Coconut the healer?

Hey, coming to Kuala Terengganu for work isn't bad at all. Well, despite the work loads, stressfulness, and tiredness...actually the natural medicine of my sickness is also available here in Terengganu. Kuala Terengganu is located at the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia...just by the beach... so, you can get a pure fresh coconut drinks by the beach.

PLEASE DON'T GET ME WRONG!

I'm NOT saying that coconut water is the cure of Bell's palsy.

Remember in my previous post, I mentioned about having a slow recovery process? Even with the steroid and anti-viral prescribed by the doctor seems less effective for me... The side-effects of the steroid (prednisolone) makes me suffer even more :'(

After a few drinks of coconut water, seems like I can feel the healing process improve...quite obvious. I can feel a little movement/pulsation of my nerves at the area of my left eye and upper cheek. However, this could be just a coincidence since I've only had a few drinks only.

Then only I remember, coconut water has a lot of benefits. (gosh! why didn't I remember this earlier??) I googled about coconut water and here's what I get:

It contains organic compounds possessing healthy growth-promoting properties that have been known to:

• Keep the body cool and at the proper temperature.
• Carry nutrients and oxygen to cells.
• Naturally replenish your body’s fluids after exercising as it is an organic isotonic beverage.
• Increase your metabolism.
• Promote weight loss.
• Improve your immune system.
• Detoxify and fight viruses.
• Cleanse your digestive tract.
• Control diabetes.
• Aid your body in fighting viruses that cause the flu.
• Balance your PH and reduce risk of cancer.
• Treat kidney and urethral stones.
• Boost poor circulation.

source: paulpenders.com

also...

Modern medical science is now confirming the use of coconut in treating many conditions. Published studies in medical journals show that coconut, in one form or another, may provide a wide range of health benefits. Check them out below!

• Kills viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis C, SARS, AIDS, and other illnesses.
• Kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia, and gonorrhea, and other diseases.
• Kills fungi and yeasts that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete's foot, thrush, diaper rash, and other infections.
• Expels or kills tapeworms, lice, giardia, and other parasites. * Provides a nutritional source of quick energy.
• Boosts energy and endurance, enhancing physical and athletic performance.
• Improves digestion and absorption of other nutrients including vitamins,
• minerals, and amino acids.
• Improves insulin secretion and utilization of blood glucose.
• Relieves stress on pancreas and enzyme systems of the body.
• Reduces symptoms associated with pancreatitis.
• Helps relieve symptoms and reduce health risks associated with diabetes.
• Reduces problems associated with malabsorption syndrome and cystic
• fibrosis.
• Improves calcium and magnesium absorption and supports the development of strong bones and teeth.
• Helps protect against osteoporosis.
• Helps relieve symptoms associated with gallbladder disease.
• Relieves symptoms associated with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and stomach ulcers.
• Improves digestion and bowel function.
• Relieves pain and irritation caused by hemorrhoids.
• Reduces inflammation.
• Supports tissue healing and repair.
• Supports and aids immune system function.
• Helps protect the body from breast, colon, and other cancers.
• Is heart healthy; improves cholesterol ratio reducing risk of heart disease.
• Protects arteries from injury that causes atherosclerosis and thus protects against heart disease.
•   Helps prevent periodontal disease and tooth decay.
•   Functions as a protective antioxidant.
•   Helps to protect the body from harmful free radicals that promote premature aging and degenerative disease.
•   Does not deplete the body's antioxidant reserves like other oils do.
•   Improves utilization of essential fatty acids and protects them from oxidation.
•   Helps relieve symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.
•   Relieves symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (prostate
• enlargement).
•   Reduces epileptic seizures.
•   Helps protect against kidney disease and bladder infections.
•   Dissolves kidney stones.
•   Helps prevent liver disease.
•   Is lower in calories than all other fats.
•   Supports thyroid function.
•   Promotes loss of excess weight by increasing metabolic rate.
•   Is utilized by the body to produce energy in preference to being stored as body fat like other dietary fats.
•   Helps prevent obesity and overweight problems.
•   Applied topically helps to form a chemical barrier on the skin to ward of infection.
•   Reduces symptoms associated the psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis.
•   Supports the natural chemical balance of the skin.
•   Softens skin and helps relieve dryness and flaking.
•   Prevents wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots.
•   Promotes healthy looking hair and complexion.
•   Provides protection form damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation form the sun.
•   Helps control dandruff.

source: squidoo.com

Just what i needed to reduce the pain of bell's palsy and side-effects of the steroids.

