Ice Skating 138 and the Specialist Visit

It is getting fustrating without her good knee bcos there is so little that we can do in class and on ice. On Saturday, she was still complaining of the usual pain. Haiz.

So class was still foot work and spinning. You spin me right round baby, right round... basically, it  was sit spin, back spin and camel spins. We are working on these too during practice bcos she cannot jump. I so miss her jumping.

We are spending so little time on ice and have been skipping off ice lessons for weeks. I really wish that pain would go away soon.

Finally on Monday morning, I could bring her to the NUH specialist for a proper assessment. Yesh! It was such a precious session and took me much sweat (literally) to arrange.

Lil Shauna went to school as usual to do her English paper 1. I was in school about 9am to pick her and was pleasantly surprised to see ths new electronic feature in our buses. We saw this frequently in HKG and Taiwan and we are finally catching up.

We were early for her appointment and I had envisioned long waits. Interestingly, the Sports Medicine department is fairly empty as compared to the other departments. I guessed not many kids get sports injury. We were soon registered and the nurse called for us shortly.

There was the doctor who was supposed to see us in the room and also some orthopaedic specialist, who obviously was the one who call the shots. There were also 2 other medical students observing. Yes, it was a crowded session in the little room.

The session started off with the usual questioning of the pain onset, the possible cause, etc. Then it was the physical assessment, which was quite thorough. I raised my suspicion of her curved spin, which might affect her knee and she got a check too. After the assessment, I overheard the doctor telling the orthopaedic that it is a suspected ligament sprain. To play safe, we were ordered a knee xray and might as well a full body xray to check the spine before coming back to the clinic for the results.

The spine xray was a long wait. Apparently we have many crooked spines people in Singapore. Then to the knee xray, that was fairly quick. It was a lot of going to different clinics within the hospital and plenty of taking out and wearing shoes the whole time.

We also found time to sneak a vending machine toasted sandwich while waiting.

We were finally done with the xrays at about 11.30am. On the way to the clinic, we ran into the orthopaedic who appeared pleased to see us probably bcos we were his last patient and keeping him from lunch. Lol.

The verdict? Her spine is quite fine with a curved of probably 5 degrees and anything below 10 is of no concern. Good. Her knee and femur bones look good too and we can rule out structural or broken/ cracked bone causing the pain. Yeah! This means that the pain is from an injured/ sprain ligament. As per most ang mo medicine remedy, it is about plenty of rest and refraining from impactful exercise that can aggravate the injury or slow down the recovery. I was reminded of how much Lil Shauna was running and jumping at the aerospace park the day below. Zzzzz...

The only medicine would be pain killer, which we have plenty at home. The doctor said that her case probably didnt warrant a knee brace. Anyway, we have a that too. It is just plenty of rest. At least we rule out more serious condition and are able to pinpoint that it is indeed a ligament injury.

We were given an appointment 3 months down the road. I hope Lil Shauna would have recovered and we didnt need to see the doctor by then. If the pain still persist, then we would then probably need a MRI or physiotherapy. Fingers crossed.

Let me go google what we can do to aid ligament injury.

Mummy Lim

Seletar Aerospace Park

Now that we have so many kids and many of them are getting bigger (literally), we are on a constant look-up for interesting open space venue so that the kids can run around during gatherings. Unless really exceptional special occasions, we avoid meeting at somebody's house. The noises that the kids produced can really cause noise-induced deafness and the aftereffect is often more devastating than a hurricane sweeping past.

October is a busy month bcos we have 4 October babies and Zaky is one of them. The honour of planning falls on Auntie R, who has 2 October boys. She suggested the Seletar Aerospace park. There is a nice (but fairly expensive) Wheeler Estate and most importantly, a little playground to entertain the kids. After much deliberation, we agreed to have potluck and picnic by the playground bcos there were so many little people to feed and we need something cheaper to feed them. Sounds great already. 

We headed to the park right after the kids' classes and I realised how far it was from our house. We drove for a long time before arriving at the park. It was the 1st time that the kids had visited the place and soon was off running with the other kids while the parents set up the picnic. 

The venue wasnt too bad. The only problem was the lack of shelters, except at the nearby restaurants. We eyed the dark cloud that hopefully was passing by and went into a mad frenzy packing when the huge raindrops fell. We had to take shelter at Wheeler's Estate. It was a critical decision of staying or going. We opted for the former. Fortunately, it was indeed a passing cloud and the rain stopped soon after.

