lodge school sports day 2014

So Sports Day was held on the 17th of February this year. All the girls were involved, so we spent the whole morning there! It was a fabulous day; Annie won the best female athlete for her age group, Claire won a couple of medals and Eva was reserve. Even Solomon went to support his sisters. Also, their house, Purple House reigned victorious once again! This is the fourth year in a row or something like that....

the march pass

Annie's 1500m open was the first event

Claire at the starting line

and she's off!

Claire came in first for 50m

Annie broke the record with her 1.4m jump

Annie at the 4x400m relay

Claire passing the baton during the 4x100m relay

Solomon with cousin Amanda

Best female athlete for her age group!

Purple house wins again!

50m gold and 4x50m silver!

Annie's haul: silver for shot putt and 1500m and gold for high jump and 4x100m, not forgetting best athlete trophy.

Solomon wanting in on the action!

Well done girls!!!

i want to ride my bicycle

 When Solomon slept over at Kung Kung Titus' house the day Daddy went for his op, Ta Ee gave him a lesson on riding a two-wheeled bicycle. After that one lesson and a bit of practice, he can now ride a proper bicycle! He was extremely proud of his achievement and announced it to anyone who cared to listen! Ta Ee was also very proud of her student! Lol!

So when we got home, the first thing he pestered me to do was to remove the training wheels on his bicycle. I removed them and after that we brought it to the shop to fix a ball-bearing problem and also to attach a stand.

Well, cycling is his current obsession now!

second spine op!!

Before Chinese New Year, Hubby was experiencing quite a degree of pain in his back. He felt something was not right and decided to see the doctor. Luckily he caught the doctor early in the morning before he left for an operation. If not, he would most probably have had to wait till after CNY.

Anyway, the doctor took a look at him and immediately ordered an X-ray done. Then came the bad news: one of the screws inserted into his spine at L4 and L5 had shifted, so now the plate was bent and the top right screw misaligned! So the tip of he screw was now poking into his nerve and causing great pain! This meant another operation to correct it!!!!! 

Before this, the doctor had already reassured Hubby countless times that his bone had fused and everything  was secure and he could return to his normal activities, even going to the gym and playing golf. So that is exactly what he did, he went back to playing golf and practicing his swing for hours at the driving range. Now the doctor changed his tune and said that the bone graft must not have fused properly and thus the joint shifted, causing the screw to become misaligned!!! 

 I think the problem was, most of his patients are elderly people who are less active. So in his experience, when he recommended that his patients return to normal activity, there was never a problem, as they did not swing the golf club for hours a day! I think the twisting motion puts the most strain on our spines.

Whatever the case, this guy is the best in Sarawak, so second op it was then!

This was taken (after the first op) on 24/4/13 - around 5 months post-op

This was taken around 9 months later, before CNY on 29/1/14. Notice how the top right screw has shifted to point upwards.

So on the 5th day of Chinese New Year Hubby went in for his second spine operation. All the kids were carted to Sis No.2's house, except for Solomon who went to Kung Kung Titus' house to stay with cousins Benedict and Dominic.

This operation was not as major as the first one. For the first one, there were two incisions on his back, for this one, there was only one incision, following the previous one on the right. The procedure also did not delve as deep in as compared to the last one. The screw was not replaced, it was just removed, then placed back in again at a different spot. The doctor also added more bone grafts. The bone grafts are small pieces of bone placed between the joints to make them grow and fuse the joint into one whole piece. This time to be extra sure, he used Hubby's own bone, harvested from his pelvis, instead of artificial bone which was used the first time around. Using our own bone gives a better chance of fusing. This procedure using pedicle screws to secure a spinal joint and putting bone grafts to fuse it into one is called TLIF: Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion.

Fortunately, Hubby recovered much faster from this operation. Immediately after the first operation, he was in so much pain, it took him half an hour just to get off the bed to go to the toilet! This time round he managed to walk pretty fast and did not need a walking frame at all. The doctor also prescribed a lumbar support, which is like a corset, except it has metal plates to make it sturdier. Hubby says this helps a lot as it limits his movement and prevents painful positions. The doctor should have asked him to use it the first time around.

The lumbar support helps a lot.

Anyways, Hubby was house bound for only 3 days, before he escaped on the 4th day!! Well, recovery is slow, but much faster if compared to the first procedure. Let's pray that there are no more operations in the horizon! Hopefully by the end of the year, his back will be as good as new! Hubby is giving up golf for good and both him and the doctor are now more conservative! No more gung ho nonsense...

The latest x-ray taken after second op - 5/2/14. See how the screws are nice and parallel. Let's hope they stay that way!

chinese new year 2014

CNY eve lunch at Dad's

This year, Chinese New Year fell on January 31st. Unfortunately, there was a horrible virus going around! I was struck down by it right before CNY and I think it was one of the worst I've ever experienced! It dragged on for more than a week despite antibiotics. I tried to fight it, but ended up spending a whole day sleeping in bed anyway! The headache, muscle and joint pain and fever was relentless! Paracetamol didn't help, I had to take Ibuprofen. Dad and many of the nieces and nephews also fell ill! Poor things, the fever was really high and headaches and body aches really painful.

