The Searchlight of Insight

Christmas Cantata

Saturday night Tess and I took the kids for dinner at Dan Ryan’s and then for a walk through Hong Kong Park and Central to see the various Christmas decorations adorning Hong Kong. Then today Union Church held its Christmas Cantata. That was quite amazing and the choir clearly worked long and hard to create that production. The last song, however, they were joined by the kids choir… and some young kids… starting at two years old! Funny story there… as the triplets walked in with the other children, Jasper saw me. Reportedly he’d just had a very minor accident in his pants. JJ didn't think it was minor. At the top of his lungs he informed me – and the rest of the congregation – at least four or five times… “Daddy, I’m WET!” Too bad I didn't get that on video… it was truly hilarious. But the tour of Hong Kong Christmas decorations and the last song of the Christmas Cantata can be found below. Enjoy.

Bouncy Bouncy Babies Parts 1 & 2

Bouncy, Bouncy Baby - Part 1

Well folks, for the last few weeks I have been dwelling on the idea and potential of You Tube... voila, here is the first product of that dwelling. A clip of Carys having fun in the sun during the summer. This was taken on one of our last days at Fintry after watching Carys & Sela go wild everyday (for three weeks whenever they were in the pool) bouncing. They loved it and hopefully you will, too! SURPRISE: Part 2 is now up... please take a moment to RATE the videos, too. Thanks!

Yes, I know the videos can be embedded in the blog but I ran into some technical difficulties trying to do that today at lunch.

GG reports on Jasper

Today we have a guest blogger... Tess' mom, Maureen - otherwise known as Gorgeous Gran, or MoZiLLa - who is visiting for a month. GG provides an update on Jasper who is in the hospital.

A wee update on my precious littlest man - he is still in hospital and will be there for another day or two I am guessing.  He is certainly breathing better than he was but today with just a little exertion he was huffing and puffing and wheezing.  He has a nasty cough and when he really gets going he goes bright red and still vomits and gags sometimes.  On my shifts today he did not vomit, not sure about the others.  He is eating the food brought from home which I am sure is very comforting for him.  Tess stayed the first night with him, I did the next two and tonight Tess is with him again.  Charles home tomorrow after leaving his hotel in Australia at 3:30 a.m! and gets into HK at 3p.m.  I hope to convince T and C to allow me to stay with JJ tomorrow night if he is still in hospital.  (GG & the kids on the Star Ferry, Sunday Feb 26.)

I have lost count of the number of rules I have broken at the hospital and they still continue to treat me very nicely.  Sadly for them I just do not see the necessity of wearing a mask and so rarely do - some of them get quite firm with me, others simply ignore me.  This afternoon 3 doctors came into the room all masked up and I sat there and chatted with them with mine hanging around my neck!!  I am better behaved about wearing a gown all the time but certainly got booted out very quickly the other day when both Tess and I arrived to visit.  ONLY ONE VISITOR AT A TIME! 

We have now resorted to the wonderful, heaven-sent portable DVD player!!!  At this point JJ is getting a little short on this staying in hospital gig.  And we all agree that if watching DVD's 24/7 helps then let him do it.  When he does take breaks we now can let him out of the crib as he has been taken off the machine that measures his oxygen level and pulse rate.  So he and I played lots of rounds of "Ready, Steady, Go" around the room.  But even he, who is so jovial and good tempered, is getting pretty fed up with it all. 

And just so you know - not only must you be out of bed at 6:30a.m. sharp but you really shouldn't be making up the cot for yourself until 11p.m.  I broke that rule two nights in a row!!  I also ran the DVD player on Chinese juice this morning - oblivious to the fact that I was really and truly breaking a rule!!  Ah well  :-)

Thank you for all your concern for JJ and for your prayers. 

And on Saturday I leave this fair land and head back to my darling husband - so looking forward to that, I can assure you!!

