Category: Hand & Microsurgery

Four days after Alycia’s finger surgery, we returned to SJMC for her follow-up checkup with the Hand and Microsurgery surgeon. This was the first time I had the opportunity to meet and speak with the doctor since Alycia’s admission. During her hospital stay, the surgeon did his ward rounds early in the morning, before I arrived.

At the checkup, the doctor carefully removed the bandage to examine Alycia’s wound. He noted that the blood had dried up, a positive sign indicating the start of the healing process. As we talked, I learned just how severe Alycia’s injury had been. The wound required many stitches, and the surgeon had found glass fragments embedded in her finger. It was a shocking revelation that highlighted the severity of the accident.

The surgeon seemed puzzled by how Alycia managed to break the glass container in such a way that it caused such a deep and serious cut. The accident seemed almost freakish in nature. It was a painful reminder of how quickly and unexpectedly such incidents can occur.

Alycia’s next appointment with the surgeon is scheduled for this coming Thursday, when her stitches will be removed. I am hopeful that the healing process will continue smoothly and that her finger will fully recover without any complications.

The accident still brings a rush of anxiety and fear each time I replayed the sequence of events on my head. I almost lost my mind worrying about Alycia’s injury and the potential long-term impact. As a parent, seeing your child in pain and not being able to immediately fix it is one of the hardest experiences to endure.

I fervently pray that such accidents never happen again to any of my children, myself, or any of my loved ones. This incident has been a stark reminder of how fragile and precious life is, and how quickly it can change in an instant. Moving forward, we’ll be more cautious, but I also understand that sometimes, despite our best efforts, accidents can still happen. All we can do is hope, pray, and support each other through these tough times.

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Sunday, 9 June 2024

Today, I received the best message from Alycia since the unfortunate mishap that happened four days ago. She informed me that the doctor had given her the green light to be discharged from the hospital. This meant her wound was healing well, and the prospect of going home filled me with immense relief and joy.

The process of getting discharged, however, was not as swift as we hoped and I had expected it from my previous experiences in other private hospitals. We waited over two hours for the necessary discharge procedures. While Alycia remained in her room, hubby, Cass, and I decided to have lunch at one of the nearby restaurants. Given the limited choices, we opted for Windmill Restaurant, a place with a nostalgic touch for us. Windmill has been serving old-school coffee house food for decades, and it was around even when we lived in Shah Alam in the early 2000s. Their menu includes classics like chicken chop, chicken Maryland, steak, mango salad, oxtail soup, and mushroom soup, just to name a few.

After a quick meal, we returned to SJMC, only to find that the invoice was still not ready. I had to expedite the process by urging the staff to follow up on our paperwork. Finally, after over two hours of waiting, we received the invoice, which listed many items in detail. The total came to nearly RM28k! It’s astonishing how a finger surgery with reconstruction can cost almost RM30k. This makes me anxious about the potential costs of Cass’ upcoming urinary tract surgery, which she will likely need in two years. All medical costs related to Cass’ urinary tract and kidneys will not be covered by her insurer as it’s a congenital issue, unless proven otherwise.

Fortunately, Alycia’s insurance will cover the majority of the hospitalization costs, though we still have to pay a maximum of RM1k along with some miscellaneous charges. This financial relief is a silver lining amid the cloud of medical expenses.

Reflecting on last year, Sherilyn was hospitalized in July due to a severe bout of hives, and now it’s Alycia’s turn. An eerie detail that sticks with me is the way my right eyelid twitched non-stop for a week before Alycia’s accident. It seems my eyelids have a knack for warning me of impending trouble, nine out of ten times.

As we navigate these turbulent times, I am grateful for the resilience of my family and the support of our insurance. Here’s to hoping for a smooth recovery for Alycia and a health-filled future for all of us.

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The surgeon told Alycia this morning that she has to remain in the hospital for one more night as her wound is still bleeding😢 .

Today I helped Alycia to shower in the hospital. She hasn’t showered since the terrible mishap on Thursday night after she got home from uni. Even with a bloodied and painful finger, she was whining about not being able to shower. She’s a clean freak like me and for clean freaks like us, having a shower at the end of each day is so important. It felt awkward bathing my adult daughter but a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do.

Alycia was so happy that she could finally remove the OT gown and get a refreshing shower, especially a hair wash! I could feel her relief after the shower🤩

I brought her laptop today so that she could work on her assignments.

To be continued…

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Alycia Whatsapped me in the morning to tell me that she’s the 15th on the OT wait list and the nurses cannot tell her what time her surgery will be because surgeries can run into complications and may take longer than expected. At around 5pm, Alycia told me that her surgery will be at around 9ish to 10 pm. So I told hubby to only pick me up from home at 7 pm. But less than an hour later, Alycia Whatsapped me to tell me that she will be going into the OT soon! Hubby and I hurried to SJMC.

When we arrived at SJMC, Alycia was already in the OT. We sat outside the OT for almost 3 hours. I kept asking the nurses if the surgery was over but was told that it ain’t over yet. Worried set in. Could Alycia’s cut be so deep that the surgeon (Hand and Microconstructive doctor) was taking a longer time to fix the finger?

Finally I saw Alycia in the recuperating bay. I was expecting to be next to her when she opened her eyes but it wasn’t until another hour later that we only got to see her in her room. The nurses had wheeled Alycia back to her room from the back door and we were not even informed until much later when one of the nurses left the OT after work and saw us still waiting. That was at around 11 pm.

By the time we reached home and showered, it was already way past midnight. It was another night of insomnia and sleep deprivation for me. Whenever I sleep past my usual bedtime, I will have trouble falling asleep, what more with so much goings-on and anxiety the whole day. The high cortisol levels flooding my body since the day of Alycia’s mishap has been causing me insomnia and sleep loss can also increase cortisol levels.

Even as I’m typing this post, I am still feeling insomniac and it’s 10.30 pm now. I know I’m going to be feeling very sleepy over the next few days when the cortisol levels in my body goes down now that Alycia’s back home.

To be continued…

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