She Has Uneven Waist And Scoliocis

My girl has an uneven waist. One of her hips appear to be higher than the other.

When we brought her to the orthopedic or spine doctor, he first asked her to bend forward to see if any part of her back protrudes out. Then he took an X-Ray of her back and legs too.

The X-Ray of the back was to see whether her spine was actually curved as those with scoliosis have. The X-Ray of the legs was to ensure that the legs are of equal length. The X-Ray revealed that her legs were the same length but her back was curved near the top.

The doctor said that she has scoliosis. You can go here to find out more about scoliosis of the spine with video and images including the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options.

He measured the angle of curvature shown on the X-Ray. According to him, it was between 8 to 12 percent. He told us that we had to go back every 6 months to monitor whether the curve was getting worse.

However, when he heard that she had already got her menstruation or period for 2 years, he said that was good news as most of the growth spurt occurs within 2 years after puberty. So, he told us to go back once in a year instead of once every 6 months to have a check up.

When we asked him whether the condition was due to her carrying heavy bags to school, he said there are no proven studies to show that. However, he said we can buy her a trolley bag if we wish to lessen her load. Although he has said this, I still feel guilty as a parent watching her carrying loads to school during her growing up years.

He said we could get her to do some exercises like swimming to strengthen and make the back more flexible. I hope that all will be fine in a year's time when we bring her for a follow-up check up.




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Juicing With Beetroot

We drink green juices several times a week. Sometimes we like to add a little red in the form of beetroots or orange in the form of carrots in our juice. It gives it a nice touch of color. It is amazing how red the beetroot is. The taste is a bit strong so we don't put in more than one beetroot for 4 cups of juice.

This concoction has broccoli, celery, chinese flowering cabbage (choy sum) and beetroot. I love the wonderful colors of nature in our juice. It is also a good thing to eat or in this case drink vegetables with different colors. 

You can check out some of the benefits of beetroot here.

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Porridge With Marmite

We have been sick and eating nothing accept porridge for the past two weeks for each and every meal!

Luckily the kids don't complain.... that much. I try to make a variety of porridge so that they don't get too bored. Adding just a little of this and taking out just a little bit of that gives the porridge a whole new distinct flavor.

Hubby likes to have his porridge with marmite. I like it too but I find the taste so strong it kills off all of the other flavors within!

Hopefully we will all recover soon and go back to our regular diet. I must say that all that porridge for two whole weeks did one thing for sure. It helped us all lose weight! 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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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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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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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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An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

My children, like most children, hates vegetables? So what do I do?  I give them fruits instead. They love fruits. In addition to eating the fruits whole, we also juice our fruits. A quarter of our grocery bills goes to fruits! We also had to upgrade our refrigerator to fit in all the fruits. An apple a day keeps the doctor away? In our case it is several fruits a day keeps the doctor away.

Our Top Ten Favorite Fruits include:

1. Apples
2. Oranges
3. Pineapples
4. Banana
5. Dragon Fruit
6. Mangoes
7. Grapes
8. Watermelon
9. Papayas
10. Kiwis

So if your child won't eat vegetables, don't fret. Try giving them fruits instead or give them more fruits and less vegetables but provide them with both.

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I don't have time to exercise

I don't have time to exercise is an excuse for those of us who lack motivation and who has not made exercise a habit or daily routine in our lives. When you truly want something you will make time for it.

You will make time to do the things you love so why not make time to exercise. Ok. The truth is, I am writing this post because I am trying to motivate and inspire myself to exercise. I have been doing well so far, daily since Monday. I will have a break during the weekends. Thats what I used to do, then the kids fell sick and I had a host of things to do. All excuses not to exercise.

After exercising everyday, instead of feeling more tired, I feel more energized with each session. I try to exercise at the start of the day so that I feel refreshed and energized but you can make time at any time of the day. My spouse goes to the gym during lunch. He walks to the gym too.

My brother who is a very busy man and always travelling makes time to exercise at all the hotel gyms. When he is home, he will either jog or cycle early in the morning or in the evenings.

You have to change your mindset from "I don't  have time to exercise" to "I will make time for exercise" then it will happen. It is as simple as that. You can walk, do housework, dance, run, swim, play games, jump on a trampoline. They're all exercises too.

Fitness can be fun too. On my current wish list now is a Wii Fit Plus. Pin It

Exercise

I have been slacking in my exercise routine. I have been busy. The kids have been sick. These are all excuses not to exercise. As I begin to exercise daily again, I remind myself that ...

To be physically fit enough to exercise is a blessing

Quite often people say that we should exercise to keep fit but have you thought about the fact that to be physically fit enough to exercise is a blessing. I try to remind myself of this now. I don't want to reach a point in my life when I am unable to exercise and I regret not exercising to improve my health when I am able to.

