Twist ‘n Shout

I’ve been MIA because we were recovering post-Zhengzhou trip (unpacking…then packing slightly in preparation for upcoming CNY homecoming, yaaay!), and mainly because the whole house is down with a case of the sniffles…yikes!

Wayne was feeling stuffy on Friday, even before we headed home – must be the lack of sleep, and hectic running around whilst back home, poor thing. And then the nanny got a slight cold, maybe because she always refuses to heed my advice to wear thicker clothing when she opens all the windows in the house to air the place whilst mopping the floor with Walch (or she could have caught it from Wayne…). And in spite of a Sunday off for her to rest properly, she still came back on Monday with the cold.

Then it was Rosabelle’s turn to get a runny nose on Monday, with a lot of atchoo-ing prior, and she’s having blocked nose these past two nights, the poor girl. And the whole flu thingey claimed its last victim when I also started having a slight runny nose yesterday. Aiyo…. But I don’t normally take medicine unless it’s really serious, and same thing for Rosabelle, I am hesitant to administer medicine unless totally necessary (i.e. disrupting her sleep/appetite/play – not so yet…), so hopefully it’d all go away on its own, like the last time when her runny nose went away after a week. Only thing I’ve done is to start putting Euky bear rub on her chest/back before she went to sleep just now, to hopefully ease the nasal congestion.

I read somewhere that it’s common for kids at this age to suffer from at least 8 fevers/coughs/flus a year… (not of the serious kind, of course). So I guess it’s all part and parcel of her little body building up its own immunity against minor coughs and colds.

Another thing that has gotten me floored is I’ve got a sore neck now, from a bad sleeping position the night before, where I woke up with a stiff neck the next morning – to the extent that I couldn’t even turn my head and needed to just peek through the corner of my eyes. This was the second time this was happening, and the first time, I went to visit the blind masseuse who Wayne used to frequent – he managed to cure it and I was free of pain the next day on. This time round, even after he kneaded my neck, I still could not move it the very next day. And so Wayne brought me to the SPC – Spinal Palmer Club – where they do diagnoses and massages, and have legit chiropractors around to help with such problems. Wayne has been receiving treatment there for his spinal cord pain (from a supposed bad posture, especially in front of the computer).

And there I was, first to get a relaxation massage, nothing like the luxury spa kind with essential oils and waterfall/bird singing soothing sounds. The ‘masseuse’ was a brute of a man donning a white suit like a doctor, where I had to lie face down on a medical-like equipment bed, and he basically worked his fingers into every imaginable painful part of my stiff neck, to the extent that I had to try to remember to use Phase 3 of my breathing technique for natural labour (seriously…). Mr. Wonder Hands told me I have a straight neck, which is not normal as all necks have some form of curvature, so I will get stiff necks from sleeping very easily.

After 20 minutes, I could at least turn my head slightly, and I was then sent to meet the Principal chiropractor, or at least what I think he is, a Chinese who has an American Green Card (or is he ABC? Not sure…). The treatment with him lasted only all of 5 minutes, where he felt my neck, and I did not like the sound of his ‘Hmmm…’ (is it a ‘Hmmm…this is not a big problem’, or is it a ‘Hmmm… this could be worse than it feels’?). But he went on to get me to lie on my sides, then on my back, as he proceeded to pull me like a doughstick in all sides till we heard a 'crack' sound every time. Aiyo! Luckily I felt more amused than pain, heh!

The last phase of my treatment was to get 20 minutes of UV light (hot light) shone directly onto my stiff neck, and of course I had to get the nurses to bring the light further away when I felt my shoulder feeling sore, and swear it would start to blister in the next second (they reassured me it’s safe UV…). The heat is supposed to speed up blood circulation and recovery in the sore area, and Mr. Crack Bone came in to apply some ointment.

Today, I feel slightly better, but Wayne is bringing me down to the hospital to take an X-ray so they can see if there is anything wrong with my bone structure and posture, and then hopefully nip the problem in the bud before it becomes full-blown (i.e. more painful) like his.

Anyway, am glad that I am in an ok position for close to 3 hours of Avatar tomorrow – yaaay! (I know we are waaaay back, but try catching a long epic in the cinema when you are a nursing mum….). Another ‘yaaay!’ thing is Wayne has confirmed he can join us back in Singapore for one whole month – yippee! Now if only he can get the same flight back as us as they only have full-priced tickets for the outbound flight (more than RMB1,000 for what I paid)…if not, I will need to pay RMB500 to change to another flight. See how…it’s more appealing to have him help me with Rosabelle for the 6 hours on the plane (and many other hours at the airport)…