Osgood-Schlatter plus plus.

AF is back for the weekend, along with his dirty laundry as usual. katanya next week tak leh balik sbab heavy workload. doesnt matter, i'm happy to see a vast improvement in his self-management skills. walaupun masih the most absent-minded being (next to his mom that is) to walk the face of this earth (back in his mrsm days, baju nak pakai pun sampai tak de sbab bila hantar dobi, asyik lupa je nak ambik lol), i believe he has made his peace with the ADHD. ma sentiasa panjatkan doa kpd NYA untuk kejayaan & kesejahteraan darling2 mama.

Unfortunately he's complaining of knee pain again. i was happy to note that lately he's been very active with badminton and brisk-walking around the campus grounds (for another couch kentang thats one hell of an undertaking lol) but seems like he's triggered an old problem. back in his early teenage years he suffered from Osgood-Schlatter disease. its something to do with the knees. when bone growth is faster than tissue growth, the knee joint experiences a tightness and loss of flexibility. in aie's case, since the bone growth was so rapid, each movement of the knee created a pull on the 'soft' bone to create a potrusion which later solidified into an unsightly hard lump. kesian, susah nak sujud and he had to restrict vigorous activity to avoid the possibility of snapping coz that would mean surgery and the inclusion of metal plates or screws or something (cant remember). eeek... menakutkan sungguh. he already has metal whatchamacallits holding his sternum together when they did corrective heart surgery on him way way back (when he was 6 months).

But the thing is, doc said by age 18-19 everything would be ok coz generally growth slows down by then. hmmm... hes 20 so why the pain again i wonder? we're seeing the doc later to find out.

And since i'm on the subject of the kiddos medical history, its not only abg long who had his mom worried sick over his 'reconditioned' heart la, ADHD la, hypertension la, osgood la (the hyperactive fella even went through a minor ENT surgery to remove: 1. a saga seed from his nose. and since they were at it, 2. his adenoids as well. alaa, biji saga yg kecik merah2 tu... only god knows when (and why) he shoved the thing in sebab upon removal, nampak macam dah nak berakar dah lol.

AI my 2nd, also contributed in scaring his mama witless while he was growing up. it was a day like any other and he was only 8 months at the time. while tottering about the living room learning to walk, he lost his balance and fell onto the carpet. thing was, right after that he somehow became half paralysed. i was in the middle of a seminar when it happened and remember feeling completely devastated. what with abg long and his myriad of problems... i had naively thought the probability of having another sick child on my hands was lower than low. we later found out that it was a stroke and the results of the MRI clearly showed the infarcts. fortunately for us, he recovered completely after 2 weeks, alhamdulillah. the docs wanted to 'mess about' with his brains to find out what actually happened (like the CT scans and MRI's werent enough) but after seeking not only a second opinion but several, we decided against doing any further investigation. i mean having 'em opening up AF's chest was bad enough but AI's brain's ?!!! we were talking about an even higher risk surgery here so enough was enough. although it felt like we were sitting on a time bomb, he was fine and after a year of close monitoring, we thought the worst was over.

Yea right !! when he was 10 years old he started complaining about headaches and stuff. and it was too consistent a complain to ignore so we hauled him over to the specialist again. by then i was already going about my business like a zombie... it was the same nightmare all over again !! aduh i cant even begin to describe what it was like for me at that time. suffice to say only my faith in the Almighty kept me going. because of his previous history, the docs werent taking any chances so we went through a bevy of tests, not to mention another MRI. but at the end of it all i'm happy to report (however anti-climatic it may sound now) that all my baby needed was a pair of specs lol. i mean i can laugh about it now but back then, it felt as if my world was collapsing all around me. he still suffers from asthma attacks now and then but compared to before, everything else became quite manageable.

We were then all set to enjoy a 'normal' childhood with AH bcoz i thought, thats it. the chances of going thru another 'earth-shattering' experience was probably nil, zilch, no way. not my sweet little AH who was such a good good baby and who never once threw a crying fit. but, God in his infinite wisdom had His own plans for us. when she was about 7 months i think, she had a bad viral infection and was warded. due to several indications, the docs suspected meningitis which is a serious thing and the only way to be certain was by carrying out a lumbar puncture aka spinal tab. Lord, i was thinking 'not again' .... the responsibility of trying to make the right decisions for my helpless & innocent babies was not something that i carried easily. both the hubs and i had to come to a firm agreement to avoid blaming each other in case something undesirable happens. we had to be strong for the kids but we also had to contend with the grandparents, the pak ciks and makciks who were all ready to jump on us if we made the wrong move. the 'i told you sos' that family members usually throw at parents when something goes wrong is totally unfair because we are after all, answerable to a greater power.

Even if the medical profession is in the opinion that the procedure is quite normal, the decision was still a hard one for us. what with "kau orang ni karang budak tu lumpuh macam mana?"... "you sure? i heard my neighbour's friend had spinal problems after that"... and many more in a similar vein. After a long and painful deliberation, we decided to go for it but the day of the procedure was among the longest of my life. i kept forgetting to breathe.

Again we were blessed. alhamdulillah, it wasnt meningitis after all and everything turned out fine. she has grown to be quite a tomboy lol... or used to be now that she's in secondary school and turning all feminine on us.

So with all that behind me, how can i not but cherish the kiddos ?!!

I love you AF, AI & AH.... i love you with all my heart & soul. muaahhhhhhh :)

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Guess what ?!! i managed to squeeze in another morning run into my tight schedule. after dumping kid no. 2 at school, i made a mad dash to the tasik lol.

** Running Log **

1 lap= about 4 km= 30 mins