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.

Posted in: Random facts