Jasper update

Today we have a guest blogger... Tess' mom, Maureen - otherwise known as Gorgeous Gran, or MoZiLLa - who is visiting for a month. Today GG reports on Jasper being in the hospital.

The flip side of the excellent care JJ received last night paints a picture of surprise and shock as how a state-of-the-art hospital such as the Queen Mary copes on a budget that does not allow for frills.  Let me further paint the picture.  When Tess, Jasper and I left for the hospital last night (which is right next door so the equivalent of approximately 2 blocks of walking) it was pelting rain.  But the rain was the lesser of the challenges.  The wind was the kicker.  Huge gusting winds that swept and swirled and gave a new emphasis to the hairstyle known as "the windswept look".  It was major.  I asked Tess if  it was possibly pre-typhoon but no, it was too cool - and I do recall a #9 to 10 typhoon last year when I was here and the mugginess was certainly a factor.  There was no mugginess last night. 

We reached ER and as I mentioned earlier were very quickly ushered into our little cubicle for assessment of Jasper.  As in many ER bays the various segments are separated only by curtains - Mandy and Cole, that should ring a bell from your IV Therapy days   :-)   For some reason many doors were not shut so the chilly gusting winds followed us inside and as we sat waiting for the doctor and nurses the curtains were being blown from their floor to ceiling position to nearly 90 degrees up in the air.  This would have been fairly OK except it certainly compromised the privacy of each area, especially for our poor elderly neighbour who was in pretty rough shape and moaning in her distress.  But! what got Mo's ire up, up and away was when I spied dried vomit all down the curtain as it was billowing over Tess and Jasper!!  Oh my goodness!  No! No!  As we left to go upstairs to Paediatrics to be admitted I drew the "vomitus curtain" to the attention of the staff and to their credit they leapt into action to change it.  Gross! 

Some of the staff, probably due to the language barrier, communicated virtually nothing last night and we were left to do lots of guessing.  Others were so helpful as they explained every step.  Everywhere is much more spartan and old looking than what we, in the western world, are used to.  And of course, space is an issue.  For some reason, my presence did not create the problem both Tess and I thought it would.  In fact, I was treated with a great deal of respect and am allowed the privilege of access in and out of J's room whenever I wish.  Almost nothing is provided so one has to bring nappies and wipes, drinks, blankets and pillow for the adult sleeping beside the baby, clothes/pj's for the baby, food for the adult and any snacks for the baby.  Interestingly, while I was with JJ this morning from 8-12 noon a tray materialized at lunch time consisting of mashed potatoes, cooked cabbage and a steak of something I did not recognize.  I was so touched they had thought of me and said, "Oh thank you.  Is that for me?"  The answer was politely returned, "No, for baby."  There is no way Jasper could have tackled this steak! nor was he interested in the potato which I offered him and he shot right back to me.  As with much hospital food - presentation was not everything!  Tess said that at 6:30a.m. a nurse came into the room and said, "It is 6:30a.m. - time to put your bed away".  So Tess collapsed her tiny cot and propped it in the corner.  I can come up with no reason whatsoever that necessitates cots being put away at 6:30a.m!  Tess said no one came near nor was anything different happening!!  "Ah, we have always done it this way!!" 

But I was so pleased last night, when Jasper was going to have blood work and the nasal secretions taken, that the staff listened to us when we said we would stay with Jasper even though they encouraged us to leave as they knew it was going to be painful and frightening for Jasper.  So appreciated that.  And this morning JJ and I watched a children's program on the TV in his room - all in Chinese, of course..... I need to getting cracking on learning a few words  :-)

I was here when the girls woke up from their afternoon nap and it was very sweet watching their reaction.  The room was still dark and I crept in as Mila lifted Sela out of her gro-bag.  I went over to Carys who was kneeling, still in her gro-bag and looking into the empty crib beside her.  She bent her arms at the elbow and put her palms face up and said, "Oh Oh Jasper".  The girls are quite thrown by the absence of their brother and know that something is definitely NOT right in their world.