Again...not cure...but, there's no harm in trying...isn't it? :)

~xoxo~

Confessions of a Bell's palsy sufferer

It has been 20 days already since I got this sickness...

I am making a slow healing progress... normally, a young person like me would heal in 10 days. I don't know why, but of course I am worried with my slow progress. It must be due to my unbalanced food consumption or lack of nutritious food intake. Yep, it's kinda hard to control what I'm eating since I'm out-stationed. Ya, lor..everything I want to try..and most of the foods are .

However, I am getting better. My cheek muscle has shown some improvement. Only that I have to do some facial exercise on my own more frequently. Certain cases of Bell's palsy require physio therapy treatment. I guess in my case, I don't need one since I don't get any recommendation from the doctor.

My steroid intake has been gradually reduced by doctor. From 12 tablets of prednisolone every morning for the first 10days of treatment and now reduced to 6 tablet only(yippie)... haa..It's almost 3weeks and I'm still learning how to eat medicine (Hey, I'm getting better) err..I mean just the smaller one :p.

Some difficulties I have faced throughout my sickness. Physically:

• Unable to eat and drink properly
• Drooling when washing teeth
• Eye gets dry and tired easily
• Eye exposed to external elements (I hurt my own eye many times already; especially during bath)
• jaw get tired easily (cannot eat/chew much)
• unusual blury vision on left eye
• headache on left side
• sense of taste reduced

Also emotionally:

• Extreme self-confidence drop
• depression
• become emotionally sensitive (especially a cry-baby like me :p)

I said to myself - enough with Bell's palsy... I don't want another sickness... Just as most people said, you won't appreciate your life until something bad happen to yourself. My situation might not worse than other sickness that some other people has/had/having right now, but this only has made me realize the importance of health and appreciate my life and also those people around me.

I'm still young...and there's a lot of things I wanna do... I don't want to grow old with medicine. I might not know where comes the virus that had infected my cranical nerves.  But hey, that's the importance of cleanliness. Be careful of what you do, touch or share with others okay?

~xoxo~

ohh... Medicine

People said..... Laughter is the best medicine... It can heal all kind of sickness and sadness... but I think, in my case... I need medicine to make me laugh........normally.....again

need to divide the tablet into two so it become smaller and able to get through my throat :p

I hate medicine....really really hate medicine... because I can't and I really don't know how to swallow it. It always got stuck in my throat and then I would feel like to vomit...not only because of the bitter taste, it's mostly because it got stuck in my throat... I don't know why... does my throat smaller than anyone else's throat?? gosh! hate it!

As you can see from the above pictures.... well, that's my medicine...can you count how many of 'em? I need to eat all 12 of 'em every morning + 1 more big medicine every 4hours a day(need to be divided into 4  smaller pieces :p)...a really big one! (T.T')

It was my first day of consuming those medicine. I saw a pot of hot tea on our dining table. I took a glass and fill in the tea. I took out all of my medicine when grandpa came into the dining area. He  seems to knew  what was on my mind, so he warned me not to eat my medicine with the tea. With a sad face, I put down the glass of tea and took another glass of plain water. A while later, grandma came over to dining table. She told me how I should eat the medicine...and share how grandma ate her medicine. :'(

Not long after that, mom came to join us at the dining table. Looking at the glass of tea which is still near me, mom immediately warned me not to eat medicine with tea. I did not bother to ask why medicine should not be eaten with tea. I was so busy showing my sad face trying to say that I need other than plain water to finish those 12 tablets. After seeing me tortured and struggling so hard to eat my medicine with plain water...then only mom allow me make Milo to reduce the bitter taste of medicine... :p (finally)

Even with my favorite Milo, I spent more than one hour to finish my medicine (bluerkk). Each and everyone at the dining table stare at me to make sure I finish all those 12 tablets :(. I had to listen to their complaints, teased, and laughed about the way I take my medicine. (T.T)

I said to myself ~ thank goodness my sister wasn't there to witness me take my medicine...otherwise she will be rolling on the floor laughing at me...huhh..- my #1 teaser... :p

~xoxo~

Cannot Smile Disease

:p

I simply named it cannot smile disease...because one major issues I need to bear with these disease is  the difficulty to smile and laugh :(