Anyway, regardless of the super bug, CNY still came and went with buckets of fun and activities! Big Sis came home for a long stay with her gang of two boys and two kakaks. On CNY eve, after all the feasting, Uncle Polycarp surprised us by suddenly appearing!! He and Sis No.4 were supposedly not coming back this year, as there is only 2 days of holiday for CNY in Singapore.

We were all at Kung Kung Paul's house playing with fireworks, when Sis No.3 arrived and told us she had a BIG surprise! It  was of course Uncle Polycarp who had arranged with Sis No3 to pick him up from the airport! There was some commotion as the kids attacked him! Lol!

Then on the first day of CNY, when everyone came over to our house for dinner, there was another surprise! Some of the bigger kids went downstairs to bring Kung Kung Titus up, but when they got back up there was so much screaming and shouting at the corridor that we all rushed outside to have a look!

All the kids where jumping up and down and shouting! Sis. No.4, Uncle Richard, Cousin Bryan and Cousin Ethan were being hugged to death! Uncle Polycarp had sneaked out to fetch them from the airport! Nobody else knew! They haven't been back for CNY for so many years! This year it was extra awesome, for the first time in a long time, everyone was home! The only person missing was Uncle CM... and of course Mum :(

However, mum did pay us a visit. A few days later, on Dad's birthday, Big Sis who was staying at Dad's house was taking an afternoon nap on Mum and Dad's bed. She says that Mum was sleeping next to her, they were both turned on their sides and sleeping face to face. She was very certain, as it was very vivid and lucid experience :')

Well here are the photos then...

Ang pow time!!

Line up please...

3 generations of rats

assorted animals...

CNY eve dinner at Kung Kung Paul's

time for fireworks!

Uncle Polycarp - the BIG surprise!

The sisters, missing Sis No.4 who we thought would be spending CNY in Singapore!

Visiting Aunty Cynthia's new house on the first day and watching the lion dance performance

Dinner at our house on first day - then came the second BIG  surprise!!

Visiting Ee Poh at her shop on 2nd day

Dinner at Sis No.2's house on 2nd day

also celebrated Kung Kung's birthday early before Cousins Bryan and Ethan went back to Singapore

Complete set of 17 grandkids!

There were plenty of gambling sessions with Ah Bi e e as 'chng kay'

Billy kolomee for breakfast on the 3rd day of CNY

Then we visited mum's grave at 7th mile.

visiting some of my cousins after....

visiting Bishop Richard's house

met up with some ex-schoolmates

celebrated Kung Kung's birthday again on the actual day..

Before we knew it, CNY was over! Like they say, time flies when you're having fun!

bishop's ordination

The big event, on 25th January 2014, which the whole family had been looking forward to, was the ordination of Hubby's cousin, Father Richard, to become bishop of Miri! Since Miri is SIL's hometown, she was busy arranging all the accommodation and logistics for the army of aunties, uncles and cousins coming from Penang, KL, Vietnam and Kuching.

It was truly a grand occasion and lots of people from Kuching filled up flights into Miri just to attend. There were also many buses of parishioners from the large archdiocese of Miri which includes Bintulu and many villages in the remote interior of Miri. Seven archbishops, 11 bishops and 81 priests from all over the region, and deacons, heads of protestant churches, politicians and around 6000 Catholics joined in the ordination mass which was held at the indoor stadium. Since we were family members of Bishop Richard, we had special treatment all the way, from reserved parking spaces to reserved seats and VIP tables.

 

 We stayed at SIL's house while some of the others stayed at hotels. First item on the packed itinerary was dinner for family and friends at SIL's house.

The wonderful atmosphere at the stadium, as thousands of people started arriving from all around Sarawak.

The grand entrance of all the Archbishops, bishops and priests, led by some Iban cultural dancers in the front.

This bishop ordination was a first for us and for many of the people there I'm sure!

Here, a letter from the Pope himself, sent from the Vatican, was being read out!

Two of Bishop's peers holding a bible over his head as part of the ordination ritual. He also had to lie down on the floor as an indication of total surrender.

After the ordination, he was given the mitre (hat) and sceptre (staff). A new bishop!! What a momentous occasion!

The new bishop, seated beneath his new coat of arms.

Offertory from various ethnic groups found in the archdiocese.

We were lucky to be part of the offertory procession.

Bishop addressing his people with a light-hearted speech.

 A bit of fooling around after the event... before taking a family photo.

After the event, there was lunch at the hotel.

Followed by a huge dinner that night at a golf club.

The next morning, we attended Bishop Richard's first mass as a bishop at a new church, a little further from town. After that it was breakfast, then trips to the airport as we started leaving group by group.

It was indeed a wonderful occasion and we are so blessed to have been a part of it!

Congratulations Bishop! May the good Lord guide you in this mammoth task ahead!

Thanks SIL for all the hard work organizing the clan!!


Here are some links to the press releases for this happy occasion:
The Star newspaper
The Borneo Post
There's even a YouTube link!