Say Yes or No to HPV Vaccine

In 2006, the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine became available to help prevent HPV infection. In other words, it is to help prevent cervical cancer. Sounds good right? Who wants to have cancer? If we can prevent it, surely we would. BUT, there is more to know before you give it the thumbs up.

VACCINATION FOR 13 YEAR OLD GIRLS

This is especially important for Malaysian parents who have a daughters that will turn 13 years old one day. The Malaysian government is going to provide this vaccination to all Form One students. This programme started in 2010. It is conducted in schools. There will be three doses altogether, administered separately at different times.

According to Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, the HPV vaccine that will be provided is for HPV type 16 and 18. This type of HPV account for up to 70% of cervical cancers worldwide.

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
How safe is the HPV vaccine? Of course it has done a lot of good. It is proven to have reduced cervical cancer by 70% BUT we cannot discount that there may be possible side effects and adverse reactions.

The VAERS or Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System helps the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) and FDA ( Food and Drug Administration) in the United States to closely monitor the safety of HPV vaccines. As of June 22, 2011, there were a total of 18,727 reports to VAERS on adverse events after HPV vaccination. This means of the 35 million (approximately) doses of vaccine distributed in the US, 0.0535% had an adverse reaction to it. From that number of VAERS reports, 92% were considered non-serious, and 8% were serious. What does it mean by serious? It means the person was hospitalized, is permanently disabled, has a life-threatening illness, has a congenital anomaly or died.

Okay, so you may look at the numbers and say, "Hey, it seems to be doing more good than harm". That's true. BUT what if your daughter happens to fall in that minority group? You can't predict if she will or will not. We're talking about girls who took the shot and then experienced paralysis and seizures. Their lives changed forever. Take a look at this video and tell me what you think.



 Here's another video you might want to look at: HPV VACCINE SIDE EFFECTS EXPOSED


So moms and dads, what do you think? Will you say yes or no to HPV vaccination for your daughter?

Chinese Herbs For Sore Eyes

Chinese herbs for sore eyes

I'm so glad that the case of sore eyes is now over for my family. I took the longest to heal. Up to yesterday, the vision in my left eye was blurry. There was no more redness but I was getting headaches due to my imbalanced vision - one side clear, one side blurr.

Anyway, DH also had the case of sore eyes but used chinese herbs to medicate it instead. He said it helped a lot as his infection wasn't as bad and it went away fairly quickly (within the week). Definitely cheaper than seeing the eye doctor. It was RM10 for one packet of those herbs. He bought a total of 8 packets. You put 4 rice bowls of water and boil it on low heat for 1 hour. You'll get the following:


You can get about 3 bowls of concentrated concoction. You don't have to waste the herbs. You can add more water after that and boil some more. It won't be as concentrated. The diluted concoction you drink just like you would drink water. But the real medicated concoction is the concentrated one.

How does it taste? It is not bitter. It is savory with a little bit of sour plum taste. Don't let the black color put you off. It really isn't that bad to drink.

If your infection is just beginning, you may only need 2-3 packets for the sore eyes to heal.

It's funny how as a chinese and with the chinese herb stores nearby, I didn't think to go there for a remedy. Didn't cross my mind that there would be chinese herbs for sore yes. Now I know and now you know.

Is There A Way To Get Rid Of Pink Eyes Fast?

I've been looking for a way to get rid of pink eyes (sore eyes or conjunctivitis) fast. And you know what? There is no quick cure. I looked online. Some people say wipe the eyes with honey water. Didn't work. Some said use breastmilk. Tried it and didn't work. Some even recommended lemon juice. Errr... I'm not that crazy. I would think lemon juice would hurt your eyes rather than heal it.

It's been one week since I got pink eyes . My girl got it first and she passed it to the rest of us (the other 3 kids and me). However, baby and me seem to have it really bad. The other 2 boys seem to be recovering already. Doctor said it'll probably be another week for me.

Conclusion: It is really tough to get rid of pink eyes caused by bacterial infection. Even the eye doctor said it is getting tougher to treat them.

