eHomemakers Malaysia

“ Be Strong When You are Weak, Be Brave When You are Scared, Be Humble When You are Victorious” (Author unknown) The quotation caught my eyes as I looked at the poster on the wall. The first time I saw the quotation was around 8 to 9 months after my accident. That was when I didn’t even have the strength to get up from the wheelchair on my own and needed help.   I remembered that day. The burn ward had been so cold. They wheeled me into the occupational therapist work room; it felt so good to feel the warm air. Staring at the quotation, I wondered, when I could feel victorious? If I am “strong” and “brave” would I be able to get through this? Whether I could fake the “strong” and “brave” part?  I tried to remember this quotation and write it down, to recite it whenever I feel weak and afraid. I didn’t have the strength to lift both my arms to my ears and my palm grip was weak. The occupational therapist gave me a device with two bottles attached to it, when o...

Examining the crusted brown flakes closely, my sister exclaimed, “they looked like KFC’s hot and spicy”. She was referring to the famous franchise restaurant chain. Part of me felt insulted being compared to fried chicken.  In my view, they bear a closer resemblance to the fried banana fritters that I used to eat in my childhood days. It was nearly the end of the year 2016, after certain parts of my wounds healed, my skin became dry and were flaking off. The sight of the dried flaking skin would deter my sister from eating at KFC for a long time. There was a point when I was flaking off a lot of dry skin until my sister suggested that she should collect them and make some weird artwork and framed them. She informed me about an artist who collected fish bones, made them into art and sold them for lots of money.      I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, and who will buy? They are probably filled with MRSA or other bacteria ” .   But then again, it...

Reading the newspaper, it amused me that some people dread the coming Chinese New Year holidays as they are trying to avoid nosey relatives who loved asking questions such as “Are you still single?”, “When are you getting married?”, “Why aren’t you working yet?” etc. Burn survivors around the world, they have more to cope than just annoying relatives. During the holiday season, the stress gets to them. Most preferred to be alone during festivities.  This is especially so when the celebration involves fire. The smell, sight, sound and feel. Any or all of this combination can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or triggers that reminds them of the trauma. There was an article in the Star newspaper on the 31 st of January 2019 about actress Joey Leong who suffered 5% of second-degree burn on her legs at the set of the movie ‘Amazing Spring’. In the article, Joey admitted that she often makes a hasty retreat whenever she sees a fire. She had concerns about suffering ...

Patrick was wailing loudly in my arms. His lips smeared with a mixture of regurgitated milk and sticky phlegm. The scent of sourish vomit on his clothing and face was under my breath. Some part of me wish to turn my face away; I resisted that impulse and continue to comfort him. His face wrinkled together with lines of distress and fear. He suddenly shook his head wildly,  his back arches while his body trashing around in my arms. I felt a fish flopping l ike sensation in my chest while my eardrums almost burst with Patrick's tenor. Crying baby Patrick "Uh oh. Patrick vomited. Uh oh." My husband tried to make Patrick view this differently. Patrick continued to cry louder. "Uh oh. Uh oh." From a wild tornado in my arms, Patrick suddenly became silent. He observed my husband closely. Then from a tenor voice, I hear a soft-spoken voice from Patrick, "uh oh." Patrick saying uh oh, followed by  myself  repeating his uh oh. "Yes...

A few days ago, I was invited by my friend to a Christian life group sharing. The group leader referred to a passage from the bible about a man named Jairus whose daughter was dying and he asked help from Jesus to save her. When Jesus arrived at the house, he did not let anyone in except his disciples and the girl’s parents. Jesus said “Don’t cry; the child is not dead-she is only sleeping!”. There were some people who made fun of him. Jesus called out to the child, and she got up.            What touched me about the whole story is Faith .                      During the time that I was unconscious in the ICU, my condition was critical, in a medical induced coma with nearly no chance of survival. The doctors had informed my family to prepare for the worse.   My dear sister tried to restrict the number of visitors. There were relatives who wanted to say their g...

There were times I find life can be a roller coaster. Of sudden turns, drops, highs and lows. Frankly, I never did like roller coasters, unlike some of my friends. I do not like the unknown and things that seemingly go out of control beyond our hands. For a long time I preferred control. Control of my emotions. Control of my finances. Control over my planning. It is to be A, B, C. And that is that. If it could not go according to my sense of control, I would get upset. Even then I would control that emotion itself.  Roller coaster of life It was until I had my spiritual awakening years ago which led me to realise we can plan all we want. However, not all can happen to our plan. With lessons of life, I learn to accept that some things cannot be changed while some can be influenced to have a higher percentage of a positive outcome by adapting to these sudden new changes. A good example would be a decade ago due to an int...

When I saw Patrick's stained fingers, I observed closely it was blood. I assumed the stain came from his ears again. I observed - no wound. I checked on his arms and legs. No wounds as well. I was puzzled where the stain came from. Then I had a sudden thought - check his diapers. When I saw the bloodstain on the diapers, I panicked and called my husband to come upstairs quickly.  When he reached the room, I told him Patrick is bleeding. "where?", he asked "Anus." I pointed to his diapers and then his anus stained blood.  Patrick's blood stain on his diapers. It had never happened like this before. Usually there were droplets of blood together with his stools. Even that rarely happened.  "Is it starting?", my worried thoughts came. When I glanced towards my husband's face, he too have similar thoughts.  "It" refer to liver damage. My husband advised me to clean up his anus. After the blood stain wa...