Chemotherapy and Radiology Treatment For Cancer

Previously I had thought that chemotherapy treatment was like doing an x-ray and you will have to stand and get rays shone on you or something. Quite unknowledgeable but that was the picture image I had in my mind of a chemotherapy treatment.

My mother had chemo treatment but that was years ago and I was a young child so I did not know how a chemo treatment was.

Now that my sister has breast cancer, I realize that chemo treatment is given intravenously. My sister has to go to hospital, lie down on the bed for several hours and get the chemo treatment intravenously. It makes her lose her hair and she feels weak normally around 3 days after the treatment before feeling better again around the 5th day.

Her last session is at the end of this month. I hope that this time will pass quickly for sis. She was told that her hair will probably grow back and be back to normal again around 6 months after the last treatment.


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I Want A Walking Pedometer For Christmas

One of my Christmas wishes is to get a walking pedometer to track my daily steps. I don't get out of the house much. I am a stay at home mum with 2 young kids. However, a walking pedometer may just encourage me to climb up and down the stairs of my home a little bit more. Somehow, if I know I'm being tracked, I will be more conscious.

Being more conscious of my daily activities may just push me to make more effort to go the extra mile. Not that I'm walking miles. However, I do need some form of discipline where exercise is concerned. I spend far too much time being sedentary. I spend far too much time in front of the computer for all of my online activities as many people do these days.

To my spouse, if you are reading this, you can check out these pedometers for walking if you don't know what to buy me for Christmas this year. Big Hint!

On another note, father is having a low heart rate. His doctor says that he does not require a heart pacemaker for now because it is his electrical pulse which is low. I am not sure what all of that means but we have a heart rate monitor to monitor him at home. Sigh. I guess that should remind us not to take our health for granted when we are young. Pin It

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2012

My mom died of cancer, not of the breast but cancer nevertheless. While my aunt is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with breast cancer Stage 3 and had mastectomy of both breasts. That was 19 years ago. That would mean that I am in the high risk group and should then be breast cancer aware. 

However, I was not. I was afraid. I didn't bother to check because I was afraid. I went for yearly check-ups but I did not do any self checks because of this fear. Now, I am painfully aware as my own sister has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. She goes for yearly check-ups too and just had a mammogram 6 months ago. Even then...sigh.

She discovered the cancer herself quite by accident because she felt a lump on her breast. She went for a check up soon after and had a lumpectomy within 2 weeks. Now, she is faced with the decision on whether to have chemotherapy. It was a good thing she discovered the cancer at its very early stage. That shows how important breast self examination is and how important it is to take immediate action. This not only saves your life but it also makes it easier to manage. Early detection and diagnosis may make the difference between whether you need a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. It may mean whether you need chemotherapy or radiation treatment and medication.

I also find this local Malaysian magazine a good read. It is the October issue of Health & Beauty. This month being the breast cancer awareness month, has lots of articles on breast cancer. There is also a booklet by Pantai Hospital which is very useful to read. I read both booklet and magazine from cover to cover so that I will understand what sister is going through. It is also good knowledge for me, as I am at high risk, having an aunt and now a sister (a direct relative) who has breast cancer.

So, don't be afraid. Do your monthly breast self examination, ladies. You won't know you have cancer at the early stages. If not for the self discovery of the lump, sister is in the pink of health. At the early stages, it is a silent decease. I hate how this has turned her life topsy turvy. To be faced with decisions on whether to do lumpectomy surgery, chemotherapy etc when you are feeling well as if nothing is wrong with you is very tough indeed.

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My First Time Drinking Wheat Grass Juice

Recently my husband bought 4 packets of wheatgrass from an organic store. We had been juicing celeries, broccoli and other greens for some time now and we found that it has improved our family health. 

Since it is my first time drinking wheat grass juice, I didn't know how much wheat grass to use. I decided to use two packets.

I didn't know how much juice the two packets would yield. I had read that if you are drinking wheat grass for the first time, you should go slow by taking a shot of 1 ounce of juice at first.

Our two packets of wheat grass was one big bowl after washing. We used our regular juicer to make the wheat grass. I didn't want to use my blender as I would have to sieve it afterwards. However, it did make my juicer rattle and shake! I removed some of the wheat grass that was stuck around the edges and then it was okay after that. Phew! I thought that I had damaged my juicer.