Mom told me to do some internet search about Bell's palsy... I have done my homework; here it goes:

Description:

• facial nerve paralysis which causes an inability to control facial muscles on the side affected by this disease. 
• usually temporary.
• Several conditions can cause paralysis of the face: brain cancer, meningitis,stroke, diabetes mellitus, head trauma and Lyme disease. But if no cause can be identified, this condition known as Bell's palsy.
• It is thought that an inflammatory condition leads to swelling of the facial nerve. The nerve travels through the skull in a narrow bone canal beneath the ear. Nerve swelling and compression in the narrow bone canal are thought to lead to nerve inhibition, damage or death. No readily identifiable cause for Bell's palsy has been found.

Cause:

• form of disease associated with nerve damage. It can be found in 2 of 10,000 people. 
• Involves damage to the 7th facial nerve. 
• main reason is still unclear though may be due to herpes infection.
• Studies suggest that this new activation could be preceded by trauma, environmental factors, and metabolic or emotional disorders, thus suggesting that stress - emotional stress, environmental stress (e.g. cold), physical stress (e.g. trauma) - in short, a host of different conditions, may trigger reactivation.

Symptoms:

• Changes in face expression
• Difficulty to eat and drink
• Weak eyelid or corner of the mouth
• Dry eyes or mouth
• A sense of tension in your face or feel drawn to one side
• Facial paralysis on one side which makes it difficult to close one eye
• Headache
• Loss of sensation
• Pain behind or in front of the ear
• Sensitivity to sounds in the affected areas suffer from
• Weak feeling in the face  
• Often the eye in the affected side cannot be closed. The eye must be protected from drying up, or the cornea may be permanently damaged resulting in impaired vision.

Treatment:

• In many cases, no treatment is required. The aim of treatment is to reduce symptoms. 
• Corticosteroid or antiviral medications may reduce swelling and reduce pressure on the facial nerve. Patients must take this drug at the beginning of time (preferably within 24 hours of when symptoms start) for the better. But there are no published studies that show antiviral drugs can speed the process of recovery from Bell's palsy. 
• Surgery to relieve pressure on the nerve is still controversial and has not been shown to benefit patients with Bell's Palsy. 

Information source:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_palsy

~xoxo~

My Christmas Story......

Chivas Christmas???

nahhhh.... Sorry all... this year, I'm clean from these kind of drinks

haha..

why?

Let the story begins

the one that I drink is pure coke actually..LOL!

MY LOOOONG CHRISTMAS STORY

24th... A day before Christmas:

While having breakfast...
Me: Is it just me? or does the food tasteless?
BF: Maybe the food...
Me: Hmmm...

My BF is a 'masin' type of person...erk...how to explain this.. He is the type of person who prefer salty and spicy food (e.g: ikan masin) rather than sweet or sour type of food...

Then, alone at McDonalds LCCT... after a tiring-heavy-bag check-in and shopping one bag full of Gardenia buns in a hot weather... I ordered Mcfizz and Twisted Fries while waiting to get on board...and..while eating...

Me: *Wow! It's me... McDonald's Fries can't be tasteless...My sense of taste seems malfunctioning*

FYI, I was talking in my thought... (not speaking to myself or anyone)...

Arrived at Bintulu Airport at 4 p.m...drop by to buy some stuff at some D.I.Y shop in Medan Jaya... then reached home at 6 p.m... Unpacked everything that I brought from KL...After that, Prepare myself for Christmas Eve mass at Stella Maris Church.

On Christmas Day... 

My family and I were on our way home after morning Christmas Mass... As usual, miss cam-whore would took photos of her own anywhere she wanted :p... (took my Christmas look in mom's car)... only to realize some weird feelings on my left-side cheek...feel sore, numb or something... I told my sister

Me: Eeii...why ooo... I cannot smile properly... look at me...

I put on smile face once my sister look at me...

Sis: why is that? You ask mummy la...

then, I simply ignore it...thinking it probably just for a while

In the evening... my left-side face feel weirder... Mom, sister and I were cleaning the living room after guests visited for Christmas, when I speak to my mom..

Me: Mummy, why arr..my face feel weird...feel numb... I can't smile properly...look... ( I showed mom my weird smiley face)...see..I cannot stretch my left-side cheek...

Mom: Naaah... (she keep complaining about me getting on weight since yesterday)... Maybe it's because you didn't control your food consumption... Did you eat lots of meat??

