Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Sickness is unpredictable

My mum & dad with Angelina, my little princess.

My two and a half years old daughter, Angelina Wong Zhi Yan vomited non-stop last Sunday nite. My whole family got so worried about her condition. Despite vomiting many times, she did not cried much. She is a strong girl, like her late mother. We took her to the clinic and Maxalon was administered through her rectum to prevent it from being vomited out. After few hours, the vomiting persist so we have to admit her to Pantai hospital around 4am. By then, my dad was down with constant diarrhoea but he came with us, being the super-grandfather that he is.

Angelina was brought to the ward around 6am for saline infusion to replace the loss fluids and keep the body hydrated. Angelina did not cried when they poke the IV neddle into her hands, she merely said "no more, no more...", she never cease to amaze me. By 6am, my mum started to have diarrhoea and fever too! We were fortunate the bed next to our two-bed room was empty. My mum and dad later took turns to rest on the empty bed, being exhausted from diarrhoea. The fact that my parents insisted on keeping watch on Angelina despite their tiredness and sickness, really showed me how deep my parents loved their grandaughter, and how much sacrifice our parents can make for us, which most of us took for granted.


Despite her exhaustion from the constant vomiting, she asked to go home. There is no place like home.

The Pediatrician later diagnosed my daughter as suffering from Gastroenteritis, a very serious infection of the gut. And my whole family must have caught it too, from sharing food and taking care of her. She was discharged after one day, but only got well few days later. Taking a supplement of good bacteria such as Probiotic to augment the gut proved to be helpful. My mum was the last to get well (after more than 7 days), due to her immuno-compromised condition as a cancer patient. Yet she still managed to soothe my daughter to sleep every nite during bedtime. Family love truly knows no bound and we must always treat our loved ones with appreciation, respect and care; more so since sickness and death are unpredictable.