tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29955782007-07-06T04:41:29.858-05:00LarryBlogger1472125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1165982342490832412006-12-12T21:58:00.000-06:002006-12-12T21:59:02.526-06:00testyodaslaptag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1150565373795274152006-06-17T12:28:00.000-05:002006-06-17T12:30:23.010-05:00just a random/semi-interesting article to help us all to feel a little bit older: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060614/ap_on_hi_te/nyc_youth_ring_tone;_ylt=ArZRJUUSanhXFNA5axZfmXRk24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA4ZnRnZjhkBHNlYwMxNjk1">Students find ring tone adults can't hear</a>yodaslaptag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1147930609689803292006-05-18T00:36:00.000-05:002006-05-18T00:37:20.530-05:00duh, happy birthday, lawrence. i didn't remember it was today until i had to write the date at work. and i didn't get home from work until just now. i hope you had a good day. well, i guess i hope you have a good day every day, but especially yesterday.jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1147897994137987312006-05-17T15:33:00.000-05:002006-05-17T15:33:14.146-05:00huh?yodaslaptag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1147701604684667772006-05-15T08:59:00.000-05:002006-05-15T09:00:04.696-05:00bloggarLarrytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1144484915620505492006-04-08T03:28:00.000-05:002006-04-08T03:28:35.640-05:00yeah, i'm home.jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1144480535254897262006-04-08T02:15:00.000-05:002006-04-08T02:15:35.270-05:00anybody home?yodaslaptag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1135627866710859692005-12-26T14:10:00.000-06:002005-12-26T14:11:06.723-06:00i guess i missed wishing everyone a merry christmas so happy boxing day, everybody!jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1134022907743612592005-12-08T00:21:00.000-06:002005-12-08T00:21:47.760-06:00OH YEEAAAAAHyodaslaptag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1133997061076657952005-12-07T17:10:00.000-06:002005-12-07T17:11:01.090-06:00http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2308924671917766012&q=family+guy<br /><br />Google video rocks.Larrytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129821882937155882005-10-20T10:22:00.000-05:002005-10-20T10:26:05.296-05:00I can't read the emails either way, so as long as you get them and translate them, that's fine.Larrytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129735120518279582005-10-19T10:16:00.000-05:002005-10-19T18:23:39.816-05:00oops. i mistranslated something. previously, i <a href="#112952458655783874">said</a>,<blockquote>"food going down the wrong pipe probably led to the infection."</blockquote>it should have read,<blockquote>"it's not for certain that food going down the wrong pipe led to the infection."</blockquote>sorry!jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129714802380492972005-10-19T04:01:00.000-05:002005-10-19T04:40:50.290-05:00i replied [3 goo jeh]'s email. and if you agree with what i wrote, email her yourselves as well.<blockquote>Hi 三姑姐,<br /><br />I'm rather distraught that I won't be receiving the updates anymore. For me, I feel better knowing exactly what's going on. I'd rather have details than only a vague idea of what's happening and worry about all the possibilities. That's how it was with 大伯父: I worried much more because I didn't understand what was happening physiologically and that troubled me. I had so many questions that still remain unanswered.<br /><br />So it is in fact knowing what's happening that is saving me from the emotional distress you fear. I'm relieved to hear of signs of strength like combative behaviour or the energy to converse. I'm delighted he still knows Chinese poetry and that he recognizes who comes. Yet at the same time, I'm also more grounded in my expectations of what is to come when I read about the pneumonia and need for a nasogastric tube.<br /><br />Furthermore, I feel better connected to family through the emails. When 大伯父 was in hospital, I felt so helplessly detached. While I acknowledged that there was nothing I could do, I felt unanchored: unsure not only of how he was doing, but also of whether my anxiety paralleled that of my family. I find strength in commiserating together--and cope the same way too.<br /><br />If you think it's best to exclude my generation from the updates, I honour your decision. However, I respectfully request that you reconsider. I know everybody is stressed but we can only do what we can, hoping and praying that it's enough. I appreciate all your work in keeping us updated: your efforts have undoubtedly not been in vain.