Bell's Palsy

Do u know what Bell's Palsy is?

It's a condition where one half of your face muscles are weak or paralysed. It's sudden and caused by trauma to the 7th cranial nerve. The cause is unknown although it may be due to a viral infection or stress. The face will have a similar resemblance to the face of a stroke patient.

Do u know why i'm suddenly talking about it?

Because currently i'm having it! It started on Wednesday when i felt bitter taste in the mouth. I thought that i burned my tongue after drinking hot milo in the morning so i ignored it. That night i felt the right side of my mouth twitch uncontrollably for about 15-20 min. Still i ignored it. After waking up from sleep on Thursday morning, i noticed that water came out from my right nose while brushing my teeth. Then, i also noticed that my right eye closes slower than my left eye.

Did i panic?

Yes, i did! Although as u know, i should know what i was having at that moment, but i also knew that it could have been something even worse. So i went to see the necessary specialists (neurologist & ENT) and they confirmed my condition. I am now on Prednisolone (steroids) & Acyclovir (anti-viral).

So, how bad is it?

My right eye can't close properly unless i do it manually. So everytime i wash my face, it hurts. Thank God i don't have corneal damage.. I lost my sense of taste on the right side. So food don't taste so good. But maybe this way i can lose some weight..Sometimes i can't eat or drink properly. Saliva just dribbles out of the corner of my right mouth especially when i sleep. I am also very hypersensitive to loud sounds. When somebody laughs or when Rayyan cries, i'll get a sharp pain in my right ear and headache. And i'm starting to have neck and back pain. This may be because i overstress my right facial muscles.

How do i feel?

Initially, shocked, sad and depressed. But now, i'm starting to accept it. I'm trying to adapt to it. Maybe it's God's way of punishing me. Maybe it's also His way of reminding me not to forget about him and to be thankful of everything that i have. One of my friends told me that may be it's also His way of telling me that i need to get some rest. I have been overstressed lately. Stressed up to the point where i can't control myself and broke down in tears in front of my friend.

What do i wish?

I hope and pray that i could recover completely. Most patients do recover completely and i hope i am one of them although some may have residual symptoms. I know that God is forgiving and merciful. I also wish that nobody out there suffers from this condition. The psychological stress might not be well coped by some people. But do not worry about me. I'll be fine, insyaallah. Thank God the condition is not that obvious. My face still looks normal. You can only see it when i blink or smile. Apart from everything that has happened, I still thank God that it's just a mild disorder and not something worse..

Famous people affected by Bell's Palsy..

George Clooney...

Katie Holmes..

Pierce Brosnan...

Oh My Jimmy... CHOO!!!

This is my version of the story lak..

Last friday the Expose girl/mommies kuar jln2. Excited betul.. tapi lawak gak bile dorg cakap nak tengok 'Pisau Cukur'.. Albir had the time of my life 'kutuking' me cos he knows i dun like Fazura bcos of the gedikness (btw Apies, aku xpenah lak prasan ko gedik mcm dia).. Tapi ku layan kan jua n the story turned out to be good. I remember the last movie that us girls watched together were 'Gol & Gincu' (Fazura lagi)... Best gak.. I think i'll reserve these malay chick flicks with the girls jela.. CCK said the bags that they used in the movie looked fake..

I felt bad when CCK lost her phone.. I know how she feels cos i lost my phone as well.. just 4 days before that.. Left it at a restaurant.. Apparently there are still a lot of people who are not honest in this world..

Makan2 at chilli's were nice.. The top part of our beef ribs were hard as stone.. Ingatkan bile complain kt manager bolela dapat yang baru.. Dia bole cakap memang camtu cara diorang masak.. Nasib baik their mashed potato still maintains its quality.. Sedap sangat sampai Shud abiskan sume walaupun dia xbrapa suka mashed potato..

The highlight of the day was when i kena NGORAT!! A man was following us from the cinema to the toilet. Shud sedar n tanya dia nak apa. He said he wanted to talk to me. So i pun tanyala..

Me: Ya, nak apa?