At last, our shot of wheat grass was ready. It came up to more than I had expected. Each cup had over 2 ounces of juice in them. The two packets of wheat grass or one big bowl yielded about 4-5 ounces of wheat grass juice.

I remembered that I was supposed to start slow by drinking 1 ounce first since it was my first time drinking the wheat grass juice but I didn't want to throw the extra away. This is expensive grass!

So I drank my 2 ounces of wheat grass and within 5 minutes I was burping. In 10 minutes I felt bloated and slightly uncomfortable. Within half and hour I felt nausea and threw up. I drank green juice but vomitted black material. Grouse! That was my trial and error first time drinking wheat grass juice. Next time, I'll try one packet instead of two. I'm very brave to think of trying again after throwing up don't you think but then, there are two more packets of expensive wheat grass in my fridge....

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I didn't vomit because it tasted or smelt bad. In fact, it tasted rather sweet. The vomitting was an involuntary action completely.

Updated:

I've taken the wheatgrass juice two more times after this. In 1oz shots and sipped slowly without problems. I used my regular juicer to make the juice but since the wheatgrass is very thin, it keeps on getting stuck at the sites causing my juicer to jam, make a loud vibrating noise and dance around (it literally jumped around my kitchen counter). Since then, I've tried to add celery to the juice to push the wheatgrass down the juicer which worked a little better. I'm still hunting for a Manual Wheatgrass Juicer at the moment.

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Gourmet Coffee

I have a friend who is selling reishi (Ganoderma Lucidum) also known as Ling Zhi in Chinese. She has been telling me how good it would be for my sensitive nose problem as well as the many other health benefits of Reishi. Therefore, it is very interesting for me to discover Organo Gold Healthy Coffee.

Organo Gold Health Coffee is a Gourmet Coffee that has added Organic Ganoderma Spore Powder. Organic Coffee, also know as King of Coffee is more than just coffee as it uses only 100% Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum by US, China, Japan and European Union.

I haven't tried the reishi that my friend is selling but Organic Coffee seems like an interesting Coffee Blend to try especially for Coffee lovers. I must recommend it to my sister who is a coffee lover. She must have her coffee a few times daily. For such a heavy coffee drinker, I think she should try a premium coffee and a healthy Organic one seems worth trying especially one with Organic Ganorderma Spore Powder which is said to be 17 times greater in strength.

I just love the smell of coffee. It brightens up my day. I can smell coffee now, even as I write. That is the beauty of coffee. Healthy Coffee would be even better. All this writing about coffee, well, I'm off now to go and make a cup of coffee for myself. Do you love coffee too?


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Homegrown Spring Onion Omelette

Spring Onion Flowers

My Spring Onion Flowers have continued to bloom. They look so pretty. I can't believe they came from my plain red shallots. I wonder what will happen next. I am watching them closely.

I used these shallots to plant  my own spring onions

I used these shallots or small red onions to grow my own spring onions. They take about 2-3 weeks to grow mature enough for harvesting.

Spring Onion Omelette

I used  my homegrown spring onions to cook spring onion omelette. They are very delicious.

My recipe for spring onion omelette:

• 4 eggs
• spring onion
• carrot cut into strips

How to cook the spring onion omelette:

• Add oil into pan
• Pour in the 4 beaten eggs
• When the egg looks almost cook but still runny, add in the spring onions and carrots
• Flip over when the egg looks golden brown
• Cook till the other side is golden brown

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Growing Your Own Spring Onions

Growing your own spring onions is really fun and easy. All you have to do is cut off the tops of your shallots, then push it into the soil with the cut part exposed and then watch it grow, like magic! It is easy, clean and economical. A bunch of spring onions can cost quite a lot at the supermarket, especially the organically grown one.

My shallots took about a week to grow to this height and is ready for harvesting. Yay!

Harvested Spring Onions for garnishing in soups or adding to stir fries. Yum. Yum. You can still see the shallots, now with roots at the bottom.

My Spring Onions, all cleaned up and ready for cooking.

Those that I didn't harvest continued to grow into nice, pretty flowers to my surprise. I wonder what will happen next?

