Supplements on a Budget

When I saw my neurologist this year, he wanted to start me on "nerve vitamins", so he prescribed them to me.

I was dismayed to find a massive queue at the pharmacy. I should have known better - late morning is the peak hour. And I'm in a hurry to meet my friend for lunch!

Let's try to get express queue...

Pharmacist at the counter not auto ley. Screw it, I shall get it another day. I asked the pharmacist to give me the name of the item. It's Neurogen-E. I was told it's sold in the retail pharmacy as well. Is it... let me scout for it outside first.

Grab iHerb

I have been very bothered by the build-up on my scalp. Normal shampooing was inefficient at removing it. Using brushes caused too much hairloss. If there's facial scrub for face, why isn't there scalp scrub?

Then, I read about exfoliating shampoo containing salicylic acid. It softens the build-up for easy removal. Neutrogena has such a product, but it strangely does not seem to exist in Singapore. Many other brands were of a more upmarket range.

Mineral Fusion was raved as an affordable and effective product. And guess what, iHerb carries it!! Haha I thought stuff like salicylic acid is chemical and frowned upon! Does it qualify by virtue of being paraben-free, cruelty-free and vegan? Like trying very hard lor!

But it's out of stock :(

New Therapy Centre

Some People Died decided to change their targetted group of clients. Each centre would only provide transport to clients living in the centre's area. In other words, I was to leave this centre. I was given 2 choices nearer my house, or I could go somewhere else of my choice.

iHerb New Hauls

After Mother complained that the last of her Now Foods vitamin B-12 have the problem of dissolving in atmospheric moisture, I'm getting another brand for her.

21st Century Health Care, B-12, 500 mcg, 110 Tablets

USD3.54

With lower dosage, since she has been on 1000mcg for quite some time. Let's see how this goes.

Queen Helene, Aloe Vera Scrub, Sensitive Skin, 6 oz (170 g)

USD3.40

A customer asked for facial scrub, so Mother decided to stock some. The only affordable brand that people might have heard of, is Queen Helene. I don't think it's wise, as facial scrub is a product that takes a long time to finish. We take a few years to go through ours! And I can't vouch for whether this product will move, as it's not well-known here. O well, let's give it a try.

Owndays

Sister has some eyecare allowance for claiming before she quit her job. Good chance to get new spectacles! My frames are 3 years old liao lor, so outdated sia.

New Therapy Fee Schedule

Received a scary letter. *Gasp* What new fee schedule!

Reading on, I was relieved to know that fees will remain unchanged for now.

Reminder about the damn means-testing...

Can I tell them Brother doesn't live with us anymore?

Restocking

My Sierra Bees Pomegranate Beeswax Lip Balm has run out after 1 year. So annoyed that iHerb has done away with the free gift system! As if it's not enough, they have stopped giving out random small gifts too. Now I have to buy my own lip balm :(

Anyhow Buy From iHerb Again

New products from iHerb!

Christmas Present

My one and only Christmas present this year, from Some People Died.

Took photo because I'm feeding the inedible items to the dustbin.

So, You Wanted Some Feedback

18/8
Feedback form! Oh, you are so asking for it.

I just got a new PT, again. Obviously, there has been no handover done regarding my case at all. He's clueless about my HKAFO! Did he read my case notes? Or is there actually anything regarding it in my case notes?? I really want to know! It's unacceptable that everytime there's a new person seeing me, we have to go through the whole process again, wasting my time!

The usually no-comments me wrote a scathing essay (by my standards), lambasting the way they are handling me. Not accusing them of anything, I suggested that they start doing documentation in case even the last person with the know-how (and we are literally down to one last person; the rest were no longer working there) is not around, we could still proceed. How many times do they get to handle a HKAFO? Good learning experience ok?

Today
The manager came to speak to me. She confessed that my suggestion was good and wondered why they have not thought of documenting (!!! WHUTTT!!!)

