Haiz... poor Mum... today had to follow her to the hospital. Its a long story that covered a couple of days.

Sunday (21/5):

Mum complained of aches and pains in her ear and throat. It had begun on Saturday, and I finally persuaded her to go see a doctor today. We went to a private clinic nearby and the doctor said that it was a nerve problem.

He gave my mum painkillers, antibiotics, and for some reason, lozenges to suck (I wonder for what, really).

Mon (22/5):

She took the medication religiously. Aches failed to go away.

Tues (23/5):

The pain even got worse and some areas on the right side of her face, her cheek, ear and right side of her neck, began to swell and turn slightly red. We went down to the polyclinic to get a second opinion.

Hmm... we got an assholic doctor, unfortunately. I judge him to be 30 plus due to his slightly receeding hairline. He was cocky, yanked my mum's arm rudely to check her ear, and seemed to speak in a condescending manner when my mum asked her questions. The fucker (dun mind my language, he obviously is) even took a chair meant for the person accompanying the patient to sit on, and used it to hold his file.

He gave her the same medication.

Today (24/5):

Things got really, really bad. Small white pimples began to appear on the swollen areas that were now turning an angry red. Her neck was swollen on one side. My mum felt as if there was something stuck in her ear, so she took a cotton bud to clean it. When she removed it, it was soaked with blood!!!

Her continued to bleed, and we rushed to the polyclinic as I dabbed her ear to soak up the blood. It was really horrible to see rivulets of it slowly oozing down the side of her face.

We got to the Bedok Polyclinic where we had gone yesterday. My mum went to the registration counter and told the person there that it was urgent. She wrote us a referral and we went to see a nurse.

The nurse signed something (gawd these long-winded people!!) validating that it was indeed an emergency. We rushed back to the counter and got a queue number (yes must still queue dammit!!). We waited and were allowed to jump queue to see a doctor.

The doctor we saw was a stark contrast to the one we saw the day before. She was young, 20 plus, with a aweet voice and a caring manner. She sincerely seemed to care for my mum's welfare and quickly diagnosed the problem.

Herpes!!

Not to be mixed up with the STD kind. Haha. My jaw dropped when she said that. But she hastily explained that it was an alternative form of the disease. Apparently, there is a STD type and a non-STD type. My mum's was the latter.

She wrote us a referral letter for Changi Hospital. We paid and left, me calling my dad to come over. We were headed for A & E.

So he met us at the Interchange and we set off for the hospital. As my dad checked my mum in (I couldn't accompany them as each time only 2 people could enter), I wandered around the hospital.

I waited till around 1.30pm. We went for lunch. Then, I took over from dad to wait with her to see the ear, nose and throat doctor. As we waited, I called up for a job at a book fair ad I saw on the paper.

Haiz. Interviews until 5pm that day. No way I could make it. In the end, I had to let the opportunity slip. Not that I was bothered. My mum was more impt.

We waited some more... and finally we got to see the doctor. She was very young, pretty and looked more like an office worker than a doctor. My mum's ear was clogged with dried blood and they had to clean it to examine her eardrum.

The doctor explained that the outbreak was due to the fact that the virus that caused the herpes was the same as that of chicken pox. Apparently, when my mum had chicken pox when she was young and recovered, the virus remained dormant in the nerve of the affected right ear. When her immune system weakened, it resurfaced in this form.

After that, we took the medication which would last for only 5 days, then left by taxi.

Hope everything turns out alright. Sigh...