Best solution: Go to the eye doctor early and get proper medication. Don't be like me and try to treat it yourself with home remedies and then let it get real bad.
The best thing is... Don't get them in the first place.

Best practices:

• Wash your hands constantly. REALLY! Wash them every hour. Wash them before and after you administer medication. Make everybody in your household wash their hands too. If you're not making more than 10 trips to the sink, you're not washing your hands enough. I thought I was making an effort to wash my hands BUT obviously not enough coz' it spread to almost everyone. Put a timer if you must. March everyone to the bathroom to wash their hands every hour.
  
• Constantly wash the towels and pillow cases. Boo hoo. More laundry.
  
• DON'T TOUCH THE EYES. Wash hands if you do.
  

This is my poor baby with her swollen eyes. I was really worried yesterday when I saw blood dripping from her eyes. Well, it was more like red tears. My DH was calmly wiping it off her face telling me not to panic. DON'T PANIC? She's crying bloody tears. How is a mother not to panic?

This is me looking real good for Halloween.

This is the current medication. Please, please, please work. The ointment really stings my eye. The pain is really sharp like putting acid in my eye. 3 times a day folks.

Doctor said to watch the diet too. That means no eggs, no sea food, no fried and oily stuff. Many people just think about what medication to use to get rid of pink eyes fast, but don't give much thought to making diet adjustments too. Well, doctors orders.

So, today I cooked porridge. First I boiled some chicken breast. After it was cooked, I took it out to cool and shredded it later. The chicken stock I used to boil the rice. Also added ginger, "kiam chye" (preserved vege) for the salty taste, carrot and goji berries (good for eyes), tomato (antioxidant), and long beans .

To make it work, I chanted this magical chant as it cooked:

"Yummy porridge, boiling rice,

Help me heal my sore red eyes,

As I eat your nutritious brew,

Make my eyes as good as new."

Think it'll work?

What To Do With Pink Eye

My daughter K have missed school for about 2 weeks now because of pink eye (also known as sore eyes or conjunctivitis). Actually, the problem with her eyes started more than 2 weeks ago.

Out of the blue one afternoon, she said she felt a pain on her right eye. What I saw gave me a shock of my life. Not only was the eye red, but there was like a bubble on the outer side of her eye. Mind you, not on the eyelids but on her eyeball. The only way I can describe it is like having a blister on your eye. Anyway, DH quickly took her to the Tun Hussein Onn eye hospital. Apparently it was an allergic reaction. As they washed her eye, they found an eyelash. Don't know if that was the culprit. They gave her some drops and ointment. Her eye was looking much better when she came back from the hospital. Anyway, they told her to go back to the hospital 5 days later. By then, her eyes were ok.

4 days after that 2nd hospital appointment, both eyes became red. I wasn't sure if the redness had any connection with what happened to her eyes earlier on. I didn't want to go back to the hospital to wait another 2-3 hours. It looked like pink eye so I told her to keep washing her eyes with cotton. Asked her to put some cool sliced cucumber to relieve the discomfort. I was hoping her eyes would get better in a few days. WRONG!

MAMAS PARENTING TIP: If you suspect your child is having sore eyes, take him/her to a doctor straightaway to get proper medication.

Her eyes were swollen top and bottom. It was such a scary red especially underneath the eyelids, it looked like it was bleeding. When she closed her eyes, you could see like a bruised mark. After 4 days of having sore eyes, I took her to our family GP. He confirmed it was conjunctivitis cause by bacteria. He gave some antibacterial drops and ointment. Said it should clear within 24 - 48 hours. If not, go back to see him.

After 48 hours, I see more white in her eyes but still lots of red underneath the eyelids. Took her back to GP who recommended we see an eye specialist to check it out further.

MAMAS PARENTING TIP: You can see a general doctor for pink eye. But it is better to see an eye specialist.

When I took K to see the eye specialist, he mentioned that sore eyes these days are becoming more difficult to treat as the virus or bacteria is becoming more resistant to medication. That's why the medication given by the GP didn't really work. He gave K another kind of antibacterial drops and ointment PLUS antibiotics to take orally.

