Irfan's First Day at School

It was a big day for the household. It was Irfan's first day at school. We were apprehensive as he clearly said that he still preferred to go to his Pingu school rather than joining his brother. He was clearly was not keen to put on the uniform after his bath.

We went to bed very early last night. Everyone except for Puan Anita was asleep by 9.30. So, waking them up this morning was not a problem. After breakfast and shower, it was time to go. There were many new faces. New students joining Idlan's class mainly. We got Irfan settled into his new classroom. His teacher, Teacher Julie was expecting him to join, so she quickly came over to take Irfan away. He only have five classmates as his was the youngest class. Next came the assembly. Poor Irfan had to stand at the very front and you can see him slowly getting worked up. Fortunately, he did not create a scene. Back to the classroom then.

After some sing-a-long and colouring, we can see him much more settled. We then quickly sneaked out for a quick breakfast. By the time we came over to pick him up, he was running around excited. He really enjoyed his first day at school and can't stop telling his Granddad afterwards. We then took them out for lunch at Great Eastern Mall. Idlan dozed off to sleep on the way back as he was rather tired, but not Irfan. It's now just after 9pm and he was now past asleep. Looking forward for another day I suppose!

Colonoscopy and maid issue

My father-in-law had his colonoscopy done this morning. Alhamdulillah everything was fine. There was no ulcer or anything untoward. He was discharged shortly after. He suffered more from the fasting and bowel preparation last night than the actual bleeding. He needed some rest. I went to visit him very early on, bringing my brother-in-law along who have just touched down from Beijing at 6 am.

The colonoscopy only took around 20 minutes, done by one of my friend. My dad tolerated it well, snoozing through the whole process with the help of medications and the lack of sleep of course. After a quick sandwich we headed home. In the meantime, Puan Anita was caught in a drama of her own, bringing along one of our maid for visa extension in Putrajaya. It was nearly 7pm before she arrived back home. My mother came along to look after our boys while I was at the hospital. Upon returning, I got to spend a few hours with them, doing guys thing. We stopped short of actually building a tent! Last day of school break. Irfan will be joining Idlan tomorrow at Sri Utama.

As for tonight, I have to visit my Dad-in-law again to administer some medications on him. He will need some blood tests repeating on Wednesday. I'll be taking tomorrow off. I'm still recovering from United getting beat by Leeds last night ......

Daun Pisang, Haircut and Chinoz

I really needed the snooze last night. Felt much better after waking up his morning. First order of business is to visit my Dad-in-law. Make sure everything was going according to plan. Got there before 11 with Puan Anita and her mum. My Dad-in-law was pretty bored after 3 days in hospital. Hopefully after the colonoscopy tomorrow, he will be allowed home.

For lunch, we just went across to Raju's at Jalan Gasing for a spot of 'Nasi Daun Pisang'. I was quite surprised actually at much they charged. I had to pay RM90 for the three of us! That's pretty steep considering we did not really went overboard with our order. Looking at the receipt in the end, they charged quite a lot for the drinks and side orders. The mains were pretty OK. Better watch out next time!

Nope. We decided against getting the Stormtrooper cut for Idlan.Tried this 'Mango Fizz'. Too much lime!Irfan and his hot chocolateI do like some salad from time to time!After dropping my Mum-in-law, I took Idlan for his haircut. He will be back to school on Tuesday, with Irfan joining him this year. For the last couple of years, Idlan has always gone to the same shop for his haircut, and it is at KLCC. He won't go to the mamak like his Dad sadly. We then went to Chinoz for tea. The boys has always loved their pizza and they munch through them in record time today.

Looking forward for the FA Cup match tonight. It will be against Leeds, and we hate Leeds! Game on!

The Daytripper

Picked up some pau for the nurses on the way backMy Father-in-law was feeling much better from the transfusion and currently there was no sign of any ongoing bleed. Puan Anita and the rest of the group left for Kuala Kangsar yesterday for today's doa selamat. After checking up on my father-in-law, I decided to surprise everyone by making my way up there. I set off at around 9.45. Managed to catch the tail end of the kenduri at around 12.15. The road was clear and the weather was fine.

