Friday, April 26, 2013

How to make Chicken Pox more bearable..

Hi folks!

I kinda exhausted my medical leave for the year...one year for dengue, this year for chicken pox..hohoho...

I was having terrible backache and itchiness for the first 3 days. Can't even sit for 10 mins. It was terrible as if after childbirth.

Here are what i did to make this ordeal better:
1. On the air-cond to keep me from sweating to avoid feeling itchy.

2. Wear light clothing. I made the mistakes of wearing my boy with long sleeves and long pants as I thought that would avoid letting him scratching on the pox. But I was wrong..when I had the pox, i feel so hot that I just want to wear shorts and singlet.

3. Drink plenty of water to keep the body heat down.

4. Took barley and coconut water. 
I made the mistakes of drinking coconut water everyday for 4 days consecutively, that the 5th day my leg just go "lembik" wobbly...Though some people said barley is a bit too cooling for pregnant woman, but I drink it alternately and found it's good in helping me to clear the intestines and clear the heat through doing the "big biz"...

5. Shower with a special medicine call for chicken pox(sold in packets which can be bought at those chinese medical hall). I shower with it for 4 days.

6. Some Malays and Indians friends recommended neem leaves. They usually shower and sleep on these leaves, said to be good in eradicating itchiness. I only managed to get the leaves from hubby's colleague on the 4th day. So started shower with it on 5th day. I am not sure how much it helps as starting from 5th day i find it less itchy already. Maybe be'cos some of the pox has started to dry up.

7. Apply calamine lotion. Some find it doesn't work and recommended coconut oil. I tried coconut oil for 3 days but it doesn't help much with the itchiness. Thus I tried calamine lotion and it worked for me. Helps to make the pox dry faster too.

8. When one week is up, i still find myself looking like a "sick" person especially with all the pox on my face. Then i start to realised if i ever want to go back to work quickly before i used up all my medical leave for the year, i would need to make the pox on my face disappear faster. Otherwise, even if I am declared "safe" to be back to work, I think my colleagues or anyone who sees me will probably runs off from me :P
So I tried applying tea tree oil on the pox on my face after every shower. And tried once applying aloe vera gel as well. But mostly applying just tea tree oil as I find it hard to use both at the same time. It HELPS!! I can see the pox disappearing/smaller quicker.

9. SHOWER 3-4 times a day with cold water. This is from my friend who got it when she's 7 months pregnant. THIS REALLY HELPS! I did that on the 4th day. True enough, it not only stops the itchiness, it also helps to reduce the heat in my body. I have never enjoyed the cold shower that much in my whole life!

10. Sleep, rest all you can. As the virus can make you fatigue. I literally sleeping half of the day whenever I am not entertaining my son, preparing meals, shower or taking my meals.

11. Some elderly folks said to avoid anything from beans (which is quite tough for me as I am vegetarian but I managed to avoid in the first week), eggs, nuts and seafood(this one is ok as I don't take seafood). The doctor told me this is simply to avoid feeling itchy. And to avoid getting fever, my mom asked me not to take rice.

So what do I eat? Mostly bread, bee hoon soup etc. I don't have much choice or appetite until the 6th day. That's when I think ok..i should be on the road to recovery..usually when I am not feeling well, if I ever start feeling hungry all the time means I am on my road to recovery.

12. Vitamin C. I took more dosage of Vit C which is said will help in recovery, I also made KY and SE to eat Vit C, probiotic and spirulina daily.

I am told that the virus will still remained in my body so have to take extra care for this whole month till i am due to deliver in 2-3 weeks' time.

I am taking some supplement which is said to be helpful for the baby and me..namely Dr. Xeniji and Kington. It's a MLM product which my mother-in-law consumed daily.

Whichever that would help the baby as I am feeling bad for not taking good care of myself and will do whatever I can to ensure lower risk of complication to both of us. Gynae said some babies might get the pox in the womb...though my chinese physician(sinseh) said baby won't get the chicken pox in the womb..will only get rubella...so well..anyhow..just to play safe..pray everything will be ok...

And as what many mommies and my dad said..RELAX...watching dramas, youtube on baby massaging, cooking and listening to uplifting songs on iPad does helps too..no wonder SE best companion during his chicken pox time is iPad...

That's all I can think of for now..this is my third week after the chicken pox..am playing precaution not to go near any pregnant woman or hug KY(no matter how much I miss her hugs) until this weekend..

Cheers and have a good weekend all!

Chicken Pox story

Hi folks!

When I went to gynae for checkup when my son had chicken pox ( we only realised on second day, as the first two days, we thought it was mosquito bites!), i asked the gynae if there's anything i can do to prevent myself from getting it...the gynae said it was too late to do anything as I have been exposed for 2 days..just have to wait for a week and see if i catch it then he'll see what to do for it.

