Hfmd? Kawasaki? Measles? Roseola? What is it?!

So on Wed, JY developed a fever and ulcers and I rushed home to bring him to Dr Tan at TMC.. he caught the damned thing from JE.. second time so I wasn't as panicky.. Dr Tan said first few days would have abit of a raging fever and poor appetite.. Oral aid and Paracetamol was given..

On Fri, he suddenly developed rashes all over his body. Around 7.15pm, I called the GP opposite at New World Centre Clinic and he was thankfully still open.. He said the rashes don't seem typical of HFMD, and JY's teething.. then talked about parents asking him about Kawasaki.. to which I was rather alarmed that it may be a possible condition in his case.. he advised that I should bring JY back to the PD for a check and blood test to rule out anything serious.

This morning around 10, I headed down to a 3 hour wait at TMC.. rather agonizing and crazy given JY had woken up at 6plus.. level 6 was filled with parents and kids awaiting their turn to see the Drs Tan and Han.  Although he was very tired, we couldn't find a good spot for him to nap and the seats at the lift lobbies with their high human traffic made it distracting for him to settle down to sleep.. finally found a quieter spot after some time and JY napped for about 1/2 hour or so and roamed the hallways again..
Sometime after 1pm, it was finally our tjrn n.. Dr Tan said it's classic rashes for HFMD.. nothing more than that.. his ulcers were still bad so could only clear that next week.

Because of the recent Kawasaki misdiagnosis that resulted in the PD's suspension by MOH, lots of Drs are now practising defensive medicine and ordering extra referrals and tests to avoid any possible complaints of misdiagnosis.. it has resulted in unnecessary tests and referrals in the local medical scene because no one wants to end up in a similar situation of a 3 month suspension. This is unnecessarily driving up medical bills, in addition to waste of time and resources of parents, drs, nurses and the lab teams. Not to mention causing unnecessary pain and discomfort to sick children and extra distress to parents dealing with sick children..

Truly hope something effective and efficient can be of thismm

HFMD again..

Arghhh xxyyabc!! JE caught the unfortunate bug on Sunday and JY woke from his morning nap with a slight fever.. and just found spots in his mouth.. now I have to bring him to see the Dr. Sunday wnet to NUH a&E after we found that Jen had a sudden fever and spots in her throat..

School says no cases, so did her Yamaha at Westgate.. don't even know where it came from..  arghhh...

PCF registration time again

School just restarted on Tuesday and we got the forms for Jen's registration for N2 for 2018, and also notice to register siblings for N1 at PCF. Siblings of existing students get first priority in registration. Submitted the forms today..

so FYI, parents need to prepare originals and photocopies of

1. Child's Birth certificate
2. Parents' IC
3. Immunisation certificate
4. CDA account details
5. Passport pic of the child

$16.05 of deposit fees. Registration confirmation will be posted in due time.. Actually, because JY's a December baby, he would only be 24 months old when school starts!!! Not even sure if he's ready as he's quite clingy.. oh dear.. but SG50 baby, he has 38,000+ kids in his year, I think bobian gotta be Kiasu and register first.  And pray he enjoys school. Else don't know if he would have no slot for a school near our home!!

Some weird viral fever

Post-vaccination on 8th June, JY developed a fever in the late noon. It escalated to a high fever after a nap and milk around 9pm.. he puked his milk and meds out, even through the nose..

Around 1plus, he was fidgeting and shivering. I thought he was hungry and gave him milk and meds thereafter as he was running a high fever of 39.3! He puked and we decided to rush to NUH a&e..

Nobody was there, thankfully and we saw the Dr quite fast.. who said it may be viral infection or urine infection as jab fevers don't spike that high. Need to take urine sample.. it took some time then I decided to take out the diapers and let him walk abit and he seriously peed a huge bag thereafter..

The dipstick test showed some white blood cells, which needed further lab test to determine any serious issues so the wait was prolonged.. thankfully only little bit of WBC so Dr concluded it's viral infection and gave additional fever meds.. we reached home about 5am.. Popo was in our room with JE, initially she didn't want her to sleep in the room and she sat outside for an hour or so until she called us to check the status and I asked her to go in after she slept.. as we left the Dr's room, I accidentally knocked my sleeping JY's head against the cupboard after turning the corner and he woke up in fright and pain.. hubby stared daggers at me..Thankfully he was ok.. n he recovered after 2 days..

