【February 19th】Operation Day for My Lump

If you have been following my Instagram or Facebook

You'll know I'd actually had something growing on my back for quite some time

But somehow we didn't know what the heck it was until I felt pain on my back

And my mum insisted we had to go for a check up

Well, some of you may ask like why is it I didn't go for a check up before this?

Even when I realized there's something growing behind my body

Let's start off with a short story before I start describing my operation journey

The Story of My Lump and how it began

It all started when my mum had hysterectomy few years back

She was admitted to KPJ for a surgery

And that time, I had already realized something was growing behind my back

So I decided to let my parents know about it and they insisted I make a little inquiry about it

And it was pretty convenient at that time cuz we were already at the hospital

So we walked down and, registered my name and went for general consultantation

At that time, the KPJ doctor a.k.a specialist said it was called a Lipoma

Dictionary time!!

A lipoma is a slow-growing, fatty lump that's most often 
situated between your skin and the underlying muscle layer

So basically it's a ball made out of fat and it just randomly grows in one part of your body

We all thought it was THAT THING growing inside of me

So we took precaution not to eat too much fatty and oily food

And the doctor also said something like ...

For now we can't do much until it grows and you'll need to remove it 

So we left it there since it was a very small ball indeed

But after few years (which is this year), I realized the Lipoma was growing too quickly

It grew bigger and bigger that it actually hurts so badly that I can't really sleep well at night

So one evening after work, I told my mum about it and on that night itself

She immediately took me to Klinik Bersatu for a check up

And the doctor there said it's a Sebaceous Cyst another term for a fatty lump which contains liquid

Dictionary Time!!

A sebaceous cyst is a small lump or bump under the skin. 

And he said if it was small enough he could even remove it on spot

But luckily it was huge and on spot removal wasn't needed cuz HE WAS WRONG

He interpreted wrongly without even having to check my body properly!!

We went to Bagan Specialist @ Butterworth the next day (as introduced by Bersatu doctor)

Made an inquiry with Dr. Yong, my consultant and my surgeon, of course.

He told me to get an Ultrasound check to be sure it's a Sebaceous Cyst or a Lipoma

After waiting for my ultrasound results, Dr. Yong said it's neither of those

It was somewhat like a Haematoma.

 Dictionary Time!!

A haematoma is a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues.

He wasn't sure of what it is since this is a rare case so he gave us an estimation

But he said no matter what it is, it requires removal for sure cuz it's a 4CM x 4CM lump

So we had to arrange a surgery day and his surgery days are on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I picked Tuesday cuz I want it removed ASAP!!

Operation Day

So February 19th (Tuesday) was my operation day

I had to fast at 12AM, the night before my surgery and wake up at 7.30AM to get ready

I quickly headed out for the hospital as soon as I was ready to move

Registered at the counter and then waited at the Day Case Room

*BTW: My surgery doesn't require an admission, so after surgery I'm good to go*

It took us quite some time, I think 2 hours before they called me into the Day Case Room

I was placed in a room with another Aunty who was also going for operation under the same doctor

Her's was a lump on the throat while mine was the back haha

She came in earlier than me but she had to wait for quite a long time 

before the nurses called her name

So while waiting in the Day Case Room for about 1 hour and a half, 

my name was finally called to the operation room

TBH I wasn't that nervous as I thought I would be, I just remained my usual condition

So once they opened the door to the Operation Theatre I had to lie down on the sickbed 

and they'll push me further into the theatre

Back there I laid down, waited for half an hour before my turn

I wasn't even ready when they pushed me towards the Operation Theatre

I remembered clearly, they positioned me, gave me a pillow to hug, 

injected Anesthesia and Painkiller

... and then ... I passed out ...