Spot where the kampong house was located - Sg Chempias, Kuala KangsarEveryone was surprised when I turned up unannounced, especially Idlan. The boys spent the night at the kampong house and really enjoyed it. They did not even visit the resort. We just checked in and out. Everything went well until Idlan got freaked out by the number of people turning up for the kenduri. It was certainly more than expected. Luckily we did prepare extra food. Some of Anita's cousin's came up from Kuala Lumpur for the kenduri, so was plenty of the neighbors. Got to meet and introduce myself to them. Idlan was calmer when I turned up. Anita did some shopping and decorating on the house the day before. She also bought a TV and DVD player so that the boys can watch their cartoon. They already started asking about their Wii. May be next time we bring it up as well. I din't have time to snap away though. One of our cousin brought his dSLR and was given the picture detail.

After clearing the place, we had to rush back to KL as my mum-in-law wanted to take some of the kenduri food to my dad-in-law. Luckily he was only due to fast from tomorrow afternoon. I left the kenduri at around 2.30 and reached UMMC by 5.30. It was starting to rain by then, but the traffic was still light. I had some dinner earlier on and is now pretty knackered. Might as well call it the night! 'The Last of the Mohicans' was playing on the TV this very minute.

Father-in-law, warfarin and supplements

I have not been updating my blog formally for the last couple of days since I was rather occupied. My father-in-law was admitted yesterday to UMMC with bleeding when he passed motion, and is awaiting colonoscopy on Monday, a test where a long thin tube with a camera at the end of it to ascertain which he was bleeding from. He has been having this black stool since last weekend. This is normally a sign that somebody was bleeding internally into their bowel. As blood reacted to gastric juices and other chemicals that the body secretes in the gut, it turns from red to black. This is called malaena. I suspected that he has developed ulcer in the stomach from his medications.

Plenty of people have ulcers from time to time. Some aggravated by spicy food, some due to infection in the lining of the stomach, and the symptom ranges from slight irritation when the stomach is empty - good excuse during Ramadhan - to downright severe pain akin to having a heart attack. My father-in-law denied any of that. Another thing about him was, he had one of his heart valve replaced back in 2004 and has since been taking a drug called warfarin. Warfarin thins the blood making it difficult to clot. The purpose was to prevent small blood clots forming at the rim of the artificial valve, causing it to jam, or worst, some of the clot may get dislodged into the blood stream resulting in a stroke.

People on warfarin needs regular monitoring to make sure the dosing just right. Imagine the damage it can do should one overdose on them. Spontaneous bleeding comes to mind. Warfarin is also a fussy drug. It interacts with almost anything we eat, be it food, fruits, vegetables or other medicine, prescriptions or supplements. This was where the story took a twist. Since taking warfarin - 5 years now - his blood level has been excellent. a few weeks back however, he started taking some supplemental medicine, called 'buah tunjuk langit'. It was apparently processed with modern methods into capsules and carries the emblem of 'Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia'. It apparently will improve diabetic control, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol to reduce risk of heart disease. It can also prevent cancer - allegedly. Taking the capsule however made his warfarin level shoot up four-fold. Hence the bleeding.

Ready for admissionHe dropped his blood count enough to need transfusion. His endoscopic examination of the stomach done yesterday was normal. We are just monitoring his  blood and warfarin level in the ward at the moment, while preparing his bowel for the colonoscopy Monday morning. The whole incident thought me three things.

Number one - don't take supplements without telling your doctor should you be on warfarin. Told my father-in-law many times, but still this incident happened, which brought me to point two - people still get sucked into the promises that supplements are just supplements. They are harmless ….. hmmmm! Go figure! Saying that all supplements to be banned is really painting with a broad brush. Some of them are good but the important thing is, find out a bit more about them and they might not be suitable for everybody. If your son-in-law happens to be a Haematologist, he might know a thing or two about warfarin. May be worth checking with him before taking supplements if you are on warfarin.

My last point is your parents won't tell you things until you ask them. My father-in-law has been having dark stools since he was in Kuala Kangsar last weekend, but thought nothing about it. Never occurred the him that I should be told. His excuse was, 'You are busy as it is, and I don't want to bother you', a typical answer from our parents really. From now on, better call on them often and ask they are OK. You never know what the answer will be!