Clumsy me also caused JE to fall and bruise her face as she wanted me to carry her and I wasn't ready and she somehow slipped n fell on her face.. her teeth got a knock too, I think I do need to arrange a dentist visit.. even if she seems fine for now..

So guilty..

Jayen got his last mandatory jab

Jayen got his last mandatory jab today at past 18months old, and a fever of 38.7deg to accompany it.. I forgot how the other jabs were, hare-brained mummy but don't think they were that high.. hopefully it goes off tomorrow..

Still considering about chicken pox jabs for the two them as boosters are needed and they are not 100% foolproof against the virus.. they would scream their heads off At the jab and Jen would refuse the second jab.. arghhh...

Exercise morning

So... The hubby had been harping about bringing the kids to nature places, the park, somewhere non-aircon.. we finally did so this morning, after sleeping in til 9.30am.. with the exception of JY and our helper..

We are some oats n headed out after 45minutes of preparation.. there was the milk bottles to wash and sterilise, pack the milk powder for JY, spare shirts n diapers, water bottles. N JY pooped right before we headed out.. so another bit of delay..

We took the bus a couple of stops and dropped off somewhere along one part of the bukit panjang park connectors and walked for probably 30-45 minutes.. the sun was blazing.. I took the brolly out to snide remarks from hubby.. oh wells, the kids are young and the sun was too hot, anyways I didn't want them to fall sick on their first real regular nature walk we were gonna try to implement..

It was a baggy but good start.. both me n hubby were nagging each other.. him about the importance of heading to nature and wanting his kids to be more outdoorsy.. me n my argument about the kids being young n there are lots of things to prep and carry before and during the trip.. guys have it easy, wake up, wash up n off they go.. mums and helpers have to wash themselves and the kids on top of packing stuffs for whatever occasion there is..

Anyways, we will see how it goes.. no more sleeping in if we are indeed up for exercise.. though it's been years since we managed to sleep in.. or sleep through the night for that matter...

The flu bug visits, along with bronchitis, mycoplasma and tonsillitis...

Last Friday, JE suddenly started coughing with phelgm.. we thought it was because of the cold Laoban taohuay the kids had after dinner.. went for tuina at Yuguo after it worsened on Saturday.. turns out she has a fever and has to go for tuina for 3 consecutive days... JY went for Sat n Monday as he started coughing as well.. Tuesday i had to bring them to the PD.. tuina didn't seem to work this time round at all!!

Hillion Mall had a new Thomson Pediatric Clinic helmed by Dr Leo.. As the kids' regular PD Dr Tan KY at TMC L6 had a one hour wait and Dr Leo had no patients, i took the bus with our helper and brought the kids to Dr Leo..  the good thing was we were out of the house and back within the hour since it was a weekday morning. The not so good thing was that I'm not so comfy with the new PD who's patient, gentle, thorough but a little quiet compared to Dr Tan..

coupled with the past few tuina sessions, this flu virus is getting a little hefty for the pocket.

On Thursday, the fever kept going up and down for both and even to 40deg. In the morning we headed to TMC, at around 9.30am.. Dr Tan was not in so we saw Dr Eugene Han instead. Also very patient, detailed, nice and reassuring..  but then, the diagnosis was that JY had tonsillitis and JE had bronchitis and mycoplasma infection.  Horrid news..  Yikes!! JE had to go back for review the following week to ensure the lungs are clear of the nasties.. JY should be clear after meds.. but to date, both are still coughing rather intensively at times despite the plethora of medicines.. I was preparing the feeds till I felt so horrid at pumping them with so much medicines.. they were fearful also at a point, having taken almost a week of meds already..

I hope this mess clears up soon and we are all back to being healthy and happy, we can't even do anything despite the precious long weekend coming up!!

