Moments in My Life

Just came back from my OB/GYN for consultation.  The reason for my visit was to find out why my period is over a week long.  This is nuisance to me because it is just too long and there are 2-3 days in between with really heavy period.  And on top of that, I’ve been having spotting in between period.  I think it is hormonal issue because I do get really emotional and easily stress lately. 

My first visit to the OB/GYN was on Tuesday where he ordered a blood test for CBC (Complete Blood Count).  The result for the CBC was fine, within the normal range.  I returned today for an ultrasound to check for uterine polyps.  After the ultrasound was done, we went into his office to talk.  He gave me two options. 

First option is to take medication to correct my problem.  He said somehow my brain is giving out the wrong signal to the uterus/ovary to produce hormone at the wrong time.  He said may be with taking the medication, it will artificially tell the brain to start functioning correctly and hope that it will continue with that pattern once the medication has stopped.  For this, I am taking Megace (megestrol acetate) for 10 days (kinda to clean out the uterus lining). Taking 2 pills one time 2 times a day for 10 days.  He said I might see some slight spotting in these 10 days.   After that, I will start taking birth control pills for 3 months.  He said with the birth control pills, my period will be shorter than before.  And to go back to see him after 3 months to disucss the result. 

Second option is to put a camera inside my uterus to check for any uterine polyps.  This procedure will be done at the hospital under general anesthesia.  And if there are, then he will take them out by scrapping.  This could be one reason why I am still not pregnant after trying over a year.  I asked if the ultrasound has any sign of the polyps, and he said that the ultrasound highly suggest to have this procedure (camera) but didn’t really say if there is any sign or shadow or image.  I guess is a liability issue since he cannot said there is none because I might come back to sue him if later I found out I have. 

He suggest to go with the first option first.  He gave me the presciption for Megace.  So now I am on my Megace medication for 10 days.  After that will start on my birth control pills.  He gave me the samples for the 3 months.  I will be taking Loestrin24Fe.  This is my first time ever taking birth control.  I wonder how it is.  I really look forward for shorter period.  Will see how.

Update 10/20: The pharmacy gave me one Megace pill less than required. So I only took 1 time 2 tablets of Megace on Sunday morning and skipped the evening time. Began the pill on Monday 10/19. Will try to remember to take it about the same time everyday. I picked 8pm, right before my shower. Just have to remember to take it everyday before my shower.

Sunscreen contains many active ingredient to protect your skin from the sun.  One of the active ingredients is benzophenones and I am allegic to it. My regular facial moisturizer finished so I switched to the NutriMinC REality SPF 8, Day Créme sample size. I have to take note that whenever I see a SPF word on any lotion, I have to beware.

A week had past since I started using the new moisturizer and I didnt’ have any reaction to it … until last Saturday when I spent about 2 hours in the beach. I wore a hat and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. But the reaction happened and my face now has tiny neutral color rashes on the surface. One can’t see it but definitely can feel the roughness in it. You see, why didn’t I have any reaction to it for the past one week? It was because I didn’t have any direct contact with the sun. Most of the time I was at home or in the car or in an indoor building. That’s why I didn’t see the reaction to it until the day in the beach.

Since Sunday morning, I had stopped using the NutriMinC REality SPF 8, Day Créme and switched back to my regular moisturizer (sample size). It will take a week or two before the rash will go away.

I know I have been traveling a lot in the last few months.  Maui, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and Gold Coast were the places I visited in the past six months. A few days after I came back in Los Angeles, I went online to check for cheap air fare to Kuala Lumpur and I found Singapore Airlines offering an adult and a child round trip tickets to Kuala Lumpur for only $1602. My last trip back to Kuala Lumpur was in June 2008 and I paid $2150 for the two of us on Malaysia Airline.

But there is one catch with the low fare from Singapore Airlines - the traveling times are very odd and a long layover either in Singapore or in Narita. If you don’t mind the travel time, you can go ahead and check the special sale fare on SIA website. I think with this ticket, you can pay a little more for a stop over in Singapore for a few days. There are a lot of things you can do in Singapore. I haven’t been back there for the longest time but if I do, I want to visit Sentosa Island as well as going around the city hunting for good food. There is another thing that you must also do in Singapore - Shopping!

Singapore is heaven for shopping. Make sure your hotel is around the city area so you will be saving commuting time. You can look for a good rate for hotels from Accor Hotels City Super Sale. This website offers very competitive rate for hotels in 27 cities across 10 countries in Asia Pacific including Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Thought you should know that the current sale for savings up to 60% will end on June 29th for stays between July 10 and September 30, 2009. I’ll be sure to keep this link in my favorite travel folder for future bookings.

For now, there is no definite plan in traveling yet. We may be going back to KL or may be another visit down under again if Qantas is having another price slash on their round trip tickets. *wink*

Well, my vacation ended.  Now I am back in LA with the daily chores.  A lot of things to catch up, mostly with cleaning - laundry, kitchen sink, toilets and such.  Most of the things I brought back have been put away.  A few of them still sitting on the dining table and kitchen island to be sorted out.  Most of them are the Tupperwares I bought from my sister.  She is a Tupperware agent.  I need to find place in the kitchen to store them. 

