41st Birthday

 Happy 41st birthday to me. 

My son had been planning to get me a gift for weeks now :)

It is just us in Sydney for this birthday, glad that we are coping during this difficult time (COVID-19).

Happy birthday to me. I need to keep striving to celebrate more birthdays with my wonderful and amazing son!

10 years post transplantation

Today marks the 10th year after my kidney transplantation. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, I am taking extra precautions to avoid the virus. Being a transplant patient, puts me in a high-risk category because I am immunocompromised. That means that my immune system may not be powerful enough to fight the virus. It is a very difficult time indeed, but exceptionally exciting for me to have accomplished 10 years post transplantation. A big thank you and credit goes to the health system in Japan for the monthly check ups to ensure that I am healthy. Now that we are in Sydney without Medicare (as we are on a working visa), it is entirely my responsibility to keep myself healthy. To appreciate the second chance that I was given, I plan to reduce my weight to keep my health at the optimum level. 

Today is also Tanabata in Japan, a special celebration in Japan. A special day to mark the special gift that I have been bestowed with. 

As I mentioned earlier, I plan to reduce my weight and aim for a healthier and longer graft survival. I hope to post more about this progress. Till, then happy 10th 'birthday' to me. A great gratitude to my selfless donor (salute).

Experimental chef

I always cook and we encourage healthy eating at home. During my working days, I still cook and usually the dishes are repeated. We also enjoy our outings during the weekend exploring and hunting for exciting menus and enjoy eating out occasionally. But, since the restricted movement due to COVID-19 pandemic, I tried to learn and cook many vegetarian meals. I have posted the pictures of some of the foods that I prepared. It's a shame that I didn't capture them all. I am still learning and hopefully these images will amuse me in the future once I am a culinary expert who excels in gastronomy.

COVID-19 for immunocompromised people

I would like to write about our life during the coronavirus pandemic. Since we are aware of the spread of the virus, we let Aritya to stay at home. The coronavirus is highly contagious and especially dangerous to the vulnerable group; the aged, people with underlying health conditions and the immunocompromised. Since I am immunocompromised,  I worried about my health. My work at the university involved teaching, training people on instrument and managing the laboratory to accommodate researchers to access some specialized instrument. Fortunately, face-to face teaching was ceased at the University, but my job still required me to be at the laboratory to help researchers. Feeling quite dilemma, I discussed about my health condition with my immediate boss and gave her some conditions for my work. She was very understanding and helped me as much as she can to let me keep my job. In the beginning of April, I stayed at home. But later, the University faced financial difficulties and suggested salary sacrifice to its employees. My days of work were already reduced and I started going to work two days in a week. The laboratory is usually empty and I keep distance from users and stayed in my office. My boss, also prepared some barrier, so that users do not barge in the laboratory. We were also provided remote access to the software of our instruments and we could control them from home or office. But, we need to be present in the laboratory to set up the configurations of microscope and some instrument. I wash my hands frequently and always wear mask. Once we are home, we always shower and put our clothes for wash. We limited our grocery purchases to twice a month and Satya only goes to the supermarket at late night. I use alcohol wipes to wipe each grocery and even wash the bags and dry them in the sun. We prepared ourselves with standby oxygen concentrator and also invested in a good full face N95 mask. Luckily, the number of infections in Australia is well controlled and the NSW government has only eased the restriction movement. Now, I take Aritya for a stroll at a nearby park and even around the house. We hope that until vaccination is found, we will be very cautious to protect myself from the virus

My son is 5!

My little explorer, the love of my life turned 5 today!

I made a chocolate cake the night before and surprised him in the morning while he was on the bed. He was delighted! Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have been staying safe at home, and I tried on cooking several dishes which I rarely cook. So, for his birthday, I cooked chicken biryani and both Satya and Ari-chan enjoyed it. In the afternoon, with his help, we both baked another cake and celebrated his birthday within ourselves. It was a happy day for him as he turned five.

 During the restricted movement, he entertain himself with reading. We also ensure that he does his schoolwork with some additional activities from home. Once, the restricted movement was eased, we often go for a stroll at a nearby park. He enjoyed staying at home, and it was a pleasure to be able to homeschool and play with him and teach him many things. He went to sleep feeling very happy and told me that he had a wonderful birthday indeed.

Mother's Day 2020

We are going through a challenging time. The COVID-19 pandemic have also affected and we have been staying at home; working and schooling since the end of March 2020. School work was given in Google Classroom with occasional zoom meetings with the class teacher. Only this week, the NSW government has started to ease restriction and school kids were requested to go to school once a week. Aritya went to school this Monday and he was so hopeful that he could skip school. He was getting so comfortable with us at home and he was also diligently learning and doing his classwork. The stay-at-home restriction allowed him to venture on Enid Blyton books in addition to his Roald Dahl Collection. Apart from completing and submitting his school work, we also encourage him to complete some workbook and exercises which deemed suitable for his level. It is highly pleasing to see him work hard and enthusiastic to learn.
For mother's day, I prepared some banana fritters and bought KFC for Satya and Aritya. I was more into 'giving' rather and celebrating mode this year. At night, I prepared chicken sausages stew for dinner. Aritya, was very kind to paint some drawing for me. He hid it and wanted me to look for it, the first thing in the morning. As part of his schoolwork, he also wrote very special answers on why I am special to him. I think (nope, I know) that is the best mother's day love ever.