Me: ermmm...(making innocent face)... mmmm...maayyyybeee....

Mom: Lay down on the sofa, let me check you first...

Mommy took her....edometer,odometer,nanometer...what-ever-that-thing name is... some electronic device to check blood pressure...I was like...hahhh? symptom mau stroke kah?? I'm too young to get stroke..!

Mommy check me....then

Mom: eik...what happen to this thing...rosak kah?

Me: ...(freak face + sweating)...

Mommy check again...then...

Mom: normal jak pun...your blood pressure...

Me:....*fuhhh*....

Mom: Maybe you're just too tired...go take some rest first... and reduce eating meat, if possible don't eat meat..eat more stewed vegetables...

I manage to take my short nap...until our neighbour came...then, continue layan tetamu...

Later that evening... since, no more guest coming to our house..we decided to go ngabang (visiting)... at our TV area...

Me: Ciela, look at my eyes... (I blink my eyes)... I cannot close my left eye...

Sis: eii...why like that? show to mummy la...

I went to see mummy...

Me: Mummy... mummy... look at my eyes... (I blink again)...

Mom: What happen to you?

Me: Dunno..my left face misfunction...

Mom: Want to go to hospital?

Me: ...(geleng kepala)...

Mom: It's late already...I doubt there's doctor available at hospital at this hour... perhaps go to clinic...

Me: ...(making sad face)...

Mom: Let me massage your face first... what is happening to you?

Me:...(masih muka sedih...manja la pulak di massage :p)...

After a while...granny came to tv area...

Granny: what happen?

Mom: Her left face...feel numb...nahh..let granny massage for you...

Me:... (bermanja dgn granny pula)...

Granny massage me sambil babbling about massage, angin, minyak urut and complimenting a women who used to massage her... Then, daddy finished his bath...and they all went out for ngabang...leaving me and granny behind... :(

After a while...I told granny about my left-side face... showed to her how I cannot blink my left-side eye..cannot stretch my left-side cheek...cannot smile properly... then, granny thought I might need a back massage... me apa lagi...offer blkg la.. hikhikhik..bila lg mau bermanja begini kn? :p

When mom, dad, sister and brother got back from ngabang... granny and I already lanuk-lanuk(doze-off) dpn tv..

Mom: Tomorrow morning la we go to hospital...go sleep early...
Me: ok....

Back in my room (I'm sharing room with my sister)..I kept babbling to my sister about being paralyze, becoming disabled person and about getting an OKU id.. (T.T)...it's just me being paranoid...

A day after Christmas...

After breakfast, Mom brought me to hospital... while having breakfast, I told her, I cannot drink properly.. I cannot hold lots of water in my mouth... It would spurt/drip out of my mouth... On our way to hospital, it thought about chikungunya bite that can cause dysfunctional in nerves system. :p

After registration, we were told by the staff nurse in-charged at the counter to wait because Mr. Doctor went out for a while. Since mom work at the hospital, so she knew the staff nurse... Mom told the nurse about my condition, so the nurse checked my blood pressure (she also probably thought I'm having HBP)..the result turns out normal.. After a mean while, the doctor came...

Mom: Doctor..why aaa...my daughter, cannot move one side of her face.. what cause it aaa..? her left eye cannot blink together with her right eye... when she smile also the left-side of her face didn't move..
Doc A: Oh, it sounds like a symptom of Bell's Parsy
Me; *bells...what??* (I imagined about Christmas bells already)
Doc A: Can you smile for me...
Me: (making smile face...then, blinking my eyes)
Doc A: Can you do this? (enlarge his cheek while holding air in his mouth) 
Me: (trying hard to hold air in my mouth but failed)
Doc A: Yes, it's Bell's Parsy...
Me:...*waa...hebat...immediately know disease name*...
Mom: What is that doctor?
Doc A: It is cause by a virus infection...and cause swollen at the nerves that connect to one side of her face. I'm going to give her antivirus (that's what I hear at the first place...actually, it's anti-viral)
Me: ... (antivirus? ~ thinking about kaspersky.. LOL! :p)
Doc A: She will need to do follow-up regularly...
Mom: ..but, she's currently on holiday. She will return back to kl on 5th of January
Doc A: In that case, we will need to contact hospital in KL so she can do follow-up over there. (wrote that is diagnosis sheet)
Me:...*hospital....(T.T')* ...
Doc A: (inform my mom) You need to bring her to emergency ward for further diagnosis and medical advice

On our way to emergency ward...

