All About Your Child

I was told a long time ago by my Uncle (whose family brought me up), a well-known Chinese Physician, that rice water can work wonders. I have very weak gastric since young, hence often getting diarrhea when the food is just slightly contaminated or prepared in an unclean place. So no BBQ for me in the past, my tummy just can’t take it.

I had forgotten that it was rice water that ‘rescued’ me from my sufferings when I was a tiny little thing, until I came across a thread in a forum. Being so young I never knew how it was prepared, but through that thread now I know. Here’s the method:-

It is rice water and not rice, that does the trick. I have found it
effective again and again. You take a handful of rice, wash them and boil it in a large saucepan with lots of water. Like three or four large glasses. Keep it boiling till the rice is cooked, like porridge. Then you cool that and drink the water.

If you are in a hurry to relieve
the ailing person, take the saucepan off the fire and dunk it in a frying pan or basin of cool water with ice cubes if necessary. This gives the patient a chance to drink the rice water sooner and cure
himself or herself sooner.

When drinking the rice water, make sure there is lots of it. You have to
tell the patient that enough water must go in to line your guts from
throat to other end, all 10 to 12 metres of it. If you take rice, it
stays in the stomach. If you take broth, some of it may go into the
small intestine.

But if you take rice water, it will carry rice grains to every inch of
your small and large intestine to the end where the problem is.

I wasn’t a guinea pig. Its been used over and over again by my Chinese Physician Uncle on his patients who have financial difficulties and there is an article written by Professor Wong Hock Boon, the notable paediatrician in Singapore, who was also credited for saving the lives of 2 million African babies by this method.

Here’s the article if you are interested.

My Warrior’s ‘Old Buddy’ – Bronchitis came back on Tuesday. I was trying soooo hard to prevent ‘his’ visit but failed.

When there are lots of rain and sun, when temperature fluctuates between burning hot or way cool within a day, Keatkeat’s sinus will get really serious. Yes yes the 7 months of my struggle with his sinus has ended, but the patient himself is still battling with it every morning.

Usually, after a morning bath, disappear behind school doors, 4 hours later, upon fetching my 5 year old, his Sinus – the ‘Part-Time Lover’ will be gone for the rest of the day. Then the mucusy cycle will repeat itself the next morning again.

Last Friday, when he was still having sniff-sniff snort-snort as he stepped out of class, I knew something was not right. The “Ahhh-Cheee” didn’t stop even though we gave him his favourite syrup over the weekend.

Monday came, still the same. Tuesday came and was worse. His ‘Part-Time Lover’ brought along ‘Old Buddy’ to create a real party!

So here we go again, cough cough cough till he vomits. Occasionally, his coughs and sneezes happen almost at the same time. Whoever was infront of him will know he/she is extremely ‘lucky’ that day to have salivary facial treatment from the preschooler. *eyes rolled*

7 months of sinus-coping training paid off, cos’ he gets to ‘practise‘ every single day. But when it comes to Bronchitis, Woah! Its a whole new sort of training.

Cover your mouth when you cough! Reach for the dustbin quickly, which we have a few at the most accessible places, BEFORE you vomit! Turn your head away from your food (and ours! Oh please!) when you cough! Though its pretty similar to the ‘sinus-training’, HE JUST CAN’T GET IT!!!

He vomited his 2 mouthful of porridge on Tuesday evening, his 100 ml of milk later at night and couldn’t get anything down his throat thereafter. Did I worry that he would be hungry? Nah… but I do double check with him every now and then.

Cos’ the first day of the party is often the MOST phlegmy. Too thick, too irritating, too disturbing. Forcing anything down would only be asking for trouble. Without food, he still holds on to the small dustbin or runs to the basin to vomit his phlegm out.

I did not give him anti-vomit medicine, cos he feels better after vomiting those thick colourless slimy stuff each time. And that’s what I learn after many trials, that the more he vomits the faster he gets well, even though its really painful to watch… I’ve stopped watching by the way, just listening to it…

So no school for him yesterday and today, guess he will be too weak anyway. Thank God for Good Friday and Thank God that its tomorrow! So he doesn’t need to bring back more school work!

When weather become so extreme, I get bloodstains on my hands from slapping the ‘CassanovaS‘ and I get to clean up vomits with these pair of bloodstained hands too. For 3 days now, though daytime are almost unbearable without the fan (Wind worsens his cough) AND nights are awfully disturbing as temperature decreases as the intensity of the cough increases, I consider myself lucky this time for not having to wake up at 3am mopping his vomits like the previous battle.

It pains my heart when I see him hunching even more from coughing, but when you have encountered such scenes for 3 years now, you are no longer in the worried zone, but the, “Damn! I’m the Mommy, give me that! Don’t do it to my son!”

Yesterday he was able to swallow 5 spoonful of *beh-tai-muk* with soup for lunch and dinner.  Today is better, half a bowl of porridge and it stayed in the tummy long enough to be FULLY DIGESTED before the next round of vomits began. Hmmm… maybe because I’m so good at cooking food-for-the-sick. *laugh*

This time, Keatkeat is also more willing to drink warm water and that helps alot! The phlegm are more diluted, hence easier to cough it out, sparing the energy needed to ‘force’ them out through vomiting.

Anyhow, he is still in the sniff-sniff snort-snort cough-cough state. But whenever there are brief seconds he is not, he is his usual cheeky self, twitching his eyebrows and winking at me (like now, as I type)

Still, Shoo Shoo…. bring back the more predictable weather please???

*short. white. fatter than noodle stuff. made from flour.*