Some people only exercise to lose weight and once they reach their target weight, they stop exercising. I think that should not be the goal of exercising. We should exercise for health's sake and if we lose weight as a result, then it is a bonus. Pin It

Fruit and Vegetable Juice Recipe for my Kids

My husband loves to drink vegetable juices and has been asking me to make some vegetable juices for the kids. However, I find that vegetable juices are a bit harder on the palate then fruit juices so I am starting them on fruit juices first... mixed with just one or two vegetables. That is more appealing for kids.

Previously I used to make diluted fruit juices for them but now they can take it straight. So far I have used two fruit and vegetable juice recipes. Having said that, it is however better for kids to drink diluted fruit juice because drinking it straight is too sweet for growing teeth and you also want to avoid and pesticide poisoning.

Fruit and Vegetable Juice Recipe for Kids - Recipe 1

• 1 Pear
• 2 Apples
• 3 Oranges
• 4 Stalks of Celery (Halved) 

This yields 2 cups. It is sweet and tangy. It is easy to remember as well. I have a rather bad memory. So I came up with this 1, 2, 3, 4 fruits and vegetables to help me remember. It is actually two stalks of celery halved to make the number 4. 

One day, we ran out of celery and pears and our second fruit juice and vegetable recipe for the kids were discovered quite by accident. I just went to the refrigerator to find what was available and came up with this recipe.

Fruits and Vegetable Recipe for Kids - No 2

• 1 Apple
• 3 Oranges
• 1/2 a Carrot
• 1 tomato

This yields 2 cups. The Carrot and Tomato changed the color of the juice for yellow green for Recipe No 1 to orange red for Recipe No 2. The kids liked this colour. The sour taste of the tomato and oranges were masked by the apple and carrot making it tasty yet nutritious.

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Cold or Flu, Virus or Bacteria

We have been sick over and over again since August. I have a small family of four and between the four of us, we have been to the doctor 8 times in the last 3 weeks. The little one has been sick continuously for 3 weeks. Fever, vomiting, diarrhea, coughs, nose congestion. He had it all. Cold or Flu, Virus or Bacteria? It is hard to know.

Sometimes the doctor decides that it is a viral infection and gives cough and fever medicines with no antibiotics. Sometimes, the doctor decides that it is a bacterial infection and gives an antibiotic. It is all very confusing. I noticed that she would look at the throat and if it is not very red, she usually decides that it is a viral infection.

Viral infections have no 'cure' and we just have to get plenty of rest and let our body recover on its own. However some viral infections can be rather strong. Once my son was hospitalized for 10 days for a virus infection. He had been infected by the Epstein Barr Virus.

On the other hand, Bacterial Infections are usually treated with antibiotics. Some for 5 or 7 or more days etc depending on the severity of the infection. Antibiotics must be taken regularly and completed or finished.

Sometimes Virus Infections can 'turn into' Bacterial Infections. This is because your immune system is weakened at the time, so you can easily get infected by a secondary Bacterial Infection.

Here are some sites which I find useful to help me differentiate between a Cold or a Flu, Virus or Bacteria....

• Viruses and Bacteria from NetDcotor
• Is it a Cold or the Flu from FluFacts
• Antibiotics and The Common Cold from DrGreen
• Is it a Cold or the Flu Quiz from EverydayHealth

Whatever it is, when you are sick, whether it is the cold or flu, a virus infection or a bacterial infection, you should try to get plenty of rest, fluids and sleep. It is important to break the sick cycle, make sure that if you have a virus infection, you don't get a secondary bacterial infection because of your body's weakened immune system at the time. Get plenty of rest!

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Taking Good Health For Granted

I’m having a flu today and I keep on thinking about how I’ve been taking good health for granted.

When I am in good health, I don’t stop to think about what a blessing that is. Instead, I complain about being lazy to exercise. I don’t exercise on those days when I am feeling fit.

Now, that I can’t stop sneezing and I’ve lost my voice, and my lips feel hot and burning because my body is slightly feverish, I wish I could do those exercises that I had been neglecting.

I was this way for about 9 months last year. Each day, I would wake up with a bad sore throat and each evening I would cough uncontrollably. I took all sorts of natural cough remedies, consulted specialists, did chest X-Rays but nothing helped and then over one week, the cough just went away by itself gradually.

How awful it is not to feel whole. To feel sick most of the time. Now, I’m sick but only for a while. When I recover, I must remind myself not to take good health for granted.

I must eat  well, get enough rest and sleep and exercise. If I don’t take care of my own body, who will? Pin It