Ginger Boy

in memory of ginger boy (1996-2004), originally uploaded by sharonhappymorgue.

My day would have been better if Baghdatis won last night. :( He went down to Nadal in straight sets. Now not so excited to watch the final on Sunday... nevermind I'll be rooting for Federer just to avenge Baggy's defeat. *evil*

Die Nadal DIE!

Went to the KMC pool this morning. Have not been there since Primary 3??? :) Decided to go there instead of Stampark because parents had something on at St. Peter's church so they suggested I just swim at KMC so that I could easily pick them after my swim.

I kind of like the water at KMC better...feels like water at home... but the problem is they don't open to public on weekday mornings... only in the afternoons (2.30-4.30!) and in the evenings (6-8)... so that won't suit my schedule very much.... too bad.... it would be nearer to my house. :(

Did about 10 laps of breast stroke today! I really feel like I'm getting stronger everyday! The only bad thing is my poor skin... but so far 3hours post-swimming, no itch... that's a good sign. But it's burnt like nobody's business.

I really look ugly with all my peeling skin and obvious demarcation lines of my swim suit! Haha!

But it's my intention to lose weight and be physically stronger. I'm sure I need to be when I start my housemanship later. It helps to be physically strong on top on having mental toughness.

Imagine having to do continuous chest compressions? Haha! One time I saw a resuscitation in progress at the red zone of the A&E department. The doctors, nurses and medical assistants were taking turns to do chest compression because it's tiring!

But the poor man did not survive his heart attack.

The most heartbreaking moment was when his wife came into the red zone to see her husband's limp body on the resusitation table.

Why Ginger Boy's picture today? Yesterday my uncle orange persian cat (just like Ginger Boy except that Pippin was long-haired) was run over by a vehicle. Instant death because his head was crushed.

It's always heartbreaking for the whole (extended) family when a pet dies.

The only good thing that came out of it was that the family came together. Because being a HUGE family (dad has 8 siblings), there always tend to be squabbles/conflicts... but once a tragedy like this happens, whatever disagreement gets buried and forgotten.

Ginger Boy died of FIV (feline equivalent of HIV) 2 years back. H'es one tough cookie until he succumbed to FIV.

He literally lived out his 9 lives with us. He had many near death experiences, the most memorable one was when he came home one day with epistaxis (nose-bleeding) and haematochezia (bleeding per rectum)...

We rushed him to the vet, but dad did not expect him to survive despite his amazing track record.

He remained in the vet for 3-4days unconscious and the doctor explained to us that his prognosis was grave and that he had the classical symptoms and signs of rat poison (warfarin) ingestion, causing him to bleed in the brain.

The family faced many difficult moments whether to euthanize Ginger Boy or not, until the 4th or 5th day when he suddenly woke up and began drinking and eating on his own.

We were estatic but he had some neurological deficits, to which the doctor thought would affect his quality of life substantially, and continued to press us to consider putting him down humanely.

He had the typical cerebelar signs. He could not walk properly, kept on falling down or twisting his limbs. Then his head kept bobbing back and forth and his eyes made sideways jerky movements.

An excellent hunter, Ginger Boy couldn't even jump up the couch which was less than a meter high.

Dad tried to persuade us to let Ginger Boy go, but I was adamant to have him with us for some more time...

And you know what, I've never prayed so hard or wished so hard for anything in my life. Ginger Boy recovered completely after about 6 weeks!

He continued to bring home rats, snakes and lizards after that incident until he died of FIV several years later.

Ginger Boy, hope you're enjoying heaven!