This Different Week

So much has happened this entire week! If I were to squeeze all the events into just one blog entry, this will probably be the longest entry ever written by me. Maybe it could even go into the Guinness world records for being the longest entry ever written! Haha. Alright. I'll try, so here goes...


MONDAY

Don't worry. I'm not about to begin writing about every single day for this entire week! But Monday is one day that I must specifically mention! Well, it all began with my trip down to the MO. As usual, it was originally quite a boring day in camp. And I was about to pay the MO a visit for an extension of my 'excuse footwear' status, since the nail isn't out yet and it still hurts my toe when I have footwear on. I was actually just expecting to receive another status slip, with the MO probably saying something like we'll wait for another week and see if the nail loosens. Well, you see, it has already been a full month and, not only did the nail not loosen, it seemed to have grown firmer against the toe instead! Hence, as you can see, I did not received that status as I thought I would have. Instead, the MO decided to refer me to TTSH A&E and let the docs there decide if the nail should be removed. Imagine the horrors upon horrors hitting on me as graphic images of gruesome nail removal procedures flash through my mind. But of course, what feared me most was still the pain that would have preceded along. LOL!

So at 11am, I when back to the medical centre with a buddy, took the ambulance (for the first time) and head down to TTSH. Before I continue, I should give special attention to my buddy, Alex! For being so nice as to accompany me throughout the entire ordeal. He was basically there just to kill time alright. And without him, I probably would have died of boredom. Ha. Reason?! Upon arrival, I was amazed to realise that the waiting time just seemed like forever?! There was like only 47 patients awaiting consultation, and yet the time displayed was approximately 2hrs!! It was close to noon and both of us were really hungry. We wanted to leave for lunch, but was advised to stay for the triage first. After about 30 minutes, my name was called and I was asked to describe about my condition. The nurse did all the basic procedures necessary, then asked me to go for an x-ray. I was wondering like what for?! It's just a nail injury, there was no bone fracture or whatsoever. But nvm. I just went to have that x-ray, after which my triage was done!

Then both of us wondered whether if it would be safe for us to leave the A&E area for lunch, as we were afraid that my name would be called. There was this young, wheel chaired lady in front of us, having a cast over her leg. Alex set her as the indicator for my turn, as she was there before us, and if she enters, it would most likely be my turn next. At that time it was about 1.10pm. Luckily we were smart to have consumed our lunch first, coz when we returned at around 1.35pm, that lady was still there. LOL! So we sat outside, assuming that my turn would be around 2pm, we waited till then, go back inside, and still see the lady waiting for her turn! Haha! Wait and wait and wait! Finally, at around 2.15pm, the lady went in, and 5 minutes later, I was called to enter as well! I was pretty nervous at that point in time. Dr Eva Luis was the one who saw me. She looked at my toe, asked me a few questions, and decided that the nail should go. Arghz! Even more nervous now...

Approximately 3pm now. I was outside the operating theatre, waiting to be called in. I thought it should happen soon, but no! Waited for like 30 minutes before the nurse inside called me in! And so I lie on the bed, having this great sense of dread drenched from head to toe. Wait and wait and wait, finally heard Dr Eva's voice. She was like, "Sorry young man, forgot about you." Lol. Then she took some form of knife and began cutting on my toe. "Young man, if it hurts, you must let me know." At first it was ok, then it got more and more painful, till a point where it was hurting so bad my mouth was wide open. "Alright! Sorry young man, but I have no choice. Gotta jab you. It'll be very pain, just bear with it." Just imagine the fear in me! Then I felt the needle, and the pain was indeed horrendous!!! So terrible I was biting my blanket, groaning away. Must have been a laughing sight, but I really don't care! It's just living hell alright?! Got jabbed twice some more! When the jab was done, I saw my toe swelling into the size of a ping-pong ball!! It felt funny, probably coz it was numb. Then doc began extracting the nail. At first was ok, I could feel the movements but not the pain. When she started pulling out the nail, that's when it hurts all over! WOW man! Lol. There she was trying be quick and comforting me, while I was squirming and fighting the intense pain! It's just horrible, unimaginable pain, pain and still more pain! Finally, after some struggle, the nail was removed! "Young man, you want to keep your nail?" And she let me see the extracted nail. I was like "No thanks!" "You sure you don't want to keep it?" "No thanks!" Lolol.

Dressing was done and I left the operating theatre. Toe felt super numb, like I was just carrying a lump of something walking around, like that part of the leg didn't really belong to me. Lol. Concerned Alex must have been relieved to finally seeing me walking out alive! Haha. Waited outside for further instructions. Got my MC of 4 days! And also a referral letter to the polyclinic for further dressings. When we finally left TTSH, it was close to 5pm! Amazing man! 5 hours at the hospital! And so I thought, what kind of medical standards does Singapore provide, considering one simple nail removing process requires 5 long hours before it's done. The cheek of them to charge us exorbitant fees some more, claiming that they are providing better service and hence the relevant rise in costs too. Utter nonsense man! Does this mean that it's like probably 10 hours in the past?! -_-

Anyway, imagine the horrors I was facing after the anesthesia began to fade away. Though that slip of MC gave me much smiles on my face (HAHA!), the pain really just robs any form of happiness in me. When I was asleep in the middle of the night, at 4am, the agony was so bad it woke me up abruptly! And there I was trying all sorts of funny positions, just so that I could hopefully stop that excruciating pain. Didn't have a good night sleep at all. The next day, when I got to the polyclinic for a new dressing, I was totally disgusted by my toe. It's just gross to the core, and it seemed to be growing abnormally. The nurse that did the cleaning for me wasn't gentle either. It's a torture alright, having to go through repeated sensations of pain as that cotton wool of don't know what solution comes into contact with my open wound. RAH! I'll never forget this entire ordeal man!

So, I simply spent 4 days rotting away, with the pain slowly fading away with each passing day. I'm glad that I can sit comfortably in front of the computer, typing this out for you to read! Haha. Felt rather bad actually coz this week was outfield week; I was at home 'enjoying' while my mates were out in the fields training. Shouldn't have been like that lah, but I cannot help it either. At least it'll heal much faster now, and hopefully I will be able to wear shoes/boots comfortably in India!

Ok. So this is a really long post. But I'll continue! Haha. The next part shall be short.


SATURDAY

A good day spent with Benjamin and Weemin! Haha. It's quite amazing that we actually met up, considering Wee herself said she only wanted to do so after her exams! But she couldn't take the stress and so she needed some singing to unwind! Haha. A good thing too, coz it has been almost 1 year since the last time we sang. It has also been a long time since I last stepped into a KTV room. Well, I must say that K-Lunch, though it's the most affordable package, the standard has really dropped. I'm rather disappointed with the lunch set especially. It used to be so much more tastier, and that the portions were bigger. But seems like the company is going on a diet; not only had the portions decreased significantly, the food itself isn't of any quality. Oh wells.

After the singing, the three of us went to Wang Jiao for some afternoon tea and snacks. The food is not bad, but the price is slightly steeper than usual, considering that there's that extra 17% to add! Ha. It was then that we began our usual chat and loads of nonsense appeared! Like this Weemin keeps insisting I should meet this girl called Kelly, as she thinks that both of us will be the perfect couple! Arghz! For like 1 hour she was harping about it non-stop can?! Lol. We also talked about our future, how time really flies. Like before you could even realise, we have already entered into our thirties, and still single! Wah! And then there was the funny dreams, and Ben trying to picture me as the CEO of Boeing, SEA. Haha.

It always feels great spending time with old friends, friends that you have known for so long! Ok. This entry is long enough. I shall stop here. Till then.