A Blessed Life...

The brother finally went for his corrective surgery after waiting for so many years. The final diagnosis of his condition was “Class III malocclusion associated with maxillary hypoplasia and mandibular prognathism and deviation”. I know that’s a mouthful. Well, in layman terms, it basically means a protruding lower jaw with an inability to close the mouth properly.

The brother hadn’t been able to chew properly for the past 2 years or so, and it was getting progressively worse. It started with a minor problem of being unable to close the mouth completely, and deteriorated to its current state of being unable to chew certain types of meats and vegetables. Because the growth centres in the mandibular heads have not fused, the problem was expected to get worse over time. And also because of this, the corrective operation had to be postponed till the surgeon was sure that fusion has already occurred.

The operation was going to be a major one, but the management post-operatively would be even more complicated and tiresome. We were informed that he had to rely on complete liquid diet (feeds) for at least 2 weeks post-op. And if things go well, he can then be ‘upgraded’ to an ultra-soft diet (super mashed up food) for another 4 weeks or so.

On the day of admission, we found out that there was going to be another identical operation scheduled on the same day for this other person who shares the same name as the brother’s. FYI, such operations are considered uncommon, and so to have 2 in a day is considered a lot. =P

The brother tolerated the operation well, but his face was grossly swollen the very next day. He could not take anything directly from the mouth, and had to pump in liquids to the back of his throat with the help of a syringe and plastic tubing if he was thirsty or hungry.

It’s about 6 weeks post-op now. Looking back, it had been very trying not only for the brother himself, but also for the mother and I, who took turns to help him out with some of his activities of daily living. And to think I used to think ‘caregiver stress’ was something insignificant in school!

Anyway, he just had his follow-up yesterday and he finally removed the plastic retainer! He has also been given the green light to start taking soft solid food from now onwards. That means no more yucky Ensure and super-mushy porridge/Campbell’s soup! Heh.

I just realised it's been more than 2 months since I last blogged.

Well... Lots of stuff to keep myself busy with – Greenie’s wedding, the brother’s operation, (more) tuition, (more) training and SDBF 2008.

16th – 18th May: Greenie's Wedding

This was one special event where many of us 'lost' our 第一次! Not only is Greenie's wedding the first of our group, it's also the first inter-racial one that I have ever attended. And it's also my first time being the emcee for the Chinese wedding dinner! =P From the solemnization ceremony to the Chinese wedding dinner, the entire affair took two and a half days.

Day 1 (Solemnization Ceremony, MFA)

The couple... from the back

And now, from the side...

Exchanging wedding bands

The blissful couple!

Qin Qin, Spinkypinkie, Mr and Mrs Hiskandar, me!

For all Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel fans out there...

Day 2 (Malay Wedding, Chong Pang Community Club)
We went down to the Malay wedding only in the late afternoon as all of us had matters to attend to in the morning. As such, we missed the first walk-in during which the couple was dressed in the traditional Malay wedding costume. =(

The wedding 'throne' from afar

Mr and Mrs Hiskandar in a more contemporary Malay costume

The couple on the 'throne'

Me, XY, Eva, Spinkypinkie, Aki, Friend

We were commenting how taxing it was to be the emcee for a Malay wedding.
Not only must you double as a DJ, you must also be able to hold your notes well! =P

Front: Me
Back: Aki, Spinkypinkie, the couple, XY, BeliefinLife

Day 3 (Chinese Wedding, Regent Hotel Royal Pavilion Ballroom)

This was the busiest day for the girls and guy (read: yours truly) in the group. The girls were to man the reception booth, while I would be taking on the stage during the dinner itself.

Guess how many tables of guests there were that night?

Aki and Spkinypinkie peering intently at the lists

The ladies striking one last pose before getting down to serious work!

All ready to receive the guests!

And while we were downstairs, Greenie was doing the final touch-up in the hotel room so that she would be the prettiest and the most radiant among all the people in the ballroom. =)

One last shot with Hello Kitty and Stitch before the first march-in!

The Chinese wedding dinner was almost like a secondary school-cum-JC reunion dinner. Having spent 4 years with Greenie in the same secondary school class and 2 more years in the same JC, it's no wonder that I know about 90% of all the ex-classmates whom she invited.

Zhongxi and Kenneth

Iggy, Wayne and Wee Meng

Spinkypinkie, XY and BeliefinLife (again)

Kang Liang and Aki

Kang Liang, Shi Yan and Qin Qin

While the guests were happily tucking into the dishes, the couple went up to change into their 2nd set of wedding costumes for the night to get ready for my most-feared event of the night – the toasting ceremony. For most weddings, I usually would just mouth the word 'YAM' without producing any sound while the people around me scream their lungs out for all they want. But this time round, since I'm the one leading, I have no choice but to shout like crazy into the microphone. =P

The 2nd march-in

The newly-weds doing the cross-toast

The relatives and friends are all on stage, ready for the toasting!

While the couple went round to take pictures with the various guests, we also took a few more group photos to commemorate the event.

One last shot before we adjourned to somewhere else for more drinks,
while the couple spent their precious wedding night together. 春宵一刻值千金哦!

It's been a long time since so many of us last got together. Even so, not everyone in the group turned up that night. I guess that's part and parcel of growing up. Priorities change along the way, it can't be helped. I just hope the group can remain like this for a few more decades to come.