Signs of Kidney Failure

I thought I better write a PSA type post to everyone so they can identify any early signs of problems with their kidneys. 


1. Exhaustion - Total exhaustion even if you had a whole night sleep. (i experienced this i was so tired i even had to stop to take a nap at the side of the highway) 


2. Loss of Appetite -  Sudden loss of appetite (this happen to me i stopped eating dinner)


3. Water Retention - if you feel or see your leg become visibly swollen or see the condition below that is water retention (pitting endema) (i did not experience this)

4. High Blood pressure (i experienced this)

5. Anemia - Because damaged kidneys make less of a hormone callederythropoietin (epoetin, or EPO). EPO tells the bone marrow to make new red blood cells (i experienced this)

6. Frothy Urine - This is more for the men. If you find that you pee is very frothy like beer everytime after you pee (standing up that is) it basically meant that there is protein in your urine if this happens constantly please get it checked out. Protein should not be in your urine. 

Becareful everyone make sure u all take care. 

For a more technical look at CKD here is a link to Wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_kidney_disease 

  

What Happens During a Session of Dialysis

The Definition of Dialysis from Wikipedia is as follows

"In medicine, dialysis (from Greek dialusis,"διάλυσις", meaning dissolution, dia, meaning through, and lysis, meaning loosening or splitting) is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is used primarily to provide anartificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure."

This is the actual definition but what really goes on in a session. let us begin at the start (this is a patients eye view not medical or technical) I am talking about hemodialysis. Below is a basic diagram from wiki too..

First all the patients do we take our vitals. Weight, Temperature and Blood Pressure. Then the nurse will ask whether you have had any complications at home or not? The standard question the nurses ask is "Kat Rumah ok?"

After these pleasantries not the fun really begins this part is my "favourite" part Cannulation this is where the nurse has to use the needle to cannulate/ prick you to get into your artery and vein. 2 of these needles have to be cannulated, if you all were wondering the size is as below.

Quite big huh?

if everything goes well then we start the 4 hour session. During this session we are free to do what ever we please... some read books/ newspapers, like me I watch movies and read emails some do work, some sleep and sometimes we chit chat between patients as well. The cool part of dailysis for me is meeting friends. Everyone from nurses to the patients we spend 12 hours a week together.

I must praise my nurses here they really brighten up my days. I love the banter and back and forth we share lets me practice my Bahasa Malaysia and makes the 4 hours go by faster.

Alot of people have asked what happens in this 4 hours. Basically it is a big elaborate machine to filter your blood. (this is my own understanding of it) It does it by osmosis through a filter called a dialyzer as below

My blood flows into the dialyzer and through the small little tubes us see above inside the osmosis draws out the bad liquid and lets the rest past through. \

Basically that is it. A normal session is 4 hours and after completing this we have to check our vitals again and if everything is alright we get to go home. (complications I keep for another entry.)

On a side note. I wish my friend who is in hospital as of right now a swift recovery. This person also suffers End Stage Renal Failure and I wish him all the best. As I always believe "Do your Best, God will do the Rest". Don't worry too much for all u know things may get better. Sometimes when we stand in the storm its hard to see the silver lining. 

Please feel free to ask me anything. 

The Story So far

It has been and interesting year and a challenging one to say the least in the past year i have been on a emotional and physiological roller coaster. About 9 months ago I was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure... Big words i know. This just meant my kidneys don't work very well anymore... to be honest the reality of the situation was and still is kinda of hard to swallow but now dialysis is part and parcel of my daily life.

Want to know how my kidney's came to fail? if you do listen up. To be honest it was my own negligence of my own health. I was negligent in taking care of my hypertension (another big word for high blood pressure) so because of my hypertension being too high my kidneys gave way... they tend to do that if your blood pressure is not controlled...so for people out there suffering from hypertension be careful see your doctor often... don't be like me...

