Removing Stitches

After the accident, Lynn was behaving well for quite a while. I did not let her go to school. Doctor said we should not touch the wound, and keep it dry at all time before removing the stitches. She should not do any sports for now too. We know most children are very curious. Instead of worrying her friends at school may want to touch her wound, pushing around while playing etc, I do not want to burden the teacher to look after her at school. So before removing the stitches, I took leave to stay at home with Lynn. She was very good girl for that few days. We spent some time watching TV in the morning, then I made sure she took a nap in the afternoon after lunch. She complained her hand was pain from the needle. So I did not really get her to do any writing. Just want her to relax and rest at home. She also did not touch the wound as being told by the doctor. (But for that week only! *facepalm*)

Soon 5 days had past and I needed to take her back to hospital to remove the stitches. We reached there slightly past 9am but the parking lots were full already. I parked at the side, waited for more than 30minutes for a parking lot. Since we were not waiting for seeing doctor, we did not need to wait long for getting the stitches to be removed.

I took a picture after the nurse had removed the plaster, but before removing the stitches

Lynn cried seeing the nurse holding a scissor. After the stitches were removed, the nurse put a new plaster on it. And this one she said let it comes off by itself. The plaster is water proof too so less worry when washing her hair.

The wound bled a bit after the stitches were removed. But there is no infection. She told me it is not pain anymore. Her next appointment with the plastic surgical clinic is January next year. Lynn has back to school as usual, but I still refrains her from joining the sports activities until her wound is fully healed. Until today the plaster still has not come off yet.

Many thanks for everyone concern! I do hope her wound is fully healed soon.

CDC – 2nd appointment

Hao got his second appointment with the Child Development Clinic (CDC) in HUKM on Monday. I took a day off from work to take him there, as his appointment was in the late morning, at 11.30am.

Hao was in rather good mood that day. Unlike last visit, this time he was very friendly to the paed. The paed asked me many questions about his development and his diet. She also played some games with him to check his abilities on -

• Able to pick up small items
• Will make sounds like ba, mum, da etc.
• Play small blocks using both hands to make some sound
• Able to throw
• When throw or drop thing into the ground, his eye will follow the object
• Able to follow the instruction
• Will search for hidden object
• Able to focus on moving object
• Able to crawl
• Able to stand
• Able to pull himself up

The paed wanted to see Hao walking. She put him on a carpet, and placed his hand holding to the grill of the handle of the stairs case. Then I used a toy to attract him to walk. The paed checked his leg while he was walking.

In overall, she was very happy with Hao’s development. Oh yes, she also told me that I should expect Hao has slower speech development. The reason being he is the second child, most of the time the first child will tend to speak for him. Thus, he will not need to speak much. Well this is something new to me. Currently Hao is having five servings of milk, and two servings of semi solid food (baby cereal and porridge) in a day. The paed suggested me replace one more serving of the milk with semi solid food, to increase his weight. Alright, now I got to plan his meals again. Hope this will help increase his weight. I wish he will be at least 10kg when he become 1 year old.

 

Related posts:

1. Poor Zhe Hao
2. 4 days in the hospital
3. Child Development Clinic

Child Development Clinic

Zhe Hao got an appointment with the Child Development Clinic (CDC) on Monday. This appointment was arranged when Hao was discharged from the hospital for his fractured femur incident. The CDC clinic is kind of different from other clinics. 1 month before the appointment, I received letter from CDC clinic to remind me about the appointment. And if cannot make it, can change date time. Then later they called up again to confirm on the appointment. About 1 week before the appointment date, they sms me to confirm the appointment again. I never got this from other clinic like the Paed clinic and the Ortho clinic. So unlike other clinic, I don't have to wait long for my turn.

The doctor first asked questions about the Zhe Hao's development. Then she played some games with him. Checking his leg. Make sure his growth is normal. Last time because we don't know how the fractured bone happened, the doctors actually suspected it's a SCAN (suspect child abuse and neglected) case. That's the reason why the CDC clinic gave this appointment - to make sure no such incident will happen again.

The doctor (she's a Paed also) also check Hao's leg. She said if Hao's development of the leg is slower, she may consider sending him for physiotherapy. If he's normal, then she will consider discharge him from CDC. Hmm... I wonder does private clinic will have this kind of follow-up to their patient?

