not something I bargain for, but little by little they are getting on my nerves and they seems to be enjoying tormenting me.

The Beginning
I know the rats are around, especially in the garden as I found there were holes in the ground about 3 inch in diameter, so I figure they must be the mother rat nest and it would be so painfully simple to get rid of them, just drown them, so out come the garden hose and into the hole, pump full with water. Quite easily done. End of story. Go back to my TV.

The Counter Attack
Soon I was back to normal relaxing mode for a couple of weeks doing my work, surfing and more TV. Then while I was on the internet, I saw from the corner of my eyes some grey object scurrying from the kitchen into MY bedroom, coming towards my leg. I turned and there it was, face to face with a dirty rotten rat and I froze for a milliseconds looking at my enemy. It was a big one, about 7 inches with large red eyes and even larger and sharper tooth. I thought it was out to bit me, so I jump out from my seat and make some noise, the rat, lost its element of surprise make a run under the bed. Why under the bed man, it’s a heavy king size bed which barely moved even if you push it. Can’t lift the bed to chase the rat out. So now I am out looking for something long, heavy on the end which can be use to knock some sense into the rat. Don’t mess with me man…… Cont.

SC

Astro Decoder Problems

If you had an Astro decoder, Philips, fairly recent. I discover there was something wrong with the remote control, press n press but cant change the channels.
It can drive you crazy, if you are the type that flip channels every 5 seconds.
Bought a new remote control but still same problem, Astro helpdesk?, doesnt help much.
So bring the decoder for repair, found out the sensor was lose, the one next to the green LED on the decoder. So next time it happens to you, just whack the decoder a few times.

-SC

Heart Sick (2)

What has happened to me?

I later found out what I experienced during my cycling session was a heart attack. The water found in my stomach and the cause of my swollen feet are symptoms of a post-heart attack. The majority of patients with coronary artery disease will have chest pain, especially during exertion, unfortunately I belong to the 5 to 10% group of patients truly has no chest pain even with very bad disease. The doctors described it as a dangerous situation.

No intrusive tests were done on me for first 7 days while I was warded in the hospital as my cardiologist’s priority was to stabilize my condition. During this period I was given medications to ‘drain’ the water via urination and Warfarin to thin my blood; on top of that there are also needles that the nurses poked through my stomach everyday… that’s PAINFUL! An ultrasound scan was also done; it’s called Echocardiogram, which is something like the instrument used to scan the baby in a pregnant woman; only this time it's to scan my heart's conditions. My doctor told me it didn't look too good.

On day #8 I was put on an intrusive procedure called Angioplasty, where a catheter is placed through my blood vessels and heart to see how well (or bad) they are functioning. The eerie thing about this is it went through one of the main blood vessels from near my groin area and I have no clue how did the tube reach my heart and take video of it!

If a minor blockage in the vessels was detected, a balloon could be inserted right then and there to open the blockage, and a device called a stent may be placed in the new opening to prevent it from closing again. I was not so ‘lucky’ as my cardiologist confirmed what I feared most… I had 3 blockages; one of them 100% and two others 80%+.

I had a large bandage bound tightly after the procedure, and asked to lie on bed and not move for 6 hours. That was my most agonizing 6 hours with all thoughts and fears and uncertainty flying in my head… What’s NEXT?

-HS

Haircut

Many years ago my haircut was done by this barber who came to my neighborhood on a bicycle, and he would setup a wooden stool on his bike and do his stuff with a mechanical haircutter, a pair of scissors and a comb and in no time everything was over; amid the ‘excitements’ created by his presence… mothers asking for discounts, shouthing of names looking for their children, but mostly crying children; just still don’t understand why most children cry when having a haircut.

Nowadays, my dog’s groomer comes in a car, loaded with all kinds of high tech looking equipment and, mind you, everything runs on electricity! The service even includes a full bubble bath. And my dog doesn’t cry!

Some of you may miss the good ‘ol days? No worries as you can go back in time in Hanoi, as I found this when I was there…

No, I'm not the barber in the picture.

-HS