Hey you there!

I'm still alive, no worries :)

Some of you may have realized that I’ve more or less gone “missing” from the scene the last coupla months.

I was invited to open a Café called the Dixon Café in Port Dixon, Negri Sembilan, with three other partners. After renovations, we opened with much fanfare in Sept 2003. I was running the daily operations so I actually moved to PD and lived in a semi-retired stupor.

In November I went to Kuching to look for staff. Stayed there for three days and had a meal at the only restaurant in the airport before flying back. That meal was the start of my nightmare. I promptly caught Jaundice from the contaminated food, collapsed from a damaged Liver and was hospitalized for a month. The good news is that I’ve lost almost 10 kilos as a result.

Since then I’ve quit from the Café and returned to good ‘ol Kay Ell for treatment. Recently I’ve undergone tests at Sunway Medical Centre under a specialist/neurologist. Apparently the Jaundice also attacked my nerves, besides the Liver, therefore the "numbness" that I'm feeling in my hands and feet.

We have 2 sets of nerves, motor and sensory. My motor nerves are ok but my sensory nerves are damaged. The good news is that this is a curable condition. May take a couple of months of treatment, though. The specialist reminded me that there is no cure for Jaundice and people still die from it in this day and age, so I guess I'm pretty lucky, eh?

You see, in this lovely country that we call home, it takes 4 months of worry and sleeplessness, 1 General Hospital that is absolutely bloody useless at explaining things to patients, 1 Medical Center (Desa Med, near where I stay) that charges for everything (my itemized bill listed RM0.50 for each cotton swab!) and prescribes the wrong treatment (physiotherapy) and finally a Specialist Neurologist who charges an arm and a leg (by the hour, mind you) to give you a proper diagnosis and explain your condition to you.
Aaah! Peace of mind comes at a price.

Well, at least now I know what's wrong with me and that it's not a permanent condition. Whew!! Let me tell you, it's scary when you can't use your hands after having them around for 44 years!! I start treatment at Sunway Medical soon. I'm still very weak and get tired very easily but I'm doing light work for the magazine that I edit now.

Mostly sitting at the computer at home and typing with 2 fingers (my fingers are "jammed" stiff) or scanning photos and preparing them for the magazine, using Photoshop. Becoming quite the computer wizard, I am. I've even upgraded the home pc to broadband so I have it on 24/7, as I only pay a fixed monthly rate of Rm77. I've also added a webcam so I can see whom I'm chatting with, provided they have a webcam too. Duh!

Well, I guess you're now fully updated on what's happening with me. If you wanna meet, we'll have to catch up over a coffee. My expensive doctor (sorry, I meant Specialist Neurologist :P) has forbidden alcohol for 6 months and I haven't touched a single drop since 3rd Nov 2003. Yes, including X’mas and New Year! Miracles will never cease!! First I quit smoking, then drinking. Soon I'll be giving up sex as well.

All that remains is to find a nice quiet mountain-top and become a hermit.
Go figure!

cheers

Dave