KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital is where I was born. When I was 11 years old, I was admitted here after a road accident. I was sent flying after a speeding motorbike hook onto me as I was standing by the road, landed head down. After a week of observation, amazingly I was discharged without concussion but with a raw wound that covered the left side of my face. Miraculously, my wound healed up with a lot of care without a scar. Here’s the story of this accident.
Last year, Sept 2021, I checked in to KKH in the early morning. I had the privilege of walking into Operating Theatre 7 on my own, accompanied by a nurse. The theatre is the last one in the corridor and I got to peep into some of the other theatres as I was the first patient and some of the doors were wide open and empty. Usually patients are wheeled into the surgical theatre but I got up the OT surgical bed on my own, having a good view of the OT standing up. It does look like a set from Grey’s Anatomy or the like. 😅 So… 45 fibroids, of a total size of about 22.7cm x 10.5cm x 20.3cm were removed, leaving an external wound of about 15cm across my belly. Prof Jerry Chan meticulously took out each fibroid without any blood transfusion needed. I am so thankful that the nurses and hospital staff took very good care of me.
3 months before the surgery, I went to the Polyclinic due to the constant bloating. The GP sent me for Xray and blood test. On that same afternoon the GP wrote me a referral letter to go to TTSH A&E for an urgent check. So I was in TTSH A&E that same afternoon. I was so anaemic that the doctor was concerned for my kidneys and liver. I was admitted immediately so that they can do the scans and tests needed. My red blood cells were very small, MCV(NHGD) was 68.8 when the healthy range is 83-98. My haemoglobin was 11.5, normal range is 11.8-14.6. My blood pressure was consistently below 90/60. Even though I was so anaemic, I was fully functional and the least “sick” person in the A&E waiting for my bed. In fact the A&E doctor was rather baffled when I told him the previous weekend I went on a 6-hour cycle and kept an active lifestyle. 😅 To be honest, I was fighting severe brain fog and fatigue daily. Waking up every morning was a struggle and most of the time I feel like I am floating. Plus, I kept thinking I was growing a beer belly when I did not drink and was active.
TTSH referred me to KKH after the scans and tests. Prof Jerry Chan gave my body 3 months to prepare for surgery and thank God my anaemia got so much better that I did not need blood transfusion. Another amazing thanksgiving is that I did not need painkiller as morphine was made available through the drip. I can press for relief whenever I need. There’s a supernatural aesthetic that was around the wound. I can feel it but it was not painful. I joked that my most severe constipation was more painful than the surgical wound. The 2nd day after surgery, the physiotherapist came to walk me and I managed to stand and walk with my back straight. Most due to pain would not be able to straighten the back properly. The little trick of putting a pillow over the wound to minimise pain when walking was not even needed. The physiotherapist discharged me after the first and only session. This is definitely divine grace at work.
I was discharged on the 4th day for recovery at home as hospitals ain’t the safest place due to COVID. A HUGE THANK YOU to family and friends who prayed and took care of me this whole period. The visits, food, gifts, text messages of prayers and concern all made recovery so much easier. ❤ I slept a lot initially as I was really weak. When I was able to sit up more, I committed myself to do a daily sketch journal for 14 days as that’s the only thing that I can do without over exerting myself. On the 14th day, I was at Papa Khoo’s home and I sketched his chickens who just laid their 5th egg. He saw it and he encouraged me to share and sell my sketches. I decided to start by sharing and did not expect such encouraging response. I am still walking this journey right now.
God used a challenging episode to bring out new life. I am believing for John 3:38 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” to be real in my life. That living waters will flow out of this healing of my belly and that the living water will also flow through my sketches to many.
To view the art print for this sketch, please go to https://www.phoonies.com/product/kk-womens-and-childrens-hospital-art-print/