The moment I woke up, I was in shock cuz I woke up in the middle of the operation

When I'm not supposed to, and this is rare lol like nobody wakes up in the middle of a surgery ever

While I was awake I could feel severe pain cuz they were still stitching up my wounds

And I was ALREADY CRYING MY EYES OUT

Once the doctor realized I was awake, he quickly injected another dosage of painkiller

But it didn't work lol I was seriously in pain and shouting with my lungs silently

Few moments later, the surgery was over, and they pushed me out to the recovery room

Where I saw patients whom had surgeries before me, they were all still unconscious

EXCEPT ME of course, cuz I woke up in the middle of the operation, duh ...

So once the nurses in the recovery room realized I was fully awake,
they pushed me out of the recovery room and into my usual Day Case Room. 

My dad was already there waiting for me

He saw me crying like shit cuz it really hurts a lot 

Gave me my bag and my phone while I calm myself down lol 

After for about half an hour, the doctor came in to check on us

Told me about my situation of how I manage to wake up in the middle of a hassle

And even gave me that bottle of what was inside my body, a lump

It was shaped like a walnut, placed in a bottle of bloody water

There were fats and tissues covering the lump and it looked hideous lol

This lump needed some inspection going on since nobody knows what it was

and what caused the growth of the lump

So we have to return to the hospital next Wednesday to know the results

*BTW, I was given 9 days of MC to recover from my surgery so yay to me!!*

*On the day I'm writing this post shall be the 4th day after my operation*

That's the end of the story of my lump and the day of my operation

It's nothing much, and I just wanted to jot down my memories so yup 

Here's a post for my lump and operation
And hopefully you've learnt some of the scientific terms and symptoms through this post!!

Anyways .... See you on my next post!! 

【6/1/19 - 7/1/19】 #Singapore Trip

Hey guys! It's been awhile since I last updated my blog! *which was my graduation lols*

So today ..... I'm going to update more on my 2019 travels ♡

But this post is mainly about my impromptu, last minute, unplanned Singapore trip!

As you may ask, why am I even in Singapore? Unplanned and Last Minute?

Well, I had to visit Singapore just because my boyfriend's visa got soaked

And we had to renew it, and get his new passport checked in Singapore

Before he gets his visa and returns to New Zealand for his PHD

So instead of flying off to Melbourne on January 7th from Alor Setar

We decided to change our plans and make a trip down to Singapore on the 6th!

*Departed at Penang @ PIA, evening*

*Arrived at Singapore @ Changi, night*

We were pretty late when we arrived and was rushing to catch the MRT

Just because I'm someone who needs data to check-in to every place I've been to

But the tourist SIM's data plan isn't what we're looking for since we're here for a night

So we decided to just head straight to Chinatown (the place where we stayed at).

It was an hour's ride from Changi to Chinatown and another 10 minutes walk to our hotel


Changi Airport to Chinatown【$2.50】
Take Changi's【East West Line】to Expo
Change to Downtown Line【towards Bukit Panjang】
Arrive at Chinatown after 16 stops

We got there around 9-ish (due to getting lost in the streets of Chinatown)

I'm pretty impressed with the hotel we stayed at, named 1988 Opera House

Very nice hotel with friendly staff and a unique elevator for our luggage

What I'm impressed was, there's a water dispenser at every floor, with free coffee, tea and sugar

And....!!! There's an area to social around!!

With tables and chairs, you can just sit about and have a cup of coffee or carry on with your work

Whereas for our room, I loved it!! ♡

Although it's just a small space but it was definitely my kind of hotel

*Not cheap though for a small space*

With blue LED lights, and a balcony overlooking the streets of Chinatown and right on top of 7-11

If you're a couple and you don't mind about space, this is definitely a romantic room to take

*It actually looks better in real life than in the pictures, but I'm sorry I don't have a pic of the room*

*Pic is taken from Opera House Hotel's FB which is the same type of room as where we stayed in*

After settling down in our room, we went out for dinner which was very convenient

We're both surrounded by food, there's 7-11 downstairs, stalls everywhere!

Both of us had Curry Chicken Rice, Mangoes and some 7-11 food

I bought some of the snacks in Singapore's 7-11 cuz we can't find them in Malaysia

And they are very tasty!! Highly recommended to get your snacks here!! 