We did some impromptu overhead shelter using the structure by the playground and the picnic mats. It was good enough to hold off a light drizzle, which by God's grace, didnt come by again.

The kids had a blast! It was actually a small playground but the kids could go on forever with the companion.

Some of them also headed off to watch the planes takeoff. My kids were too lazy. Lol.

Finally, time for the cake. Zaky didnt know that we would also celebrating his bday and was initially reluntant to join in the candle blowing.

But he was super pleased to receive bday presents. Haha.

Then it was more running around. Daddy Lim had to leave for his poly gathering and took most of the heavy stuff with him while the kids played somemore.

Time passes so quickly when there is so much fun. We didnt leave until it was 8pm and not after the all important picture. The beauties.. the littlest one included.

We took a Grab home and when all the fun was done, the tummy started grumbling. We had to  drop off at JP to grab a burger.

Mummy Lim

Inefficiency in an Efficient World

This is a rant post; a continuation of the saga for a medical appointment.

We were told that NUH would contact us in a week for a specialist appointment slot. We have to call them if we dont hear from them. I received a sms on Thursday and the appointment was scheduled for the following Monday. That isnt too bad, the response was within the week and the appointment is taking place in a few days.

Unfortunately, I already had a meeting on Monday morning and replied to NUS via sms for a reschedule. That was when the pain starts all over again. It would take NUH 3 working days to reply to the request. That would mean more time lost. I called up the appointment hotline and was told that the clinic only operates on Monday. The next appointment would be 2 Mondays away. Zzzzzz. I ended up rescheduling my meeting. I reckoned that it is easier to reschedule my meeting than her appointment.

I was super pleased that it was all done, only to remember in the night that the kids are starting their SA2 on Monday. Zzzzzzz. Lil Shauna would be having her English paper 1.

It was again a bad frenzy trying to call NUH appointment line on Friday morning. I was so thankful for speaker phone. After 2 attempts and forever on hold, I finally spoke with somebody. There is NO alternative. The clinic only operates on Monday morning. The lastest slot is at 10.50am before the clinic closes. There appears to be only 1 doctor and he is away next Monday, which explains why the next available appointment is 2 weeks' away. What can I do if I wanted to switch to a different hospital? Yes, I have to call up Pioneer Polyclinic and wait all over again. Aiyo!

I have decided to check with the school instead, crossing my fingers and hoping that I could rush Lil Shauna for the appointment before or after the paper. That idea seems to work as told by the General Office staff, given that the teachers are all off for Children Day.

I ended up calling NUH again, ensuring that they keep our precious slot and then emailing Lil Shauna's teachers to make sure that the General Office staff has given me the right information.

Finally, at 7pm, I received the teacher's reply, confirming that the paper will complete by 9am and Lil Shauna can leave for her medical appointment after that. Finally.. haiz.

Mummy Lim

Tremendous Fun Weekend

We met up with the Chan and Lim kids on Saturday at Kallang Wave. Zaky is always happy to be in Kallang, zooming around the skate park on his scooter. He is totally in his happy land even if nobody plays with him. Lil Shauna had a blast too playing badminton with the rest.

We had a nice dinner followed by ice cream. Rule 101: Play date must come with ice cream.

As if all the fun wasnt enough, the kids pleaded for more time to scoot and run around after dessert. Their energy never fail to surprise me.

Occasionally, I saw Lil Shauna limped a little. Otherwise, she was jumping and running like any other day. Really bad knee pain? Hmmm..

The fun didnt just end on Saturday. My brother's family dated us for an early Sunday morning hike in Bukit Timah. We have never been there and were definitely gamed for the hike. We were told that the hike would take about 1 hour - this is easy peasy for our kids after Needle Hill. Moreover, with the Fs for companion, this would be chicken feet.

Since it was supposed to be an hour's ride, I had my round 1 in the gym early in the morning before home to wake the kids.

While I did oversleep, my timing was perfect and we got out of the house in time. We even had time for some bread.

It took us a while to find the place to park, which was along the road bcos there was only 1 tiny overflowing public carpark. Coincidentally, my brother parked right behind us, saving us the trouble to look for them amidst the crowd.

As usual, a we-vie while we still look fresh and alive.

We started our hike along one of the super steep incline service roads. That was bad and I was surprised to see so many Singaporeans into hiking. There were quite some trail runners too.