<br /><br />Justin 宜凱</blockquote>jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129708449410743552005-10-19T02:52:00.000-05:002005-10-19T02:54:09.410-05:00(sorry i've been a little behind on the updates.) update from 10/19:<blockquote>我已經聯絡了置富浸信會的何牧師明天20/10(星期四)早上10:00左右到醫院探爸，此事請代禱。<br /><br />另外，想到每天的電郵可能帶給大家很多情緒上的困擾，因此這次以後，關於爸的消息不再發給興略、惠心、欣、繼賢、宜瑋、宜凱、宜中、宜均、宜芊，和天一。</blockquote>translation:<blockquote>i've contacted rev. ho from chi fu baptist church and he will visit on thursday, 10/20 at around 10am. please keep this in your prayers.<br /><br />also, as the daily updates may cause you emotional distress, from now on, news about [grandpa] will no longer be sent to: [leuk suk], [sum goo jeh], [yan biu jeh], [gai yin biu goh], eric, justin, dan, ivan, iris, and [tin yat].</blockquote>lawrence and roberta, do you still get the emails then? as i've already said, i feel more comfortable knowing what's going on.jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129707754578260532005-10-19T02:40:00.000-05:002005-10-19T02:42:34.586-05:00update from 10/18:<blockquote>爸在醫院的第18天。<br /><br />家的報告是: 爸今天沒發燒，胃口不好，至中午為止，只喝了一杯奶。<br /><br />每天這樣寫電郵，會否影響你們的情緒? 尤其是下一代，你們當中，誰不想天天看報告的，請告訴我，好讓把你的電郵地址刪去。我這樣說，是基於業哥病發那一段日子，我和郭常在天行身邊講電話和討論業哥的病情，他感染了那種危急的氣氛，又因為擔心我們受不住打擊，因而情緒上很焦慮，這是學校老師觀察到他有問題，跟他談起來，我們才知道的。我很懷疑是否有必要讓那麼多人背負這個擔子。</blockquote>translation:<blockquote>this is [grandpa]'s 18th day in hospital.<br /><br />a report from [dai goo ma]: today [grandpa] did not have a fever, but his appetite wasn't good. by noon, he had only had a glass of milk.<br /><br />does receiving an email each day affect your mood? especially those of the next generation, if anyone does not want to receive an update every day, please let me know so that i can remove your email address from the list. i say this because when [dai bak fu] was in hopsital, [tin hang] overheard me and [3 goo jeung] on the phone discussing the details of [dai bak fu]'s condition and he sensed a certain desperation and feared we could not take it. consequently, he became very anxious. we only found out when his teacher at school observed this and told us about it. i doubt that it's necessary so many people shoulder this burden.</blockquote>i, for one, am in favour of receiving the emails and hearing how things are going. it makes me worry less, beacuse i have better details, and feel more connected to the relatives in hong kong. do people agree?jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129706936000673372005-10-19T02:26:00.000-05:002005-10-19T10:20:05.170-05:00the previous update was from [3 goo jeh]. this also is from [3 goo jeh] and follows an email from [2 goo mah] that had a few questions for her.<blockquote>爸在醫院的第18天. <br /><br />他已經很長時間吃全打爛的食物, 甚至粥也是再打爛的. 老人家不能進食, 多是負責吞嚥的肌肉失了控制能力. 不能吞嚥, 要插鼻喉進食道, 用灌的方法代替口嚼, 或在肚子開個洞, 插喉直接把食物送入胃. 兩者比較, 前者對較少感染, 但病人不好受, 也有說會習慣的. 後者較舒服, 但較易感染. 一旦感染, 也是很難過關的, 能吃就表示可以把這些問題推後出現.<br /><br />據護士說, 肺炎一般的成因有兩個. 一個是食物走進氣管,引起發炎; 另一個是臥床太多, 肺弱受感染, 爸是兩個可能都有.<br /><br />昨天從來兩個護士口中知道有一種叫凝固粉 thickener 的東西(無色無味的), 可以加進流質食物中(包括水), 讓它變成 baby food 般的半固體, 這樣可以減少老人家嗆的機會, 這是醫院常用的東西. 我已馬上買了一罐, 也通知了Susan.<br /><br />另外一個護士朋友說私家醫院會用最好最貴的藥, 這些藥可以把各類型的病毒打死 , 因此也有可能會好的, 公立醫院用藥有規定先用廉宜的藥, 不行才用較貴的藥, 最貴的藥多要病人自付, 有時因此會延誤了醫治的時間.<br /><br />我昨天跟群哥商量過請牧師到醫院的問題, 他說他今天會去接洽牧師.<br /><br />懷哥說有幾天收不到電郵, 我把我每天送出的電郵集合在word file, 現在我把它附上, 其他人不用重復看了.</blockquote>translation:<blockquote>this is [grandpa]'s 18th day in hospital.<br /><br />he's already been eating mashed food for a while--even congee is mashed up. when elderly people lose the ability to swallow, it's because they lose control of the muscles that handle swallowing. unable to swallow, they end up needing a tube through the nose to the oesophagus or a tube directly through the wall of the stomach. between the two, the former is less prone to infection, but far less comfortable although it's possible to get used to. the latter is more pleasant, but prone to infection. and once there's an infection, it's hard to overcome it. being able to eat would put off the need to address this issue.<br /><br />the nurse said there are 2 usual causes for pneumonia. it's possible that food enters the trachea and starts an infection; for those that are in bed a lot, the lungs weaken and are more susceptible to infection. it's feasible that [grandpa] got it either route.