Another fainting incident

The first and previous last time I had this vasavagal syncope was 31 Jan 2007, almost exactly 15 years ago from yesterday.

We hosted reunion dinner with Mother yesterday coz we couldn't all go to her place due to COVID-19 SMMs. I started preparing for dinner in the morning - cutting up stuff etc so that I would only have to cook later in the afternoon. 

So there I was, in the kitchen, slicing Chinese sausages which were the last thing to do. (Later, I remembered that I forgot the garlic...) As I made the last cut for the last sausage, I sliced into the tip of my left little finger with the tip of the knife. It felt like a bad cut coz I could feel the slicing, like slicing meat *.*

Btw, this was the third time I cut this finger since helper left - first two times were slight cuts when cutting dragonfruit. There was another instance when I accidentally poked this finger with the tip of the knife. Nothing cut but still hurt for a few days.

The blood kept flowing this time as I washed so I held a piece of tissue on it and sat down at the dining table near the fridge, facing the clock. I thought I might have to press on it for 5-10 min to stop the blood. Then it happened.

I felt a bit dizzy and cold. I thought I might faint. Should I move to the sofa then? Maybe not, better not stand, and I was seated. Right?

50-50. 

The next moment, I was waking up from an upsetting dream coz I wanted to cry. Can't remember the dream at all. I was surprised to see white - it was my ceiling. And Yang was the first face I saw, I think. I think he asked what happened. I realised I fainted and fell, and got him to call for Sito. Later, he told me he saw me in midair as I fell. 

I was lying on the floor between the dining table and the dry pantry cabinet. My head was right next to the right door of the freezer. I wondered if the floor was clean - I mean, our pet lizards live around the fridge... Then I remembered I mopped that morning. The clock said - I can't remember now but it was not past 10 am. And I saw the chair I was sitting on; it was overturned. How did I fall? I was leaning towards the table rather than on the chair...

There was a huge baluku on the back of my head on the right. It was like a peach was half buried in my head. There was a bit of loose skin on the inside of my lower lip - please don't let it become an ulcer... And my upper teeth hurt on the right side.

Then Sito arrived. He was in the bathroom and thought Yang was disturbing him as usual until Yang said Mama fell and there was blood! Later, I saw a bit of blood on the floor, probably from my lip coz my head did not bleed.

I lay there for a while. Finally, I got up to change - Sito was bringing me to the clinic. But first, I sat down with the kids who were watching TV. Can't remember what we talked about. Sito quickly cleaned up the kitchen first else the ants would have a party in our absence.

Then, we instructed Kai to watch over his brothers and made sure he knew Sito's number as well before we went to the GP. Waited quite some time, during which Sito bought pizza for the kids' lunch. The bump on my head went down a little by the time it was our turn. As the bump was still big, GP suggested an X-ray at the hospital; polyclinics are closed on Sundays.

I wasn't comfortable leaving the kids alone for too long and with us far away so Sito stayed with them while I went to NUH A&E myself. Reached there about 1 pm. There were fewer people at A&E than at the clinic. Didn't wait too long to see the doctor. By then, my bump had gone down further. She didn't recommend a CT scan (ah, that should be more apt than X-ray!) based on my risk factors. I said I would do it anyway and was told to pee in a cup - must do pregnancy test first.

Sito didn't see my text before I saw the doctor again. Her consultant also didn't recommend a CT scan as it was unlikely for me to have a brain bleed. Um, ok. Then I should save time and go home... But I was out of A&E when Sito replied saying I should just do it. Actually, yes, why not?! So I went back.

Had an ECG done and waited one hour or more before I was wheeled up. Apparently they had some emergency cases to do first. This elective one had to wait... 

While waiting, I downloaded instructions to Sito on cooking dinner! :p But I forgot certain things, like how to turn on the oven, which frying pan to use... My dear hub is not so familiar with the kitchen apart from his stash of instant noodles and related :)

The scan took less than five minutes and I was back at A&E by 4.30 pm. I wasn't sure if I should open my eyes so I didn't. Now I'm so curious what's inside the tube, haha!

Then I had to wait for the radiologist to interpret the scans, pass the result to the doctor and see the doctor. I dozed off while waiting. When I woke, it was 5.10 pm!! Gosh.. I deided not to wait. Took me two tries to finally talk to the doctor. It was a different one now. She tried to persuade me to stay for the results else I might have to return if the results showed anything nasty. I told her I was an elective case so she could call me later. 

Took me a few tries and eventually a lot of money to get a taxi home... On the way, the doctor called - everything was fine, woohoo! And I hadn't been so happy to be home for a while!! 

Mother they all had arrived by then. She was with Yu who was crying coz Yang took the little stool away from him and amid the quarrelling, Sito removed all the little stools. Yu decided to hide until the adults were done with dinner.

The rest were with Kai, playing / watching Nintendo. No one had started eating. So yes, time to eat! I hadn't eaten anything since the leftover pizza from Yu during lunch!

It wasn't much due to the unexpected one-man show but I realised it was our joint effort :)

Apart from the spring rolls which Mother brought upon my request; I hadn't had those in years!!! The soup was seafood soup with prawns, fish, tomatoes and tofu. Char siew was homemade and so good... But next time I would use another cut; pork belly is too fat! And line the baking tray a lot more... Sito deviated from my recipe for the vege - he panfried the scallops instead of blanching them. Rice was flavoured with mushroom and those darn Chinese sausages. Had wanted to fry guotie and put out some bah kwa but didn't manage to...

They continued with Nintendo after dinner while I cleaned up. Dessert was mini Magnum, yum! The kids went to bed late. I only managed to talk to Yang and Yu after showering, as Kai had slept already.

I explained why I was away for so long - need to check that there was no internal bleeding. Yang and Yu said they were scared. Yang was afraid I might die *.* Yu didn't want me to die *.* This afternoon, Kai said he wasn't scared; he was watching TV/playing Nintendo. Wa liao, 没良心的！

The bump hurt a lot when I was washing my hair last night. The mark on my right temple felt like an abrasion with a bruise. My neck especially the right side and my back hurt but my back has been hurting for a while. After standing for a few hours in the kitchen, Sito said it should be due to prolonged standing... Anyway, the bump is hardly there anymore though the pain remains. My teeth still hurt. Hope they feel better soon - I have nightmares about teeth ever since I had braces...  And hope to be able to wash my hair better tonight! 

Apparently, the next lunar year is very good for me, so 明年会更好！