Update..

Today, went to visit dad during the first visiting hours. We cannot stay overnight with him as he is in ICU, so they do not allow people to stayover and moreover, the doctors and nurses take very good care of him. So, the first visiting hour is at 9am. Usually, I would wake up at 7am and prepare breakfast for not only CT now, but mum, bro and sis-in-law. My bro and sis-in-law, Pam stay with CT's colleague (Kok Fong & Gek Teng) as they stay nearest to us. They stay in a 2 room apartment just like mine.

After breakfast, drove to the hospital which Dad is in- University of South Alabama Hospital. Going to the hospital does scare me a little as the car has to go past railway track each time to and fro. So, I would pass by the railway tracks 4 times each day as we visit dad twice a day. So, my heartbeat will become faster when I am in the car. The first few days, I would close my eyes or once, I actually screamed and cried when the car went on the tracks as my mind would recall back the accident. But, after much prayers and support from my family, I decided to overcome it and now, I open my eyes but my heartbeat still go faster a little.

Dad look slightly better today. He looks cleaner. The nurses have also changed his bed to an air mattress which will move up and down to prevent bed sores. Dad is still highly sedated and is depending less on the oxygen, which is a good sign. So, slowly, the nurses will reduce his dependency on the machines but to allow him to be more independent. I am thankful his surgeries went well yesterday. He had a breathing tube placed in his throat, and rods and screws were placed at the back of neck to stabilise it. The surgeon also put a filter near his groin area to prevent blood clot. The doctor advising the whole operation happens to be a famous doctor who was specially asked to fly down to Washington DC to operated on the president's bodyguard when the president was assassinated. So, we felt so blessed that he is now overseeing my dad's operation. All God's plan..

Whenever we visit dad, we would sing worship songs to him especially songs he love to listen to..and of course, we pray for him and just submit everything to God. After praying, we were leaving the room, when we noticed another patient in the room who seemed to be suffering. So, we went over and asked what happened. Heard that the girl was shot in the stomach by a gun and the mother was crying beside her bed. So, we went over to comfort her and prayed for her and family and told them to trust in the God and just pray.

After visiting dad for an hour, which was when the visiting hours was over, we went shopping today. I know most people would think, "Go shopping when such a thing has happened?? where got mood?" Well, we feel so much peace that we are not worried at all. So, everything seems to be "normal" in a way though we know it will not be the same again. But we know that God is in control and we just feel joyful and praising God continually.

So, we went to a sports shop where all of us bought shoes. Me and mum has to buy shoes as we lost ours in the accident while bro and Pam bought as it is cheap. CT did not buy anything as usual. After shopping, we went to an Arts and Craft shop as Pam loves artwork. We spent some time shopping at the shop and then, we were so hungry that we decided to eat buffet. So, CT suggested Indian buffet since we all missed curry. So, we had Indian buffet which is about 8 US$ per person. After that, we were so full cos you know how buffet is..always make a person so stuffed.

After buffet, we dropped bro, Pam and mum at Walmart then me and CT went to Bel Air Mall to change our car. CT's company suggested us changing our car to a bigger car to accomodate all of us since now, we have 5 people with us. CT's company is really nice and thoughful. So, we changed our car from a Pontiac Grandam 3.4 L car to a Ford Taurus 2005 3.0 L car. Though the capacity is less, the newer car is much bigger and luxurious. The Pontiac car is a sports car so the ceiling of car is so low and the sitting space is very small. We all enjoy our new car.

Then we drove the car to Walmart to join the rest. We did grocery shopping and mum bought some loose fitting shorts so that she can dress easily with her injury like that. Her leg is wrapped up with a mobiliser which has a dial to slowly increase the angle which she can bend..so every few days, she will be able to bend more and more.

After grocery shopping, we went back to apartment to put down our stuff. I drove mum in the car to my apartment office to collect a bouquet of flowers which a note was hung outside a door saying that flowers were left there for us to collect since we were not home. I collected the flowers from the office and read that it was from my good friends from church- Marianne, Joshua, Esther and my god daughter, Phoebe! So happy to receive it. Thanks you guys!

After unpacking our groceries, we went to visit dad again. Bob, CT's american colleague was there with his 2 kids and I really like Bob. He is a great guy and has been very helpful. Recently, his bro-in-law suffered heart attack with 3 block arteries as well but yet he still makes time to visit my dad and mum. He has been a great Christian brother to us. He even activated the whole church to pray with us, having sms and emails sent to everyone in church. Bob was the one who invited us to his church. So, we are really thankful to God for allowing us to know him.

During the visit, we talked to the nurses taking care of him and I must say that the hospitality is really great. They are always so helpful. They say that they will reduce the sedation on Dad so that he can wake up. Slowly, he has to depend less on the drugs and breathing equipment. The main thing is the blood pressure. They insert a drip which keeps his blood pressure good..however, my dad seems to depend on that alot as it will fall once they remove it. So, we have to pray that Dad will be able to keep his blood pressure good and constant even without relying on the drip.

After the visit, we went home and as usual, I would prepare dinner for my family and while leaving the cooker on, I would go help mum to bathe. This time round, she seems to be more independent. I still remember the first time when I had to bathe her and sponge her. It was tough but fun as I love for people to feel good and I know a person will feel better when he/she is clean. But today, we put a chair in the bathtub and she practically bathed on her own. I would help clean her back and feet and make sure she does not fall.

Today, I cooked beef stew with spaghetti. We are all so full from lunch, so it was a simple dinner with less salt as the food we eat outside very salty. Added potatoes, beef cubes, carrots, and celery in the stew. Yummy. I enjoyed it.

Everyday, we keep receiving a lot of calls and smses from Singapore as our friends and family seem to be very worried for us. I am so thankful for everyone of them. The various newspapers also have been calling. I kind of felt tired of repeating my story..so I have slowed down in entertaining already and passed it to my other family members. Hehe..

Today, when we came back from our second visit to hospital, there was a parcel outside our door in my apartment. It was given from CT's vice president of his company. It was a nice hamper with cookies, chocs, lots of cheese stuff.

My family is very grateful and touched by all the many concerns and prayers given out to us. Very humbled.