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Chicken Pox Care - How To Reduce Itchiness And Diet Restrictions

When I when to see the doctor for Chicken Pox, I asked the doctor whether there was any diet restrictions for Chicken Pox, he said "None, however you may follow the believes of your race." Then he gave me some calamine lotion and pills to reduce itchiness and that was that.

I am Malaysian Chinese and as a Chinese we have many diet restrictions for all sorts of ailments. These are usually brought down by word of mouth from generation to generation. However, since my mom died when I was 10, I never learned any of these diet control methods from her and the secrets were not passed on to me. I am clueless on such things, so I had to ask around some friends and relatives including asking in a Facebook Mom's Group.

Here are the answers I got from them:

To reduce itchiness from Chicken Pox

1. Use neem leaves to slowly caress or rub on body to reduce itchiness
2. Bathe with warm salt water and apply salt to the pox to have less itchiness
3. Calamine lotion although some say Calamine cream is better than the lotion and heals faster
4. Collect neem leaves, wash them and pound them with some water to get a paste. When bathing, put the neem paste on the spots and leave them there for a while. Neem has a natural anti viral/fungal properties. Then rinse off the neem. You can read more about the benefits of neem leaves here.

Diet Restrictions for Chicken Pox 

1. Drink lots of cooling herbal drinks and other cooling drinks especially coconut water to cool your body down
2. Avoid dark soya sauce as it will leave black marks on  your body
3. Avoid chinese chives as you may get chicken pox again if consumed
4. Take lots of easy to digest food including lots of liquids, soups and smoothies especially if there are painful ulcers in the mouth
5. Take lots of Multivitamins and Salmon Omega3 and water
6. Take lots of Vitamin C and Wheatgrass powder and  anything that can boost the immune system
7. Avoid eggs, chicken or prawns and certain kinds of fish that are considered "poisonous" or "bisa" (in Malay)

Did I follow these? All I can say is I lost all my appetite and didn't feel like eating anything so it was not a problem for me to avoid eggs, chicken or prawns etc because I didn't feel like eating at all! I drank lots of water and cooling coconut water because my lips were dry and cracked and I was thirsty all the time. 

I bathed twice a day because it so happens its the hot season here and sweating makes me more uncomfortable and itchy. After the bath, I would apply calamine lotion which was soothing.

If you are reading this, which part of the world are you from? Do you have any diet restrictions for Chicken Pox? 

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Adult Chicken Pox

All those things they say about adult chicken pox being harder on adults than kids are true. I am 45. I have chicken pox. I guess that means I qualify as an adult with chicken pox. I got it from my daughter who had breakthrough chicken pox. She had it easy. She was given 4 days of time off from school. Add in the weekend and she had 6 days off. After the first 2-3 days of fever and cough, the rest of the days was like a holiday for her. If not for the fact that she had to quarantine herself, she was almost enjoying her time off from school. Breakthrough chicken pox is chicken pox in someone who has had the chicken pox vaccination. She has had one jab and we missed the booster one. What a big mistake that was!

I have it much tougher than her being an adult with chicken pox

• I had high fever for 4-5 days.
• My face, neck and upper torso was covered in chicken pox. They looked like harmless mosquito bites at first, and then into the more sinister looking blister like rash and finally turning almost black before crusting over and falling off. 
• I was extremely tired and lost all my appetite
• My stomach felt bloated and full even though I had eaten nothing accept medication.
• I felt nausea like I was having morning sickness

I was given anti-viral Aciclovir (if taken within 24 hours of the first rash would help reduce the severity. It won't kill the virus but it may reduce it from multiplying). I think it was too late for me but I took them all the same. I also took antibiotics for any secondary infection plus cough and fever medication and anti-itch medication. Anti-itch, Anti-biotic, Anti-viral. My stomach was anti-food at the time. The medication made me feel even more sick!

I bathed twice a day, then gently pat the pox dry before applying calamine lotion all over and lay down aahhhhh to rest. 

They say that having chicken pox as an adult is tough. Yes, it is. I felt terribly sick but the worse part was.....

there was no one to look after me! No one to give me my medication, no one to sponge down my fever or give me cooling baths or make cooling drinks for me or warm food. No one to help me apply the calamine lotion in the hard to reach places like my back. Plus, I had to quarantine myself from touching the family which was hard especially with the little boy saying "Just one hug, mummy. Not even one touch?" Then he would run around and try to accidentally touch me. Oh, how I do miss hugging my family!

