Visitors, Both Ways

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoAn early start, and one that had been arranged for me the night before. Syahril rang to say Imran was being admitted with dengue — the sort of call that doesn't ruin an evening exactly, but does quietly rearrange the following morning before you've had a chance to plan it yourself. He's stable, which was the first thing I asked and the only thing that mattered. Dengue has a way of making everyone anxious out of proportion to how a particular case is actually going, and stable is a word worth holding on to.

Clinic, in the meantime, was busy. Properly busy, in the way that turns a morning into a single continuous stretch with no obvious seams in it. You look up eventually and discover that several hours have passed without your permission.

The afternoon brought its own traffic. Anita and Idlan turned up — Idlan wanting a blood test, which he had apparently decided upon himself and pursued with the calm determination of someone who has not yet developed any strong feelings about needles. Admirable, really. I've met adults who negotiate harder.

Then up to see Imran. Syahril and Yatt were both there, and it was good to see them, even in a setting nobody chooses. There's a particular etiquette to a hospital visit among friends — you keep it light, you don't hover, you ask the right number of questions and not one more, and you leave before the room starts to feel crowded. He's in good hands and doing as well as can be expected, which is the sentence everyone wants to hear and which, on this occasion, happens to be true.

From there to Mid Valley, because Idlan had clearly decided the day's medical cooperation entitled him to hot pot, and it's difficult to argue with that logic. Hot pot is a good family meal precisely because it takes a while — nobody can rush it, everyone has an opinion about what goes in next, and there's a companionable disorder to the whole thing that other meals don't manage. A fair exchange for a blood test, all told.

Home after that, and an early night — or the intention of one. Anita had cleaning to do, because Mak arrives tomorrow, and there's a particular species of housework that only ever happens in the twenty-four hours before a mother's visit. It bears no relation to how clean the house actually is. It's ritual more than maintenance, and pointing this out has never once improved anyone's evening, so I didn't.

So: a friend's son in a hospital bed but doing fine, a son of my own volunteering for a needle, a shared pot of something bubbling at a table at Mid Valley, and a house being readied for inspection. A day of people coming and going, which is how the good ones tend to arrange themselves.

Mak tomorrow. The cushions are already lined up like they're expecting her.

Epic Fogging

It was intense. Even though we get the notices and got the children in their room, well ventilated, the boys still ended up puking up their tea. I had some proper sore throat. It was not a good idea to be indoors when the fogging took place in the end.

Apparently, in the past few weeks a few of our fellow residents had been down with dengue. The regular scheduled fogging clearly was not doing the trick. The management decided to do it at close quarters this time with the diggers going to every floor. Those interested could let them into their unit for fogging.

The notices were outWe allowed them to come into our kitchen, dining area, living room and the main corridor. It was left oily at the end, needing to be mopped once the dust settled. That also meant no cooking for tonight as they fume did not exactly stimulate appetite.

Straight to the showers with Irfan especially feeling sick. Idlan felt a bit breathless, but it was more panicking than wheezing.

So, never stay indoors next time the fogging came around ......

Catching the Bug

After the hospital visit to see his cousin Sarah the other day who was down with dengue, Idlan seemed to have been hit by a bug.

He was up last night with fever and diarrhoea. Poor boy. He was absent from school this morning - much to the displeasure of Irfan - and was resting at home with his grandfather.

I will be heading to Gleneagles after this to join Anita to visit Sarah again. She might be discharged later today. Hopefully Idlan would also settle by then.

Couple More Patients

After clinic today, we had to visit a couple of patients. Not the one in my ward, but my niece and Mum.

My niece was admitted yesterday at the Paediatric Ward at Gleneagles after been confirmed to have dengue. She looked weak but it seemed that there were no complications. Her fever had subsided. Now we were waiting for her blood counts to recover. She should be in for another couple of days at least.

We then went on to my sister's place in Kajang to visit Mum. She had a cataract repair and lens implant done earlier in the week. She was doing fine and would need another procedure on the opposite eye in the coming weeks.

Late Start

As usual, the first thing I did when I woke up at the apartment was to open the verandah door. It looked like it was king to be sunny outside. But the moment I the door open, the smell of haze struck me. That pungent, woody sensation. Really threw me off. I just wished that it won't be hazy later, since I got plans for the day.

I wanted to attend the KL Photography Festival at Mid Valley, but I would probably be stuck in traffic heading there do late. I'll take my chances anyhow .....