Man: Bole saya cakap ngan awak sekejap?

Then dia cakap ngan Shud & Sera.. (CCK dah masuk toilet dulu kot, tak tahan..) "Takpela awak boleh pergi, tak payah dengar"

Shud: But she is my friend..

Man: Tadi awak tengok Pisau Cukur kan?

Me: Ya..

Man: Boleh saya berkenalan dengan awak?

Me: Nak buat apa?

Man: Saya ikhlas nak berkawan dengan awak..

Me: Its ok, saya dah kawin & dah ada sorang anak..

Man: Takpe, saya tak kisah..

Me: Takpela, thanks..

And i straight walked to the toilet. Horror giler kan!! Manusia macam ni pun ada.. Nasib baik i ada besties there for support. Tapi dorang pelik gakla. They thought he was my friend. Luckily he wasnt there when we walked out. He thought that since i watched the movie, i am like one of the ladies in the movie. Sorryla, i'm not that desperate yet. Although financially cukup2 makan je, at least i'm happy. And i dont think i can entertain another person in my life yet. That's why Rayyan still has no siblings.

Last 2 weeks when i met my besties, Rayyan n Albir went back to JB. I couldn't follow them because of work (can u imagine that we have to come on the weekends just to cover the ward for 2 hours..). Then before balik tu they asked, "So balik ni nak buat apa?"

I said, " Banyak benda aku kena buat. Kemas rumah, basuh baju, tulis thesis & study.." And all these work are never ending ones. So even if the boys are not around, banyak lagi keje yang i kena buat. Seriously time is very precious for me. So that's why as u can see, blog ni pun dah lama i tak update. But i also believe that 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'.. So entertainment and time with family and friends are crucial parts of my life..

So sorry if i have been missing for a long time.. I am still in touch with you guys.. I still read your blogs and leave comments here and there.. I'll try to write a few notes whenever i can..

Zoomed-in version at Chilli's..

Rayyan kempunan nak naik walker..

Cubaan nak tidokan Rayyan (tapi macam mak dia je yang tertido)..

O&G Night

I know i haven't been blogging for quite a while now. Albir has called me 'The Monthly Blogger'. He loves to kutuk me when it comes to blogging. I have a lot of things to tell but somehow when it comes to blogging, i just couldn't find the time. Why? Coz i spend a lot of time just to write a blog. Seriously! I know bloggers usually just write whatever that comes through their mind but not me. I'm even the type of person who writes n then deletes. Mana x lama nk tulis blog. See, i'm even doing it rite now!!

Anyway, my department held a Dinner at The Le Meridien, KL Sentral on 20th June 2009. They have not had a dinner in . They used to have it annually but eversince the new HOD took over, all they had were dinners at the department. Since she is on sabbatical leave for a year, the Acting HOD quickly grabbed this opportunity to organize a dinner at a hotel.

So this year, all the staffs were very excited & each ward/clinic had to do a performance. Meanwhile, the doctors had to do a performance as well. Initially, there was supposed to be a performance from the specialists but somehow they backed out & so the medical officers had to perform on behalf of the doctors. And as u all can see, we are not really a bunch of talented people so singing, dancing & acting are out of the question. Plus, it would require a long time to practice so we decided to do the easiest performance ever which is the 'Fashion Show'. Yes, we get to be unprofessional models for a night. And yes, I was recruited to be one of them.

Our fashion show theme was 'Traditional Costume' and i was chosen to wear a cheongsam. It was i think the sexiest clothes that i've worn (in front of people that i know). I remember as i stepped onto the stage, there was silence for a while in the hall. Malu betul!!! Bear in mind that the people sitting at the VIP table were my consultants & examiners for my final exam, ok. Luckily, no disasters happened. (I was known to be very clumsy in public places. I actually fell outside the dining hall in Form5, tripped at the Maplair at Jln Telawi Bangsar & fell at the Puduraya pedestrian bridge).

