A Painful Decision

The past three months have been very difficult for me and my family. Times were so bad that I have to make a painful decision... to send my wife and son back to Singapore. Actually, they were supposed to fly home today but I had to postpone the flight to Sunday because Irene fell sick two days ago. I had to stay home for the two days to look after her and Le Le. I had to keep the two apart as much as possible to avoid Irene passing on the flu bug to the boy.

Le Le has just recovered from a serious bout of gastroenteritis. Just last month, he was sick for a week from acute bronchitis. And in August, he was down for almost two weeks from flu. I think it is time to pack them home. I believe they will be better off in Singapore to recuperate where the air is cleaner and public hygiene is better.

I really do not want to risk them staying on and be hospitalised should more serious ailments hit them. More importantly, they will be well looked after by our parents back home. I think I have made a right decision. I will miss them dearly, especially my son who has just started to bond with me. I don't know if he will still remember my hug and scent when we next meet in Jan 09, three months from now.

I was away from them too for about the same period last year when I was in Cairo for language training. Looks like we will going to have this separation annually until I complete my posting in 2011. It's going to be a cold and lonely winter again for me in Cairo. I guess I will seek refuge by working doubly hard.

Birthday Boy Sick

Today is 18 October 2008, our son's Le Le second birthday. Compared to his first birthday bash in Singapore, this birthday is starkly quiet. I was planning to celebrate his birthday with the cake cutting at home before heading out to Al-Azhar Park or Magicland for a family outing. Unfortunately, our birthday boy fell sick last night. He started vomiting in the middle of the night. He threw up a few more rounds until about 4am before going to sleep leaving his tired parents a big mess to clean up. We had to changed the bedsheets twice. He threw up a little after the morning milk but the vomiting ceased but diarrhea set in straight after. One big poo was followed by numerous liquid poos and we had to change his diapers so many times until we were both exhausted. I called our pediatrician and he prescribed some medicine for now. Hopefully, the vomiting and diarrhea will stop. Le Le is now asleep and so is his mum. I am too tired to sleep and so here I am putting this unfortunate episode on record. I think we will not be heading out today except probably to see a doctor in the evening if he does not recover well. So no birthday photos or videos to share this time round. We will definitely make it up to him next year.

New Videos and Photos

Our little family has been taking turns to fall sick over the past few weeks. While I have fully recovered, Irene is still nursing a cough. Le Le, who recovered first about a week ago, appears to be falling ill again with block nose, sneezing and occasional cough. It must be due to the seasonal change. The mornings and nights are becoming cooler as the days go by. It's great that the summer is finally ending and the most comfortable season of Cairo is arriving soon - cool and no rain. I just hope the air clears up a bit. The pollution is getting worse I think. That is probably due to the burning of agricultural plots after harvest. Anyway, we are doing fine and here are some of the recent videos to share. I have also updated my photo album with the latest snapshots of our boy Le Le. Enjoy.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xQmCpKhzDg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opzmMQ3b7Bg

夏去秋来流感肆虐

夏季即将过去而秋意以渐渐涌入这拥挤的开罗城。早晨和晚间的秋风也稍感寒意而下午的日头却酷热无比。这是季节交替的普遍现象也是大人小孩容易生病的时候。乐乐两个礼拜前就生了一场病。起初是伤风的症状，鼻塞，喉咙不适。接下来就发烧，咳嗽，喉咙发炎。看了家庭医生可是药到病却不除，一度发烧至39.8度。我们夫妻俩彻夜难眠，不停的为他以冷毛巾降温，注视体温。我们也找了儿科医生来诊治，换了一次药乐乐的病才逐渐好转。他现在已近乎痊愈了。只是还是稍微有一点咳嗽。医生说这是正常的症状，需要一点时间才会完全康复。喂这小坏蛋吃药可真是痛苦。一个人要喂他可真的很不容易，他头左右摇晃，小嘴紧闭。通常我们得二人总动员，一人抓住他另一个人用无针针筒把药水慢慢灌入。可爱的乐乐每次看到爸爸妈妈拿着药走向他就会意识到吃药的时候到了而无助的找寻可藏之处"避难"。逗得我们哭笑不得。乐乐也因为生病而有好一阵子没去上兜兜班了。上个礼拜天带他回学校，从老师口中得知这段日子有好多小同学也病了。小孩子似乎对换季所引发的流感比大人较为敏感。说迟不迟，我们夫妻俩这两天也开始感到身体不适，喉咙疼痛。看来我们也快病了。等会儿医生就会来诊治，开药方。希望我们两不会一起病倒。