Mum and the MCO

Being confined at home during the Movement Control Order (MCO), Conditional or Enhanced, has taken a toll on many people – mainly the elderly – and my mother was no exception.

View of cloudy skies from our backyard

At age 88, mum is in the high-risk age group and she understands that the best place for her during the prevailing pandemic, is to be safely at home.

We have a garden for her to potter around comfortably and she kept a routine with reading the newspapers, doing the laundry, cooking up meals, doing light exercise and watching TV for daily news updates.

Since March 2020, our extended family have been staying in touch through modern technology and with the borders closed, it was truly a bonus to be able to chat with family and friends in locations abroad via video calls.

Pharmacy in Klinik Mahmoodiah

In August 2020, mum suffered acute pain on her right knee, and she decided to consult the Orthopedic Specialist at KPJ Puteri Specialist Hospital, Mr Lim Choh Keong, who is also a family friend.

When mum had a fall several years ago, Dr Lim treated her fractured ankle and to seek relieve for her painful knee, an appointment was made for mum to see him.

Mum was also suffering symptoms like shortness of breath and general discomfort, so we also fixed an appointment to consult Cardiologist and Physician, Dr Yap Sau Peng. [We are familiar with Dr Yap because he took care of our late father.]

Drive-Through pharmacy at
Klinik Mahmoodiah

That day, mum consulted with these two specialists in one visit. While Mr Lim performed a procedure to draw out the gunk from mum’s swollen knee, Dr Yap examined mum’s heart and chest condition from x-rays and found that she was fine.

Meanwhile as a pensioner, mum has her regular health checks at Klinik Mahmoodiah, the outpatient clinic where she received a prescription for her ailments.

Over the years, I would collect her monthly prescriptions which she took daily as prescribed. As a retired midwife, she is aware that it was essential to keep her health stable, especially when she was advancing in age.

Since the MCO, I brought mum for her appointments only twice when the clinic staff confirmed that mum should go in for a doctor’s review before receiving her next prescription.

Stopped at traffic lights on our
drive-about through the city

Due to the prevailing pandemic, the clinic issued her prescription with three months’ supply of medicine and when the date was due for the next collection recently, I was instructed to go to the Drive-Through pharmacy at Mahmoodiah clinic.

However, the pharmacist there told me that they did not stock one item in mum’s prescription, so I had no alternative but to go to the clinic’s pharmacy to collect it.

It was a rainy afternoon on Oct 19 while I trekked between the Drive-Through pharmacy and the clinic pharmacy to collect mum’s prescription.

[I could not help but wonder about the efficiency of this system which still compelled the patient to go to two places to collect one prescription?]

Mum with A&E doctor at PSH

Mum’s symptoms of shortness of breath and general discomfort had prevailed even before August and by early November, her condition had further deteriorated.

I was aware that many people were suffering strange symptoms due to the lockdown syndrome or cabin fever, so mum was probably also having similar symptoms.

To improve her mental health, I even took mum out on a drive-about to see familiar parts of the city.

But every morning, I observed that mum had much difficulty in eating her breakfast and had to pause often to take in deep breaths. As the day passed, her condition would stabilize but at dinner time, she again suffered shortness of breath while eating.

She has good days and bad days – with more bad days than good – because her general weakness and discomfort was causing her to lie down more often.

Mum went through a battery of tests

Sometimes in the morning, she would tell me that he heard the neighbour playing such loud music late into the night. I politely agreed with her but in fact, I did not hear anything. From this, I knew that her tinnitus was bothering her.

I knew that she was frustrated with her malaise and asked if she wished to consult her doctors. Each time her reply was a decline because if he asked her to describe her symptoms, she declared, “I don’t even know what to tell the doctor!”

Because she could no longer bear the physical discomfort, she would ask for a kuat sar massage, a traditional deep-tissue therapy on her back and shoulders that would give her some relieve.

Preparing mum for Mr Lim to
perform procedure on her shoulder

I knew that her condition was serious when she again needed another kuat sar massage within the span of a few days.

