30 Aug 2010 - MC extended 2 more days

I called back my company's doctor today and was advised to go to a nearby GP for a review. I still had ulcers in my mouth though the blisters on my palm and feet are dried up. When the doctor saw my condition, immediately he wanted to give me another 3 days MC. However, after I asked him is it true that as long as I got ulcers, I am not allowed to go back to work. He pondered a moment and said actually for adults, as long as we felt comfortable, it should be ok to work. As long as I do not share food with anybody, it should be fine. HFMD is transmitted mainly through saliva.

So I requested to reduce my MC by one day and be back in office on Wed. My only concern is that my colleague may try to avoid me. So the doctor advised me to explain it to my colleagues......but i think it's difficult because everybody will always want to play safe, especially those with kids at home. But what can I do? I dun think my ulcers will fully healed by then. Work from home? Unless my boss agrees........well let's see how then.

Btw, Jerlene went back to her childcare centre today. :-)

28 Aug 2010 - Jerlene has fully recovered

Jerlene had gotten the "Fit for School" certificate from the doctor today. Her appetite had returned and everything went back to normal. However, her daddy and mommy were still suffering from severe ulcer pain. Seeing Jerlene back to her active state actually helped to relieve some of my pain.

As a parent, what is more important than our children's health? I believe all parents out there will agree with me. :-)

26 Aug 2010 - Ouch.....really painful......and one more victim...

As I've expected, the pain from my mouth ulcers intensify today. My throat is like needle poking when swallowing stuff, even porridge. I can now really understand what Jerlene had been experiencing in the past one week. As an adult, the pain is already quite unbearable, really pity those kids who got to undergo such suffering........

In the afternoon, my company's doctor was kind enough to call me and ask about my condition. I told her and she extended my MC till next Mon for another review. Hopefully by then, I will get better.

Jerlene is supposed to go back to the doctor to re-certify that she is now fit for school. However, although she seemed ok now, I still see one red dot in her mouth. Since I will be at home, I decided to let her rest for these few days. Probably will bring her to a doctor over the coming weekend.

Sad to say, Tracy also got it......sigh.........so now my house is full of HFMD virus. I got it from Jerlene and I believe Tracy got it from me as we had been sharing food. She will be on MC till next Wed.

25 Aug 2010 - Oh no......I GOT IT!

My worry came true. I saw a few blisters on my palm and feet. So the moment I reached office, I quickly made an appointment with my company's doctor. After she examined the blisters and my mouth ulcers, she cannot confirm whether it was HFMD or not but knowing Jerlene just got it, there was a high chance. She requested me to take 2 days rest at home and monitor. If condition got worse, she will extend my MC.

I have never thought that an adult will get it so easily because of our stronger immunity system. It seemed that I was wrong. Or maybe this strain of HFMD virus is "stronger". Another reason is probably Jerlene was too attached to me, especially during the past one week. Again I heard from the news that the situation of HFMD outbreak is childcare was getting worse.

Today I can still eat normally but based on Jerlene's experience, I probably will start feeling the real pain starting tomorrow.......

24 Aug 2010 - Daddy fell ill.......

I woke up this morning with headache and flu. However, what worried me most are the ulcers in my mouth! Yes........I developed some ulcers in my mouth. I went to the doctor and because it's just starting, he cannot confirm if it was HFMD. He advised me to monitor and if condition got worse, then I should go back for a review. I really hope it's not...... :(

After so many days and Javier did not show any symptoms so far. So really glad that he's not affected this time. At the same time, Jerlene felt much better today and can start to eat more. She had slimmed down a lot after the past one week.

23 Aug 2010 - Jerlene still pain but can eat a bit

I went back to work today and Tracy took leave to stay at home with Jerlene. Jerlene called me a few times to complain about mouth pain. According to Tracy, Jerlene did not complain to her but to me, she cannot stop whining.

During the day, I felt a little unwell but I believe it's probably because of all the disturbed sleep in the past few nights. When I reached home in the evening, Jerlene was so happy to see me back. She pulled me to the room and again told me about her mouth pain. I can see that she's improving......but I still hugged and consoled her as usual.......

22 Aug 2010 - "My mouth very pain!"

Jerlene did not get better today. Every now and then, she will cry at me "Daddy my mouth pain"........ We continued to cook porridge for her but she still refused. Actually I can see that she's hungry and wanted to eat. At one time, her hand was about to hold onto the spoon but suddenly she pulled back her hand. Probably she remembered her mouth was still painful. I spent almost whole day trying to distract her from her pain. I played Wii, board games, drawing and writing together with her. It worked for quite a while but once she remembered, there she goes again.......sigh...........

Have not seen Javier for a few days. Today, we decided to bring some stuffs to my parent's place. I went up but tried to keep a distance away from Javier as I may carry the virus on me. He was as cute as before and very cheerful when he saw me. Wanted to hug and carry him but I can't. I can only see him, separated by the door, at a distance.......

Really hope that Jerlene will get well soon and Javier can come home with us........

On our way home, we bought beancurd (豆花), which is soft and cold. Fortunately, Jerlene can eat some. She was so happy that she can eat too! :)

21 Aug 2010 - My poor Jerlene

Jerlene's condition had gotten worse today. Throughout the day, she refused to eat and drink anything. And the only words coming from her is "Daddy my mouth pain!". We were worried that she will have dehydration. So we tried so hard to convince her to at least drink some liquid. According to the doctor, it does not matter what she drink, as long as it is liquid, it will be good. So we bought Glucose, ice cream, Vitagen etc which Jerlene did not reject.