The PT started my session earlier too. Hahaaha paiseh ahhh must have scared the boy :P

Means-Testing

Out of the blue in July, I got a letter asking me to submit a Means-Test Declaration Form. At first, I didn't want to, since it's a waste of time to fill in the form when my application is going to get rejected anyway. Even though Mother dumped her boss, we were still considered "rich"...

But hey, I discovered that the form already bore our family details, and all I had to do was to send Brother's payslip since everything pretty much remained the same. Ok lor I shall submit!

Today, we got the result. Zzz.

They sent the same reply to all members of my family. Waste paper lor.

Dear PT, Buck Up!

Last Monday, when I was on the standing frame, the new PT who took over me passed me a questionnaire and a pen and asked me to fill it up and return it to her at the end of the session. Off she went about her other duties.

iHerb - Joints, Skin, Food

Mother complained of aching joints and the polyclinic doctor prescribed glucosamine, but those dispensed were not vegetarian. Hence the search for vegetarian alternatives online. Being a lazybum, I went back to iHerb again. I briefly considered Vitacost, but their shipping cost is too prohibitive.

For the sake of 5% discount for orders over USD60, I added a lot of other items into the shopping cart. Classic case of spending more than intended.

I placed the order on 6 Apr and the delivery arrived on 11 Apr. 5 days... ok lah.

Bad Service by SBS Transit

Happy day coz I'm on MC! As usual, I'm not sick lah. Having follow-up appointment with the rehab doctor at No Use Hospital.

Rehab Cancellation Charges

Uh oh worrying subject line!

Glad to know no change in charges! *clap clap*
Kind of amusing to see this paragraph about charges for second accompanying caregiver. Looks like there have been people abusing the service. Using it as transport to go out maybe.

Haha! I have the feeling they came up with this after the Irritating Guy flew plane on numerous occasions! But too bad he's no longer with us.

Good that they have this cancellation charges clause, but I wish they could make cancellation easier for us. How many people can decide that they will feel unwell the next day, by 5pm today? Actually the centre is still kind enough to accept same-day cancellations within reasonable notice, but I have encountered occasions when there wasn't anybody to pick up the phone from 8am to 8.15am. They should have a cancellation email address or voicemail so that we can inform them even over the weekend. Funny that they don't have anything like this in place yet! And I never remember to write it in the feedback.

Goodbye OT

Today is the last day that my favorite therapist is seeing me. Nobody to crap and gossip with me anymore :(

Goodbye S.

New OT looks boring.

Pedal Wheelchair

While waiting for therapy to start, a curious-looking, brightly-colored wheelchair caught my attention.


It's a pedal wheelchair, suitable for people who are unable to use the regular hand-propelled wheelchair. One hand controls the steering by rotating a brake-like gadget with the elbow as a pivot. D the TA let me try it after my therapy session. I'm game for it.

Difficulty in transferring over to the chair because of the pedals in the middle of the chair. Unfortunately, I still have problem operating it because I couldn't quite pedal continuously. And I found it difficult to control the steering too. No good for me :( Otherwise, it's a cool product.

To Health & Beauty! (Cheaply)

Not quite done with the spate of online shopping! This time, Mother wanted to buy some health supplements. All thanks to a shop at our nearby market which managed to convince her that she needs help. No sarcasm here, heartfelt thanks! Of course, they sold her overpriced products, so here we are, looking to iHerb for more affordable alternatives.

The Hard-to-Get Incentive Spirometer

I have an idea! Today's my appointment at the eye clinic. I can try asking for the incentive spirometer form the doctor!

Tried... but the doctor told me that it's only available in the wards. Not that she didn't want to help me, but she couldn't just give me one. One way was for them to refer me to their physiotherapy department and I could get from there.

o_O 太大费周章了吧... I thanked her and declined. In that case, might as well ask the rehab doctor to give me instead of getting yet another clinic involved and having to pay more fees. And no more spare leave to see PT already.

Mission: Failed.

The Elusive Incentive Spirometer

My long-awaited break! Aiyah, just a scheduled appointment with the No Use Hospital's rehab doctor, which happened to fall after Hari Raya Haji, so it's like an extra weekend!