Pink eye due to bacterial infection is contagious. I know it can be worrying that your child is missing so many days of school. Try to make it up with some home schooling.

Also, make sure there is no sharing of towels, pillows etc.... Ask the other siblings to stay away as much as possible. Very likely they won't. Hahaha. That's the case with my kids. They just can't stay away from each other. Now my son D1 has one eye that is slightly red. Sigh! Attack of the evil red eye.

9 Simple Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat More Veggies

Image via Wikipedia

More Help Can Be Found At Dine Without Whine

It seems like a never-ending battle with the kids. Although you and I know veggies are delicious and they’re also good for you, they act like vegetables are a plague they want to avoid at all costs.

If you need creative ways to get your kids to eat more vegetables, here are 9 ideas to incorporate into your daily meals right away:

1. Make healthy choices readily available and put the sugary and greasy snacks away. This doesn’t mean totally depriving yourselves of these delightful treats, but making healthy eating a normal part of your day goes a long way to helping kids develop better eating habits.

2. Add veggies like carrots or even asparagus to smoothies. Kids love fruit smoothies and they’ll never know you put in a little of those dreaded vegetables in.

3. Sneak vegetables into other foods. For example: Add grated carrots into spaghetti sauce or make a zucchini chocolate cake.

4. Try dip. You know kids love to dip everything. Just make sure they know they have to eat the dip stick and not just lick it!

5. Take your kids shopping with you. Let your child pick out a new vegetable in the grocery store that they’ve never tried. Then prepare the vegetable together.

6. Be patient and consistent. Avoid having a tantrum yourself when your child has a tantrum about vegetables on their plate. Sometimes it will take several times of serving the same food before your child is even willing to try it.

7. Make it artistic and fun. Place veggies into a smiley face on your child’s plate or decorate a pizza with them.

8. Let them choose: raw or cooked. Some children may have a definite preference as to whether their veggies are cooked or raw.

9. Plan your meals. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the veggies when you don’t have a plan…allowing your kids to get into the habit of veggie-free meals. Plan your meals and grocery lists in advance, so you won’t come up short on the greenery.

To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. They put together your weekly dinner plan and even make a quick and easy printable grocery list for you.
Click here to get started

Bump on the Lip

A couple of months ago, K developed this bump on her lip that just wouldn't go away. At first, we thought it was an ulcer developing (or what our American counterparts would call a canker sore). But like I said, it just wouldn't go away. Finally had a doctor friend check it out and he said it was a polyp. It can be due to lip biting or an injury to the lip. I'm glad for his advice coz' I didn't know where to go to get this treated. He said either visit the dentist or ENT. He recommended the government hospital coz' it would be cheaper. But luckily the dentist around my area here took care of it for a reasonable price. The minor surgery came up to RM50 (and another RM10 for antibiotics and pain killer).

We didn't cut it out during the first visit. K had two loose front teeth and the dentist suspected that to be the stimulant. So poor K bravely extracted the two teeth. Here she is sportingly posing her toothless grin for me. I commented that she looked like a vampire and that was a mistake.
TIP: Don't make funny remarks about how your kid looks. They can be quite sensitive about their appearance.
We waited for one week to see if the polyp would fade away. Unfortunately, it didn't and so back to the dentist we went.
This is how it looked like right after the minor surgery. She was given an injection to numb the area. Dentist cut it out and then sew it up. K was alright before we left for the clinic. She was actually quite eager to finally get rid of that thing. Once she got to "the chair", she had cold feet. I had to do a bit of coaxing. The promise of a day off from school the next day did the trick.

As the anesthesia wore off, it started to get painful for K. Here she is all curled up wishing for the pain to go away. DH gave her a blessing for the sick and then I hugged her to sleep. Thank goodness she slept through the night. Next morning, she was alright. No more pain. Talked a lot and made lots of noise. Meaning she was back to her usual self. Actually, she talked so much, her stitches came loose. She was having noodles for lunch and I guess it ended up as one of the noodles. Yikes! Since it didn't bleed and the wound remained closed, I just left it be.

Well, if you ever see this bump on your child's lip (or even your own), you know what it is and what to do.