One morning, she could hardly hold up her head because she felt giddiness and such a heavy head. After a neck, head and shoulders massage, mum felt some relieve.

I observed that mum was trying to be brave by not complaining about her condition but on some days, she just could not help feeling poorly and the need to lie down.

For my mum who was so active, this was abnormal, and I was deeply concerned.

At this point, I did not think about mum’s daily prescription that she was taking religiously over the years but on hindsight, I should have guessed something was wrong because of her tinnitus.

Dr Yap examining mum as she had the chills

This condition is a ringing in the ear caused by the aging process and loss of sleep, stress and anxiety, but one of the causes of tinnitus was reaction to certain medication.

One night, mum said she suddenly could hardly move her limbs but after flexing her fingers, she managed to reach for her trusted eucalyptus medicated oil to massage herself and finally managed to move again.

Another night when our dog barked and woke us from sleep, mum told me that she had an acute pain on her right shoulder. This pain continued to bother her in spite of frequent massages with eucalyptus oil.

Her general weakness, shortness of breath and the additional painful right shoulder compelled mum to finally agree to consult Dr Yap again, so an appointment was fixed for the afternoon of Nov 5.

Mum with Dr Yap Sau Peng

Things came to a head on the morning of Nov 5.

After her breakfast, mum wanted to lie down again, with an instruction to pile two pillows (higher!) for her and to cover her with the blanket.

With chills emanating from within, mum was shivering with cold even after I had covered her with a blanket right up to her neck.

It was an absolutely harrowing experience to watch helplessly as my mum trembled with chills and struggled to breath.

I kept talking to mum to reassure her that I was there and said that I was going to call for an ambulance to admit her to the hospital nearest to our home. I also quickly informed my siblings and asked my sister to come over.

Mum sitting up to read newspapers

After a few minutes, mum was thankfully, no longer gasping for breath or shivering with cold but had calmed down and rested quite comfortably.

My sister and I agreed that we should admit mum right away and as we shared this decision with mum, she responded positively probably because she knew that she needed immediate medical attention.

It was interesting that mum recovered sufficiently to instruct us on what to pack along for her hospital admission. By this time, my sister and I saw that mum seemed steady enough for me to drive her instead of calling for the ambulance.

At the entrance of KPJ Puteri Specialist Hospital, we went through the QR code scan and temperature checks before my sister accompanied mum into the Accident & Emergency room.

Sitting up to read newspapers again

The A&E doctor called up mum’s file and x-rays and gave her immediate treatment to stabilize her condition before we took our turn to consult with Dr Yap who examined mum and admitted her for observation.

While mum was there, she also consulted with Mr Lim who examined her painful right shoulder and diagnosed it as bursitis. He then arranged for mum to undergo the procedure to draw out the gunk from her shoulder before it could heal.

Meanwhile mum went through a battery of tests to ascertain the cause of her ailment and it was reassuring to learn that her condition was not life threatening.

When Dr Yap studied mum’s prescription from the clinic, he thought that the dosage prescribed was too strong and reduced the dosage to observe her reaction.

Discharged and heading home

After Day Three, mum’s condition was still up and down so the doctor decided to keep her for another two days for further observation.

[In fairness, during the prevailing pandemic mum did not see the clinic doctor as regularly to highlight her symptoms but just continued taking the prescription in the prescribed dosage through these months of limited movement.]

Thankfully, mum regained her normal breathing pattern especially while eating and based on the record of her readings, the doctor deemed that she was ready to be discharged.

In my chats with family and friends who were sending wishes to mum for a speedy recovery from her ordeal, I learnt that they happened to know of elderly friends/relatives who also suffered strange symptoms when their prescriptions did not agree with their bodies.

The dosage for mum's prescription
was adjusted and reduced

My cousin, who is with medical sales, commented that this is a common occurrence with patients who were advancing with age. Once the dosage was adjusted, they were fine again.

By sharing this experience, I wish to create more awareness and to benefit others with this knowledge.

It is truly mind-boggling that sometimes it took the simplest of adjustments in the prescription to make a big difference in the patient’s reaction to the medication.