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So, on Wednesday night, I woke up from my sleep with acute teeth pain. It was so painful I was almost in tears. A sharp stabbing pain like nothing before. And some itchiness at the back of my jaw to top it all off. So I made an unscheduled visit to my dentist the next morning. He suggested I go for a root canal but recommended I go for a second opinion because it was the first time I had ever needed a root canal.

I skipped that yesterday because I was rushing to work. And then this morning I went to him again, and he suggested I get an x-ray, because I now had additional symptoms. I agreed, and then I went to a dentist that was recommended by my ex-manager. Because it was a walk-in, the wait was quite long; think about 1.5 hours. During my time there, a kid screamed in the surgery. ^^; I think he was just too nervous?

So then I got an x-ray and some very interesting information about my teeth. For one, I still have my milk teeth (2 of them!) Also the tooth that required the root canal had sort of “invited” the tooth next to it, so I may need to do two root canals instead of one. However, that was something that could be done one at a time. The price though, was a good RM100 higher than what my original dentist was charging, though the tempting offer was that I’d have to visit him less.

The best part of all? Both dentists take only cash. WTF.

Rest of the day was spent waffling between the two. The reason is simple: cheaper dentist is more familiar with my teeth and is a known factor. However, he’s only around on weekdays, which means if I want to do it on weekends it’s a no-go. More exp doc is available on weekends, including tomorrow, but he’s fully booked till next week. I can take a chance and walk in, but the nurses say it’s better for me to get an appointment done first.

Got home and discussed things with the parental units. Dad suggested I try the dentist that did his extraction nearby, because at this point in time, cost is an issue. I’ll go check them out and see what they say. Thing is, I’ve googled the place, and the reviews I’ve been seeing isn’t exactly… encouraging.

Also proof that my body also likes to joke around, the pain is quite acute outside my room. But when I’m in my room, I don’t really feel that much pain. However, it’s getting quite hard to eat. My left side hates it if any food gets in there, so I’ve been relying on the right side of the jaw to eat. This has the funny side effect of me actually tilting my head to the right so I chew on that side.

No, I don’t know why either.

Urgh this pain is irritating!

Also, as of 2014, here are the rough rates for root canals around the Klang Valley:

RM400-RM1,000, depending on who you go to.

Will post reviews of the different dentists later.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

This was a mere RM3 a month ago. :P

Being a quick and dirty post that I want to sort out when I have the time.

This insulin sensitivity post has described quite a few of the symptoms I’ve noticed about myself over the past few years, especially in the light of my Tanita reading yesterday. For one, my body fat percentage is 35%. For another, my body age is 42.

So despite having a relatively good weight, my body fat percentage is horrendously high. I suspect the machine is not calibrated for Asian sizes, because it suggested my ideal body weight was 52kg. I’ve been there, and do not want to be there again. :P Also I’ve been told that 52kg for my frame is unrealistic (55kg makes more sense).

Will probably start on the chap fan and breakfast diet tomorrow. The chap fan diet is a diet where I eat cheap economy rice without rice. :D There’s a restaurant near my house that has a pretty good variety of economy dishes at affordable prices.

With that, poofing time!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

If I sign up for something, I generally want to get my money’s worth (who doesn’t?). But with the weather like this… I think I’d rather go have breakfast and then come home to sleep.

Yes, that is Putrajaya at 7am. Usually you can see the building in the distance clearly, but today, you can barely see it. And that’s not mist, it’s haze. *cough cough hack*

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

So last night I somehow ended up running in the Men’s Health/Shape 2012 Run. It was a rather interesting experience, considering that I did not really train for this, and that it was my first time running with my new sports shoes (not the first time I used then, just the first time they were going to be used in a run) and vest.

I picked up the Wind Goddess a bit later than expected because I had a prior appointment with Joicy and it took a bit longer than expected. My brother then decided to drive us there, so I just needed to focus on getting myself ready for the run. Well, we reached there with plenty of time to spare, and unlike the Standard Chartered KL Marathon (I was there as support), we didn’t have any trouble locating the parking areas and meeting up with runners. Neon yellow-green vests are very visible!

Flag-off time was 8pm, and Wind Goddess and I were there at 7.10pm plus, so we decided to wander around. I didn’t take too many photos because I wanted to conserve my phone’s battery for the run, so we took just a few shots.

Including this lovely sunset!

Alt text reads: Sunset over Putrajaya

And then night fell quickly. Wind Goddess and I had decided to be kiasu and line up close to the front. According to her, “It’s a strategy, so that no matter where you are, you won’t come in last.” And this was how close we were to the front:

Alt text reads: Close to the front

Here’s the lopsided view of what it looked from the back:

Alt text reads: To the back~ To the back~

There were a few performances, including some by the Star’s Cheer National Champions, but they had a quiet reception because not many people could see them. Then they called the VIP who was the President of Perbandaran Putrajaya (I’d explain what that is, but the official site is down, hmmm). He was supposed to send us off, and I thought he’d give us a speech first before running off, but the next thing I knew we were off and running and I was fumbling with my phone.

But then we were running, and I remember telling myself to pace my steps. Didn’t really work as I was still moving quite fast, but as we left the bright lights of Putrajaya and hit the bridge, I began to slow down and start walking fast. Which was still not quite enough to beat Wind Goddess; I overtook her twice and then she did the same and I didn’t see her again after. :p

As I ran, I began to feel out of breath. My chest felt like it was on fire and I thought I would be done before I had barely begun. However, I persevered. There was no way I was going to let this beat me at the first kilometre. I caught myself wondering at times why in the world did I sign up for this, and then being very glad that I decided to dump extra songs in Mort; he played quite a few songs that pumped the blood and helped me pace myself.