The was diagnosed was funny as well. I was having dinner at a restaurant and I was not feeling too good. I was tired and had a persistent ache in my abdomen area. To be honest I had been feeling tired for months (persistent exhaustion is one of the signs of kidney failure). At dinner i didn't have much to eat and my aunt who was visiting remarked that i look remarkably pale and anemic (anemia is another signs of kidney failure). We thought we have to get it checked and went to see a doctor. I was diagnosed to be suffering from appendicitis and was admitted. Then upon further inspection (blood test) it was discovered my Creatinine was 1400++ and thus explained all the malady's that I was suffering.

This whole situation happen to a point in my life which was interesting too... My wife and I just bought a house and baby Eva had just turned 1 we were all looking forward to the future and what it might bring. then suddenly this big bomb was dropped... and it hit home and it hit home hard. i know Mum and Kah Peng cried alot but they never showed it in front of me... they always tried to keep a brave face but you could see it they were hurting. I cried too first time in my life i was really unsure what the future held... thoughts like "would i make it?", "what i am i going to do?" all this scared and for the first time in my life i think i cried uncontrollably for 2 nights... i was in the HDU (High Dependency Unit) and at night it is a lonely place... You were left with only your thoughts... and i have to admit i was scared s***less (pardon my language). Everything was happening so fast... we had so much to deal with suddenly... At this juncture I have to really thank everyone who has visited and sent stuff and wishes. I have to really thank my family friend Aunty Sharon that spent so much time to explain and really put some of my fears to rest. I would like to thank all my uncles, aunts and cousins who have offered help in one way or another.. I can never repay all of your kindness. The 2 people who have supported me the most has been my mother and my wife they have supported me financially and emotionally. They are my heroes and I would have never coped if not for them..

You know the main thing i learnt from this the sooner i stop asking "Why Me?" and change to question to "What can I do?" it put the power back in my hands and one starts to feel a sense of control again. Thus began my adventures in dialysis. You know the saying behind every cloud there is a silver lining I believe this is true. Life is about perception i started dialysis still feeling sad and depressed that i had to sit through 4 hours of treatment but now it is not so much a chore but an opportunity to meet new friends (we dialysis patients even have a whatsapp group) and nurses (ha ha ha please no dirty fetishes here). The nurses and patients have become fast friends (some are on my Facebook) and dialysis seems to be pass faster. We really felt the pinch financially and my salary and mum's salary really went into paying for my treatment and it even made us abandon many plans of holidays and also made us contemplate selling the house my wife and I purchased. Recently my Socso subsidy application was approved and now the future seems brighter. The finacial burden has lifted somewhat and it seems things are falling into place. For now we can once again dream... the future does not look too bleak...

Sorry for the long post.. if anyone has any questions feel free to ask me...

My 2 Women.... no i am not the Health Minister

2 Queens in my life rule,
Both complete me make me full,
One older and wiser who created me,
One younger which i hope will marry me,

My mum a Sun in my life,
My pillar of strenght when in strife,
A lovely woman of rats afraid,
"A loving being" that has to be said,

Thank you mum fou always being there,
Even when i never cared,
Always my safety you will be,
A job no other will do willingly

You let me spread my wings so i may find,
Freedom and a charmed life which is fine,
You were the wind to help me soar on high,
You are my inspiration to higher fly.

All i hope is to live up to you one day,
To material things attention less pay,
But to care for your fellow man,
To love one another as much we can.

My "Dear" my bride to be,
I say that Hopefully,
Love her to bits I do,
A caring person and loving too.

A Lioness sometimes you may be,
But in a higher light u see me,
Wanting me to be better,
Not letting me be a slacker.

A better person You make me,
You complete me as you will see,
Trust in our love today,
Will last forever never fail or fray.


Alexander 2008

Dammit time flies when u are LAZY :P

Damm time i think left me behind... its been bout 2 years since i blogged... but many happy things have happen last year looking back i think i had a good year.

But my cousin just split with his GF of 4 years i feel he is still bummed. A short one for ya Jace

A suprise to you i think it was,
When she said her because,
To end some shared for 4 years,
I this it must have brought tears.

My humble advice is to relax,
Not to let life get you preplexed,
No point stewing over what happend,
But look ahead over the horizon.

