just some tings.

come 27 July 2013, I will be going bald for a cause.

I have been putting some thought to this for a while, ever since I saw a couple of friends on FB doing it for the Hair for Hope 2012. It is pretty much similar to the Australian version of the World’s Greatest Shave for the Leukaemia Foundation. So why am I doing this?

Mostly because of Ollie. See..Ollie fell sick when he was 1.5 months old. He came down with a really high fever which saw him being admitted to the KKH for 5 days, on antibiotics for the next 6 months, then another scan to make sure that he was all clear before he could be discharged. This 5 day “resort” stay cost us nearly $4,000, for medication, scans, investigations, lab report, hospitalisation stay etc. Thank goodness for health insurance that covered the stay.

During those 5 days, especially the first two days, I went through an emotional rollercoaster. From watching my baby crying as the nurses injected the medication into his IV, listening to him shrieking in distress as they insert the IV into him, crying as they woke him up every few hours just to take his temperature and blood pressure, crying because he was cold and shivering away as they put him on the cooling mat to bring his temperature down, and seeing his temperature rise and fall like the stock market. All of that, and not being able to do anything except to hold him and try to comfort him as he sobs against you.

By day 3, I was desperate to bring my child home. We bugged nurses for the medical report to find out why Ollie was having the fever. It was always ” we suspect” but we wanted final answers. Of course we finally got the report, it was UTI, and then it was another round of investigation to find out if Ollie could take his meds orally or it had to be intravenously.

Day 5, I couldn’t be any happier to walk out of that hospital room, and go home.

But how is this comparable to what the parents of cancer stricken children have to go through? It is the pain of watching your kid being in pain as they go through treatment, and yet not being able to ease that pain cos you know that it is necessary for them to go through it. Listening your  child shrieking & struggling, not understanding why they have to go through it.

Oh the number of times both Donald and I had to hold Ollie down just for him to take his cold/cough medication. He is one not happy camper.

A friend then commented on my FB status, about me signing up for the HFH. She asked if I was doing this on Ollie’s behalf and if Ollie was gonna go bald too. I definitely did not hesitate about going bald for cancer. But I hesitated about shaving Ollie’s hair. Why? Selfishly, the first thought that came to mind was..Ollie wouldn’t look cute with a bald head. Yeah, like the kids who have cancer had a choice about losing their hair. I felt guilty after that. After thinking about it, I really wouldn’t mind shaving Ollie’s hair for this event. However, only participants who are at least 7 years of age can register. Hmm, maybe Ollie’s papa can shave Ollie’s head at home in support? =P 

So, I would like to seek your support in helping me to raise funds for this event. I had the intention of setting my target at $4000..because that was the amount that was the cost of Ollie’s hospitalisation stay. Surely, the cost of staying in the cancer ward way exceeds that. But I thought I should be realistic and set a goal of S$1,000 as this is the first time I am fundraising.

You can find my profile page here. I know my hair is short now, but I do have every intention of not going for any haircuts until 27 July 2013. So please support me! Thank you in advance!