I hit the first water station about 23 minutes after leaving the finish line. That one small cup of water rejuvenated me. Had to slow down a bit to drink the water, then I started jogging quickly looking for a trash can. There was no way I was going to be like the other runners who simply threw the cups on the ground. Littering is bad, people!

That said, I kept on running till I began to get a bit distracted, like Secret did when she did the SCKLM 10km run. I took my time looking around, feeling the cooling wind on my body, before I kept jogging up and down. It was also one of the few times I took a photo while running. Here, have a pic of what it looked like:

Alt text reads: Runners everywhere! All walking lol

Whoever told me that the route was mainly flat was definitely off their assessment. There were apparently 4 hills according to Zorocaster, and so I tackled them as best as I could. My strategy was simple; climb/crawl up the hill, then jog down.

If you follow my pace in Endomondo, they didn’t quite always work. However, I realise that the water stations actually help a lot. The temptation is to resist taking more than one, or I should just grab the bottle. The water wasn’t just used in my body; I poured some of them on my head, face, and even my shoulders. It helped cool me down.

Also did I mention that my running top was pretty awesome? I was using the Nike Women’s Dri-FIT Swift Y-Back Long Shirt, and it actually kept me pretty cool. In fact, I was aware of sweat only on my arms and back, where it was exposed. My tummy and other areas didn’t feel wet at all, which is pretty unusual considering that usually when I run in a t-shirt, these areas would be sweating like anything.

After that first water station, I discovered that breathing and lung burning weren’t there any more. In fact, I was almost comfortable with running… except that it was time to discover that various parts of my body were now screaming. First it was my left thigh, then my right foot, then my right thigh, then my lower left foot… roughly in that order. Yes, they were all polite enough to take turns to scream at me. At one point I think even my lower right abdomen side was screaming. :D

As long as I kept moving though, the pain was fairly muted. When I looked around to see where I was, I realised I was on the opposite side of the lake. The first thought that ran through my mind was “Wow, I ran that far? I can do this!”

So I kept running. And jogging. Then walking. But always I was moving. I did not dare stop, because I knew then that I would be done for. So I just kept putting one feet in front of the other. Till I saw this sign after the last water station and went yay!

Alt text reads: LAST THREE KM!

My very first thought was: OMG YAY LAST THREE KM! This was then followed by “KANASAI WHY IS IT UPHILL?” (that’s a Chinese swear word, in case you were wondering). My colleague describes it as killer, and I agree. It was no joke climbing it, and through it all my body was saying, “You’ve got to be kidding me, right? We’re running uphill on this?”

We did it though, and then it was a bit of fun as we ran traffic lights, through a relatively flat road, and the next thing I knew I saw the lights of the bright Putrajaya centre. This made me jog and walk a bit faster, and it was enough for me to come in at 1 hour 55 minutes for a 12.42km run (officially the run was 11.8km, but Endomondo tracked me a bit longer). Towards the last I saw plenty of camera people taking photos, so I did the next best thing…

I made faces at them. I’m still waiting for the photos to appear, but when I crossed the finish line, my first thought was “OMG. I MADE IT. I DID… WAIT IS THAT AN APPLE GIMMIE THAT OMNOMNOMNOM” because they were giving out apples at the end. Then I let out a whoop cause damnit, I RAN 11.8KM! Then I checked my time. Discovered it was under two hours.

Was on a high the rest of the night. :D

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Breast Self-Examination, or BSE as it’s called, is one of the things women can do to catch early warning signs of cancer. However, as we saw at Don’t Duck It, it’s not something a lot of people do often. You know how one of the things they used to say about Apple was, “There’s an app for that.” ?

Well, as it turns out…

There’s an Android and iPhone app for BSE reminders. Though I’m not too sure if those “hunky” guys are cute enough for me to do my BSE. Still, it was a good thought.

This entry has been written in support of Makna for PinkOcto. Please donate!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Now this is interesting.

In 2008, researchers discovered they could use nanoparticles to target cancer cells more effectively. Three years later, they’ve finally progressed from cancer cells in a lab dish to animal testing.

To their surprise, not only did the cancer drug work, but it was also required less of the drug required to function. This is great news, because the drug we’re talking about is cisplatin, which is a platinum drug that’s used to treat cancer. Remember I said earlier that the treatment is worse than the cure? Well, when you consider the side effects of cisplatin…

This entry has been written in support of Makna for PinkOcto. Please donate!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Just a short entry today, because I got home late from an outing.

What is a pap smear?
A pap smear is a test to see if you may have cervical cancer cells. This involves a swab being taken from your cervix area and being sent for a lab test, at least in my experience.

Here, have a wiki link. I apologise for the lateness of the entry.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

One of the most dangerous things about being diagnosed with cancer is the temptation to seek out alternative treatments instead of going the normal, conventional way. As Edrei mentioned, cancer is a disease where the treatments for it are much worse than the actual disease itself.

One of the things that really annoys me about certain cancer patients isn’t about them delaying treatment because they’re in denial. It’s when they delay treatment to find alternative cures for their cancers. I’m all for using alternative medication to alleviate the symptoms, but to ignore proven medication for something unproven?

Mreh!

This entry has been written in support of Makna for PinkOcto. Please donate!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Sorry guys, too exhausted to write one. Will follow up with another tomorrow!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Make a pledge and be part of the wall!

The Don’t Duck It Party happens this October 22 at Jaya One!

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.