இ Random facts IV Part 2 ~ And Her Name Is Nikki

Autumn Belle dripped a bloody cute comment in my earlier entry of Part 1, The Good, The Bad & The Bloody singing "O-bloody, O-blaa - daa". Thanks to all for your kind concern and well wishes that my daughter would escape  inheriting the disease from me but sorry to say she has heterozygous alpha - Thalassemia. The Beatles lyriced it o-bloody clear ~ "Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah! lala how the life goes on." No matter what, life has to go on and nothing gonna stop us now.

My loving daughter would be at a disadvantage as she would be facing the monthly complication which will aggravate a further depletion of her hemoglobin at 107g/L average for female is (115-165g/L). There was debate where a girl claimed she is stronger than the boy with this remark 'Can you bleed for a week and survive?' Wow terror! Some women may want to make a stand that men took away too much from them that the word 'women' has a two letters 'wo' against three for 'men'. Adding another 'o' would balance the word in equilibrium 'woomen' but then it sounds like 'woo' the 'men'. However some woMEN are getting bolder considering men a menace and start blaming men for causing so much discomfort with the monthly MENstrual cycle or MENses and MENopause. Of late often hear this over the TV from a desperate housewife saying ~ 'do you think you can help me to put MENopause on pause?'. Really? Can it be on pause? Please do not get me wrong not provoking battle of the sexes here, I come in peace.

In the early 70s heard this music composed by Burt Bacharach on TV, who wrote it specially for his daughter but turned tragic in the later years. Immediately Bananaz fell in love with the music and also the name and discussed about it with girlfriend and both agreed to use the name for our daughter should we get married 5 or 10 years later when have our own children. Whoa that was surely a long term plan for our one and only child..And Her Name Is NIKKI..

Ever heard of this old Chinese saying "Those surname Lee cannot marry another with the same Lee surname  李婆嫁李公*Lǐ pó jià Lǐ gōng* Lee wife marrying Lee husband? In the ancient days parents forbid their children with the same surname to get married as they felt it would be like closest as brother and sister relationship. All sorts of excuses would arised, that the off springs would be affected physically and mentally, may get down syndrome etc. Or who knows it could be thalassemia that they were so worried about but could not put a name to it? Currently we are seeing uncountable Tan's marrying the Tan's and Xie's marrying the Xie's which has been accepted in this modern era.

Anyway Thalassemia diesease must not be forgotten and should be a concern for now or even in future when the traits keep multiplying. Allow me to reiterate here, if both parents carry a hemoglobinopathy trait, there is a 25% chance with each pregnancy for an affected child. Patients with Alpha-thalassemia minor usually do not require any specific treatment. Treatment for patients with Beta-thalassemia major includes chronic blood transfusion therapy, iron chelation and [ HERE ]. Some private Pathology Labs even have posters in their clinics offering various blood test packages for couples for HIV or Thalassaemia diseases etc before tying the nuptial knots which is highly recommend to do so.

The picture above is in Todai-ji temple in Nara, Hokkaido, one of the oldest wooden temple in the world built in 752 which lasted through some fires leaving behind some structures and the 16 meters bronze Buddha statue free from the devastating fire. There is a peculiar pillar with a hollowed out A4 size hole at the base. The Japanese belief it will cleanse ones bad luck if you are able to squeeze through the hole and will live a longer life. Bananaz successfully slipped through with ease and sincerely wish for another 2 decades starting today to further enlighten his life and anything more than that would be a bonus.

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இ Random facts IV ~ The Good The Bad & The Bloody 血

Click to learn Chinese word xue.

Mind my language for using the last word 'bloody' in the title as this entry is practically very bloody oops sorry said bloody again. During my schooling days we were forbidden to utter 'bloody fool' which is considered just as bad as the four letter word but when coming of age we hear or see this word so rampantly used almost everyday.

How nice to inherit millions from our parents and have a whale of a time like the standard fairy tale ending phrase, "lived happily ever after"? Wake me I'm dreaming!!! So far Bananaz has not inherited any goodies yet only CVD or color blindness and now what, more bad news? An incurable HbH disease. Ohhh how dreadful when you read this *let me put it in bold* INCURABLE disease? What runs through your mind? As we all know the speed of light travels faster than sound and the expert NLP practitioners talked about the MIND travel even much faster.

Well let's tap into the hidden powers of your mind to see what disease gets connected with 'H'? Definitely neither 'Hyper Tension' nor 'Hepatitis' disease? Oh dear why so black heart to allow 'HIV' to cross your mind haha. Okie dokie high time to spill the beans, so what is actually HbH Disease? HbH stands for Haemoglobin or Hemoglobin H Disease which is part of the Alpha Thalassemia Syndrome.

What is Thalassemia?

Thalassemia 地中海形貧血 *dì zhōng hǎi xíng pín xuè* (Mediterranean anemia in Chinese) is a genetic blood disorder. People with Thalassemia disease are not able to make enough hemoglobin that are found in red blood cells which carries oxygen to all parts of the body. The disorder results in excessive destruction and mutation of red blood cells thus causes severe anemia.