The rest of the night was very enjoyable although most of the performances were quite redundant. Most of them chose oldies song to sing. A group perfomed the 'Tarian Pocho-Pocho' (all u government servants out there mesti tau apa ni). One of my Indian specialist sang a Tamil song and her voice was so melodious. She sounded just like Lata Mageshka (betul x?). And another Indian staff nurse performed an erotic traditional Indian dance. Boleh tahan menggugat iman gakla.

They gave out a lot of lucky draws but as expected i was never lucky to get any lucky draws. But i was lucky enough to humiliate myself again. This time i was chosen to take part in a game where we had to form a group of 5. We were given a song & we had to act like we were perfoming the song. I was chosen to be the singer and guess what was the song? Lagu ANITA SARAWAK!! Dahla makcik pakai cheongsam atas stage tu. Nasib baik menang!!

All in all, the night was very memorable. The only downfall was we weren't allowed to bring our spouses. Only specialists & consultants brought their partners. I hope they would do this as an annual event and i hope they would allow us to bring our partners.

The following week, i was greeted by very big & cunning smiles from the staffs. I know that they were thinking about that night but i wonder what was really going through their mind..

Some of the 'supermodels' of the night..

Syeda, me, Sharina & Kathy..

Catwalk on the runway..

With Prof Siva & Dr Reena..

With Dr Azmi, Prof PC Tan & Dr Si Lay..

With Dr Rahmah, Dr Sofiah & Dr Nuguelis..


With the housemen Uzair, Awatef & Ivy..


With the staff nurses..

Dendam Si Fallen..

Last Wednesday me n hubby went & watched Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The movie was really good. And u get to see a lot of Megan Fox (although i really can't understand why guys think she's the sexiest female alive).

I mean, i can't see which part of her that is sexy. Her body is normal, her butt is normal and her face is also normal. The only thing different about her is her skin which i think was too tan and her lips which i think was over pouty and unnatural. I'm definitely not jealous cos i think Angelina Jolie is still the sexiest female alive.

Anyway, Transformers really brought back a lot of good memories during childhood. Do u remember the days when cartoons like Thundercats, Voltron & Smurfs were on the telly? We can actually proudly say that these cartoons belong during our time. I heard they are going to do a Thundercats movie. Really looking forward to that. Can't wait to see Lionel holding the sword yelling "Thunder, Thunder, Thunder..... HOOOOO!!" (over pulak makcik ni..) Have u guys heard of a different version of the Thundercats song which goes something like this..

" Thundercats lawan tikus, Thundercats mampus

Cheetara lari laju, tak pakai baju.."

Can u believe that albir too have listened to the song? And he was in JB wile i was in KL at that time. Weird, huh? I wonder who invented the lyrics..

So if u guys have the chance go and watch his movie. But grab your tickets fast as i heard they are selling like hot cakes.

I think Hugh Jackman would be suitable to play Lionel..

Tapi kalau Megan Fox pose macam ni, makcik pun tak bole tahan..

What's in a Name?

Last month when i was oncall, an actor came and brought his wife to the hospital.

The wife said "Dr, u look young. How old r u?"

The remark is actually not surprising as i usually get that especially when i'm oncall. Dunno if it's a good thing cos sometimes i feel that they don't trust me enough cos i look young. But i like to see the surprise on their faces especially when i tell them that i'm married with a child.

Anyway, after examining the wife, i had a different kind of response. And this time it was from the husband.

He asked, " So ur name is Dr E***? Isn't that a guy's name?"

Ok, it could have been a good pick-up line except that the wife was sitting right beside him :-)

So i just said "Yes, but when combined with S*****, it is a feminine name."

But how do u actually respond to this kind of question?

I have no idea..


Anyway, just finding a topic to update.. I'm oncall today n on sunday. Hope i can sleep well at nite. Planning to take rayyan out jalan2 tomorrow..

Also planning to go to Singapore for the Great Singapore Sale this month.. Gonna shop till i drop..

Kipas Jangan Tak Kipas..

