Dear Tricia Tan,
I manage to do a little of home work, bits & pieces + here & there, since few days ago & this is one of my fresh written article in this New Year 2022 for a start-up! Hope you like reading it when you are having free time/space! Thanks for being an online friendly friendship as well as leading guidance! Please kind & timely correct me whenever & wherever necessary! I am always with open-mind & heart! Thanks!
Lifestyle or life-journey since birth as kids & young adult through many stages of progressively growth & development until today at my the ageing period is all about HAPPINESS! It is regardless whether one is healthy or weak & sick + ageing with multiple illnesses on our earthly journey!
As at today 27/02/22, I am a 74 retiree. I am making a FRESH revision about my personal & genuine HEALTHCARE as according my memory-lane as per my online face book pages in addition of my personal & genuine medical records in my filing system! I started my heart blood vessel disease through angioplasty balloon surgery sometime in 2009 ~ sort of minor heart attack symptom as according to heart specialists from Singapore National Heart Centre. This was for my first most serious physical or body disease of my whole filing system! life-journey. I was 61 then. Then, by 2014 when I was around 66 or 67, I got my both native kidney failure (ESKD). As a result, I had to start haemodialysis (HD) treatment or therapy since 22nd October 2014 as recommended. I was very lucky enough to prepare 3 months earlier by doing an AV Graft surgery at my left hand upper arm. That was sometime in July 2014. My 2nd chest pain with heart blood vessel surgery was on 2019.
Prior to these occasions or incidents mentioned above, I had gradually lost my hearing sense due to side effect of a serious car accident. That was a very heavy impact collision accident in fact. At once stage, I was unfortunately fallen into anxiety with deep depression for quite a while along my life-journey indeed. No medical treatment could possibly cure me either through Western & Chinese treatment + therapy, & or, medications etc till I happened engaging with several retreats about the topic of Mindfulness Meditation + Stress Management before my whole family migrating to Singapore! Finally, I got over the depression without anymore medication & or treatment/therapy whatsoever & hence bounced back strongly once again. But by then I gradually lost my hearing sense of capability as the time going by year after year due to nerves side effect around my ears organs. I had lost my jobs for family earning income for many years as my children were still young then. The whole burden unfortunately fell onto my wife shoulders in order to keep the family moving on. Today I am totally deaf haemodialysis (HD) patient since hearing aids cannot possibly help me much anymore despite many ways of trials & errors methods. My family & myself eventually decided to give up the idea. Today I am totally deaf haemodialysis (HD) patient since hearing aids cannot possibly help me much anymore despite many ways of trials & errors methods. My family & myself eventually decided to give up the idea. Today I am totally deaf haemodialysis (HD) patient since hearing aids cannot possibly help me much anymore despite many ways of trials & errors methods. My family & myself eventually decided to give up the idea.
Still I manage fair enough to have a positive approach with appropriate attitude toward my lifestyle or life-journey ever since taking part the retreats of Mindfulness Meditation with opening heart-mind too! I am always readily able to face the reality of my lifestyle or life- journey by daily basis. Therefore, I have learned to face it to accept it & to manage it readily & satisfactory too in due course to keep on by moving on my personal life-journey despite ageing period with multiple illnesses. I also able to manage it what how when where & why they are coming along as per my body-mind-game/system as according to scientific medical field at Singapore hospital under MOH advices or recommendation. One thing for sure I have determination to keep on moving on & on & that's life in my diary or as a notebook too! Thank you Singapore as my wife birth place originally too! We met each other while studying in oversea.
My philosophy is simply yesterday ( + the past) is gone & cannot be reversed while tomorrow ( + the future) is yet to come & it is full of unpredictable promises or phenomena too. And what is more, even right NOW & HERE, it is also TICKING away in no time at all!!! This is IT precisely presently my approach & attitude about my lifestyle or life-journey!!! However, I am not idling nevertheless as I am still keep learning & picking fresh things her & there till my last breathe on earth-journey! CHEERS~~~
My best bet quote in my present existing life-journey is simply ~ Life is just a journey, nothing else!!! I prefer to use Chinese culture & value to express as such:- A life-journey Sickness and death are just [milestones] of the past and the process! My most inspiring book that I had ever feeling touching & valuable is *Life & death* in Chinese version it is called 【Book of Life and Death】! In addition the movie I enjoyed most is the old movie called The Sound Of Music! Music is actually one my best-bet therapy in my lifestyle or life-journey too since young! Today I can't do anymore with music therapy yet I still like & fond of singing though . Anyway I have gradually switched to Art & Science of Chinese traditional brushes drawing/painting & modern way of Artistic drawing that I picked up lately.
As a dialysis patient with multiple illnesses I am quite conscious about my meals & drink on daily basis. I must eat wisely with 70% to 75% full stomach only with balance of diet as per according to the dieticians' advice or recommendation too. I am limited to around 800 to 1000 ml fluid per day with regular or constant daily activity or exercise. My favourite recipe is a combination mixture vegetables cooking mild-curry as best bet dish. I can prepare myself too but the curry powder must be readily available normally my wife will arrange it. Plus home cook of steam chicken that my wife uses to do at home! But at same time, others food I use to take too but as according to my regular bi-monthly blood labs result with less oil less sugar & of course less salt, nevertheless. At the moment my wife does all home cooking &occasionally we buy from hawker centre too. Basically my wife & I live under one roof & she is my overall sole home or family caregiver too while the children busy with their respective family but they strongly & warmly concern & support both of us anytime anywhere in Singapore, nevertheless! Only when visiting specialists at SGH they will accompany me because I am hearing impaired patient in addition to our regular family gathering!Only when visiting specialists at SGH they will accompany me because I am hearing impaired patient in addition to our regular family gathering! Only when visiting specialists at SGH they will accompany me because I am hearing impaired patient in addition to our regular family gathering!