Soon, we broke off into one of the dirt trails that was nicely paved with concrete steps - totally Singapore style.

I was told that many years back, the trail was much more rugged and fun. Now, safety comes 1st.

We took a wrong path and ended up with extra steps... I like. Hehe. Fortunately, there wasnt much complaints. The kids were happily chatting and engrossed with nature. It was a nice walk and the paths were mostly nicely shaded.

The Fs were tired towards the end, especially the little one. Our well-trained kids were still going strong, just sweating buckets. Dont worry, we had more than enough water. This is afterall Singapore - very safe.

Overall, Strava says that we clocked 4.1km. A victory picture to mark the end.

We went on to explore part of the old railway tracks on the way to the car. Daddy Lim reckoned that it would be a nice route for trail riding and is dating Zaky next week. The invite was extended to Lil Shauna, whom politely declined.  Lol.

I was strolling with the kids along the walkpath towards the car when I saw my brother broke into a run, followed by Daddy Lim. I thought that they were utilising the last bit for a workout until I finally spotted the summon lady. Hoho. Bcos of the men's effort, it saved us from the penalty and we rewarded oursleves to a hearty bfast of roti prata at Sunset way. It was so good!

The kids pleaded for the fun to continue and my brother finally agreed to round 2 at their place but to allow some time for the middle F to complete her homework.

Meanwhile, our kids had a splash; spending the hour soaking in the pool and basking in the midday sun. Chao Ta!

The fun continued on at my brother's place in the afternoon. The kids can really play and didnt stop until after dinner. We finally left at 8pm. Woohoo! So much fun.

Would we do the Bukit Timah trail again? Probably but not in the near future. I was telling my brother that the Singapore's hikes are all inward, unlike the ones that we did in HKG, where we were rewarded with splendid views at the peak. That also served as a powerful motivation for the kids.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 137: Finally Doing Something

The knee pain still didnt go away. Zzzzzz.

On Aunty H's advice, we had been applying Voltaren - some over the counter anti-inflammation gel. We havent been too faithful though, forgetting every other day. So we cant judge if the cream hasnt been effective.

We have also decided to bring Lil Shauna to get a more professional assessment. It was actually frustrating in the quest to find information when Singapore is supposed to be so efficient. My 1st target is definitely KKH; I saw on website that they have a sports medicine department. After being directed, I was told that they no longer have a sport doctor but she could be referred to an orthopaedic. The staff kindly shared that I could try NUH or KTPH or some hospital in the extreme East that I didnt bother to register. She also advised to go through the polyclinic route for subsidy.

The phone rang out a couple of times when I tried calling NUH. The staff at KTPH said that there sports medicine only treat those above 12. It was also a nightmare trying to call Pioneer Polyclinic to register her as a 1st time patient. I think I spent at least 45 mins of my life on the phone before finally finding out she could be referred to NUH. Yay.

Pioneer Polyclinic has an online appointmemt app for making same day appointment. The app opens at midnight. Bcos I had wanted to secure a Saturday morning appointment to save on my precious leave, I was standing by my phone on Friday night. I even set alarm to make sure that I will be awake. We secured a 10.05am appointment.

We were at the polyclinic before 10am on Saturday and done the self-registeration that took less than a minute. While the appointment was for 10.05am, the registration slip states that the clinic aims to serve us within 60 mins. What? It was basically a waiting game henceforth. Lil Shauna will have her weight and height taken before seeing the doctor.

Nothing happened after 30 mins, not even the weight and height when I assumed that should happen quickly, doesnt it? Everybody got bored waitimg. I was telling Daddy Lim that we had to run even if the appointment didnt actualise by 11.30am for her ice skating class.

Soon after, she had her weight and height taken. She was very please to know that she is under her ideal weight. Lol.

Fortunately we got to see the doctor shortly too. We probably spent about 10 mins with the doctor. She spent half the time examining her, pressing here and there and suggested a X-ray to rule out a fracture. We didnt have time and she too didnt think that it wouldnt be a fracture given the abscence of acute pain. She thinks that it is probably a ligament injury. She then spent the rest of the time writing us a referral to NUH. We waited in awkwardness as her keyboard went clicking away. I was to wait for NUH to call me within 7 days to fix an appointment. If they do not have a paediatric sports doctor, she will be referred to the paediatric orthopaedic. Fine with us, so long as somebody sees us.

We were in time for ice skating class and told Coach Raymond to work on her spins again. I think she will be so super good with her spins by the time we resolved her knee pain. Finger crossed.