Fractured femur - Update

Last Fri (10 Oct 2008), I brought Hao back to HUKM for the follow up appointment on his fractured femur. As well, long wait was expected in the government hospital. So I had applied for a half day off earlier of the week. However the charges is cheap - RM 15 for the x-ray and RM 5 for the doctor consultation fee. One thing I like about HUKM is they will make sure the patient is safe to go before stopping any follow up appointment. And if they suspect anything, they will make sure respective tests have been carried out. So I'm still sending the kids to HUKM despite the long queue (in fact, have get used to it already. :D).

It was my first visit to the Orthopetic clinic. Hao had been transferred to the Ortho doctor from the Paed. He had to take x-ray before seeing the doctor. It was quite a long queue. We had waited for about an hour before the x-ray was taken. Hao was quite coorperative taking the x-ray. He even smile to the radiologist.

The x-ray shown that his fractured femur bone now is connecting. However you still could see the trace of the broken part. I'm glad his leg is healing. Baby really has super healing power. In fact, about 2 weeks ago, I had noticed Hao started to move and kick using his right leg. So he was already showing the healing sign by then. Well, the next follow up appointment by the Ortho doctor is 3 months later in January 2009. Hao will be 6 months old by then.

Poor Zhe Hao

Have not been posting for the past 2 weeks. Yes, something has happen., to the little baby Hao, and all of us are very shock about it.

Aug 31 (Morning): After I have bathed Zhe Hao (wanted to take him out to visit a friend, who has just give birth few weeks back), when I was changing diaper for him, I noticed his right thigh was much bigger size than the left thigh. I thought maybe he did not exercise that leg much so causing the different in size.

Aug 31 (Afternoon): When I changed diaper for him again, I paid a closer look to both legs again. This time I realized the different in size was due to the right thigh is swollen. That's why it's so much bigger. I was wondering how come the thigh was swollen.

Aug 31 (Evening): Zhe Hao was crying. And I noticed that the right leg was not moving. I started to get more worried. Tried to call up the child clinic nearby our house to check if it was opened (usually it opens on Sunday night but due to Aug 31 was a public holiday). Unfortunately no one pick up the call, means the clinic was not opened.

Sept 1 (Morning): Called the child clinic again. It was opened in the morning. So me and hubby quickly took Zhe Hao to see the doctor. I was praying nothing bad happened on him.

The pead advised us to take Hao to the hospital for further checking as he found the thigh is quite swollen. So he wrote us a referral letter to HUKM.

Sept 1 (Afternoon): We reached the HUKM Emergency unit. Zhe Hao was immediately given treatment and brought into the treatment room inside. I followed the nurse into the treatment room while hubby went to make the payment. Only 1 parent is allowed in the treatment room. They took some blood sample from Hao. And then he was sent for the x-ray.

The x-ray showed that his right thigh was having fracture. We were all shock. There were no falling accidents ever happen at home, and I did not hear any from the babysitter too. So how is Hao get the fractured bone?

According to the doctors, the fracture had been happened about 1-2 weeks ago, as the new bone has grown. As to we cannot explained how he got the fractured bone, they suspected NAI (Non-accident injury) and wanted Zhe Hao to be admitted for further investigation.

Jaundice

When Lynn was still a baby, she got prolonged jaundice until she was about 4 months old (if I remember correctly). She had gone through the photo-theraphy twice within first month of age, and even had taken the ultrasound for her liver. During that period, she had gone through numerous blood test (until it leaves a mark on her hand!) and were given multivitamin and iron supplement for it. Each time I take her to the hospital, I feel so sorry for her that she had to undergo all these despite she was just a few months old baby. She also gone through the audio test to make sure her hearing has not been affected by the high bilirubin level during the first month of life. One good thing about government hospital is they make sure the baby is healthy before they stop seeing you.