So, there is a tiny glimpse into the Health Care system in Hong Kong.  Very interesting. 

Editor's note: the phenomenon of providing one's own nappies, food, drinks etc is partly cultural. While the hospital will provide the basics of food and drink, the family will rally behind someone in the hospital to provide everything else. First, it is common to find large families waiting to visit an ill relative... they may only be able to visit one or two at a time, and they may not get in at all to visit, but they will still go to the hospital to show their support. They will also rally to provide many of the comforts of home: food, drinks, DVDs, CDs, clean clothes etc. This cultural trait is shifting, though, and Tess and I have also seen patients in the hospital who never see a famil member at all.

Jasper in the hospital...

Today we have a guest blogger... Tess' mom, Maureen - otherwise known as Gorgeous Gran, or MoZiLLa - is visiting for a month. Today GG reports on Jasper being admitted to the hospital.

My poor little Jasper is currently in hospital with an asthma attack.  Tess and I took him to ER last night at 7 p.m.  I was very impressed as I watched the impact of the words "very premature at birth" and "having trouble breathing."  Immediately JJ assessed and cared for.  I will attach a couple of paragraphs I have sent Charles (who is in Australia):

"Just home from hospital - stayed for about an hour after taking over food and blankets, etc.  JJ such an exhausted trooper.  Poor little man had to get blood work and nasal swabs - Tess and I stayed with him throughout.  Tess has been remarkable with Jasper and to see the connection between the two is so lovely.  She is comfortably settled for the night right beside him.  She has a cot, I took her food and JJ finally drank some water before falling asleep in his crib.  He has been vomiting due to so much coughing.  Saw his Xray and you can see the left side is different from right.  Tests being done - blood and nasal secretions - are to rule out different infections.  Praise God for the chicken pox as it secured them the Isolation Room.  The doctor on call on Paeds is a darling and has a very nice way with JJ.  While still in Emergency and between coughing fits JJ had no scruples at all - he flirted his heart out with a lady as they played peek a boo, and he blew her kisses and suddenly was whipping his tongue in and out of his mouth!!!  She adored him, of course! 

So Chuckles, your wee boy is in God's good care.  He will watch over him. 

I will go over tomorrow morning."

And this morning's update:

"He now has a fever so may need antibiotics.  Results of blood and nose secretions will be in this afternoon.  He finally started eating around 10:30 this morning and I changed two majorly dripping nappies while there between 8-12 noon.  Very pleased that he finally voided as there had been nothing since 7 pm last night.  Tess came home for a spot of sleep.  Now she is there and Lita will take a shift this afternoon while Tess takes Sebbie to his hearing appointment.  I am guarding the home front as we are expecting a parcel from Shenzhen that I need to go through in case I need to send anything back for speedy changes before I leave on Saturday.  JJ has been smiling this morning so that has been so nice to see - always horrible to see them sick enough that the joy goes out of their faces, especially when all these nasty things are being done to you.  Yuck.  I suspect he will be in for another night at least.

Tess is doing well although very sleep deprived.  I will see whether I could do the night shift tonight and let her come home for a hopefully good night's sleep. 

JJ has been doing the gamut:  "Mummy?  Daddy?  Sela?  Carys? Babby? Lita?  Mila?  De?"  He is SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE."  Hopefully the steroids and ventilin will kick in soon soon soon.  He is working pretty hard to breath and it will be good when it is all easier for him. 