In addition to having no one to look after me, I still had to look after the house and the family. That was the toughest part about having chicken pox as an adult mum!

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Breakthrough Chicken Pox

My girl just recovered from Breakthrough Chicken Pox. I had not heard of this term before this. "Breakthrough Chicken Pox" actually means Chicken Pox that occurs in a person who has had the Chicken Pox vaccination. The symptoms of the breakthrough Chicken Pox are very much milder.

My girl only had the pox on her back, a few on her shoulders and a few on her face. I think she only had less than 5 blister like pox. The rest were mostly flat looking ones. It didn't seem to itch as much. She did have a fever and a cough which the doctor said was common. However, her fever, cough and cold was worse than normal  because she may have contacted that from her little brother and me who were both having a cough and cold virus with fevers.

The doctor gave her 4 days off from school to quarantine her. That was from Friday to Wednesday. Actually, I started noticing the spots on Tuesday but it was sparse and not causing her very much discomfort, I thought it was just a normal rash, and we had just been to to the doctor with the boy on Monday which is why I only took her to the doctor on Friday when the spots didn't go away.

Anyway, her symptoms are quite mild and by the time she is back in school on Wednesday, most of the spots are all gone. The doctor says her brother may get it too. He has been vaccinated twice. Once before plus a booster jab. The girl missed the booster jab.

I found this information about Breatkthrough Chicken Pox quite useful. Pin It

Homemade Fruit Juice Ice Lollies

It is so hot these days. The weather is humid and uncomfortable. An iced coke would certainly be thirst quenching but that is unhealthy. So what can we do? We can make homemade Fruit Juice Ice Lollies, that's what. We've been making ice lollies using Ribena and Milo. This time the kids wanted something different.

So we went to the fridge and took out two oranges. Then we squeezed out the juice, added a little water and a bit of honey and poured them into our ice lolly mold or ice lolly maker. Put them into the freezer and in a few hours, we have our homemade fruit juice ice lollies.

Instead of fruit juices, you can use yoghurt too for a different texture and taste and to offer variety.

Homemade Fruit Juice Ice Lollies are Delicious and healthy! 

 Squeeze two oranges, add water and honey and pour into ice lolly container

 Delicious and healthy orange juice lollies served with grapes

The ice lolly is perfect for hot days or summer

Homemade Fruit Juice Lollies are perfect for hot summer days!

These cute looking ice lolly molds take my breath away. They will be great for kids summer parties. Kids will be lining up for these homemade ice lollies using these adorable molds! My kids enjoy making the ice lollies themselves. It is fun to pour the juice into the lolly maker and take them out from the freezer a few hours later in frozen form. It is also the best and most delicious way to teach kids about the science of liquid and matter. 

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Flu Season?

It used to be the flu season all year round for us but this is the first time this year that we're all sick. Hopefully, all that juicing and supplementing and trying to get more exercise and eat more fruits and vegetables is starting to work its magic.

Whatever it is, we will keep this up for now.

• At the moment, we are all taking a multivitamin each a day accept weekends.
• We take fresh vegetable juices on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. That is 4 times a week. We try to take it on an empty stomach, half an hour before food.
• We don't get enough exercise but we try to take the kids to the park at least once a week. Hubby plays badminton once a week and works out at the gym during lunch once or twice a week. I do my home workouts 2-3 times a week. 

Hopefully, this keeps us healthy. It is end of April now. I think this is the first time we have not fallen sick for close to 4 months. That is certainly a record when you have a home with young kids. Young kids always fall sick from germs in daycare and school and pass that along to parents and this happens rather frequently.

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Electronic Cigarettes

My husband used to be quite a heavy smoker. He smoked about a pack of cigarettes a day. Fortunately he had the will power to stop smoking. At first he limited his smoking to just the balcony of our apartment and later on when we moved out to a house with no balcony, he stopped.

 It's a good thing he stopped, otherwise I would have to look for tips on quiting smoking including using an electronic cigarette. I didn't know there was such a thing before. How interesting.

