Flash Back - How Physician Tan Siew Buoy takes care of pregnant patients ...

I arrived at Kang De Mei around lunch time. To my surprise, it was not very crowded. We went for our lunch at Chew Ji Soya Chicken eatery. After lunch and some waiting, it was our turn! I have been having this fantasy of breaking her good news for the past one and a half years. Today, it was the day!

Saturday cases were very long. I entered the room, greeted her and gingerly showed her my BBT chart.

She said, "Looking at your happy face, you have good news to share with me is it?"

"Yes! I just tested positive this morning!" I replied.

Physician TSB looked so satisfied with herself and said, "Wow, this is natural conception, good good."

She took out an old exercise book and began to calculate my due date and gave a number to my baby and said this was the number don't know how many thousand babies. She wrote some details down on her jotter book. I told her I was worried about this pregnancy because like the rest of the pregnancies, this was conceived on Day 26. She smiled assuringly and told me that late ovulation eggs are ripe enough and that the lining thick enough to be nutritious. She took my pulse and told me that the "Ren Chen Mai" - Pregnancy Pulse, was already evident. She had confidence that everything would be fine. My hub and I beamed back at her.

On hearing that, my heart fluttered with joy. "Ren Chen Mai" kept replaying in my head like a beautiful soothing melody. Everything that she said later were like music to our ears. She took my BBT chart and kept it. Apparently, once you are pregnant, she does not require you to take any more BBT. I asked her for the reason and she said she did not want to stress pregnant ladies because it was important to feel relaxed.

Physician TSB told me to have plenty of rest and take MC if I feel tired from work. I also had to refrain from lifting heavy items. I had to avoid eating papayas, watermelons, pineapples. She promotes the eating of apples and kiwis during pregnancy. Oranges are thought to produce phlegm. She also told me to avoid eating heaty and spicy food. In Chinese, she said, "Qing dan," means keep the food simple and bland. She reminded us a few times NOT to take any other form of herbs except from her. Because of this, she also told me not to drink any soup from outside because you never know what they put into it. Surprisingly, she said coffee is fine as long as it is not more than a cup a day.

I also realised that I had to see her every two weeks until I am well into my second trimester. Instead of eating medicine for two days, stop two days. I had to stop only one day. Instead of just boiling the medicine the usual way, there are two additional small packets of medicine within the big packet. One of the packet has to be added into the first brew after about 30 minutes. The second small pack has to be added before each consumption. The medicine with the extra packets of powder was very yucky to consume. I felt nauseous and even gagged a few times just to keep it down.

She also told me to prebook all the Saturday slots until March in case there are no appointments for me. I realised that she sees pregnant cases on Saturday to which she admitted later and said sheepishly," Sat appointments mean good news, everyone wants to go for Sat."

Two weeks later, I saw her again and told her Week 6 was bad because I had been spotting for three days. I told her that the night before the spotting, I had been eating a lot of vegetables from Crystal Jade Steamboat. She shook her head and commented that vegetables are too liang (cooling) for pregnant ladies. I should not have eaten that much. She asked if I had continued her medicine and I nodded my head. She nodded approvingly and said that her medicine had the effects of stopping bleeding too. She took my pulse and assured me that the pregnancy was still stable and everything should be fine. Every time she assured me, I felt my heart stabilise.

Two weeks later, we went to see her. There was nothing unusual but she was shocked that we had yet to see any gynae. I told her of my phobia and also the fact that I could not return to Prof Mahesh because I did not want to try IVIG. My hub asked if she had any gynaes to recommend. She took out a box of name cards from her drawer and highly recommended Dr Fong Chuan Wee from Gleneagles. She said that he was very experienced and she has confidence that he could take care of this precious baby for us. Even PL, the lady in charge of appointments, was singing praises of Dr Fong.

Two weeks later, we proudly showed her our first ultrasound scan from Dr Fong's clinic. She commented, "See, Baby so big already, still so scared to see doctor," She went on to ask when the EDD was. We replied, "16 August." She mumbled that that was a week later than her calculation.

She then teased us, "If you deliver on 9 August and the TV crew interview you, don't forget me."

We thanked her and assured her we would definitely remember her. By the way, she often referred to Baby as her Baby not our Baby. She always says, "Must take good care of my baby okay?"

Two weeks later, I broke the devastating news to her over the phone.

"Hello Physician Tan. I am so and so. I just want to thank you for your effort for the past one and a half year. But my baby is abnormal and we are going to terminate the pregnancy tomorrow," I said in between holding back my sobs.

"Oh, you are the one. Dr Fong has sent me the ultrasound and informed me about you. You don't feel sad. After your procedure, you can still come and bu your body back," She comforted me.

I asked her if I needed to do confinement and used herbs to bathe. She told me that herbal baths are not necessary. I just need to make sure that I bathe warm water in the day. She also told me to eat nutritious meals, keep it simple and bland for the first few days after the procedure since I would be bleeding. I should be tonifying my body only after around a week or so. She advised me to see her after Chinese New Year.

To my surprise, she ended the call by saying ...

"Do you have my handphone no?" she asked.

"No," I sobbed.

"9blah blah blah ... you can sms me anytime if you have any questions. You take care," she added.

At that moment, I was numbed. Just some time ago, I was teasing my online friend that she had "gold membership" from TSB because she had her mobile number (no such thing as membership lah... a joke that was in my mind then). Never did I imagine that I would be "upgraded to gold membership" after such a terrible event.

I DON'T WANT ANY GOLD MEMBERSHIP!