Thalassemia is a genetic disease. This means that a person can only get Thalassemia disease or trait by inheriting the genes for Thalassemia from their parents. Genes determine what we look like, such as hair color, and are also responsible for many diseases. Inheritance of Thalassemia happens purely by chance–there is nothing that parents do, or do not do, that will cause their child to inherit Thalassemia. Thalassemia is never 'caught' by another person in the way that a cold or flu is transmitted. People with Thalassemia disease and trait are born with it. (Source: www.thalassemia.com )

There are two primary types of Thalassemia disease: Alpha Thalassemia disease and Beta Thalassemia disease. There are two main types of Alpha Thalassemia disease. Alpha Thalassemia Major is a very serious disease in which severe anemia begins even before birth and survival past the first few hours of life is rare. Pregnant women carrying affected fetuses are themselves at risk for serious pregnancy and delivery complications. Another type of Alpha Thalassemia is Hemoglobin H disease which Bananaz inherited and considered very unfortunate but then lucky 不辛中之大辛 *bù xīn zhòng zhī dà xīn* to have inherited HbH and not Alpha Thalassemia Major or Beta Thalassemia disease else I am afraid there will not be any Bananaz typing here but long dead and gone. (Source : www.thalassemia.com)

With my hemoglobin (Hb) reading then at 116 g/L (average for male is 130-180 g/L) it will drop as years go by and currently at 109 g/L, my doctor's advice is to stay away from high grounds because of my HbH disease as the supply of oxygen will be thinner and Bananaz would have a huge problem grasping for breath. Did I follow instructions obediently? Nope! What an awesome feeling watching sunrise on top of Mt Kinabalu. “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” ~ Walter Bagehot. Nothing to worry about Alpha Thalassemia minor with no treatment required and Bananaz will be just as normal like everybody else except pale and sallow.

Alpha thalassemias occur most commonly in persons from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, China, and in those of African descent. Beta thalassemias occur in persons of Mediterranean origin, and to a lesser extent, Chinese, other Asians, and African Americans.

Is my daughter lucky enough to be in the 25% as illustrated in the chart above to escape inheriting the HbH disease? Stay tuned for Part 2..

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இ Random facts III Part 2 - Blind Leading The Blind

Mango requested me to put my left hand on the tooth brush and raise my right hand and repeat after her. "I, Bananaz swear to brush the tooth, the whole tooth, nothing but the tooth...with the right tooth brush". Bananaz would rather sing 'I swear by the tooth and the brush in the sky and I swear..' *Just kidding*.  Mango is worried after I get off the bed with sleepy eyes might grab the wrong tooth brush. For the benefit of those with CVD, mine is the orange *after been told its orange* tooth brush and hers is the yellow oops grrreenn one which Mango tied with a rubber band.

Bananaz is singing two decades ago? Nope! Theme for the company dinner is 'RED', just wear anything in red ~ socks, shoes, tie, bow or scarf etc. By now many would have guess or know the answer. Bananaz was singled out by our GM for his outstanding colours asking why he dares to be different by not wearing RED? OMG...!!!!What! Am I not wearing RED? 

Thank you guys for all your kind and encouraging words that CVD or colour blindness is merely a mild disability and Bananaz survived all these years 'blindlessly'. Have been counting my blessings and very grateful for what I am today. Ever wonder how is it like to be short of one sense and living in total darkness?

Recently participated in the Lion's Annual Charity Walk called 'Blind Leading The Blind' which is into the 8th year now to get a feel of what life is all about with only darkness. That's the cheeky Bananaz blind folded with Mango's spectacles.

Better watch out we have three ferocious Lioness on the Loose, but in the Club they are better known as nice and friendly Lions. Wait a minute for lottery punters you might have something in common here. The Charity Walk with almost 2000 paxz started half an hour late at 8:30Hrs from Civic Center, Petaling Jaya with a journey of 3KM blind walk. Half the participants would be blind folded and the other half would lead the 'blind'.

There are two distinctive experiences Bananaz would like to share here is when we started to walk out to the main road all of a sudden there is an immense scorching heat like a hair dryer blowing hot air unto Bananaz's face. Thought I was standing next to the compressor of an air conditioner until I cannot wait to ask Mango. It was actually the heat of the sun and because we do not see the rays of the sun therefore our mind keep guessing what is the cause of the heat.

The second experience is on smell. Mango's intention was to lead me close to a jasmine plant to see if the aroma's of the flowers would filled up my nose but instead the smell of fried chicken at the roadside stall was drawn in much faster and stronger than jasmine flowers. It means to say with our eyes closed our other senses with touch and smell will be amplified many folds. Not using much of my hearing though merely noted and only guessed what kind of transport passed me by, like is it a bus, a motor bike or a car for I was concentrating on the walking.

Walking blindly is tough but the one leading is more tougher. She got to tell you to slow down, faster, stop, lift your left leg onto the curb walk then step down, crossing the road now, careful road not even and etc. How about joining the walk next year to feel, smell and hear for yourself.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller

I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet. ~ Denis Waitley

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