We see good days

Da and I went to visit MIL at the hospital after work today. She has been warded at the hospital since 2 December 2008 for a knee infection.

After a week of being on antibiotic treatment via the drip, a surgery was carried out yesterday to drain the fluid from her knee.

When Da and I met up for lunch at Amoy hawker centre today, I was pleased to discover that the rice dumpling stall was still open for business. The stall holders operate a brisk business and their rice dumplings are usually sold out by 1 pm or thereabouts. We bought 4 rice dumplings for MIL and FIL. FIL visits MIL at the hospital daily, so he can bring some back to eat for his breakfast.

So as not to miss the visiting hours (which end at 9 pm), Da and I decided to go to the hospital directly from work. We alighted the MRT train at Simei MRT station and walked to the hospital. The walk took between 5 minutes to 10 minutes. Da said that it would take only 5 minutes (according to MIL, it takes her 7 minutes to walk from Simei MRT station to the hospital). I actually intended to time our walk but forgot to check my watch when we arrived at the hospital. Oh well.... I'll take their word for it. :)

En route to the hospital, we saw an Old Chang Kee outlet. As MIL is fond of their savoury snacks, we bought a curry puff and a spring roll for her. The two items were piping hot when we bought them.

When Da and I arrived at MIL's ward, I was half expecting her not to be at her hospital bed (again!). However, we saw a pair of legs clad in pink hospital garb peeking out from behind the curtain separating her bed from the adjacent bed when we approached her bed.

We hesitated when we saw that MIL's eyes were closed. However, as though by sixth sense (or perhaps our footsteps were too heavy), she opened her eyes and greeted us. She had closed her eyes for a minute to rest them as she had been having an endless stream of visitors the whole day, resulting in her not taking any nap throughout the day.

MIL showed us her bandaged knee. The swelling in her knee has subsided, thank the Lord, and she is able to walk normally. Goodness me! What am I saying? Even before the surgery, when her knee was swollen, she was also walking normally! The swelling was merely an outward symptom and did not change the fact that by His stripes, she is healed.

Despite the surgery, MIL is still given antibiotic treatment via drip. As she is diabetic, intravenous treatment of antibiotic is apparently more effective than oral treatment of antibiotics. She tried to bargain with the doctor for oral antibiotics but I guess she was not able to "sweet-talk" the doctor into agreeing.

According to MIL, when she can be discharged would depend on how fast the wound heals. Yesterday, her knee was bleeding after the surgery and the bandage had to be changed. The bleeding has since stopped.

I thank the Lord for MIL's healing. When we accept Christ into our lives, we will see good days. By His death on the Cross, He took all our sickness and suffering so that we can live healthy lives. Do not let ourselves be fooled by outward symptoms and situations in our lives. Stand firm in His Word and claim our victory.

MIL is eager to get back to work (yes, she is still in the workforce) and to do her ironing (she insists that her clothes have to be ironed "her way" and refuses to let others do the ironing for her).

She also bemoaned the fact that she has missed a few episodes of "The Little Nonya" currently showing on Channel 8 on television between 9 pm to 10 pm on weeknights. There is a television in a common area in her ward. As such, whether she gets to watch the channel of her choice would depend on whether there is anyone else already watching television when she arrives at the common area.

When Da and I left the hospital (after the visiting hours were over!), we retraced our steps and walked towards the Simei MRT station. We were trying to decide what to eat when we came across a coffeeshop. We decided to eat at the coffeeshop instead of eating at a fast food outlet.

Da approached a stall named "Il Piccolo". They have several outlets in Singapore and sell pizzas and pasta.

Da ordered a pasta in creamy sauce with chicken and mushrooms.

I decided to order a mini-pot.

The mini-pot was accompanied by a bowl of noodles.

Guess what? There were several television sets at the coffeeshop. We sat in front of the television that was showing "The Little Nonya" and managed to watch the last 10 minutes of today's episode. I have to say that I prefer the character of 菊香 (Ju Xiang) (a mute) to the character of 月娘 (Yue Niang) (the daughter of 菊香 (Ju Xiang) but who is not a mute), even though both characters were played by the same actress, Jeanette Aw. Hi LSD, 菊香 (Ju Xiang) is one 姑娘 girl, huh?