+ Life | Monday Blues?

As usual I got a cab to work today. As usual, I have the Monday blues. Nothing major, it is just me not wanting to go to work after a weekend break.

This morning, I got a white SMRT Cab... with a pleasant driver who wished me "Good Morning, Sir" as soon as I was seated.

"Sorry Sir, please tell me your route because I just started working this morning," he said apologetically.

I said sure and told him my preferred route to my workplace. Then I got to hear someone's life story. A sad story that is... an unfortunate one.

Just as we turned into Tampines Avenue 10, he continued telling me that he had not worked for the past year and today was his first day after quiting his job of 3 years as a cab driver before, to take care of his wife. She had lung cancer.

They did not know about it until she had coughs that did not seem to go away. It lasted about a month even after going to the doctors repeatedly.

They finally went to the hospital to do full body medical checkup that detected their worst nightmare. She had lung cancer at Stage 4.

Shocking to him, ever devastating to his wife who did not have any symptom she might have suspected that anything was wrong with her.

She did have a symptom when they came to think of it, but it was too mild to suspect anything was amiss.

The driver said that his wife was always complaining of an onset of numbness with her fingers of both hands. She would complain feeling it while she chopped vegetables, or while doing house chores.

She would flick her hands a while and all was fine again. The one-off feeling she felt was more of a nuisance than anything else. It would go away after a few flicks of the hands. That was that.

The doctor confirmed that, that was one of the symptoms; who is to know... laymen like us?

When diagnosed in April 2005 with Stage 4 cancer, nothing much could be done. The driver did not say anything about chemo or any treatment she had gone through, but he quit his job to take care of his wife; to and for hospital until she succumbed to the disease and passed away on 21 December 2005.

So tomorrow is her 4th-month death anniversary," the driver seemed to remind himself, with a straight face and then a long pause... quiet, except the humming of the engine.

The driver continued saying that he had lots of money spent for her hospital bills, their daily expenses and his children... Yes he has 3 boys, age 18 still studying at a Polytechnic, 16 in Secondary 4 and 10 in Primary 4.

With a concerned tone of voice, he said that his 2 eldest sons are coping well their loss - the drastic change in family life without their mother, but the last one who was very attached to his mom, is the most affected. The most emotional of the 3.

His concern is very much focused on his youngest. The youngest son would come home from school with mom to greet him, but not anymore. He is slowly adjusting, but painfully so he noticed.

The driver cannot let him manage it alone, so he intends to stop work about 1:00pm today and everyday, to reach home before his son does, to greet him instead.

This now, single parent has to check and monitor his son's school work, and provide emotional support until his son is himself again.

Both a Mom and a Dad now, with a financial left-over to live on for the 4 of them, he had some regrets that he suddenly stopped talking about...

"Wow Sir, you work is quite a distance from your home?" And then changed subject.

Truly a sad fate and a touching story that man and his family have to go through.

Now picking-up the pieces from a devastating situation, adjustments to be made on every aspect and level of their lives - by every member of the family.

All that emotional load I was let to hear in my 15 minutes ride to work, on a Monday morning.

Yeah, yeah... I felt ashamed at myself with my "Monday blues", when this guy has to endure something so devastating and still has to carry on strong for himself, for his children. Wow!

The driver wished me "Have a good day, Sir!" as I alighted.

I just answered "Thank you, you take care." Obviously still grappling with the magnitude of the matter his family has to cope with. Life goes on.

Now, how is one to know anything is wrong without being paranoid or worse, become a hypochondriac... to know or be alert to the mildest symptom, that could mean between early stage detection and irrecoverable damage... between life and death?

Maybe, an annual physical check-up is the way to go for early detection? In the meantime, taking care of one's health, food that one consumes, healthy, happy living?

And another, I guess life insurance is very important, especially for the ones you leave behind.

Most of all, trust The Almighty to protect oneself and one's family, after all the best efforts one has consistently done daily... to me, this should be the way.

+ Life | Hair Treatments?

I do not know why I tried it, but I did it anyway.