Else I have things to follow up from the part time real estate.  Will have to meet up with Anthony, my ex-landlord, next week.  His wife, Kathleen whom I was very close to and also my ‘American mom’, has passed on right before my trip to Australia.  She was having a bone marrow transplant (BMT) at the City of Hope when things didn’t go right a few days after the surgery.  I was able to see her in ICU twice before I left LA but she was heavily sedated and wasn’t able to respond.  I feel very sad for her husband and family.  

Other things on my to-do list including:

1. Cleaning up the garage for more storage space.
2. Moving out some boxes to the garage.
3. Clean up the living room (now it is in a mess with so many things not organize).
4. Clean up some kitchen cabinets so I can store the Tupperwares.
5. Pull weeds and cut down the dried up roses.

It is 1:53pm Saturday afternoon now as I was typing up this post.  I am ‘Home Alone’.  Alan brought Brandon out by himself to a co-worker son and daughter’s birthday party at a park at 1pm.  I cleaned up some stuff around the house and now here I am in front of my laptop.  I also tried to reheat a frozen Trader Joe’s Apple Tart directly on the rack (as directed by the instruction), but it ended stuck on the rack.  I cleaned the rack up and had whatever leftover Apple Tart I was able to salvage. 

How does it feel to be ‘Home Alone’?  Quiet, peaceful, and relax(?).  This might be the second time I am by myself at home.  If I remember correctly, Alan brought Brandon out by himself once or twice the most while I stayed home.  … hmmm … I think I should go vacuum and mop the floor before they return home. 

 Edit:  The father and son came home just as I was finishing mopping the floor at 2:50pm.  Timing was just right!

Skipping Heroes yesterday night was worth it.  Brandon slept at 10pm.  From 9:15pm to 9:35pm, we were reading books.  Then I brought him to potty and we went to bed.  He slept on his bed.  I slept on my bed.  We removed the bunk bed in his room to make two single bed aligned in L-shape (to save space).  He tossed and turned for a while and at 10pm, he slept. 

This morning, he woke up at 7am.  Had milk, eat a piece of waffle (butter and syrup) with water for breakfast and then at 8:15am, I took him potty.  We were able to leave home before 9am.  Arrived school at 9:10am and again I took him to potty while in school at 9:15am.  So with that he was able to hold it till I pick him up at 11am.  

 I was actually watching Heroes this morning when I was having my breakfast.  So I caught up.  Later tonite, I will probably watch Medium if I have extra time.  Or else, I will save it for Thursday night. 

I’ve been busy catching mice at Mouse Hunt, a Facebook application (game).  Many times I saw my sister and friend, Julia were playing and updating their status with the number of mice they caught.  It was interesting I thought.  After all my TVB series ended, I installed the Mouse Hunt application on my Facebook on Feb 12th and I was addicted to it since then.  It is a passive game. 

All you need to do is make sure you have enough cheese in stock and click the horn every 15 minutes to check your trap when you are online.  And randomly, the application will check your trap for you.  Upon catching a mouse, the king will reward the player with points and golds.  You collect the gold to buy new and higher quality trap as well as the different types of cheese.  With the points, it will determine your level.  You start off with Novice and a basic trap with a basic base.  Eventually you go up.  I am now in the 3rd level, Journeyman and I am at 80%, 20% more to become a master. 

If you want to try the game, let me know if you have any questions.  I started off by asking many questions to my sister and Julia.  They are the one whom helping me getting through my level this fast.  Thank you!

Received a tag from Binky. I haven’t been doing tag for a long time as I was busy with paid-posting. Now that I am not doing those anymore, I can have some time to do tags.

***Rules***
1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2. Go to the 6th Folder and then pick the 6th Picture.
3. Post it on your bloggy and tell the story that goes with the picture.
4. Tag 5 other glorious peoples to do the same thing and leave a comment on their bloggy tellin’ them ’bout it.
5. Remember to copy the rules into your post as well.

So I did it and found the above picture. Actually, this is not the 6th picture. I can’t post the 6th picture because it was not taken by me as it was someone else sent to me. I had to find another nearest picture to it that was taken by my own camera. I don’t want other to come by my blog to claim copyright you see.

Who’s that in the picture?
ME lar! Back then quite skinny. Now … tsk tsk tsk … all I can say, no longer that figure.

Who took the picture?
Hubby

Where did I take the picture?
Balcony of Radisson Hotel in Oahu, Hawaii

When did I take the picture?
April 2005 (forgot date)

Why did I take the picture?
To show the view from our hotel room - the city/garden view.

I am not going to pass along the tag.

I’ve been sleeping late at night again. This time not because of TVB Series but because Hong Kong Movies. A blogger friend was able to upload or share some of the available Hong Kong Movies online. Last night I watched two movies - Kung Fu Mahjong 3 and Mr. 3 Minutes.  Between the two, I like Mr. 3 Minutes more than the other.  You have to watch it to know why.  During lunch, I would prefer to be able to watch something just to kill the 10 minutes while eating.  At least watching movies are much better than chasing after the TVB series.  Once the movie is over, it is done. 

I am done watching Gem of Life.  Ending is good.  I like it.  Made me cried a few times.  Reminds me of my mom.  And how much I miss her. 

For those of you whom like to follow the series, you can hop over to here and here to watch it online.  No download necessary.

For now, I will stop following any coming up series (unless is a big production like Gem of Life or Moonlight Resonance).  I have many tasks that still waiting to be done and they needed to be done ASAP.  So no more TVB series for me for a while.