Health is so Precious

I just finished a visit to an ENT specialist to get my hearing checked out - a first for me. The reason I ended up here at the very nice amount Elizabeth Novena (not the one at Orchard which Google Maps misled me to going to, thank God I was early by half an hour for once and had time to catch the shuttle bus to the Novena branch! This is not the first time I’ve been played out by these so-called wayfinding apps) is because after attending a particularly noisy D&D (in part the Emcee was very boisterous, in part the Organising committee just amped up the volume way too loud at the end, trying to turn it into some disco), I suffered a blocked feeling in my left ear 2 days after the event, making me feel like my left ear was stuffed with cotton wool (which I ended up doing but more on that later), which gradually turned into a low buzzing sound that got louder and louder, becoming especially irritating when I was in quiet rooms, such that I started feeling agitated by the sound. It was literally driving me slightly crazy. As I was complaining after dinner last night and my dad suggested that I stuff cotton wool into my left ear to stop the buzzing. Strangely, it worked, so I spent the rest of the night walking around the house, playing with the kids with this white ball of fluff sticking out of my left ear. I recall my baby girl looking at it very strangely. And then various well-meaning people whom I complained to urged me to get it checked out right away, warning me ominously that any delay could result in many unpleasant outcomes ranging from permanent hearing loss in BOTH ears, to having throat cancer (I jokingly told my colleague who told me that, that I would then finally have some real proof to show the admin guys who are dragging their feet in replacing our office furniture, that the formaldehyde situation in the office was really a health hazard).

My experience getting there was quite interesting in itself. Besides trusting the innocent-looking google maps instructions, I bought an iced coffee at a vending machine near where I was waiting for the shuttle service, and was looking for place to discard my coffee can by the time I reached Mount E (Novena). However after walking for a bit, I concluded a private hospital was unlikely to have recycling bins, and dumped it with great regret into a dustbin. Then as I turned the corner to take the lift, I saw a nice shiny row of recycling bins!! I felt this huge jolt of dismay course through my veins and could not help muttering to myself under my breath "Oh you of little faith!". That was when I found myself thinking how wonderful it would be if we could have some personal assistant app that could advise us where the nearest recycling bins were ("only ten steps away!") and give us prompts if we typed in a location that has several branches ("Which Mount Elizebeth Hospital?"), and gives us accurate walk times ("With all the overhead bridges and traffic lights, and giving yourself some time to get lost, your walk time would be 30 minutes").

So, back to my ENT appointment. After a hearing test and some checks (I have never seen the inside of my ear in such detail before. Got to get my right ear cleaned out), she pronounced my hearing ok, but said that my blocked nose was probably causing my Eustachian tubes to be collapsed, lowering my middle ear pressure, and could be causing the buzzing sound and depressed hearing. It was all rather technical but I was expecting that, as it is the ear we are talking about. Of all the senses to have trouble with, my dad had told me early on in my life that hearing loss is IRREVERSIBLE, giving me a deathly fear of all problems ear-related and a healthy respect for this miraculous organ that God created. With all of medical advances, mankind still has not found a way to reconstruct or repair the eardrum once it is damaged. Hearing aids also look quite hideous and need battery power (although websites say they are now improved, but the designs I saw still looked pretty large and like they would stick out of our ears). What I took away from this (aside from a receipt for paying $250 in fees) was that I was so glad my hearing is ok and I get to keep my perfectly fine sense of hearing (thank you, ears, I've never paid much attention to you but you're doing a good job!) for another few decades (hopefully) cos it would really suck to have no hearing in one ear or both and have to wear hearing aids.

Oh, and on my way there, I saw a child alighting from the shuttle bus accompanied by her mom and dad. She was bald, wearing a bandana, and though she was tall, she was really really scrawny. From the back I could see her shoulder blades very prominently, sending shudders down my spine. She was probably a cancer patient, going through chemo. I felt a huge pang of sadness when I saw her, and thought back to my kids and how skinny they are, but it's skinniness born out of genes and not sickness. And I was reminded of how precious being in good health is, both for ourselevs and our loved ones. Like my pastor said, every morning when we can wake up, breathe air in our lungs, move around without problems, do meaningful work, and sit down to enjoy a good meal, we should get down on our knees and thank God for such lavish, abundant blessings. May we all remember this often.