Happy Birthday to the Terrific Trio

Today marks the Terrific Trio's second birthday. Since we have a chicken pox attack wafting its way through the house, the celebrations will be delayed a few days or maybe even weeks. Tonight I walked into their bedroom and thought back two years... it was Sunday night and they were almost twelve hours away from being born. The situation with Tess seemed to be status quo, and we thought that just maybe we could squeek another week or two out of the pregnancy. But over the course of the next twelve hours the preterm labour picked up it's pace, and by about 4 to 5 AM the writing was on the wall: the triplets were going to be born. Two years later they have done amazingly well, praise be to God, the incredible healthcare we received from the Queen Mary Hospital NICU and the support from our friends and family. A special mention goes to Lita, Mila and De, who day in and day out for twenty-one months have provided the Terrific Trio with extraordinary, reliable, consistent care.

JASPER, 2.2 lbs (l) at birth; February 2006 (r) playing with a balloon.

SELA, 2.1 lbs (l) at birth; February 2006 (r) doing Wiggles moves.

CARYS, 1.65 lbs (l) at birth; February 2006 (r) doing Wiggles moves.

You've come a long way babies.
We're proud of you and love you!

November is Premature Awareness Month and November 15th is Prematurity Awareness Day. I went  to the March of Dimes web site to read about the campaign. There are a whole list of families with stories very similar to Tess and mine. The stories, of course, are very moving and in many ways overwhelming, taking me back to almost two years ago when the Terrific Trio were first born. As usual, it seems like only yesterday but at the same time seems like a lifetime away. Is that because the Terrific Trio are doing so well, are healthy and thriving with no immediately apparent issues resulting from their prematurity? Or is it because most of the time I just want to block out that exhausting time in my life? Or maybe both. It doesnt take much scratching beneath the surface for me to experience that exhaustion all over again. However, the Terrific Trio are doing well, so I count my blessings and try not to complain. Lots of other parents had outcomes very different than the one Tess and I received.

One Million Point Smile

Okay, okay, okay… so I was rrrrng… I mean wrrrrrng. Well, whatever, the point is that all the hoopla about Jasper’s teeth turned out to be one big false alarm. Jasper’s two front teeth have broken through and as you can see from this set of pictures the little lad has a gorgeous set of pearlies that make his smile look even cuter. As the first tooth was on its way in, it must have managed to wrap itself around a mountain of gum flesh, giving it the appearance of Frankenstein. The gum flesh is gone and a whole, complete, happy tooth busted through. Preemie Pinball deducted no points (for now) and the pastured racehorse is hoofing it back to the track.

One Million Point Error

We’ve been manoeuvring down the highway of life playing Preemie Pinball now for the last fourteen months. Once out of the NICU we thanked our lucky stars and praised God for the Terrific Trio’s incredible progress and our very good Preemie Pinball score. We steered clear of several potential disasters, such as the NEC epidemic that swept through our NICU just a few weeks after the last baby, Carys, came home. A few months out of the NICU, after Carys had a month of physio under her belt, the score kept rolling higher. We know we are not out of the woods with numerous issues that lurk any corner. Overall, though, the Terrific Trio has done extraordinarily well. However, the last few days something has worried us with Jasper. After hours of research last night on the Internet it dawned on me that last June we may have made a million point error that has yet to tabulate itself in the Great Score of Preemie Pinball.

The problem with pinball is my inability to keep up. A quick glance during the game lulls is about all my reflexes can afford. Triplets and preemies are about the same way with stuff transpiring so quickly. There is always something that didn’t get done, or could have been done differently. I guess it’s like that with lots of parents – constantly second-guessing if the right choice was made in the best interests of your child. Like everyone says, “There’s no instruction manual.”

To end the suspense, here is the deal: Jasper has an upper tooth coming in. But this is no ordinary tooth… this tooth looks like it belongs in the mouth of a retired racing horse put out to pasture. First, this tooth is huge. Second, this tooth is erupting at a tremendous speed. Third, from what we can tell there is no enamel on the bottom… it’s as if you can look right up the centre to the exposed, pinkish red dentine.