Last night tepat jam 12 tengah malam tetiba takde elektrik kat umah ibu mertua ku.. Memula ingatkan adik2 albir main tutup2 karan tapi dorg pun tengah tengok Quantum of Solace. Rupa-rupanya the whole area was in darkness. Mula pening kepala pikir nak tido mana. Kitorang rasa bole tahan lagila kalau sejam dua but rayyan won't stand even 10 minutes of heat while sleeping Budak tu tido dalam aircond pun bole berpeluh.

So at first try la kipas budak tu. But then bila dia dah start guling2 so kitorang anak-beranak angkat bantal n selimut masuk dalam kereta. Ada gak terpikir nak tido hotel tapi takut penuh. Yela it was a long holiday so kitorang malas nak gi survey. We ended up sleeping in the car while praying for the lights to come back again. Dahla hujan kilat2 malam tu. Nasib baikla rayyan dapat tido nyenyak. Kitorang lak yang tak dapat tido sampai kul 2.Then luckily at 3.30am it came back again. So dapatla sambung beradu atas katil.

We actually received a notice that they were going to do some works and the electricity will be cut off from 8 am to 12 pm today. Tak sangka lak dorang dah start buat keje malam semalam. Arini pun dia potong api gak. But i think partly it was my fault as well. I tengah sedap ngumpat pasal blog orang to my sister. So dapatla balasannye cash. Cuma yg kesian orang lain pun kena gak.

Moral of the story is.. Kalau nak ngumpat, next time buat time keje so kalau takde karan takyahla keje..

Huahuahua...

Anyway tadi kitorang gi wedding coursemate albir kat Taman Molek. The funny thing is that dorang bagi kipas as ole-ole. Macam tau2 je umak MIL ku takde karan. Lawak gak..

Raja & permaisuri sehari Halid & Hartini..

The boys..

Rayyan the AC Milan star..

(ayah dia beli jersey dari Italy tu, kalau dah besar dia minat team lain xtaula)

Our 2nd Anniversary..

Yesterday was our second anniversary. Nothing special was planned. No gifts were exchanged, only wishes and 'aktiviti kekeluargaan'. Memang sejak kitorg couple, special events were not really celebrated. Birthday gifts pun slalu bagi belated.

But what matters most is that we are still together and is blessed with a wonderful son. Hopefully our marriage will last till the very end..

Anyway, sorry for the LONG silence.. Just didn't have the 'feel' to write.. Lebih suka baca blog orang je.. I'll try to be active again after this ye..

And u guys mesti nk tau apa jadi ngan flora cinta kitorg tu kan.. Hehehe.. TUNGGU..

Here are some unrelated pics yg dh lama nk post tapi xbole cos bluetooth laptop ni bengong aritu..

Rayyan buat muka boring cos ayah lock dia ngan seatbelt skali..

Kalau x jgn harap dia nk dok diam dlm keta..

Rayyan the Amil Muallaf..

Bagi rayyan try pakai petpet tapi xsesuai so rayyan pakai kt kepala je..

Flora Cinta

We went to Midvalley to do some banking and ate nasi lemak & asam laksa at Jusco. Personally, i think the food is not as good as before. While eating suddenly out of the blue hubby said, " I rasa nak hias rumah kita ngan pokok bunga la. Rumah kita nampak kusam.." Well, blame it on the plants next to us.

But actually it might be a really good idea. Like they say, berbudi kepada tanah pasti akan dapt hasilnya. Tapi ada jugak orang cakap kalau tangan u suwey, pakai baja apa pun sure pokok akan mati gak. Anyway, we thought we might try our luck. So kitorang pun belila 2 pasu bunga n baja bunga skali. Let's see what happens after this.. Maybe u guys can come to our house and see the fate of the flowers.. hehe..

Puteri Gunung Ledang

Last Wednesday we went to watch the musical theater.. Puteri Gunung Ledang. Imagine that it was all SOLD OUT! Luckily we bought the tickets early. We were supposed to go to Rihanna's concert as well last week but as u guys know she postponed it because of the stoopid Chris Brown. Well, Rihanna's acts might not be a smart one but u can never give an excuse for hitting a lady, no matter what they did.