An electronic cigarette can help you to take a break from the more harmful traditional cigarette. It even comes in a variety of flavors from menthol to flavorless with no nicotine. The addiction to nicotine can really last for years. It is really hard to kick the smoking habit. I can see the effects for myself.

Even though my husband has quit smoking for years now, he still yearns for a smoke whenever there are gatherings or whenever he sees another smoker. I'm glad I never took up smoking. Pin It

Healthy Snack Ideas For Kids

Health Snack for Kids Combo 1

The kids had this for tea yesterday. So what's this? It's a healthy quick and easy snack idea for kids. Here's what you can put in your healthy snack for kids.

1. Colorful Fruits - Bananas, Strawberries, Kiwis are great individually or as a combo including all three.
2. Cereals - Cornflakes and other cereals
3. Nuts - Wallnuts, Cashews or any other nuts
4. Seeds - Sunflower seeds and other seeds are lovely

Healthy Snack for Kids Combo 2

The colorful fruits satisfy the sweet cravings and are nice to look at. Cereals add a bit of crunch without deep frying. Nuts add flavour and texture. Put them all in a bowl as a combo meal for kids. This combo snack for kids is quick and easy to prepare. Serve with hot cocoa and you're done.

Vary your items 1,2,3 and 4 around and you'll get variety, color and excitement to your healthy snack for kids.

Our Healthy Snack for Kids Combo One consist of Strawberries, Walnuts and Cornflakes while our Healthy Snack for Kids Combo Two consist of Bananas and chocolate based cereal. You can add milk or soya milk to your own Healthy Snacks for kids if you like but my kids prefer to eat it dry and crunchy. Pin It

Relaxing Music is Good For You

After aerobics exercise, I love to listen to relaxing music. My favorite is this one - First Love On Piano (by Utada Hikaru). I love it. Somehow it's very moving.

I enjoy the piano version but if you prefer to listen to some vocals, here is Utada Hikaru with Japanese Vocals. It's just as beautiful.

Music is really good for you. When you feel angry, try listening to some relaxing music. When you are down, try listening to some upbeat music to lift your mood.

Or, right after exercise, try listening to some relaxing music. Listening to relaxing music is good for you. Listening to relaxing music after exercise is the best form of cooling down after a rigorous work out. Try it. 

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Adding Bitter Gourd Or Bitter Melon To My Vegetable Juice

Recently, I've started adding Bitter Gourd or Bitter Melon to my Vegetable Juices. I had thought that it would make my Vegetable Juice bitter and unpalatable. I hate eating Bitter Gourd by the way. To my surprise, it does not taste bitter in juice. It just taste sort of spicy tangy. Anyway, I add just a very small amount. Just one or two slices compared to a whole big bowlful of vegetables so you can hardly taste it.

I use the small variety, a mini bitter gourd. I don't know what is the difference between the big ones and the little ones, I just use the small ones to prevent wastage.

Here is my bitter gourd. I use the mini ones to prevent wastage.

I add just one or two slices to this huge bowlful of vegetables including celery, brocolli, choy sum and some apples. I don't know how to call choy sum in English. If you don't know what choy sum is, just take a look at these images of choy sum.The apples are for the kids to make the vegetable juice more palatable for them. It's my way of getting the kids to drink their vegetable juice. My kids drink the juice neat (without adding any water or ice) like us. They are 8 and 10  years old, old enough not to upset their tummies drinking neat vegetable juice.

All the vegetables go into a Juicer. Vroom. Vroom.

That big bowl of vegetables yields four cups of vegetable juice neat with no water added.

Vegetable juices help my kids 'eat' more vegetables. We do not drink the juice in place of our vegetables but rather in addition to the vegetables that we eat. I don't think it is a good idea to drink vegetable juices as a replacement for vegetables, otherwise you lose all that good fiber so drink them in addition to your vegetable intake.

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Changed Water Filter Media

Recently my water smelled funny. I thought it smelled of an overdose of chlorine. I called the water filter man in and he thought me how to check the level of water filter in my water. He got me a bottle of chlorine checker from a fish or aquarium shop. The smell was very strong. I could smell it even when drinking a cup of hot cocoa made with boiling water. Even all my little guppy fishes died!