<br /><br />yesterday the two nurses that came knew of something called thickener (colourless and flavourless) that is added to food--including water--to turn it into a semisolid consistency like that of baby food. this cuts down the likelihood of choking and is often used in hospitals. i bought a can and have told susan about it.<br /><br />a nurse friend of mine told me that private hospitals tend to use the most expensive drugs. these drugs can kill all germs [broad-spectrum antibiotics]. because of this, it might be good. public hospitals have regulations to use the cheapest drug and not more expensive ones. the most expensive ones are paid for by the patient and possibly delay treatment.<br /><br />yesterday i talked to [my dad] about bringing a pastor to the hospital. he said that he'd get in touch with the pastor.<br /><br />[3 sook] said that he hadn't received emails every day. i've compiled the emails from every day into a word file and attached it.</blockquote>if anyone needs the word file, email me. some of the messages in it i hadn't read before.jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129700787222257932005-10-19T00:40:00.000-05:002005-10-19T00:46:27.230-05:00Referring to latest update: While I feel bad that Grandpa's talking while eating possibly led to the latest problem, I also feel encouraged in a way because talking--hopefully--is an indicator of energy. Who sent that update by the way?<br /><br />I feel better with the alias changed...there's nothing super top secret, but I appreciate that this site is confidential.Robertatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129524586557838742005-10-16T23:48:00.000-05:002005-10-16T23:49:46.566-05:0010/17:<blockquote>爸在醫院的第16日<br /> <br />爸本預計可在星期六出院的, 但星期六他出現有低燒, 所以目前仍要留院, 今天尚未有消息. 星期五晚上我在醫院看他吃飯, 他吃了很多, 但因為不停說話, 不斷嗆. 說不定是食物進入氣管引起發炎.</blockquote>translation:<blockquote>this is [grandpa]'s 16th day in hospital.<br /><br />originally, [grandpa] was supposed to be discharged on saturday, but he had a fever so he had to stay. no news yet today. i watched him eat on friday evening. he ate quite a lot, but because was talking, he kept on choking on his food. food going down the wrong pipe probably led to the infection.</blockquote>thank you for removing the alias.jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129315961149604402005-10-14T13:49:00.000-05:002005-10-14T13:57:30.546-05:00update from friday, 10/14<blockquote>爸在醫院的第11天<br /><br />今天下午郭在醫院傳來的消息，爸進食有進步，醫生說可出院，但出院的時間未定。<br /><br />今天晚上約見營養師。<br /><br />這次的問題暫獲解決，大家可以鬆一口氣，但長遠計，我們要為爸物識一個老人科的醫生，因為不能吞咽的問題終有一天會出現。</blockquote>translation:<blockquote>this is [grandpa]'s 11th day in hospital.<br /><br />the news from [3 goo jeung] this afternoon is that [grandpa] has had progress with eating and that he can be discharged from hospital. the time of discharge has not yet been set.<br /><br />this evening, there is an appointment with a dietician.<br /><br />now that this round of problems has been resolved, we can all take a deep breath and relax. but in the long run, we need to get [grandpa] a geriatrician as his swallowing problems will at some point surface again.</blockquote>phew...jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129181438622675492005-10-13T00:25:00.000-05:002005-10-13T01:10:59.883-05:00update from 10/12. this comes after [3 suk] sent an email asking how the urinalysis went (among other questions).<blockquote>這是爸入院的第九天。<br /> <br />我這兩天很忙，無法一一回答你們的問題。醫生每天出現的時間都不同，沒有人能全天候在那兒等。有沒有做小便化驗我不知道，郭不知道，家也不知道，昨晚conference call中也沒有人提及此事。<br /> <br />爸昨天只喝了半杯奶，和一點點兒粥+湯。如離開吊針的營養，大抵不行，Susan說如果現階段把他接回家，她沒有信心應付。今天據郭和家說爸很累，沒法把他叫醒吃東西，這是僅有的資料。<br /> <br />我們覺得爸不需要林興波醫生，因他的核心問題不在心臟病，不必每天付1000元診金給他，另外杜仁廉是個外科醫生，爸需要的是個內科醫生，因此他也不適合，加上醫院有護士私下跟我們說這兩個都不是好醫生，叫我們考慮其他選擇，所以現在四出找辦法，當中困難不少。吊針使用的時間有限，不能長時間使用下去，爸又不肯吃東西，情況是非常嚴峻的。他的問題還不在小便報告如何等問題上，所以大家也不去追問。</blockquote>translation:<blockquote>this is [grandpa]'s 9th day in hospital.<br /><br />i've been very busy these past two days so i can't answer each of your questions. the time the doctors show up is different each day and there isn't anyone who can stay the whole day waiting. i don't know whether urine testing was done and neither do [3 goo jeung] or [dai goo ma]. in last night's conference call, no one brought it up.<br /><br />[grandpa] drank half a cup of milk yesterday and a tiny bit of congee + soup. it wouldn't work to take him off parenteral nutrition. susan says that she doesn't think she'd be able to handle [grandpa]'s care at home in his current condition. [3 goo jeung] and [dai goo ma] said today that [grandpa] seemed very tired and there was no way to get him up to eat. that's all the details i have.