My sister 25th Wedding Anniversary

Since beginning of this year I intend to share as much story as I can, but seems I fail to do it. But I will try update more stories of pictures.

Last Saturday (29/6/13) my eldest sister (Janice) celebrated he 25th Wedding Anniversary. We had church service for blessing. Then we adjourned for lunch at Mildlands Court Restaurant. We had an enjoyable  celebration.

My latest cushion cover

This is the cross-stitch I have done few years ago. I kept it, but lately I asked a taylor to sew it for me into a pair of cushion cover.

Gone by the wind

In early March, I wrote to doctor Izmi, (head of Rehabilitation Department). I asked him to help me that I can be walk and also to be independent. Few days later, I received a called from his nurse saying they will arrange a date for me to meet him. 

I prayed and waited that doctor Izmi will be free to see me.  Two weeks ago, I received a call from the Rehab nurse to come as doctor wanted to see me.  This time I saw another Malay lady doctor. She told me doctor Izmi was attending some meeting. So she took over. We talked one to one as for more than an hour as there are no other patients’.

She told me the truth and fact. Because of my sickness, I cannot walk without someone helping me. If I insist to walk, I may fall down which may hurt my back. (I had a major operation on my spine) That is why I cannot fall down. I only can walk for a short distance as an excises.  Due to my left ankle which is bent, so I also cannot walk steadily.

She also told me that due to my spasm, I cannot be completely independent. I will always need someone to help. When I heard that, my heart sank slightly, but I still try my best to do whatever things I can do.

I have to face the real fact that I cannot walk independently and I totally cannot be independent.  The things I dreamt of have been vanish. This is God's will for me and I have to accept it.

If I’m given a chance either to walk or to be independent, I would prefer to be independent. Because I can do anything I want without waiting for someone help and go anywhere I like.

Watching movies in the cinema

Since January till March I went to watch three movies in the cinema. I enjoyed watching thriller/action movies as it keep you in suspend and wanting to know what is happening next.

Sadly throughout last year, I only watched one thriller movie in the cinema. For one thing, I didn’t go out much. Sometimes, when my friends and I planned to watch movie, we couldn’t make it.   Sometimes, I yearned to go to the cinema, but no one in my family was free to bring me out. So I accepted it.

It is an enjoyment to watch movies. Even though I had to pay to buy a ticket without sitting on the chair, it was worth it. But sitting on the chair is surely nicer and comfortable. There is no one to transfer me to the chair. So I will have sit on my wheelchair.

I’m happy the last few months I get to watch few movies by myself.

New Challenge

As I'm bored of going to Gurney Plaza everytime, I decided to take a new challenge.

On Sunday, 17/3, I went to Queensbay Mall with my maid by taxi. I was happy my usual taxi man was free to fetch me on that day. He came around 11.20am, without much traffic jam we reached there within 20mins.

It has been few months since I last went there, I missed going to that mall. My maid pushed me from one end to another, everything was the same. I went to the first floor where a new clothes' shop were opened. I went in to see the clothes' but the prices was very expensive. Then we adjourned to the food court at Lower Ground Floor for lunch. I was so surprised there were so few people eating there. Mostly were Malays.

After lunch, we went to AEON supermarket to buy some household things. I felt happy when I get to chance to choose and buy the things by my own.

As it was only 2.30pm, I went for a movie. Outside the cinema were so many young/old people queing up to buy tickets.  Luckily there was an action movie at that time, if not I would not  have entered the cinema. I have always like action/thriller movies. The movie ended around 4.45pm.

I took a different challenge this time, going home by bus. There was a bus stop was in front of the mall. Many people were waiting for different buses. There were many buses stop to pick up passengers'. Because I didn't know which bus passes my main road, I asked the first bus driver who stopped. He told me the number of the bus. I saw a bus which passed my road, but the driver didn't want to stop. I saw his sour face and he drove away.

We waited for another bus which arrived half hour later. My maid asked the bus driver if he passed our road and he said yes and she pushed me up the bus. We went round the whole town before reaching my main road. I glad to know which bus number to take and the roate to my main road. 

I was glad to reach home around 6 something without my parents calling me. It was an interesting outing and a new experience for me. Thank God my parents let me go without making any noise.

Feeling better

Last Thursday, 14/11, I went to see the psychiatrist doctor in GH for the second time. I was surprised to see so many people in the department. I waited for more than 1/2 hour before my name was called into the doctor's room. The doctor read my report and asked me few questions. I told the doctors' I didn't want to take any medicine in my report. But this doctor asked me to try the medicine which she recommended to me. She says it will make me happy.