Brighter skies are up above,
Many other lesson of life and love,
I am always behind you,
You have my support in full.

Only thing to remember in love,
Is to love with your heart and to serve,
This i have learnt the hard way,
My ear lobes a little lower sway.

Alex 2008

A Not So Happy New Year

Sorry for the depressing title but my poem sums up my bitter sweet New Year :-

2006 has gone away,
2007 is here to stay,
But trough all the joy and merriment,
Has anyone heard the people’s laments?

Floods in Johor wreaking havoc,
All people left in shock,
For a few days we were concerned,
When New Year came our attention turned,

Turned to where and when to party,
Taking the problem rather lightly,
I am one of the guilty ones,
Not choosing help but to have fun.

The media rather cover New Year celebrations,
Our dumb Ferris wheel or smiling politicians,
Has anyone spared a thought to our suffering brethren?
Whose life and livelihood has nature threatened.

Think about the children not in schools,
They cannot study or play a fool,
Schools damaged beyond repair,
Can you imagine their despair,

Poor farmers with crops lost,
Who is going to bear the cost,
Who is going to help them re-grow their crops which perished,
Or replace livestock and pets so lovingly cherished,

What have we done today?
To help them not so far away,
Did we spare a prayer or a thought,
Did we give donations or gifts bought.

Or did we block it out ‘cos it is easy,
To not feel the guilt of us being greedy,
New Year was bitter sweet for me,
The count down just but a memory,

Nothing much to celebrate,
When the world is filled with hate,
Everyone being indifferent,
All I can do is to choose to be different,

Do not party or have a ball,
Instead try to celebrate small,
Have your family close to you,
Tell them “I love you“ and please be true,

Call old friends long forgotten,
Call old enemies and ask for pardon,
Let us start a new this year,
To live with love not anger,

I am not a party pooper,
But let us look at the situation in proper,
But maybe a change of heart is needed,
Maybe God’s advice needs to be heeded,

“Love your neighbour as yourself” God said
Let act on all promises made,
Promises made to ourselves and others,
Promises to God and all our brothers.

A Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year I wish to one and all,
Let us be different and stand up tall,
Let us remember our suffering brethren,
Not only enjoy all the merriment…. Alex 04 Jan 2007

A Poem Dedicated to Richard, Sally and Baby Elysee

taking a break from the huge Australia blog... My cousin Richard and his wife Sally just got a precious baby girl. She is so cute... Hope everyone is doing fine and we from malaysia wish all joy, happiness and health... So sorry on the belated post but here goes...


Congratulations on this blessed of days,
A Gift from God has come your way,
A little Angel has come into the world,
A most precious, beautiful Baby Girl,

An Angel to give you joy and hope,
Motivation to take on life's difficult slopes,
An Angel to test your temperament and wits,
An Angel whom you will love to bits,

Many sleepless nights you will endure,
But it will make you love her more,
Even in the darkest days,
An Angel’s smile would take them away,

Sally; A Great mother you will be,
I have no doubts, you will see,
You are benevolent and giving as the Sun,
Shining your love and care on everyone,

Richard today is the day you will be,
A Father to baby Elysse,
A place for baby to find comfort and happiness,
Baby’s refuge and rock through any sadness,

Baby Elysee do not worry,
All the family is in a flurry,
To prepare what is best for you,
Always be happy and never blue,

If there is any advice I dare to impart,
It is to be true to your heart,
Love each as much as you can,
And cherish each day with each other spent.

Alexander Tay 2006...

Hope you guys like it... and congaratulations again..