Oh and if you're looking for tourist sim in Singapore, just get them straight at 7-11

It's not that expensive but considering the fact that I'm staying for only a day in Singapore

It's .. well.. yeah ... kinda expensive

Ok so, that's the end of our first night in Singapore.

Next day in Singapore

Today's the day my BF's heading out to settle his visa stuff somewhere near our hotel

I'll be sleeping in but hell ... I woke up few minutes after he left our hotel room

So I waited for him to discuss about our plans so in the end ....

We decided we'll hangout at Orchard Road once he's finished

We packed our stuffs, got ready, checked out and left our luggage at the storage keeper

Then headed out to Orchard Road

*You'll probably wonder why did we pack our stuffs and checked out*

We're only staying for a night here and flying off to Melbourne the next day from KLIA

So we had to fly back to Malaysia and take our flight there

Okay nvm about this, let's continue...

Orchard Road during the day was pretty calm so we decided to do some shopping

*since we both brought along quite an amount of SGD*


Chinatown to Orchard Road【$1.70】
Take Chinatown【North East Line】towards Punggol
After 2 Stops, change at Dhoby Ghaut【North South Line】towards Jurong East
Arrive at Orchard Road after 2 stops

First we went to H&M .... *it's cheaper to buy it in Malaysia*

Then Victoria Secret, where I got a phone case and a bath bomb which was on sale

HAPPY LIKE A KID!!

Next we went to a random mall where I bought my Baby Blue Puma Basket Sneakers

Danggggg, the price was cheap and I bought it in a junior's size

With a beautiful dark ice blue bow stuck at the ankle area

Looks a bit girly but I still loved the design and the colour!!

*PS: The purple Puma tee was bought in Melbs*

By the time we finished shopping in Puma, it was time for lunch since we are catching a flight soon

And.... what caught our eyes was the Muji Cafe few stores beside Puma!!

It's my first time seeing Muji Cafe!!

I enjoyed the food there, and in love with the ambience of the cafe!

What I loved most was ... ♡
They actually have tags to tell people this table is in use (reserved on spot)!!

I mean for a person like me will definitely put this tag in great use

I always dine in alone so whenever I go to fast food restaurants or self service cafes

I find a seat and aiming it, but by the time I paid and picked up my food, someone's always at my seat

Especially during peak hours, it's really awkward...
when you can't find another seat just because someone sat on yours

Hmm.. so we ordered Iced Tea with 3 side dishes which was a very healthy meal!

If remember correctly it was $19.90, a bit pricey but for first time experience, it's kind of okay

After lunch we headed back to our hotel, got our luggage and went to Changi airport

But that wasn't all !! We managed to try out Mc'Donald's Salted Egg Fries!!

Tastes like Mayonnaise or Thousand Island sauce to be honest

I'm a huge fan of Salted Egg but this is definitely not my kind of salted egg dish I would try again

After going through customs and immigration, we still had a wee bit of time for some shopping

We went to Kate Spade to check out some prices and Pandora too

It wasn't sales period for Pandora but I was able to catch up with some sales charms!!

I was pretty shocked they have Disney Charms on sale!!
I can never get Disney charms on sale in Malaysia!!

So I immediately tried on the Disney Princess series (the ones with the dresses symbolizing different Princesses)

I was pretty confused whether to choose Belle's Dress or Cinderella's and guess what ....

.........Tadaaaaaa........!!!

Yup, this blue princess dress is Cinderella's dress! Shooo pretttaaayyyy!! ♡

Can't believe I bought a Pandora charm in Singapore, and with my own money!

*This was shot at Changi Airport*

So now I have a dream, a very expensive dream indeed

To collect Pandoras from different countries and match them on my bracelet

It'll definitely look good and seeing the way they symbolize each country's charm

Makes me very blessed and grateful !!

Can't wait to collect more charms in future!!

Now... we're moving off to my Australia post, yay!!