Fifteen Years and a Cake

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoSome dates carry a bit of extra weight without ever announcing it loudly, and yesterday was one of those for me. The 26th of September marks two things at once — Dr Ng Soo Chin's birthday, and the anniversary of the day I joined SJMC fifteen years ago, which isn't a coincidence so much as the reason the date matters in the first place. He was the one who brought me there to begin with, and there's something quietly satisfying about a milestone that comes with a person attached to it rather than just a number on a calendar.

It was marked properly, in the low-key way these things ought to be — cake and breakfast together, which is really the correct order of priorities for a morning like that. Fifteen years is long enough that the maths of it catches you slightly off guard when someone says the number out loud, and long enough that gratitude feels like the more honest response than nostalgia.

Rounds finished up after that, and then it was on to the more domestic end of the day — collecting Anita for lunch at KLCC, followed by the specific kind of shopping that comes with a trip on the horizon. Clothes for Cherating, which has a way of making even routine shopping feel a bit more purposeful, everything selected with a beach and some actual downtime in mind rather than just general wardrobe upkeep.

From there across to TRX, for a rather more considered purchase — the Mac Studio, finally collected. Went for the M5 Max in the end, the Ultra still a few months off yet, and there's a particular pragmatism in choosing the thing that exists now over the better thing that doesn't exist yet. Setting it up was refreshingly straightforward, the sort of process Apple has clearly spent a great deal of effort making feel effortless, which is its own quiet achievement even if it's designed never to be noticed.

The evening had one more thing on the agenda — a dinner talk at KL Hilton, which rounded the day off on a rather more formal note than it had started, breakfast cake giving way to a proper evening engagement by the time it was done.

Fifteen years, a new machine, a beach trip inching closer, and a debt of gratitude to someone whose birthday happens to fall on exactly the right day to be remembered alongside it. Not a bad way for a date to earn its significance.

Four Years

I had been a Member of the Hospital Medical Advisory Board for the past two sessions - four years. I was the secretary for the last couple, and yesterday we held a fresh election which I did not stand for.

It was not too taxing but I had to spend a few afternoons a month attending meetings and other duties. Time to take a break. During that period, I was involved in Doctor's Agreement negotiations, implementation of GST - and now the removal of it - and also the introduction of the computer system at the hospital that was still a bone of contention at work.

So, the job was concluded with the minutes of the Staff Meeting held today. Time to sign off!

Anita's Turn

Looking after her father must have taken its toll. Anita had been under the weather for the last couple of weeks. Initially we thought it was just a simple infection. The antibiotics didn't clear it.

A couple of trips to the ER for nebulisers later and still she was struggling. The fever was persistent. Finally we decided to do some tests and it suggested that she had some bacterial infection in her airways.

Anita was admitted for four days, for IV antibiotics and other treatment. By the second day, her appetite was back. She lost a bit of weight while in the hospital. She was still lethargic when she went home but after a couple of days, things started to improve.

She was off antibiotics now and just taking some medicines for her sinus. She had a couple of busy weeks ahead of her sorting out her mother's new maid in preparation for her father returning back to Gombak.

Re-admission

Abah was doing very well. So much so that we drove him to Kuala Selangor last Sunday for lunch. And he ate a lot.

However, this morning he developed a temperature and he looked quite when he woke up. We quickly bundled him into the car and brought him to Casualty. He had fever alright. And it looked like he was carrying a urine infection.

He looked very tired when he settled into his hospital bed. He had seen sleeping since taking a light lunch. Fever was better and he was now receiving antibiotics.

Hopefully he would be back to his usual self in a couple of days.

Finally Discharged

After a full week at SJMC, my father-in-law was really looking forward to return home. Not quite home yet at the moment but was halfway there. He would be doing more physio in the coming weeks and would be staying with us at the apartment for the next week or so.

He was still breathing heavily with effort but was clearly improving slowly. Anita and the two maids were there sorting him out, plus his driver. My brother-in-law would be coming after his work daily to help out as well as joining us for dinner. That certainly liven up the place.

The preparation to head homeNice view from his hospital room, but I don't think Dad is missing this ...Now it was time to sort out his meds ...My job would be to sort out his meds. There had been a few changes since the admission and in two weeks he would have his follow-up again. Very likely he would be staying with us until then.

Good thing that we had converted the study into a bedroom. The timing was perfect ...