Another bad news was, the Dhasedyl prescribed by Dr Leo at Hillion mall was not suitable for children!! Why can doctors have such differing standards of practice!?!? I need to make some public feedback.. this is getting a little out of hand I feel.. the HFMD episode last month was the first case where the neighbourhood GP couldn't detect any ulcers despite two visits for fever within 24 hours, and after that our PD and TMC's 24-hour clinic gave differing instructions, next came this about two PDs employed under the same hospital giving differing medicines (one being dangerous for kids!), albeit one is a branch clinic and one is in the hospital!! Where are the standards and safeguards for patients actually, given that we trust Drs 100% and follow the instructions they give, not knowing any better?? I guess this is a small case, but even that, it highlights something wrong in the system doesn't it?? Hmm...

PCF Family bonding

Attended the first PCF family day at Zhenghua CC on Friday morning with Popo, JE, JY n my helper.. supposedly it was a family activity to do salt-making and bottle decorating, as well as Kungfu panda 3 screening..

Turned out it changed to diy Sugar Rainbow and Lava lamp.. supposed to make a rainbow bottle with different concentrations of food dyed sugar in water, but ours wasn't successful.. nonetheless, it was an interesting activity.. have bought some food colouring to try on our own another day.. hopefully we can post a successful picture soon!! Due to time constraints, the lava lamp was only demonstrated by the teachers on stage, but seemed fairly easy enough to replicate at home..

Lunch was distributed and everyone sat down to the movie.. the kids got restless and ran around outside the hall.. at the end of the session was prize presentation for 3 generation families who were present.. there were 168 families who attended and about 360 pax in total that morning.. wow!

We were actually 4 generations strong but parents weren't present at the session so no extra special prize, just special mention and a gift for us.. not too bad too.. looking forward to more sessions!

HFMD hits the kiddos

The dreaded four letter word hit the kids about two weeks back... HFMD somehow found its way into our home..

On 26th Feb, Sat, we had gone for the RC Open House activity downstairs... I brought JE to the playground and the kiosk activities around the blocks while JY napped.. after lunch, we went down a second round for more balloons and the lucky draw.. I washed the kids' hands immediately once they came home...

Somehow, JY started having a bit of runny nose on Sun night, was feverish late on Mon noon, and drooling alot and even left puddles on the floor.. I brought him to the GP opposite home after dinner, and got some flu, cough and fever meds.. his fever spiked overnight and the next morning, I went to get additional meds for the high fever.. it went up and down.. however, on Tues night, he did not want to drink milk and I felt that we had to go to the PD in the morning, afraid that he was gonna be dehydrated as he only drank porridge water and some milk...

He cried profusely at TMC PD clinic on Wed morning, and thankfully the nurses sped up our queue... N upon checking, Dr Tan said JY had caught HFMD... The nurse and Dr were startled as I had gone in telling them about flu and high fever only.. but a check in his mouth showed 20 over ulcers... That was the cause of his uncontrollable salivating, poor appetite and constant crying... I started tearing too, not knowing how he could have caught the virus and it had been so serious... Dr asked about admission, which I had already been prepared for when I asked hubby to bring us to TMC.. but still the diagnosis was akin to a bolt of lightning across my heart... I called my mum and asked her to take note of  abnormalities for JE, as she had flu too and I had kept her from school since Tuesday... I also updated hubby and he came over to assist with admissions as I was rather distraught along with my crying baby...

I took leave from office and over the next few days in hospital, I cuddled and cradled JY like a koala bear to sleep, as at home, we used the yaolan... He cried everytime the nurses came in, as they gave him meds, took temperature and held him while I peed, made milk or washed the bottles..

thankfully, we had full insurance coverage and was able to stay in a 1-bedder room without worry about the bills... A super fussy koala plus another fussy kid would have caused me to go mad... Occasionally, there were crying kids outside the corrider, and my own crying baby sometimes added to the ruckus... I'm glad I didn't need to share a room or be worried about being embarrassed my kid is fussy... Dr had said JY's CRP infection index was 150 when the norm was 5!!!  Antibiotics was given after x-ray and urine tests were done...