We had been spending so little time on ice since 3 weeks back, skipping Sunday ice time and off ice. She nicely agreed to go back on time after resurfacing.

I can only hope that her knee is recovering with the reduced ice time and that the anti-anti-inflammation gel works too. Meanwhile, pls have NUH call us asap.

Mummy Lim

Mission to Cut Down Screen Time

Every now and then, Daddy Lim or I will complain that the kids are getting too much screen time. The effects are detrimental; they are distracted and get grouchy and tired when it is time to do homework (or whatever else). The only good thing is that there will be NO fights or quarrels bcos nobody talks to begin with. Sad.

The parents are guilty as well. The mobile phone is so addictive and it is so much easier to throw the gadgets at the kids and have perfect peace than to spend efforts entertaining them. We ourselves ended up swiping at our phones alongside the kids and I sneaked an additional episode of K drama. Hohoho.

Gadgets are barred once in a while bcos there were too much complaints and whinning when it was time to do proper work. After awhile, they come back again bcos the parents are tempted to indulge in theirs. I know right. Bleh! Other times, the kids are clever enough to use the laptop instead. Kids 1; parents 0.

About a week back, Daddy Lim complained that the kids are too much into their gadgets, which called for the next round of screen time control campaign. I reminded Daddy Lim that for it to work, we too have to abstain from our phones. Deal!

The kids adapted to it much easier than we did; we have afterall been meddling with our phones the whole day and the sudden cut off was tough. The kids got to run with the neighbour gang at the playground after dinner and just self entertain with TV, books, toys, games, etc for the remaining time in the evening.

It had been more than a week. We have been caught a couple of times playing on our phone, particularly Daddy Lim. It is so easy to pick up the phone at times of boredom and you can tell who is the busier one at home with not much chances to be bored. Hohoho.

The gadgets are slowly creeping back. It gets particularly difficult during the weekends. The kids just asked for screen time this morning. Let's hope that we can at least keep screen time to the minimum.

Mummy Lim

Ice Skating 136: It Didnt Go Away

We skipped ice time and off ice last Sunday and I was hoping that it would give Lil Shauna enough down time to recover from her knee pain. I was pleased when she said that the pain was better as the days went by.

We headed back to the ice on Saturday and strapped on the knee brace before she started warming up with her jumps. Soon after, she complained of knee pain. Zzzzzzzzzzz.

She tried jumping on ice and it was obvious that the pain had come back. I asked her to tell Coach Raymond if it hurts when she was made to jump.

I saw her do a couple of loop jumps before the class was switched to spins.

After class, I found out that she had told Coach that it hurts to jump, which was why he switched to spinning. Forward spins use her good leg/ knee. Coach Raymond also asked if we had brought her to a TCM or something; the pain cant go on.

Of course extra ice time was out of the question. Despite the knee pain, Lil Shauna was happy to escape extra ice time and was also pleased that her sit spin was in good shape. She repeated 3x to me that Coach Raymond said that her sit spins are ok, just needed to go lower by 1cm. Lol.

I started to google frantically on Sports Doctor and asked for opinions. It didnt help that it was a Saturday and most clinics closed at 1pm. We eventually managed to make an appointment at 4.15pm with Physioclinic at Tras Street, which meant that we had to pull the kids out of Maths class earlier.

I had thought that we would be seeing a sports doctor, only to meet with a young lady, whom I presumed is a Physiotherapist. She didnt speak well and didnt give me the assurance that she can diagnose properly. After going through the possible causes, some stretching and pressing her and there, she concluded that Lil Shauna had injured her ligament. For the record, her knee pain is on the inner side of her right knee.

What's next was a massage to relax the muscle in that area, then some "ultrasound" machine to promote cells growth, followed by a yellow colored heat lamp and finally some treatment using electric current. Seriously, it feels very much of a gimmick. Upon request, the Physiotherapist taught Lil Shauna some stretching exercise, but those were targeted at the hamstrings and nothing too foreign. She said that to help the injured ligament, we had to strengthen the hamstring muscles. Fair enough.

If it is an injured ligament, the Physiotherapist opioned that it would take 4 to 6 weeks to recover. Yes, I am still doubtful about the source of the pain. She recommended that we come back for weekly sessions and stretching to longer intervals when the injury is better. I am not sure I am buying that. The 1st session cost us $160 and the subsequent ones are not going to be cheap. At least she wasn't insistent about us signing up more sessions.