My Aussie Adventure Pt 1

Hello all again... just to update my avid readers (i think i have bout 5 of them now Boo Ya..) I just Got back from the land of the late Steve Irwin ;(, Kangaroos, Koalas and Wonbats aka AUSTRALIA. I went there during the Hari Raya holidays from the 24-Oct-2006 untill 4-Nov-2006. A grand total of 2 weeks. I spent the huge chunk of my time basically in Melbourne just travelling the city and the surrounding suburbs... i shall try to post by day basis cos its just too much to write.
but Before anything, I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to my Famliy there My Grand Father ; Ah Kong thanks for all the dinners and gifts you have given me. My Uncle Charles and Aunty Swee lan for all the wonderful day trips and dinners you have gave mum, kah peng and I during our stay thanks for spoiling us rotten. Uncle Kim and Aunty Lynn for giving us a place to stay, teaching us also how to use the public transport and also to be our official Map of Melbourne and feeding us... ( not an easy task mind you). To Cousins / Cousin-In-Laws Richard and Sally Kate thanks for the Italian Dinner at Lygon Street and best whishes for the new baby. To Francis and Christine (crossing fingers that i spelt the name right) thank you for the Black Glutinous rice "Thong Sui" (loved it) , hope christine's back gets better and your baby is so adorable. To Adele nice talking to you and thank you so much to let us invade the privacy of your room hopefully we didnt mess anything up. To Grace thanks for helping us on some of the tram routes and hope ur exams go well BTW how was the races... Ok now on with the blog..

Day 1 : 24/11/2006 - Arrival
we started our journey from Kajang at bout 4.30 am. we had to arrive at the airport by 5.15am to check in. After the check in, we proceeded to have some breakfast and wait for our areoplane. then is was a 7hr 30min flight to Melbourne. After touch down we were greeted by first Uncle Kim and Richard we then took a drive back to Uncle Charles and Aunty Swee Lan's House. It was nice to see grandpa after about 6 years absence. It was about 9.00pm Australian time and since we had not taken any dinner yet, they took us out for our first meal in melbourne (one oof the many that were come) i wont post pictures of dinner cos Mum's says my blog has too many pictures of food anyways... :P i will post more later ha ha ha

Day 2 Day 1 : 25/11/2006 - The Walk About
This was the first actual day in Melbourne it was a nice day the tempreature was about 25 - 30 degrees it was a perfect day to go walking. I wont elaborate too much cos it would take up too much Blog space...

My Uncle's House In East Kew (if i rememeber correctly)... Cool House (50++ inch plasma!! Drool... )this was my "Base Of Operations" while i was there... :P thanks again

Flinders Street Station One of Melbourne's landmarks... Beautiful Train station nice yellow colour...

This is St Paul's an Anglican Church wonderful church really breathtaking outside as well as inside... (just across Flinder's Street Station)

Kah Peng looking radiant at fedaration Square... this is a huge square where many outdoor activities are held such as art shows and small carnivals...

Mum and Uncle Kim looking wonderful at federation Square as well.... check out em' shades... :P

Melbourne's City Scape somehow for a city this big its rather clean no chewing gum littering the streets no garbage pile everywhere... hermm I wonder when KL will be like that...

The Yarra River it is the river which flows right through the city of Mellbourne looks very nice and clean not like the Klang river in KL...

Melbourne's Arts Centre (i think... I Googled it to be sure) Its bottom is made from copper... its Melbourne's own Eifel Tower

National Gallery of Victoria... Its a Art gallery didn't actually go in just took some pics... Next time perhaps... :)

This is GPO basically it is a converted old post office which is now a posh shopping mall... its like starhill but much nicer... building wise... :P

Kah Peng And Mum at Royal Arcade (the oldest Shopping mall in Melbourne) I think.. :P Very nice shops inside.. and the building is really rustic..

This is the entrance of China Town... it is at Little Bourke St just off Bourke Street... looks like Petaling Street minus the VCD/DVD Pirates and fake Designer goods... It is just rows of chinese Grocers and food shops selling everything from "Yam Cha" ("Dim Sum" is called that down here) to Chicken rice...

Kah Peng again at the Chinese Museum in China town really interesting place where you get to see the history of the Chinese people down under... Brief explanation is they came for gold the gold rush in Victoria and stayed after that... Many interesting Relics inside a must visit..

Mum and "Ah Kong" Grandpa at Indochine one of Melbourne's Fine restraunts.. It is a Vietnamese restraunt serving really lovely cuisine... Check out my "Ah Kong" looks like a Mafia Boss i can just imagine him saying "I will make you a offer you can't refuse"...

