Post Operation Appointment With Surgeon

Today is my appointment with Dr Tan, both to collect my biopsy report and to remove the plasters on the 3 wounds on my belly.  I only found out today that there were sutures as well on the 3 holes!

I left the house at 8:30 a.m. with the hubs and reached the clinic in Sri Kembangan at 9 a.m.  After I registered myself, I had breakfast with the hubs.

We went to PappaRich as the hubs wanted me to eat in a clean eatery vs. some unhygienic hawker stalls. I ordered the blandest item from the menu, which was hor fun in clear soup and it came with a piece of steamed chicken drumstick. The noodles and soup were pretty insipid and I whacked down half a bowl anyway as I was famished.  As I am still avoiding caffeinated tea, I didn't order my favorite lai char but ordered lemon slices in hot honey.  Hubs had toasties with kaya and two half boiled free-range chicken eggs.   I can't wait to tuck into spicy food again!




Dr Tan is in the midst of helping me write a detailed medical report for submission to the insurance company. She is trying her level best in helping me fight my claim of the two excluded items from the bill totaling over RM5k, i.e the power morcellator and the morcellator bag.  These items were once approved by the said insurance company and I think they are now trying to cut costs, thus making claims really difficult to get through.

Dr Tan is recommended to me by the hubs' aunt and I now highly recommend her. She is knowledgeable, smart, helpful, down to earth and her team of staff is just as helpful. One of her staff has been going all out to help me since day one and I gave her a little gift today.

If you've been keeping an eye on my blog to find out about the biopsy report results, it's ALL CLEAR with no malignancy found, thank you Lord!  The past few weeks had been one of the darkest moments of my life and I was riddled with immense worries and anxiety. The storm is over and  I can see the rainbow and smell the sun now 😇

If you are looking for a good fertility specialist, Ob & Gyn and hynobirthing classes, I highly recommend Dr Tan Ee Ping from CT Woman & Child Specialist Clinic.  Dr Tan's husband is a pediatrician and they both share the same clinic.






My lunch today - fried rice with ginger strips, chopped ngai (mugwort) and eggs, seasoned with lots of sesame seed oil.

Check out the daisy that Cass bought for me on the day I was discharged from the hospital 6 days ago. It's surprisingly still fresh and  standing strong 💗

Post Laproscopic Myomectomy Surgery

My first solid meal after the surgery was a few slices of tuna sandwich, prepared for me the night before. I didn't eat it and just left it in my room as I was too lazy to get down from bed and to brush my teeth after that. I didn't feel like moving too much right after a surgery.  I just drank a packet of Izumio, a few sips of Milo and many sips of warm water after my surgery. I had a bad throat with phlegm caused by the oxygen tube inserted into my throat during the surgery. I only ate the tuna wholemeal sandwich at 6:30 a.m. the next day.

At 8:30 a.m., I had breakfast of fish porridge.




At 11:30 a.m., lunch was served. I chose braised chicken with potatoes and ginger and brown rice. There was a side of fish ball soup and honey dew as dessert.



The food was bland enough for recuperating patients.



Eating and working at my lappie 😁

After my discharge from the hospital on Tuesday, 30 May, my papa, mil and the girl's grand aunt joined in forces to cook up a storm. It was a celebration of sorts to welcome me home. It was coincidentally the Duanwu / Dumpling Festival too on that day.





I had pumpkin, pork and fish porridge but I didn't take any pic of it. I was feeling very bloated with gas pains from the unreleased gas and CO2 trapped in my body. The gas was finally released after dinner. What a relief!!!

The hubs bought a jackfruit cheese cake for us to celebrate a 2-in-1 occasion: Shireen's Homecoming and Parents' Day 💗




This morning as I was watching Cass wash up and brush her teeth, Cass said this proudly and melodramatically. "mum, you see, I survived a HUNDRED days without you... and you, you got back alive after the surgery. The good thing is, I feel a lot more independent! I can wake up to pee with my alarm clock at 4am, without you. You see, I survived without you!"

After a mere 3 days away from home, my girls are suddenly so independent. This morning, Alycia helped peel an orange for Cass and hung the laundry.  Cass helped to mop the floor with the magic mop after breakfast. After lunch just now, Drama Queen helped to mop the kitchen floor.  I am blessed 😍💖


You can read the story of my laproscopic myomectomy surgery in my other blog.

Pre-Admission To Hospital

This post is typed in the hospital. Today is my pre-admission day and the surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 3pm.

Thank God a blood transfusion is not needed as my total blood count went up to a reading of 12 (from reading of 6 in January this year). After my blood test results were out and I've checked into the hospital, I went home for several hours.  My beloved parents arrived  from Ipoh today to give me moral support. They have always been my number one cheerleader ❤

At the hospital in the evening today...


My charges helping me with my luggage





My papa helping me place my luggage and paraphernalia

And my paparazzi mum furtively took all the pix here without our knowledge :D


Pic above - Cass helping me set up the laptop; pic below - the hubs taking a rest on the recliner bed in my single bedroom while Cass helps me to log in using the hospital WiFi.  

I an indeed blessed that I have my entire family to accompany me to the hospital and cheering me on.