Anyway, PGL was awesome!! The whole thing was really superb. Although there are a few things that they can improve like the songs. They are lovely but unfamiliar so i couldnt really enjoy it. They should air them on the radios so people could enjoy it more. Apart from that, i noticed that the dances during the second part of the show were a bit unsynchronised. Maybe its because the casts were practising everyday from 10am to 12am and they were all exhausted. And to Istana Budaya, please change the seats. We were practically sitting on wood.

All the main actors and actresses were excellent. Tiara n Stephen were both very good actors but i couldnt really feel the chemistry between them. Tiara had a very mature and powerful vibe but i felt Stephen was better suited off with a girl who's a bit more naive. But his voice is really good! All in all, they really deserved a standing ovation for their performance.

We had a few chances to watch musical theaters before in KL Convention Centre (all thanks to Bern by the way..). The first was Chicago. I've never watched the movie but Shah said it was exactly the same and it was really good. But the best theater of all was.. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! I loved it so much cos i grew up watching it. It brought back pretty childhood memories. And the set was fabulous. Did u know that the orchestra consisted of only 8 people? But still they managed to produce fantastic music. We even got a chance to go backstage. I wish they would come n do Sound of Music after this..

We went to Pavillion for dinner and found the best Fettucine Carbonara at the food court. I love the one in Italliannie's but this is way cheaper. Will definitely head there again..

Ada tokoh next Gusti Putri x?..

The director Zahim Albakri..

The yummmy Fettucine Carbonara..

Backstage @ Beauty and the Beast

The last petal of the famous Rose..

Superb show

Rayyan's 1st birthday

Rayyan turned 1 on 8th Feb. We wanted to organize a birthday party for him but there was just too much planning to do so maybe when he's older we'll plan one huge one for him. But he did not just have one, but two birthday celebrations. But something new happened to him before his birthday.

He was admitted to UMMC last Friday. As u can remember, he is allergic to eggs and was due for his MMR immunization at 1 year old. So he needed to be admitted for observation. Alhamdulillah, everything was well. Tapi akak penat betul cos dia betul2 xdok diam. N it was just for 6 hours! He just slept for less than an hour. Luckily i keje kt situ so bwkla dia jejln round hosp.. tgk klinik, wad n ofis.

After discharge, we picked Shah up n terus bwk dia gi KLCC for pain therapy (but i think it was more of window shopping therapy for his mommy). He was still wearing his bracelet nametag at that time. Ramai gak tanya apa tu. So when i told them that he just got out of the hosp, sume terdiam. They must have thought that i'm crazy for bringing out my son when he just got better. I just like to see him wear it for the day cos i never wanna see it on him again after this.

Shah treated us at Chilli's. Berbaloi gak cos kids meal is free n byk mana la rayyan bole mkn kan? Anyway thanks Uncle Shah! Dah besar sikit rayyan bole demand toys lak. Then we headed back to Johor the next day n celebrated with in-laws n family. He was not in a party mood cos satu hari xtido so mengaruk2. Tapi sempat gakla potong ice-cream cake ngan ayah dia.

Happy Birthday Rayyan! We're gonna have another birthday celebration at the end of the month k. We love u so much n wish for u all the best things life has to offer.

Food at Chilli's.. Rayyan was so excited dpt mkn mcm2..

HIs 1st bday cake.. Notice the bracelet?

Back at Johor.. melalak bile kena pakai party hat tu..

Some random pics.. at Bagan Lalang, PLUS Hway n Rayyan looking all cool with sunglasses..

(thanks b for the picasa pics.. terima kasih daun keladi, lain hari boleh tolong lagi ye)

The Power of Dreams..

We have been eyeing to change our car dah lama dah. But there have not been a push factor until now. Plus takde keta yang menarik n affordable. Yang suke sume nye xmampu. So when Honda launched their new City, we decided to check it out n we fell in love with it! We love everything about it plus its affordable.