After first experience with Lynn on the jaundice, I give extra care to Zhe Hao to make sure same mistaken would not repeat twice (Lynn had to go through the photo-theraphy during first week of life is due to underfeeding. She just refused to wake up for milk.) Zhe Hao on the other hand eat mor than his sister. In fact, towards the end of the confinement month, he had increased his milk intake tremendously - almost every hour he will demand for milk until I become so tired and so scare of nursing him. However Hao still cannot run away from not having jaundice.

We first notice the yellow towards the end of first week. Then it subsided about more than 1 week later. However in the beginning of the 4th week, we noticed the yellow come back again. I started to worry and wonder why. Zhe Hao had been eating well, sleeping well, and had enough wet diapers for the day. His stool was normal, he was active and healthy. And he got good weight gain. So that make me less worry. After 1 month, I took him to the clinic. There the nurse and doctor advised me to take him to the hospital to check for the jaundice. Following their advice, I brought Hao back to HUKM. To avoid long wait at the emergency, I was being directed to go to the HUKM Premier Clinic in Taman Tasik Selatan. As usual, blood test as well as urine test must be taken. Hao is diagnosed with prolonged jaundice. However the bilirubin level is not high enough for him to go through the photo-theraphy (phew!) but he is still under the observation of the doctor for the prolonged jaundice. Another blood test was taken on that day and another urine sample needed too (due to the last results show that the urine sample had been contaminated).

The second blood test results show some improve on the bilirubin level, but there are 2 readings from the liver panel that are not good. This time the doctor from the HUKM Premier Clinic refers us back to the HUKM Paediatric Clinic.

Hao took his 3rd blood test during the subsequent appointment in HUKM on August 13. Again, the same 2 readings from the livel panel still not good. No further test recommended at the moment. The next appointment is one month later on Sept 10 where another blood test will be taken during that day before seeing the doctor. I do hope Hao is fine and does not need to go through what his sister had gone through.

I have read that if the baby are breastfed, and the baby is active and healthy, having prolonged jaundice for few months is normal and give no harm to the brain. I'm glad that Hao is a fully breastfed baby. Once I was thinking of giving up breastfeeding him as he is eating too much, too frequent and make me so tiring. Luckily I did not stop at that point. Now with the jaundice, it makes me more determine to continue breastfeeding.

Hao at 6 weeks old: -
Weight: 5.8kg (birth: 3.67kg, 1 month: 5.1kg)
Height: 61cm (birth: 52.5cm, 1 month: 58cm)

Government hospital

Many people are sceptical about going to government hospital. As for me, I delivered both Lynn and Hao in the government hospital nearby my house - HUKM. Choosing HUKM firstly is because it is near my house, less than 30 minutes away, and the traffic going to the hospital is not heavy, compared to other parts of Cheras. I would not like to stuck in the jam on the way to hospital, worrying that I may not get it there on time to deliver the baby due to the traffic jam.


I'm not sure if I'm considered lucky or not. In both deliveries, I was having pleasant experience with all people from the O&G unit of the hospital. The doctors and the nurses are friendly and helpful.

For Lynn, she was admitted twice due to jaundice. Each time they needed to take some blood to get the bilirubin reading. I remembered few times the blood was taken by some newbie doctor or trainee, where they are not experienced in taking the blood. Lynn was crying non-stop and loudly throughout the whole process and I fell so sorry for that. Luckily only 2-3 occasions and not all the time. Other time, there were some students around and we were being asked lots of questions about Lynn.

Due to her very high reading in the bilirubin level, she was given an appointment on ear test on her hearing when she was being discharged the second time. This is to ensure the high bilirubin did not affect her hearing. And we just need to pay very minimum amount for it. Well, I don't think if I sent her to the private hospital, we will getting this kind of treatment, or even if we did, it may be very costly.

Lynn's jaundice did not go away even after her full moon. She was then diagnosed with prolong jaundice and the hospital even performed an ultra-sound on her liver, to make sure her liver is not abnormal. And every 2 weeks, I was required to take Lynn back to hospital, to check her bilirubin reading, to make sure it was decreasing. They did all kind of test, to make sure she is healthy. So how can I say government hospital is not good?

For the second delivery, I needed to take the venofer. I was told that venofer treatment is not available in all hospital. And I believe if I go to the private hospital, it will be costly. However I just need to pay RM5 for each visit, and RM10 for the medication. Where else can I get this?