Peter Tan, Wuan, Christine Lee, Dr. Kenji Kuno and Eleanor Lisney.

Eleanor and I met online through our respective blogs. She is a disability consultant based in Coventry, United Kingdom. We have been talking about meeting up for the longest time. The planning to come back here took a while. The infrastructure in Malaysia simply cannot provide her the mobility and independence like those in the UK.

Anyway, we got together last Saturday with Wuan, Christine and Kenji at One World Hotel where we spent a good four hours sharing information and experiences regarding disability issues. We were enlightened on the support and services provided for disabled people in the UK. Thanks Eleanor, for your time and the lovely afternoon tea at the hotel lounge. Here is wishing you a safe journey back.

Bookmark This Post

Bookmark This Post

There is this ache deep in my left forearm that radiates from just below the elbow all the way to the middle finger. It has been bugging me for the past couple of years. It aches every time I move my forearm. Massaging has not worked.

I thought it was age-related. At my age, body aches are nothing out of the ordinary. My shoulders and right knee occasionally ache too, usually a day or two before a rainstorm. I am that accurate when it comes to predicting when rain will fall!

The discomfort is especially bad today. Although it does not restrict the already limited function of my hand, the constant aching is disconcerting. I have to stop every now and then to massage the spot although I know that will not bring any relief at all. And then realisation struck when I saw how I was handling the mouse.

Using the mouse with the left hand.

My right hand is clawed. None of the fingers have the dexterity to depress the mouse buttons. My left hand is more functional. I use it more than my right hand although I am right handed. I have been using my left hand to operate the mouse since I got a PC that ran on Windows 3.1 back in 1993.

I click the mouse buttons with the middle finger of my left hand. That finger has a limited range of movement but that is the only finger I can use on the mouse because I have most control over it. Even then, it takes a some wrist movements and a little more effort from the finger to depress the buttons. Using the scroll wheel is easier. I place my finger on the wheel and flex or extend my wrist to roll it.

After 17 years of the same movements day in and day out, I guess something has to give. I must have caused repetitive strain injury (RSI) to the flexor muscle of the left arm. Come to think of it, the constant twitching of the thumb, index and little fingers could be related to RSI also. They twitch non-stop whenever my hands are relaxed.

Perhaps I should revert to the touchpad instead. I seldom use it because I needed two hands for functions like dragging a file from one folder to another when I could accomplish that with just one hand using the mouse.

Or maybe I should rub some of my Ah Mah’s hong eu to the ache. The reasons that are holding me back are the greasiness, the stains and the odour it leaves behind on anything it comes into contact with. Otherwise, I swear by its efficacy to relieve bodily aches and pains from the effects of hong sip (rheumatism), strained muscles and minor sprains.

Bookmark This Post

Bookmark This Post

Having lived with chronic kidney failure for the past seven years, I am especially observant of my urine every time I empty my bladder. There are two signs that I look out for in my urine: clarity and smell. Yes, I smell my own urine! Normally, it would be pale yellow in colour and clear.

The first emptying of my bladder this morning yielded a kidney dish-full cloudy urine. There were sediments at the bottom of the dish after I left it for a while. Cloudy urine is never a good sign. It could be the symptom for a number of serious problems like urinary tract infection (UTI) and acute kidney disorders.

This is not the first time I have had this problem. It appears once in a long while. I suspect I have mild bladder infection since there is some discomfort in that area and there is the urge to urinate more frequently. There is no fever and the urine smell is nothing out of the ordinary. Fever with bladder discomfort is a sure sign of urinary infection.

I am not too concerned yet as the cloudiness and the extra urge to urinate usually disappears after a day or two by drinking more water. I am increasing my fluid intake to flush out whatever that is inside there. Hopefully, the urine will be clear again by the end of the day and the extra urge would have disappeared as well.

Bookmark This Post

Bookmark This Post