Hubby took care of JE at home, and I went home a couple of hours in the noon on Thursday to rest while our helper and hubby stationed at the hospital.. JE had wanted to play with me but I was too tired, having been interrupted frequently by night feeds and temperature taking sessions... Hubby and JE stayed over at mum's while JY and I were at the hospital.. On Fri while we changed shifts, mum said JE had high fever and seemed like there were some ulcers... I came home, bathed and went with mum and her back to the PD.. and JE got diagnosed for HFMD too... She had to stay away from. School for a week... Horrors of horrors for two HFMD kids...

JY was discharged on Sat, with 2 ulcers left... However, the antibiotics gave both kids diarrhea... We changed about 8-10 diapers for each kid over Sunday and JY had diaper rash and burn on his buttocks, crying alot... I decided we had to go to the 24-hour clinic at TMC... Stop orders were given, along with anti-diarrhea meds and probiotics... On Monday, I called Dr Tan's clinic to check on. Whether stopping the antibiotics was ok, and only got through to them at night... Dr said to go in for blood tests the next morning... And off we went again on Tuesday and spent an entire morning there... Good news was JY was cleared for HFMD, but JE had to be checked again on 13th March to ensure her ulcers were clear...

So far, we are self-quarantined at mum's, and came back home on Thursday evening. The medical bills are $6000+ and counting... JY's could likely be claimed in full but not sure about JE... Anyways, I'm hoping for an all clear on Monday.... And for all viruses to stay far away... Permanently...

Jen's 1st school semester

Time flies.. Or well, I've been lazy... JE has finished her first school term!!

Wow, I had wanted to write about what to expect when she started school.. oh well, it's never too late..

Thinking back to early-2016, we took a long time choosing a pre-school for her as I had mistakenly looked on ECDA's website for pre-schools.. actually my Popo had asked me to find PCF would do.. what is good is that we have a quite a few around the estate, PCF kindergartens as well as other pre-schools... We visited a Carpe Diem outlet at Fajar, I liked it, but it's 8 bus stops away... Abit troublesome for my helper to fetch JE.to and fro... I spent months searching, shortlisting and mapping pre-schools, in the end, we just registered with the one about 5-10 minutes walk away...

Registration took place I think in Q3 of the year before a child enters N1.. we kept calling the school to find out when the registration was taking place as the registration banner facing our daily route to and fro home wasn't updated.. on the day itself, kiasu me and hubby, frightened by stories of overnight queueing for famous pre-schools queued up at the Pcf kindergarten around 7.15am when registration only opened at 8am.. Popo actually stoked the fear by saying faster go and queue.. ended up, hubby was the earliest and the teachers hadn't even reached school. At around 7.50, then we saw a second parent join us outside the school.. all was smooth and we got our preferred timeslot..

Wind back to January 2017, on the first day of school, parents are invited to join their children at school for an orientation session. A teacher-in-charge would welcome all parents and children into the classroom, give a little information about a handbook, some brief description of daily schedules, and bring us all about the activities room and a dining room.

What I liked was that they shifted this youngest class nearest the principal office... What left us aghast was that a classmate was having horrible flu, sneezed long yellow snot, and the cooking auntie asked JE and the girl to shake hands to "make friends"! I was horrified and trying hard not to fuss... We rushed out of class once the briefings ended..

JE took very well to school, she was first mesmerised by YouTube during the first 3 days of school when teachers were trying to be lax and ease all the kids into school..  I'm very thankful she loved school and going to play with teachers and friends every day.. a couple of weeks back, her teacher asked if we let her watch lots of YouTube at home since she knew almost all the songs they sang in school.. well, actually she watched a combination of SCV  kids' karaoke and YouTube...

Both me n hubby had been very excited to join her first school excursion to the Singapore Repertory Theatre for Peter Rabbit but unfortunately, both kids caught HFMD.. that's another story to share...

On Wednesdays when I bring her to school, I see some of the handicrafts they did in school.. otherwise, I don't actually know what she does in her 2 hours in school.. everyday she's eating her favourite noodles/ bread and milo or rice... For sure she know.. otherwise, not sure what learning there was.. I had wanted to ask her teachers during the excursion, but wells, I hope I can get a refund for the 3 pax I paid for but couldn't attend.. still awaiting for the principal's reply...

Hope JE would always enjoy learning!!!