"Ah Kong" and Aunty Swee Lan at Indochine as well...

Day 3 : 26/11/2006 - The Walk About
We took a drive along the coast of Port Philip Bay It is very very picturest with wonderful look out points and wonderful coastal scenery here a map of where we went :-

We drove along the red Arrows.. a heck of a long drive and alot of things to see not many pics tho cos i didnt really fancy taking pics from the car
The BIG Breakfast to get us started on our long trip... OMG its so Huge it has bacon, Spinach, Mushrooms, Sausages and toast at the bottom... Very tasty... :P
At Springvile this is where most of the Vietnamese stay in Melbourne. The markets here are very similiar to the markets in Malaysia (layout and presentation)

Some of the Fresh Fruits beings sold at the market...

Fresh Fish like at home just the fish here are much better and fresher... the foodstuff sold in Australis is so much healthier and look so much better than the one in malaysia... wonders why? Even the roadsides look better...

We stopped off at Frankston (i am not sure) to have a look at a art's market there. Its like a Huge "pasar pagi". They were selling all kinds of stuff from key chains to Flowers... Pretty "bunga kertas" plant...

we also stopped at a beachside town and streched out our legs it is called Dromana i think very nice scenery

A Group photo at Dromana Coast... actually it was quite cold there...

Nice scenery form the coast... how come even the sea looks better than ours... i think i should stop comparing....

Quanint little beach houses expensive tho... :P cer cute and colourful...

On the ferry from Sorento...

How the Ferry actually looks like...

At the end of the day we got back late in the evening here is a pic with the doggie... DIVA!! cute dog...

TBC it is a four part big blog so please be patient with me... :P

New and Improved Engrish labels

its been ages since i blogged... i think i forgot how to dammit... here we GO..

about a week ago i was at my normal grocery shop and i spotted this innocent looking pack of candy... it was mango in flavour but what struck me is was its labels... remeber the water being honest post... :P

Ok on with it it said this :
















let me say it out " May the breeze bring you the tenderness and warmth from me. Yet you are here at the bottom of my heat"

Whooaaa this candy kicks major ass according to the lable... It can give me warmth and tenderness from it... its kicks so much ass that is freaky... i dont even say that to my girlfrend not is it too cheesy but just down right weird to get warmth and tenderness from a candy...


when candy starts to say this i think of M & M's (check out the red one's posing... kids these days...) making illicit proposition to women like "i can give you tenderness and warmth from my glucose infused heart" or my personal favourite quoted from M n M's themselves of from 50 cent (the rapper not currency) "I melt in your mouth not in your hand" (if you get my drift he he he... :P)



then comes the second line "Yet you are here at the bottom of my heat".. ok what the *toot* does this mean... *nuff said*

I tought that was all untill i saw the bottom of it... it said :
















"Orange New Food" what the hey do they mean? there is a new food type called orange?
maybe this..

Penang Food Crazy

I love Penang... I love Penang... I love Penang... I love Penang...

last weekend my GF, 2 friends and i decided we would take a road trip to Penang Island for a ROAD TRIP... so we gathered our stuff and headed out to penang aiming for a gastronomical adventure...

we departed at around 7 am from Kajang heading out to our first stop at a town called Bidor... it is just a short frive from the highway making it a popular stop with people travelling north... this town is famous for guava (a type of fruit) which is like Malaysian verson of an apple (maybe not)... we didnt stop there for the guava thou we were there for out breakfast... they have a shop in town which is famous for their braised duck drumstick noodle... we reached there at around 9.45am and proceeded to order our food i also ordered another type of noodle and a few peices of yam stuffed with barbequed pork...

From top to bottom : Yam Filled with Barbeque Pork, Braised Drumstick with Noodles, Kolo Mee (noodles tossed in black soy sauce)

Breakfast was nothing to shout about but all were tasty and ok eating... we are our breakfast and bought some biscuits and headed off.