<br /><br />we feel that [grandpa] does not need dr lam as the core of his problem isn't cardiac in nature--there's no need to pay $1000 each day for his visit. dr to is a surgeon and therefore is also not the most appropriate physician: what [grandpa] needs is an internist. in addition, the hospital nurses privately told us that both of these doctors aren't very good and suggested we evaluate other options. as a result, we've been scrambling everywhere to find what alternatives we have and it hasn't been easy. the IV can only be used for a limited amount of time and not indefinitely and [grandpa] is unwilling to eat; the situation is seriously grim. his problem isn't how the urinalysis turned out or such so no one's been pursuing this.</blockquote>i guess we're all just worried and a little too stressed...<br /><br />eric, to which email are you referring? i don't remember getting one like that. and, yes, i am rather surprised hearing what you had to say <a href="#112904495799429048">a few days ago</a>. it's good to hear though.<br /><br />roberta, if you don't want to log in just to read posts, you can visit the site to which the contents are published: <a href="http://cc.losir.com/">http://cc.losir.com/</a>.jylotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129127737663584312005-10-12T09:34:00.000-05:002005-10-12T09:35:37.670-05:00Oh and yes, the adults do know about this site. In a recent email, "3 sook" mentioned the URL to everyone.asiliattag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129060102014736822005-10-11T14:31:00.000-05:002005-10-11T14:48:22.023-05:00Adding my thanks to Justin for translating the posts. I'm keeping up with the news via my mom, mostly, but I also wanted to log in and see how you all are doing as well. I am, however, having a very difficult time accessing Blogger, whether to read or to post. (To answer Justin's other question, I personally haven't mentioned this site to anybody.)<br /><br />I, too, am of the opinion that, if Grandpa has not expressed otherwise, everything that can be done should be done (within reason, as long as it doesn't carry some terrible risk or side effect). I don't believe it's up to anyone but him to decide when to let things go. Even if one doesn't take into account religious issues (and this is not a knock against religion; I go to church myself), I believe at the very bottom of it that life is precious, and the decision to not continue is an irrevocable one. <br /><br />In the meantime I haven't given up hoping.Robertatag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129046732261851922005-10-11T11:02:00.000-05:002005-10-11T11:05:32.270-05:00Like the adults said, if grandpa didn't ask to not be treated, we should do everything to give him another chance at life. It's good to hear he has the strength to be combative. It gives hope. As long as he has a positive attitude about living on, I'll worry less about his health and about his soul.Larrytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129044957994290482005-10-11T10:26:00.000-05:002005-10-11T10:35:58.003-05:00As always, I feel like I'm the missing link, a quasi bridge between the "adults" and the "kids".<br /><br />I definitely feel that they should do everything possible to get Grandpa better. This is not a selfish need, but a desire to see him come to know Christ. At his age and condition, a miracle may need to occur before that can be done. Be strong in your faith and pray earnestly. I even suggest fasting for a day. I've done it once, and it really brings you closer to God, as each time you feel the pang of hunger, you are reminded that our lives are fragile and we need to trust in the Lord for His grace to provide for us. Each time you feel queasy, you pray and thank God for letting you fast and then to pray for the situation you are most concerned about (In this case, Grandpa's eternal hope.)<br /><br />I know that is strange coming from me.... But I guess in times of anguish, the Holy Spirit reminds me that it's still living inside me.<br /><br />What's important here is to remember Grandpa in your prayers. I also suggest kneeling by the bed and praying before sleeping, and a short prayer at the beginning of your day. Doesn't have to be long.<br /><br />Finally, don't JUST pray for Grandpa. If you were the father, you'd get sick and tired of hearing the same thing from your kid too. So make sure you THANK Him for listening once in a while. ;)asiliattag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995578.post-1129007379778956312005-10-11T00:08:00.000-05:002005-10-11T00:09:39.786-05:00thats what i assumed you meant, so my answer still stands. am i misunderstanding your question?yodaslap