While Lil Shauna complained that she was in (much?) pain, she was just as active for the rest of the day. She was skateboarding and running when we met up with the Fs for dinner. No sign of much pain.

Of course she didnt go onto the ice or off ice class yday but she spent the late afternoon with Boo at Admiralty Park and no complaints of pain again. Win already.

After much advices from friends, we have decided to call up KKH Sports Medicine department later today. If subsidised rates are applicable, we will be heading to the polyclinic. I can see my leave disappearing. Haiz.

Mummy Lim

Finally Almost Junior Black Belt

Zaky was given a provisional pass for his last Junior Black Belt (JBB) grading test and needed to do 1 more grading test for his pattern. The boy has also decided that he would continue with his TKD class in pursue of his pom.

We sent him for the grading test 3 weeks back. We are so familiar with the routine already. The revisions before the test.

The waiting, then revision again, depending on how long the other grading tests took.

I overheard the master telling the kids that the tester was strict and reminded the kids to do their pattern properly.

Finally, it was his turn to enter the examination hall.

He was in the hall for a long time, which is usually the case with strict tester, who would demand the testees to redo their patterns sometimes.

He was pleased when he was done with the test, though he wasnt 100% sure if he would pass the grading test. Nevertheless, he was in a good mood and entertained his mother's request to pose for pictures.

The grading test results is usually released 2 weeks after the test. The result is revealed through the belt changing ceremony. Since Zaky is already awarded his JBB, he didnt know if he had passed and the father and son pair didnt ask the master. Zzzzzzzzz.

The responsibility fell on yours truely when we sent him for his class last week bcos Lil Shauna skipped her ice skating.

He passed! The certificate, which is recognised in Singapore, will be available in a few weeks' time. Yay! Another milestone clocked.

Mummy Lim

Family Ride

The spiders had started to build their lovely homes on the kids' bikes. Then, Zaky decided to be a home whacker and declared that we should go cycling. Lil Shauna didnt share his enthusiam but didnt want to be left out. Poor Daddy Lim had to pour sweat and pump the tires the night before. In sitauations like that, it is a blessing to be ignorant, leaving men to do men stuff. It is Ok, I dont need to fight for gender equality; I was very happy being 小女人 and watch youtubes at home.

My alarm clock was set for 6am bcos my weighing scale says that the family ride is probably so leisure that it wouldnt feel like a workout and I should hit the gym before that. I came home to a fully dressed and very ready boy; Lil Shauna was barely out of bed.

The kids were coaxed to take a bite before the ride bcos hungry kids = whiny kids. Lil Shauna was still half awake and Zaky was too excited. I ended up eating the most before we started the ride. Zzzzz.

The plan was for Lil Shauna to use my trusty Giant MTB. We adjusted the saddle height to the lowest and I checked that the height is about the same as her smaller MTB. We would ride and probably had MacD for bfast.

The start of the ride was a little rusty. The kids, particularly Lil Shauna needed to warm up to their bikes. It didnt take long especially when my old MTB is such a comfy ride.

We hit the PCN and go through the Jurong Park.  Lil Shauna's hope was raised when we approched the MacD in Jurong Park. Hello, we barely started the ride, not this MacD, the one at Tradehub!

It was the usual PCN route. The ride somewhat feels easier now that the kids are older and stronger. No joke! Zaky's feet can now touched the ground more steadily when he is on the bike.

We rode on the PCN all the way to the spiral bridge and along the canal where the otters were usually spotted. Zaky didnt complete that PCN the last round bcos he was too tired and hungry. See, I told you that the kids are stronger now. Afterall, we have a figure skater and a Jnr Back Belt.

I would love to go further, possibly to Buona Vista MRT only for kids to whine that they were so hungry and that we had to turn back for bfast. We did just that, it was meant to be leisure anyway. I didnt want to fight with hungry small people. The big people were hungry too. Haha.

The hungry people chomped down the bfast so quickly that I only rememebered pictures when all the food were gone.

Back to our beautiful bikes for home.

In all, we clocked about 22km. This is the longest distance with the kids so far! Seriously, they were not really tired probably just bored. Lol. Yay! More long rides in the future!

Oh, Lil Shauna totally enjoyed my Giant MTB. She said that the bike is easier to peddle, the gears are easier to switch and it is easier to control. Hehehe.

Mummy Lim