After another 3hrs of mind numbing driving we reached the Penang Bridge... a very welcoming sight indeed...

first thing we did we checked in to our hotel room at the Paradise Sandy Beach Resort after a toilet break and a short rest we headed out of our hotel... target Char Koay Teow... so after awhile of getting lost and looking at maps we found our targeted location "Lorong Selamat" this alley way is famous for the delectable Char Koay Teow... so we ordered up a storm... all had Poh Pia (chinese roll), Char Koay Teow (Flat Rice Noodle Fried with prawns, cockles, chili paste, soy, topped off with bean sprouts and chives.) , Oh Chien (fried oysters in corn starch batter with eggs) and ais kacang ( shaved ice with kidney beans, peanuts, sago pearls, grass jelly, and loads more goodies topped off with home made ice cream and sweet syrup) i.e the ais kacang here is already 3rd generation shop... all things were superb the Char Koay Teow was the best i have tasted and the big prawns serverd with it were succullent and tender... wonderful lunch to begin with...

after a really filling lunch... we headed out to explore abit... we took a spin and went to one of penang's landmark Bukit Bendera we bought our tickets and went up the hill via tram / cable car... it had a nice view of whole of penang and a few interesting stuff but nothing really capitivating... the nice cool environment was nice but nothing much other than that we spent a really long time to get back down as there was a large crowd of kiasu malaysians pushing and shoving their way through... NOT a highlight of the trip...

so when we got down it was already aroung 8pm we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up... after a much needed bath and quick nap we headed out to have our dinner at around 10pm... he headed to the all famous Gurney Drive... this is the Mecca for all hawkers in Penang... u can sample all the famous food, it may be less delicious but at least you have the all the variety under one roof... unfortunately for us it was raining that night so that put a slght dampen on things... but when we reached there we still braved the rain to make our orders we ordered Rojak Buah(mixed fruits in sweet prawn sauce), Juu Huu Eng Chai (Cuttle Fish with water Convolvulus), Sotong Bakar (Dried Cuttlefish Grilled), Oh Chien (as above), Char Koay Teow (as above) and Asam Laksa (long rice noodle in a tangy,spicy fish based broth) all the food was nice... but those who havent seen Gurney Drive in a long time its very nicely done up not with flowing water and proper electricity no more generators... its somewhat lost it touch but i guess its still of those must visit palces in Penang...

So after another filling meal we all went back to the hote at 12.30am and took our rest... Next morning all slept in untill about 11am... we proceeded to check out and hit the town to find another meal... before that we headed to the toy museum located just below the hotel it was an interesting place with many toys from all the movies and many more cartoons and of course starwars.. a good experience its like experienceing part of your childhood again... :p

so this time we headed out to find another Oh Chien Place which came highly recommended... after half hour of driving in circles we finally reached our destination.. it was a small cofee shop selling Oh Chien, Lobak(chinese fried sausages and other things), Wan Tan Mee (tossed noodles in dark soy with dumplings served on the side)... the food was great espicially the Oh Chien the oysters were big and juicy the starch was still crisp and the eggs finely fried... heavenly... the cakes from the next door bakery were very nice too...

after this filling lunch we decided to walk it off so we headed out to Kek Lok Si Temple... Its one of the biggest Temples i have seen before... Its crowning glory is a 120ft bronze Statue of Kuan Yin (bigget in the world so it claims) It is an impressive temple complex with many prayer halls and also shrines... we had to take a lift to the top pavillion where the statue was... at the top we were greeted with a nicely manucured garden complex with fish ponds and and bonsai's lining its perimeter it was a peaceful an tranquil place... after walking around and taking more pictures we headed back down to sample another penang delicacy Asam Laksa(as above) this has got to be the best Asam Laksa in town its fragrance can be smelt from ver far off... well it was amazing spicy and tangy very fragrant as well from all the fresh spices added very very satisfying...

after another meal we headed to the ferry terminal and took the ferry back to REALITY then it was another long drive back to my home... all in all a great trip very satisfying and happy but i think i put on loads of weight well back to my diet i guess... :P