After the day's work, I was packing up to leave when my "new" boss came to my desk and strike a conversation with me and my colleagues that are sitting beside me.

He mentioned about our "former" boss' email to say hello a few days ago and introducing us to Sudoku - the Japanese number game.

My new boss said that he plays the game daily from Today's free circulation newspaper. He is now into Super Sudoku - the highest level of the game.

Never tried it myself before but sounds interesting would give it a try. So a friend who had the newspaper today gave me his for me to try. He was not interested though.

Yes, so far that has nothing to do with hair problem... I am getting to it now. I know I babble a whole lot. Get to the point, Imran!!!

Alright! Hold your horses!

Anyway, on my way home, in the bus, I read the newspaper and came across this innovative way of disseminating awareness about men's hair problem and the treatment available.

Not so much about the treatment, but more excited about the way help can get to those who need it.

You just have to type in your SMS with "GROW" together with your 6-digit postal code to 96-FIND-DR or 96-3463-37. You will then receive 5 return SMSes telling you the 3 doctors that are nearest to your home, with the option to have 3 more doctors if you choose to.

May be old news to many countries and within Singapore too, but it was HEADline news to me at the moment... pardon the pun.

This ad was from Dermatological Society of Singapore called HEADstart for Male Pattern Hair Loss or MPHL treatment.

More details from the local website www.seeyourdoctor.com.sg

Now, why did I SMS this in the first place? Two things actually...

One, curiosity.
Just for the fun of it to see what actually will take happen. I did it and it replied with 5 SMSes as stated. Cool!

Two, concern.
The reason for why I tried it in the first place. I have to admit, coming 40, my hair does seem to be thinning at the crown. My barber at Sri Nada has casually informed me that my hair is thinning around the crown region. That was last year, I believe.

Now, I begin to BELIEVE! Sigh...

Let me see... my Mom and Dad both have good set of hair even today, but my youngest brother is loosing his as we speak!

Maybe I might consider seeking early treatment to save my "lock-of-hair."

Surprising though, the first and nearest doctor which the SMS replies gave, is my own Family Doctor - Healthway Tampines. There you go!

Now I have to grapple with my "vanity conscience..."

Am I vain?
Is it wrong to BE vain?
Or am I being attacked by a "mid-life crisis."

Wait! I read recently from Ellen, from Coffee Granules that "life starts at 40."

I think my hair needs to continue living at age 40, and survive beyond that. Thank God I do not crave for flashy sports car! That will cost a bomb here.

I think I will give it a chance, a topical Minoxidil lotion, maybe?

I'll talk to my wife for her blessing and then talk to the doctor for his treatment.

Just to see how much an investment this treatment will costs; its effectiveness from individual to individual and its success rate so far. Just to get a HEADstart. That pun... intended.

Okay... I am vain, so shoot me!

+ Life | My House

This is a drawing of a house I would like to live in. Far from it, living here in a land-scarce Singapore, a landed property is astronomically expensive and only a dream. Oh yes, that is me sun-tanning in my garden; six-pack and all. At least one can dream!

While blog-surfing, I stumbled upon this personality test with a twist at Ellen's Coffee Granules.

Draw a house and answer some questions, then the result comes out. Seems like a standard set of answers from the set of questions answered. I believe there is no analysis done to the drawing, nonethless it was fun drawing it. Like I said, one can at least dream.

The last two paragraphs are similar to that of Ellen's. Hey, it's free, its fun. Try it!

Based on your drawing and the 10 answers you gave this is a summary of your personality:

Your house tells the world that you ought to be a leader. You are good at making friends and when the joyful moment arrives, you make the most out of it.

You love your house and family. You are a gifted artist as well. Once you have a problem, you need a friend with you. Your life is always full of changes.

You are very tidy person. There's nothing wrong with that because you're pretty popular among friends. son.

You will avoid being alone and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. You see the world as it is, not as you believe it should be.

You added a flower into your drawing. The flower signifies that you long for love. It also safe to say that others don't see you as a flirt. You are self-confident and happy with your life.