As a long retiree since I lost my hearing sense, I am on noon shift session since day 1 of my engagement with HD in 2014. Always showering/cleaning properly & eating up to 75% of my stomach before getting a public transport to go to dialysis centre independently. At centre I use to help a little bit within limitation too to one my hubby who is happening to be visually impaired. He is sitting next to me since I am also a hearing impaired dialysis patient. Though we are like " chicken & duck" in term of mutually communication & interaction we seemed to be able to click & support each other well enough by complementary flow rate. However, it is only confined to the centre when were together anyhow.
I also began to prepare as according to our dialysis centre on self-training program introduction by Marsiling DC on personal self-care & acting independently before the nurses available attending the normal or routine needling schedule. I use to record with sufficient understanding & awareness on my artificial kidney's performance from beginning to the ending on each my individual HD session. Together I also mindful my next two patients beside me! In addition, I always keep alert & mindful about my blood flow through my life-line AV Graft conditional factors in addition to keep regular exercise if necessary + observing my surrounding activities too. I always trying my best to keep myself busy enough, anyhow & or nevertheless!
As a hearing impaired dialysis patient, whenever the nurses or caregivers attending whole-heartily with gentle & valuable in handling services & in return I would never ever miss to appreciate with A SWEET THANK YOU mutually in every action or behaviour! There seem to be an automatically attraction such like a magnetic field right in my body-mind-game/system on the spot from time to time or case to case basis. This is the warmest feeling from our mutually heart-mind as basic humankind nature!!!
This New Year 2022, I plan to learn & pick up the Modern Artistic Topic with opening heart-mind & also with combination my normal ordinary lifestyle or life-journey into a note book as per ART & SCIENCE combination formula! Because everyday I write my diary as note book too in my personal face book pages. Simply as deaf patient this is my world after all & the only way & or only path too! I also connect & or bridge friendly friendship + relationship & bondage from all over the world friends, near or far, known or unknown too, through both my WhatsApp line & FB Truly busy enough everyday for me!!! Thanks for the advance hi-tech connectivity these days. Thanks so much for my family many happy returns too. I am very satisfied with happiness along my ageing journey even though I am with multiple illnesses nowadays.
Since I began with Marsiling DC sometime in May 2018 after transferring from Yishun DC1, I had been very active with Chinese Art class drawing with Chinese brushes in addition to regular DC group exercise on weekly basis. Last year despite the Covid-19 I joined a team to pick up Gymnastic Tonic Exercise at NKF's Jurong IRC site! This is in order to keep my ageing muscles stronger & fitter too.
I am fond making friends both online & face to face too depending upon the circumstances too. Among friendship & bondage, I like to be friendly be honestly & be patiently by listening/setting an example to get TRUST as first STEP of any journey!
As a dialysis patient I have never missed a single routine HD session at all in addition balance of diet, medications, regular exercise, following for regular medical check-up, mindfulness or awareness personal regular bi-monthly blood labs testing results, sufficient rest & sleep, family + relatives + friends + community concern & support. Of course individual basic positive approach & attitude toward lifestyle or life-journey. Almost every week I will express my feeling through Facebook for my each session of haemodialysis treatment or therapy! Also everyday I will review my past events in order to reflect my planning on face book pages as my daily diary too because as far healthcare is concerned I am very transparent patient since day 1. This is partly as my habitual instinct of CARING SHARING &CONTRIBUTION what how when where & why I have learned or picked up or known about along my life-experiential experiment + experience through personal genuine exposure simply I feel I am still lack of educational culture of familiarization & training as far as dialysis topic.
Throughout my 7 years plus of my HD period, I had travelled to home town or birth place few times + visiting Batam island & cruising to Penang island in West Malaysia through the beautiful Straits of Malacca!
My main philosophy nowadays is simply:- add LIFE in YEARS to come along my aging with multiple illnesses lifestyle or life-journey!
Thank you very much for lending a shoulder ears for guidance me along during my ageing lifestyle or life-journey as a dialysis! You are most welcome to make any positive & valuable comment or correction as you wish & like or want to. I need someone to polish my thinking concept too!
Have a nice & enjoyable Sunday!
With best regards always!
Your sincerely,
Leong Seng Chen (David)
Throughout my 7 years plus of my HD period, I had travelled to home town or birth place few times + visiting Batam island & cruising to Penang island in West Malaysia through the beautiful Straits of Malacca!
My main philosophy nowadays is simply:- add LIFE in YEARS to come along my aging with multiple illnesses lifestyle or life-journey!
Thank you very much for lending a shoulder ears for guidance me along during my ageing lifestyle or life-journey as a dialysis! You are most welcome to make any positive & valuable comment or correction as you wish & like or want to. I need someone to polish my thinking concept too!
Have a nice & enjoyable Sunday!
With best regards always!
Your sincerely,
Leong Seng Chen (David)
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