So I try the medicine, within few days I could feel the different. I felt calm - my anger, frustration and the negetive thoughts were all gone. I keep thinking if one day if I lift off the medicine, will all these bad feelings come back to me again. I hope I need not have to take this medicine for a long time.

Good things about myself

Last Monday, 11/13, I went for my first counselling session in GH.  My cousellor Ms.Ng doesn't speak   English neither Hokkien, so I have to expressed myself in Malay. We talked around 1 1/2 hours. I told her all my problems - my anger, frustration, my hurt, low self esteem and a lot more. 

I told her everything happened to me in the past. She advice me to say three positive things about myself every morning. I also told her I do not have self confidence. She asked me to list down of good things about myself.

After I came back, I made a list. Never did I realize I have 24 good things about myself. I felt happy and proud that I can do so many things.

1                     I can brush teeth

2                     I can wash my face

3                                       I can scrub my body during bathing

4                                         I can feed myself

5                                         I can talk clearly

.                                           I can wheel myself

7                                         I can wear my dress

8                                        I can tie my corset when lying down

                         I can climb from my bed to my wheelchair in the afternoon

1                   I can talk/express myself in malay

1                   I can do computer work

                      I can do beautiful cross-stitch

1                     I can read story book/novel – English /Malay

1                   I can write blog

1                  I can write better English than my friends

1                                   I can walk with walker despite it’s very difficult

                      I do not give up despite all the struggles if my life

1                  I don’t give up easily / I’m brave

1                 I dare to ride Rapid bus with my maid

2                    I’m an active person / go out/ mixing with people

2                 I can detect my depression and find doctor for help

2                 I’m a good listener /  I’m patient

2                 I can write with both hands

2                 I dare to go out with friends to outstation for holidays

Terrible feelings

Lately, I have been having these terrible feeling. Everyday I face with different moods and feelings. I feel very angry, frustrated, sad, hatred and thinking of a lot of negative things. It’s terribly hard to cope.

All these years, I never had these feeling or thinking until lately. It has become worst and worst each day. 

Something I ask myself :

1. Am I feeling too lonely – that is the bad thoughts come to me?
2. Is it one by one of my friends’ left me?
3. Why is my past keep haunting me?
4. Am I so useless that people looked down on me?
5. Why people cannot look up on me?

I try my best to fight against it, yet the negative thoughts still come to me mostly everyday especially when I’m alone.

Calm in my heart

This week I'm feeling much better. I stop thinking of my recent problem because I have settled it. Now I feel the peace in my heart. But certain times when I'm alone, I will start thinking and feel sad again. I really dislike this terrible feeling. Certain times up, certain times down. All the mix feeling is in my heart these days. 

I hope one day my feeling with be stable so that I can feel better in my heart. 

Lowers time

I have been feeling very low for the past few days. Something happened beyond my imagination. Now I completely have no mood for anything. What I know is - I get upset very fast, feeling very sad and tears keep dropping.

I don't have the mood to talk to anyone including my friends. When I'm alone in the room, I feel very sad. I keep thinking and thinking. I feel like I'm going crazy, but I try my best not to break down.

Dear God, please help me to pull through.

Depression

On Wednesday, 30 January 2013, I went for my regular neurology check-up. This time I expect to see any of the doctors' inside the room and get my medication. Instead I was called into Dr. Eow Gaik Bee room. She is the head of Neurology and she used to see me.

Dr. Eow is a very kind, understanding and soft hearted person. It's very hard to find a head of Neurology with this kind of nature.

When she saw me, she asked how was my mood. I told her I am ok. I do not know what prompted me to asked her this question. "Dr. am I suffering from depression and she immediately says "yes". She told me all the feelings that I have and it's really true  I also read in the internet of all the symptoms' of depression and I have most of it.

She had a long talk with me about my problem and refer me to the psychiatric department. This is what I feels' mostly everyday when I'm alone - anger, frustration, loneliness, sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness and mostly isolate myself in my room.

I tried my best to stay active and forget about my problems, but certain time all these feelings will come onto me. It makes me feel very miserable and terrible about myself.

This is what I face these few years. I try to fight against it, yet I fail. Thank God until now, I'm still ALIVE!

Body more stable

Whenever my maid is free in the evening, we will go down to my apartment lobby. She will help me to walk with me holding the railing. Usually she hold my back for support, but now she doesn't hold me anymore. Only i hold her shoulder for support. I'm happy I can walk much easier now.

My maid is like my trainer - pushing and encouraging me everyday. I feel lighter and easier to walk now. I'm just like a baby who is learning to walk.

Walking without anyone holding

This morning I walked without my maid holding me, but she was behind to guard me. I could balance myself more now. Even though it's very difficult to walk, I will not give up.