However, she cannot even finish the ice cream. She also refused to eat her multi vitamin pills which she will ask for it everyday. I can imagine how painful it was since she was rejecting all her favourite stuff. She cried many times complaining about her mouth pain and I felt so bad that I cannot do much. All I can do is to hug and console her. During the night, she cannot sleep well. Every hour she will wake up and cry...........

She pain in her mouth but I pain in my heart. Really felt like crying with her....... *sob sob*.

20 Aug 2010 - Jerlene showed signs of worsening

This morning, Jerlene still felt normal and able to eat her breakfast. Throughout the day, she had been busy drawing and writing on her table. She's really 乖 today. However, in the evening, she started to show signs of pain in her mouth. I bought her favourite noodles and after taking one mouthful, she refused to eat anymore and kept telling me:"Daddy, my mouth pain".

I then bought porridge but she seemed to have lost her appetite. When we went home, I found that there were quite a few "big" ulcers on the tip of her tongue and inner mouth wall. Poor Jerlene can't even drink her milk from the milk bottle. I tried to distract her and soon she fell asleep as she did not sleep during daytime today. I have a feeling that this episode of HFMD will be a "tough" one....... :(

19 Aug 2010 - HFMD is haunting us again

Sigh......I brought Jerlene to childcare this morning only to discover that she got red spot in her mouth, which is a symptom of Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD). I quickly took her to a clinic and doctor confirmed it. There were rashes on her buttock as well. Now I am worried that Javier may have gotten it also since they have been playing together in the past few days, especially last night. To play safe, I decided to leave him at my mom's place. Hopefully he will be ok.

As my helper will be at my parent's place with Javier, I had to take childcare leave to take care of Jerlene, who will be on one week MC. Today, she still behaved normally and appetite is normal. Really hope that this time it will be a mild case again. Sigh.......in less than half a year, she got it a second time. The last time she got it was in Mar 2010 (Read here). I think she got it so often is probably because she still cannot get rid of the habit of sucking thumbs.

Anyway, heard from the news that there is a recent increase in HFMD. Several childcare centres have already been ordered to close for 10 days in order to break the chain. Just hope that Jerlene can quickly recover and Javier does not get it.

18 Aug 2010 - Fukuoka Trip Summary 2010

If you remember, I have previously created a video on our Melbourne trip last year. I have just done a similar video on our recent Fukuoka trip and presenting to you, Fukuoka 2010 Trip Summary. Enjoy! :-)

15 Aug 2010 - Javier owns the mini sofa

We bought a Pooh mini sofa for Jerlene a year or two ago and now, Javier seems to own it. Everytime, when I switch on the TV, he will 乖乖 sit on the sofa and watch. Recently, he fell in love with plain white bread and after he asked for it, he will walk back to his sofa waiting to be served. He can sit there with his bread for quite a long period of time. He looks like a big boss sitting in that sofa...... :-)

9 Aug 2010 - Happy 45th Birthday, Singapore!

Today is our nation's 45th birthday and Jerlene decided to buy a cake for our country. Not only that, she even sang a happy birthday song to Singapore!

9 Aug 2010 - Jerlene feeling much better

Jerlene woke up feeling better this morning. Today is national day and there was a poolside carnival organized by our management committee. We brought both Jerlene and Javier down to see if there was any fun stuff. There were game stores, food stalls and many others.

We then brought the kids to the playground where they had so much fun there. Javier tried on the slide for the first time. After several attempt, he became comfortable sliding down by himself. Glad that Jerlene finally enjoying herself, together with Javier. More importantly her appetite is back. :-)

8 Aug 2010 - Jerlene still no appetite

Jerlene's appetite today still not very good. She only drank a little milk but thankfully, she did not throw out this time. Probably she still cannot get over what happened yesterday. We decided to bring the kids to somewhere they might enjoy and first place came to our mind is Changi Terminal 3. The last time we went, they had so much fun at the playground, so we hoped to cheer Jerlene up this time as well.

The food court (Kopitiam) was overly crowded so we had our lunch at Ya Kun. Jerlene tried a few bites on the toast bread (which is good for stomach wind) and stopped after that. We then brought them to the playground and hopefully Jerlene will cheer up a bit. Initially she was a little eager to go over but after playing a while, she came back to her stroller and back to her moody self.

Javier on the other hand was enjoying himself and running all over the place.

Jerlene can only sit in her stroller and watched. Then she seemed to be hungry and said she wanted cheese. So we quickly went to NTUC and bought some cheese for her. Again, she only took a few bites and stopped. Sigh......be strong and hope you will recover soon.........

7 Aug 2010 - Stomach Flu

Jerlene woke up throwing out this morning. Initially we thought she threw out was because she kept coughing. However, she vomitted again minutes later. Subsequently, she lost all her appetite. She did try to drink some milk but after she drank about 50ml, she suddenly stopped......and vomitted all the milk. After that, she refused to eat anything. She probably knew that the moment she ate something, she will throw it out. We quickly brought her to a doctor and it's likely stomach flu.

Throughout the day, she did not eat much and we did not force her, just tried to get her to drink more water, especially glucose, to avoid dehydration. So poor thing...... :(

2 Aug 2010 - Jerlene's Jul 10 artwork

Jerlene's coloring skill is really improving. Not only she can now color within the border, she can also choose the appropriate colour for different things.
In addition, her writing skill has also improved. In fact, she can now write her own name without any help. Months ago, she can already spell out her name clearly. Good work, Jerlene!