My tummy is growling now and I am not allowed to eat until 7am. My last meal before the surgery must be before 8am tomorrow. I have gulped down my first dose of pico salax (pre surgery bowel prep) but nothing is out yet. How??  I guess I have to wait for the second dosage at 9pm,..

Pre-Surgery Foods

I had this bowl of spicylicious meehoon curry with 'sui kau' dumplings accompanied by a glass of iced milk tea at Taste Good with the hubs last week.  This is my favorite kind of brunch on a weekday, where I can peacefully tuck into my favorite spicy food sans the littlest one pecking on my food.




It looks like this will be the last time I get to indulge in spicy food and tea for this month.  From today, it is only clean eating for me. My laproscopic myomectomy surgery is scheduled for 29 May 2017.

From today, I will be eating more lean protein and eggs (both for a quicker post-op recovery and to increase my red blood cells), kefir (my guts need lots of good bacteria to fight the bad ones post-op), more greens and fresh fruits and lots of Izumio. I have stopped some supplements since yesterday and will only resume popping them after I am discharged from the hospital.


My pre-dinner snack of free-range chicken eggs and roselle kefir yesterday.

7 more days to go! Bring it on! I can take it 💪💪

Heavy Period Caused By Fibroid

My monthly unwanted guest arrived yesterday. My Aunt Flow is by far the cruelest this time, lashing out a massive outflow of my most precious blood. Yes blood is SO precious to me now.  I am hoping that I can avoid a blood transfusion before my surgery.  She caused me a sleepless night yesterday, the entire frigging night. I got up every hourly to change the pads, which would be soaked to my shorts. And I used 42cm pads.  A blanket that I place underneath me was also stained.  Not only was there a massive blood flood, clots were plentiful too. And darn the cramps when the clots are being passed out each time. This morning I got up feeling like a walking dead, looking paler and weaker than ever. The breathlessness crept out again, so did the heart flutters.  After a heavy breakfast and snacking throughout the day, I am feeling much better now. Feeling like someone who is preggers, I have been feeling hungry all the time today.  Throughout the day,  I snacked on 'char siew', 'siew yoke', roast chicken (meat gives me the iron power!), black dates, goji berries, lots of ginger + chlorophyll drinks, wholegrain bread with homemade multi-nut jam, lots of Izumio hydrogen water, my super power Super Lutein and my iron tablets. With such  massive blood loss last night and am still bleeding heavily, I am  surprised that I haven't collapsed yet, thank God I am still alive! 😅 I could still drive around and do house chores.  This episode is making me look forward to the surgery. I can't wait for the fibroid to be removed from my body.  I miss my old pre-fibroid body so much 💔

Surgery To Remove Uterine Fibroid

Just a follow up on my post.   Two days ago, I consulted a gynae who is highly recommended by a relative.

After performing an ultrasound sound scan of the fibroid, which is now at 7cm, Dr Tan gave me 3 options:

Option 1: To do a Transcervical Resection of Fibroids (TCRF) which is a minimally invasive surgery and involves no cuts.  However, as the fibroid measures 7cm, she needs two separate surgeries to fully remove the fibroid. Oh. my. gawd!!  The first surgery will be performed end of May and the next surgery end of June.  The duration for each surgery is 3-4 hours.  Imagine, going through nightmares twice.  One surgery alone is enough to cause me an overload of anxiety.

Option 2: To do Transcervical Resection of Fibroids (TCRF) but only after shrinking the fibroid through 2 or 3 hormone jabs.  This jab acts to put me on a medically induced menopause and I may (or may not) experience all symptoms related to menopause.  The fibroid may shrink when the body is under menopause.  Each jab costs almost RM600 and only one jab is to be administered each month, with close monitoring via ultrasound scan to see if the fibroid has shrunk.  Once the fibroid has shrunk to below 5cm, a TCRF can be performed. Only one surgery is needed.  I find this too tedious, costly and time consuming. And it prolongs my anxiety. Anxiety is all about emotions and in TCM, the fibroid growth is largely affected by emotions. What if the fibroid fails to shrink to the desired size or worse yet, fails to shrink at all?

Option 3: To do a laproscopic myomectomy with contained power morcellation. One of the Ob & Gyn whom I consulted in February this year informed me that the contained power morcellation procedure is not foolproof whereas  Dr Tan informed me that the bag that she uses is safe and does not leak out fibroid cells. Dispersing fibroid cells can have a very negative impact on the body IF the fibroid turns out to be malignant.  This is my greatest fear right now, though it is rare for fibroids to be malignant. I was told the risk of sarcoma (malignant) is 1 in 1000 cases.

I have chose option 3 and the operation is set for 29 May 2017.  On 28 May, a full blood test will be done at the hospital. Should my blood count show a reading of below 8, a blood transfusion would be performed on 28 May, i.e. a day before the surgery.

The countdown to the big day has begun. Everyday I have been telling Cass that she has to learn to be independent and do things herself as mummy will be away for a few days. My parents will be coming  from Ipoh to shower me with lots of moral support. Thank God for awesome parents!

So folks, I really need lots of prayers from everyone now that the surgery will be 100% successful with a benign biopsy result. And no more regrowth of fibroid post-operation. Thank you 😘