Mom: What is the nearest hospital near your place?
Me: erm..serdang hospital...? it's near to my office..

At emergency ward...since mommy knew everyone in the hospital...I don't have to wait too long to meet medical assistant..

(sorry, this is not injustice or what ever kind of bias happening here ...it's just that, my mom has the accessibility to go anywhere in the hospital, since she's one of the staff :D...If you want to have this benefit, marry a nurse! or become a nurse yourself :p)

Nurse: Can I see you smile?
Me:...(making my tired smile face again)

My mom inform her the same information she gave previous doctor, about my condition...and she tries to read the doctor's handwriting on the diagnoses sheet..
When she get to know I need to return back to KL on 5th of January... She makes a phone call to another doctor who is going to give me prescription later..

Nurse: Doctor, one of our sister's daughter here was diagnosed to have Bell's Parsy. She's on holiday right now, but need to return back to Kl on 5th January
Doc B:..(can't hear what she speaks on the phone :p)
Nurse: (asked towards me and mom) Do you want to admit?
Me: *what??? admit into hospital? that bad??*
Mom: (look at my blurred face..then turned to nurse)...Is it necessary?
Nurse: Sister asked if it's necessary to admit her daughter...otherwise we can just give advise..
Doc B:... (informed something)
Nurse: We don't know what is the possibility of  this dissease to heal...we probably need to do blood check or scan or something...
Mom: (look at me again)
Me: (look at mom)...Is it necessary???...(giving a don't-want-to-admit-to-hospital-kind-of-face)
Mom: (turn to nurse again)...Try ask the doctor, is it necessary? If not, then no need to admit la...
Nurse: (inform the same thing to doctor through phone...then hang up)... Doctor will come down in a short while, you two can sit and wait here for a while lah aa..

Mom and I sit at two empty chair near nurses counter...

Mom: Later, you search in internet about Bell's Parcy...we need to know more about this...
Me: ok...and what's my diseases name again? bells pulse? (trying to read Doc A's handwriting ~ but still cannot guess :p)

Another male medical assistant came...he and the girl nurse discuss about me again...then turn to me asking...

Nurse B: Can you smile for me please...
Me: (give my tired smile face)
Nurse B: It's ok....You're still beautiful..
Me:...hmmmphh...(mcm pelik je compliment tue)

A few while later, a lady doctor came....

Diagnosed my face and asking me a few questions...

Doc B: Bila jadi ni?
Me: ermm...actually.. dari semalam lg ni...start dari lidah...makanan rasa tawar..then, ia mcm merebak keluar..sy jadi sukar nak senyum...pipi ni tak naik..then, naik ke mata, tak boleh nk blink mata sebelah ni..
Doc B: Cuba buat macam ni... (muka mengembangkan pipi)
Me:... (cuba nak tahan angin dalam mulut tapi tak leh...angin terkeluar-keluar...mcm belon bocor :p)..
Doc B: Cuba kerut naik dahi...?
Me: (angkat kening..wah...boleh!)
Doc B: kalau blh angkat kening, makne nye saraf yang bengkak tu ade kat saraf motor yang kontrol bahagian muka je..kalau tak boleh angkat kening, makna nya swollen kat bahagian otak.
Me: ..(Mata bulat..mau pengsan)... (x_x')
Doc B: Still kena buat follow-up juga... tapi tak apa..nanti kita akan contact hospital di KL so boleh continue treatment kat sana.
Mom: Is it possible to heal doctor?
Doc B: It is possible to return back to normal state..which means she can move her left-side face again...but there's also possibility for it to occur again...depending on the patient, the healing process might require some time. Normally 10 days...The quickest can heal almost immediately..but some patient might need longer time.
Mom: What cause it to happen?
Doc B: There's no particular cause that makes Bell's Palsy to occur..could be occur due to so many factors.. Bell's Palsy however is still a hypothesis which still require further research.


Then the doctor gave me my prescription
1. Prednisolone 5mg
2. Acyclovir 800mg (this medicine requires boss of Doctor's approval...some conditions does not require this)
3. Dacrolux (for my unable-to-blink-left-side eye)

*the conversation above is not exactly the same with actual live conversation...it is based on some discussions which I can remember only...I could have misheard nor misunderstood some discussions :D*

~xoxo~