Yes, that’s correct, looking at this tooth will make your average person cringe. Think of Dr. Evil’s Executive Assistant in the latest Austin Powers movie that had the gigantic mole on his face – no one could stand to look at him. Every time I examine Jasper’s tooth, I have visions of a mad dentist rushing at me with a screaming, high-speed dental drill. Each time Tess and I discuss Jasper’s pink iceberg we imagine ourselves avoiding the poor lad's face for the rest of our lives.

Diagnosing Jasper’s Heterodontosaurus gums may be a little early until this ten-inch tusk completes its adventure out of Jasper’s jowls. After a lot of reading my first guess says that Jasper has Enamel Hypoplasia.

“Enamel hypoplasia means there is a lack of enamel (white coating) on the outside of the teeth. Premature infants have enamel hypoplasia four times more often than term children. The left upper front primary teeth are twice as likely to have enamel hypoplasia than the right. It can be found on the permanent teeth, however the problems are generally less severe. Causes are intubation and mechanical ventilation, as well as a lack of certain nutrients in the NICU. Children with enamel hypoplasia are more likely to develop cavities in these teeth and will need careful, routine brushing and close monitoring by the dentist.” (Courtesy of www.prematurity.org.)

Any number of serious illnesses and circumstances can cause enamel hypoplasia that clearly don’t apply to the Terrific Trio. But there is one controversy that causes enamel hypoplasia and could apply to the triplets: water fluoridation. As most readers would be aware, in the 1960’s developed nations around the world began fluoridating water. Why? The belief was that the fluoride would reduce the incidence of cavities in children and make for stronger teeth. This assumption is now greatly challenged by a large part of the global medical community. As one doctor writes on the Fluoride Action Network web site "I am quite convinced that water fluoridation, in a not-too-distant future, will be consigned to medical history." - Dr. Arvid Carlsson, Winner, Nobel Prize for Medicine (2000).”

Research continued in parallel with more and more nations introducing water fluoridation in the latter half of the 20^th century. As a result many countries, Hong Kong being one of them, started reducing levels of fluoride in community water supplies. Interesting results emerged: cavities in children dropped. “In 1988, Hong Kong reduced water fluoride levels from 0.7 parts per million (ppm) to 0.5 ppm. By 1995, 31% fewer 11-year-olds had cavities with a 42% reduction in average cavity rates, according to the Hong Kong Public Health Bulletin (1). Similar reductions occurred in 1978 when Hong Kong's fluoridation rates were first cut from 1 ppm to 0.7 ppm (2)” Read more here... Meanwhile, a growing body of research indicates that water fluoridation leads to enamel hypoplasia.

Hong Kong authorities never eliminated fluoride altogether. My point in all this? Last June we made a decision to use filtered, and then boiled, tap water when making the Terrific Trio’s eight daily bottles (each) of formula. The filter we use (similar to Brita) removes nasty germs, bacteria and bad tastes, but not fluoride. Boiling the water does not eliminate the fluoride either. In fact, boiling the water actually increases the concentration of fluoride in the water. This whole thing came together last night like the past piece of a giant sabre toothed jigsaw and I thought to myself, “Well THAT’S a one million point error.”

Being premature, the Terrific Trio are already at risk of enamel hypoplasia. Adding in fluoride increases the risk and boiling fluoridated water increases the risk even further. Sela and Carys have yet to sprout little pearly whites upstairs but we’re watching their gums closely. We cannot beat ourselves up too much, either. Irrespective of fluoride the Terrific Trio could have nurtured terrible teeth due to their prematurity alone.

Is there anything we can do about this? If damage has been done it is too late and also irreparable. It is too soon to say if this will affect adult teeth – also extremely common. In either case, cosmetic enhancements is the only answer to insure glistening smiles or strong self esteems. We can prevent further damage by immediately switching to distilled water. That happened today – a month’s supply of distilled water will be delivered shortly. The rest is a waiting game to see if the Preemie Pinball machine deducts one million points from our score. As it happens the game paused after flashing up a flag that reads, “Game will resume after receiving gold coins to pay for YOUR son’s dental work.”