I will try to walk further each day. Sometimes, my body condition doesn't permit me to go on, that is where I need to slow down. I cannot push my body limit, if not I will fall again.

Learning to walk

                                                           My special walker

One of dream is walking. When I see people walking I really envy them. They can go out wherever and whenever they like. I wish to be like one of them.

Recently my brother in-law made a walker for me. I was so happy because I was searching for this type of walker for some time. Several years ago, I borrowed this walker from the Spastic Centre and I could walked.

Now every morning with the help of my maid I'm learning to walk outside my apartment .Even though it was a very difficult process of walking as I have been in the wheelchair for over forty years. I must have the determination to slowly take one step by step to reach my gold.

Before I start walking, I pray to God to give me the strength to walk. With God's help's, I know I will be able to walk

A dip in my apartment swimming pool

Today 5pm in the evening, I went into my apartment swimming pool for the second time. Even though I love swimming so much, but I rarely have the chance to go inside the pool because of the difficulty of taking me down. Since today weather is good, I decided to go down the pool alone with my maid's and niece, Sherine help. My maid was around the pool to see me.

When I floated in the water with a tube around my body, I felt all bad thoughts flew away, instead I felt very happy. The water today was very cold, I went down the pool for half an hour. Though it was a short time, but I had a nice time.

Goodbye 2012

Days, weeks, months passed by without waiting for anyone. Before anyone knows it, it’s the end of 2012 again. While people are happy looking forward for the New Year celebration, my heart is sad because I will be sitting in my room in front of my computer.

Never once in my life have I able to celebrate New Year Eve outside my house with friends. I have accepted my fate to be in my home hearing and seeing the fireworks through my house window.  I treat this occasion as just any normal day.

This year passes by just as usual. Everyday I go to my Janice (my sister) house to help her with the computer work.  I learn many things from her. In the beginning, I thought the work would be very boring.  But it turned out to be really interesting.

Middle of March, we have two days of Boccia competition between Penang and Perak. Even though I’m a BC4 category, but I was place under BC2 because there were no other BC4 players. After two tiring and interesting days, I won a gold medal.

Because my spasm continue to attack my body everyday and certain days it came very severe until I couldn’t do anything the whole day. In April, I decided to seek help from neurology in KL. I found his email address online, so I emailed him. I was really happy when I received his email. He is a Professor. I thought he could help me with my sickness. We correspond through few emails and he asked me to go down KL to see him. I was happy Janice was willing to take me down KL together with mum. Since Denis had meeting, he drove us to University Hospital.

My happiness was short lifted when the Professor told me, he couldn’t help me. He asked me to see my neurology in Penang. My heart sank with disappointment because I went all the way to KL to seek his help and he saw me less than 10mins. I was very sad the whole day.  I even cried in the car, thinking a Professor couldn’t help my sickness. I tried to accept the fate that none of the doctors’ could help me.

At the end April, my good friends gave me some good news, saying his boss wanted to hire me as a part time worker as a content editor for their company. This company provides jobs for disabled at home. I was really happy and excited because this is good company wanted to hire me. 

Before I start my job, my friend taught me how to handle the work. He gave trial work for few day to try for few days. In the beginning of May I start this job. Even though they called it a part time job, but to me it’s a full time job because I worked the whole day and night, 7 days a week. I couldn’t do my job as fast as they wanted but I did my best and took this job very seriously.

But my happiest lasted only 3 months when they (boss) took off my job without my knowledge.  At that moment, I really felt like an idot. People want me to work they hire me, but when they don't want me, they just dumped me. Don’t I get any respect? What I have learnt from the few pass jobs was never put too much trust on people who hire me.  Whatever come and go, take them as a lesson.

Even though, I took up this job yet I still helped Janice with her work. That 3 months really took away every negative things away from my mind. I was happy concentrating on my work instead of thinking of all the bad things.

After my job was taken away, my depression and negative thoughts came back to me again. I tried my best to fight against it.

Beginning of September, my dad contacted with a virus called “ BELL’S PALSY’. He was admitted in the hospital for two days for a complete check-up. Before that, my dad had been feeling very weak.  Now he is down with this sickness and cannot go anywhere or do anything much except rest in his room.

Thinking of my past, dad has been taking me everywhere I wanted to go. Sometime thinking of him, I miss him taking me out. I took my dad for granted that until he is sick than I missed the things he has done for me.

In December I had the most experience taking the Rapid Bus. I’m happy I took this challenge of going out on public transport together with my maid.

This is my experience for this year.  Everything I did, God was behind me,  only that I didn’t see or feel it. Everything I did, I did my very best.  I thank God for helping me through 2012.

For my other my activities, do refer to my other posts’.