Long week seh..

Heyy, I'm back. This is gonna be a long post, as it has been a long week.

This week has been a long and in some ways, tiring and worrying week. It started on Tuesday, when my grandfather was admitted to Changi General Hospital. Anyone who wants to know the details can ask me personally. He had a stroke and could not move his right body due to damage of the left brain. Neurologists confirmed that the damage to his brain was quite huge and as a result, he had a serious stroke. The stroke was due to high blood pressure and as he had been telling us, his family members, that he was very healthy and all, we did not pay too much attention to the fact that he had high blood pressure and wasn't taking his medicine regularly.

He was admitted to the acute stroke ward, which is a ward specially for stroke patients. On the first day, he wasn't conscious for the bulk of the day. But on the second day, he could actually open his eyes. I do not know if he actually could recognize me, but I prayed and hoped that he would be all right eventually.

On Thursday, the third day he was at CGH, I am not sure but I think he managed to be able to sit up and looked better. His conscious level was still not high as yet. But on the fourth and fifth day, his conscious level was on a high. The doctors who came to check him said that he could transfer to the normal ward if his conscious level remained status quo.

I was made personal assistant therapist (This is a joke) to my grandfather. I taught him to put his thumbs up or down depending on whether he wanted something or not. I made him some placards and he was able to relate his situation to us. Somehow, his favorite cards were "bored" and "comfortable". He started reading the newspaper, which was a encouraging sight as the stroke had damaged his communication and understanding skills. Reading of the newspapers meant that he was slowly getting his understanding skills back.

One thing was a joke, though. The acute stroke ward was a so called classless ward. This does not mean that it has no class and everybody has to pay the same price; it simply meant that you pay more or less, depending on what you are comparing with, to stay in the same ward with other people which could be paying less. Then, once you can be admitted to a normal ward, then the class you are paying takes place.

He was soon transferred to a normal class B1 ward. The physios came to look at him and said that he is improving quite well. The normal ward has a TV for every patient, which is good and can keep him occupied. He can now move his right leg a little, make himself comfortable and sit on a chair and read newspapers himself, including the turning of the pages. Just today, he was changed to a class A ward, which has a TV as well. One thing different is that in the class A ward, he has the whole room to himself and does not have to share rooms with others.

Hope he gets well soon. Will post some pictures of him tomorrow.

YongKang.