When we placed our booking in early January, the sales agent told us that we can only get our car in early April. But he kept on pushing us to get the car loan. Malas nk layan cos buat apa nk apply loan awal sgt kn? How surprised were we when he said he can give us a car straight (ni kira potong queue la). So he helped to apply for a loan. With only 2 months payslip (tu je yg ada time tu, nk cari lg sebulan xtau campak mana), he submitted them in the morning. That noon a girl called me up n interviewed me. Tau2 petang tu dah approved! Terkejut badak akak. Next, hubby wants a Johor number. I don't mind cos the KL number that time was WSE (mcm xcantik sgt unless he wants it to say WA SAYANG EZRA!! Hehehe...)



The car was all ready on the 19th of January (only a week plus after we placed our booking, best!) So we said goodbye to WMB 1879.. Hopefully after this next exchange dream car lak..

Thank u for all the years..

Deep Lapis Blue.. Ada mcm transformers x sikit2?

Ai d Beijing

Albir, me , rayyan n MIL went to Beijing, China December last year. Ok, i know it's an 'old story' but I just didn't have the time and the inspiration to write about it until now. Anyway, it was a 6D 5N trip and it was worth it! We had loads of fun especially for me coz i experienced a lot of first times on this trip.. 1st time went to an international destination thru klia, 1st time naik aerotrain, 1st time rasa winter n 1st time jumpa real snow! (i think i was more jakun than rayyan).

We stayed at Landmark Hotel and Hard Rock Cafe was just inside the hotel (very convenient). Managed to grab a few t-shirts, caps and sweaters (they were on sale) although imitation ones are cheaper. The weather was very, very cold. Luckily rayyan managed to adapt well. Everybody said he was a good boy..(except when he wants to sleep.)

The Chinese loved rayyan so much. U can say that babies are rare in China so when they saw rayyan they got all excited. They would hug him and kiss him and he was treated like an 'emperor' there. Can u believe my tour guide said that in a year he can only meet 10 pregnant ladies? Thats because they can only have one child per couple. Sian kan? We should be grateful to be malaysians..

I think we covered most of the tourist spots in Beijing. We went to The Summer Place, The Forbidden City, The Bird's Nest Stadium and The Wonders of the World Park (i think). They even brought us to a ski resort. Xpandai sungguh nak main.. banyak kali tergolek 'dog'. In the end me n albir ended up throwing snow at each other.

The best was going to the one of the Seven Wonders of the World.. The Great Wall of China! It was a tough challenge climbing the great wall coz it was so cold. But as they say 'Malaysia Boleh!', we all pun bole gak.. tp sampai 3rd post jela. The most important thing is that we have a certificate to prove that we have climbed it.

And the best part of the tour.. SHOPPING! U could get a lot of imitation goods that are of high quality with ridiculously cheap prices. But i didn't buy much for meself. First of all, none was attractive to me. Secondly, i got tired of bargaining. They would quote the initial price 10x more expensive and u have to bargain very hard until they accept your last price. Penat bertekak.. Tp beli gakla..

All in all, Beijing is a very nice place to visit.. make sure u guys go there ok..

The Wonders of the World Park..

The Summer Palace..

Gaya je lebih..

Rayyan enjoying himself..

Stadium Sarang Burung in the background..

The Great Wall of China..

I lurve this pic so much!!

Farewell 2008

So long 2008.. A lot of things happened this year and the best was.. IAN O.P (Rayyan Sophie)! A child is the best gift from god to a parent and we thank you for giving us one.. and hope there will be many more to come.

Every new year buat resolution tapi satu pun x terlaksana so i've stopped having resolutions.. Just hope this year will be a better one than last year.. And free of debt (tapi nampak gaya mcm tambah hutang je lg) .. Anyway last year's finale was a meeting with the gurlz , The Hot Chicks.. (although now not so hot anymore) and the kids at Gloria Jean's Coffee, The Curve.

Tengah gossip hangat!!

Ariana E. sibuk gigit drapolene cream rayyan.. mama dia ckp gatal gusi.

Rajin2la jumpa lagi ye this year.. (notice x rayyan x dok diam..?)