So I called my mom and dad to check if I have got it when i was young as I totally have no memory of it at all...and my mom said I should have got it..so i just took the risk and the leave to take care of my son since it's not possible for DH to take leave..will let him take it on second week if my son does not recover in time...

True enough, after taking care of my boy for a week as there's no one i could ask for rescue or send him to...babysitter, my parents, my parents-in-law house all have young children...I caught the VIRUS...

Went to see gynae to see what WE can do about it now..he said it's rare for adults this age who haven't caught the virus when young....so suspect it's a mild one..I might have got it when i was young but have not developed the full immunity to it. Thus he prescribed me with some medication for a week and gave me the calamine lotion and asked me to stay away from others for  a week at least..

The first 3 days were horrible..i had terrible heat in my body and is so itchy that it's SO HARD not to scratch..i literally had to scratch every moment!

The pox developed fast, everyday i can see it developing more and more..

Then i went on googling, checking what are the ways or remedies i can take to make it heal faster....(will save this for another post..)

It is rather upsetting and emo time for me(maybe for many others as well) ...one thing worry for the unborn child, another thing feeling tired, hot, and still tending to my boy who's still at home for the second week quarantine..lotsa tears and emo whatsapp to siblings..

Received lotsa calls from buddies...and there's one auntie even made me drinks which will help to cool down the heat and help in recovery..everyday. She came for 5 days in a week with thermos and some food (millet, bread, jam, vegetables knowing I am unable to go out to buy food...and DH is super busy at work).....very thankful for her.

And very thankful to another mommy who had it when she's 7 months' pregnant and reassured me that her baby girl is doing fine...she shared with me some ways to recover faster..which really helps! 

My 4th day becomes better...and each day is a better day..i have learnt to relax and take it one day at a time...

Friends and family encouragement really helps! Having a gratitude heart too...instead of complaining the discomfort...

From now on, i will learn to be more caring to those who are sick...really not an easy time to keep the mood up while you are down n sick..

Will share more soon..tata..

Cheers


Thursday, April 25, 2013

What i learnt from chicken pox ordeal..

Hi folks!

Hello everyone! It's been such long time since my last post....this is my first week back to work after my chicken pox ordeal..thus have quite a bit to catch up with. Not to mention the usual juggling of housework, kids' homework, etc etc...

Here are some of the things I learnt during my chicken pox ordeal which I like to jot it down here to share with everyone..plus reminder to myself too!

1. Some people do catch it twice.
2. The incubation period for chicken pox is between 9-21 days. However, the most common practice in KL or Malaysia, i found most will say 2 weeks. The key here is to check if all the pox is dried up and disappearing.
3. Once you are vaccinated, it doesn't mean that you won't get it, it might just be a shorter and less severe ordeal for some.
4. When you having it, you feel fatigue, so rest all you can. 
5. It is hard to stay away from the kids who wanted hugs etc....find a way to explain to them...i feel touched when my gal wanted to go for injection just to get herself vaccinated and able to come near me! Brave girl! But alas, we didn't send her for it as we don't think it's necessary. After all, she has been exposed for 2 weeks from her younger brother and now me...for another one week.
6. Stay away from risky group who will have severe complications if they catch it, i.e., babies, people with low immunity/taking chemotherapy, etc, and pregnant women.
7. And yes, adults do get it much worst than kids...but I guess we are able to tolerate and control so that we don't scratch it especially our face area...SE is having much more scars on his face due to scratching...also due to my ignorance of how to make him feel less itchy during his ordeal..as this is my FIRST time seeing chicken pox even though my mom been saying i should have gotten it while i was young..but i had total zero memory of it...
8. Our body becomes real hot and heaty. And once we feel hot, it get itchy.
9. Chicken pox virus comes with cough, as it makes your throat itchy.
10. The danger time to get it while pregnant is during the first trimester as well as near delivery as the baby has not got the chance to get the antibody from the mom before being born with fragile immune system. So those who planning to get pregnant, get yourself checked if you have the antibody, if not get vaccinated...it's no fun at all to get it while pregnant..besides the fear of complication for the child in your womb as well as the wider surface for the pox to appear(mine was the WHOLE TUMMY area!)

Till then..will share what i did to recover faster or get through the ordeal more smoothly!

Cheers




Monday, April 22, 2013

Back to Work..

Hi folks!

Today I am back to work again after getting the greenlight from my gynae that my pox has dried up and safe to back to work.

From the website, i read the incubation period for chicken pox is between 9 to 21 days depends on individual. However, seems like the practice here (two doctors I asked) is about 2 weeks. 

So here I am back to work..but still feeling fatigue and body heat. As I am not being able to shower few times a day like at home..

Gee...too bad unable to apply work from home too...with some colleagues are playing precaution to stay away from me(ahem)...i should be granted/apply work from home, right, you think so?

ha..anyway..in my later post, i shall share what are the things i did to help me to recover faster from chicken pox gotten during pregnancy and adulthood...

Stay tuned and have a fruitful and wonderful week!

Cheers!