We are not sure what was the cause of the strange smell in our water. However, after consultation with the man, we decided to change the water filter media anyway since it was almost two years since we last changed it. They had to cut our water pipes.

The water pipe has been cut before two years ago when we changed the water filter media previously. This is the advisable period or time to change the water filter media. I wonder how many more cuts they can make to the pipe. There doesn’t seem to be much more space for any more cuts and joints.

The pipe was fixed very closely to the wall. The man had difficulty cutting it from his cutter, so he brought in a saw. After changing the water filter media, he re-joined the pipes and waited for a while for it to dry before doing a back wash. The process took about an hour in all.

This is the water filter media. We have to change it once in two years. The man takes out the old media, cleans out the container, then pours all of this media into the container before sealing it.

He advised us to do a back wash once a week. That is how often we have to do a back wash with the water filter. Perhaps we had not done it often enough in the past.

After we changed the water filter media the strange smell in my water is gone. So maybe it was the water filter after all.

Having good, clean water is very important to our family. It is all part of our journey towards finding, achieving and hopefully maintaining good health.

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Should I get a Food Detoxifier

The other day when I was at the Mall, I stopped by a counter selling a Food Detoxifier. I was intrigued because I do a lot of juicing so we eat a lot of raw fruits. My worry is accidentally eating contaminated fruits and vegetables since we don’t cook them. My kids drink the fruit and vegetable juices too so it makes me even more conscious about the cleanliness of the vegetables.

The guy manning the booth showed us how the Food Detoxifier turns water into an oxygen-rich environment for cleaning food. He also demonstrated how food coloring is removed by going through this food detoxifier water cycle.

I am quite interested to find out more about this Food Detoxifier. However, I will not purchase it just yet. It is expensive but price aside, I must first research the safety of its use. I wish someone who has it will leave a comment to tell me more about it because recently the water in my house smells funny.

I think the chlorine in it is high. I can smell it even after the water is boiled and even when I make a hot chocolate to drink. Even all my little guppy fishes died. That is why I am concerned and looking on ways to improve the water in my house. In fact, today, the water filter man is coming to change my filter. The other day he came to check my water and bought us a small bottle of liquid for checking the level of chlorine in the water. I didn’t know there was such a thing.

I hope that the water will improve after today.

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Year End Health Checks and Family Dental Check-Up

Usually at the end of the year, we would have a little bit of unclaimed monies for medical and health checks. That is a good thing because it forces us to actually make that appointment for a health check. It is also the time when we have more time as the children are on school holidays and the man has some leave to clear. We include dental checks as part of our health check too.

So each year, I would go for a pap smear, a breast examination and get the gynaecologist to do a blood test for me too. This year’s blood test was ok. Last year I was on the borderline for my cholesterol and it has gotten worst so she advised me to be careful with my diet. No fried stuff and eat less meat. I had a Hepatitis A jab and will go back for another one in 6 months. Otherwise, I passed my health tests.

As for our dental checks, the small one had been complaining to me about his toothache on and off for some time. I thought it was just new permanent teeth replacing his milk teeth but one morning he woke up with a swollen cheek. The dentist told me that he had a filling gone bad and I didn’t even know he had a filling!

The filling had been done at school during a school dental check. The boy did mention about the school dental check but I thought he was talking about scaling and general cleaning. Next time, I must remember to take a torchlight and peer into his mouth to do an inspection myself.

As it is, he had to visit the dentist 4 times to resolve that. We’re still not done yet with the dental visits. The first time was to take antibiotics. The second time was to remove the old filling and put in a medicated one. The third time is to put in a temporary filling and the fourth is to put in a new permanent filling. All this for his milk teeth.

When we asked the dentist why not just pull it out? She said that the teeth still has a good few more years to go before it is replaced by a permanent tooth so she prefers not to pull it out yet so that his permanent teeth will grow nicely in  position in the future.

As for the girl, she advises her to go for and orthodontist visit because her front teeth are beginning to jut out. This is a result of her having an opposite bite previously and how her permanent teeth came in at the back of her milk teeth in the past.

I am glad we have done our medical tests and everything is ok so far. Medical Checks is the one thing I don’t look forward to at the end of the year but it is very necessary for our well being and health.

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