How true is this? I have no idea… We went to a restaurant called “Bab al Yemen” (gateway to Yemen) at Al Zahra district.From the outside building to the interior, it seems the authenticity is ethnic, though I haven’t been to Yemen 🙂 , I presumed it is presented as it is.
The interior is decorated with miniature Yemen houses, traditional utensils and wood doors.
We ordered Malawah bread, a Yemeni flat bread, sprinkled with cumin seeds, hot and freshly out from tandoori oven. We also tried plain and with cheese, which are both equally crispy and delicious!
plain
cheese
cumin
We asked what specialty or the most popular menu on the list, the smiling waiter suggested to order” Salta” a meat stew in tomato sauce prepared and serve in a black stone pot made from mountain soil. But I am not meat eater so as my friends, so we opted for okra,chicken,potatoes and shrimps.
potato maghash
shrimp maghash
chicken maghash
okra and side dishes
Previously, we also tried some Yemeni dishes in Thalia mall, also serve in hot stone, tuna and liver maghash.
malawa bread
tuna maghash
liver maghash
ladies, you see how exciting to be beyond fifty, we took the risk and survived being shoot over the head.. so get in before it’s too late ….just kidding 🙂
We left our home as early as 5:30 am, to catch the sunrise, unfortunately we didn’t reach on time.
We stop along the area, to buy tamis ( a big round bread)and foul (made of fava beans) for breakfast, we ate it as fast as the sun rises above us.
As soon as we arrived, I got ready with my camera, there’s not much to shoot anyway, it’s all sands but I tried to make it more interesting ( I hope so 🙂 )
After the purpura episodes, I have resigned to being just the group photographer but don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying it, I love taking photos. Beautybeyondfifty won’t be at the corner just because she can’t take part, life is too short…Enjoy!
Eid holiday, the last official holiday for this year (2013). We decided just to drive around and let our mood take us to to wherever …whenever…oh well, Rabigh, an ancient area west of Saudi arabia is not a bad choice after all. We have found the “tent city” owned privately by the locals. We have gathered , some of the tent are also for rent, if the owner are out of the city.
I was able to get a few shots of how the tents looks like inside.
the kitchen
the salon
pegs
water supplies
inside the tent
green- color of the night
A portable bathroom was also installed in each of the tent, a satellite and their own generator to pump electricity.
The night was cool, wind blowing and the group enjoyed the night.
Our “ice and cheese” trip to Candy corner, Jeddah Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, the shop was closed for Eid holiday, so we were not able to get in and see what they have but for sure we will come back and try the goodies!
Third week for my prednisolone treatment for Purpura. When I decided to take the course, it was not easy for me to just take it on, I have to weigh the pros and cons , the risk (side effects) and the benefits it will give and the relapse after gradual withdrawal of the medication. Unfortunately, one cannot completely uncouple the good from the bad sides of steroid treatment.
After reading all the side effects:(13 % of patients taking more than 10 mg for 2 weeks course, side effects will be visible) I have to take 40 mg a day (8 tablets every morning) oh:-( Got no choice, i started noticing ecchymosis (hematoma) on my upper arms as well.
both my upper and lower arms
Common side effects: headache, abdominal pain, increase appetite ,blurred vision, dizziness, irregular heartbeat
More common: increase appetite will lead to gained weight to having “MOON face”
The Key …for CURE is PREVENTION
So I gather:
The first week: abdominal pain , I wake up every morning at 6 o’clock to eat my breakfast, so I can take the medicine without stomach irritation. I also take the tablets with minimal water.
Though I don’t have any vision problem or dizziness, I opted to stay at home for two weeks, to give my body complete rest and free from stress. But it is always impossible not to have one, I didn’t have any mood swing though.
Irregular heartbeat: at times but nothing that is worrisome.
Increase appetite : YES oh yes!!!
Has anyone been under the weather and didn’t visit the refrigerator as often as you can. huh food ! I started counting my calories intake but i can not control, my hands and extremities were trembling…like come on…grab me please!
It made my metabolism sluggish and temptation to eat more, so I figure out, if i can minimise my calorie intake and have my daily exercise into a minimum, I wont be gaining a lot of weight.
My daily breakfasts consist of oatmeal with a top fruits and milk:
Oranges: vitamin C helps reduce stress, also well-known for boosting immune system
Sweet potatoes: satisfy the urge of eating carbohydrates. they are packed full of beta-carotene.The fibre it contains help your body to process the carbohydrates in a slow and steady manner.
Avocado: the monounsaturated fats and potassium in avocado helps lower blood pressure. Avocados have more potassium than banana.
Carrots: low in calories, I can munch like chips without worrying of getting fat. It is also a top source of Vitamin A and beta-carotene for healthy skin, bones and teeth.
Vegetables salad and strips of chicken or tuna for lunch.
Drink: increasing water intake will also prevent dry mouth which is also common side effects of the medication.
Exercise: I kept it into a minimum of 45-50 minutes everyday, nothing strenuous.
After 2 weeks, the blood spots are almost gone.My medication was reduced to six tablets a day for another week and 2 tablets everyday for another week to complete a month course and complete blood and urine test afterwards. Positively looking forward for full recovery, yahoo!
Beautybeyondfifty is turning fifty-four next month. Turning fifty and beyond was full of excitement, filled with new events, full of activities…beautiful life! I would say being healthy is the utmost concern of everyone my age. As I always remind my sons, “HEALTH is WEALTH”. If you are healthy, your mind and body is healthy, you can think and do well in class or at work, eventually,a healthy efficient person earns wealth 🙂
Though I may look like sweet and slow, in reality, I am energetic and poised! I exercise regularly and eat a balanced food, though I stay away most of the time from carbs, I double my servings of fruits and vegetable and added proteins on my diet. I haven’t got any serious sickness for the past 15 years except for occasional headache, which is tolerable.
So, Whats the big fuss??
Oh well, it started last Friday the 13th of this month, we’re having so much fun at the pool when I accidentally fell and one of my leg got caught at the metal rails of the ladder. Nothing big, just a bruised and some scratches which was taken care off immediately.
I went home walking normally, I felt some bumps and bearable pain, so i applied some ice and medicine (quantomine) and protected it with elastic socks. the following morning, I saw some red spots above the area of bruised and scratches, so i thought, its nothing but as the days goes by, the small pin point red dots are becoming more and bigger and I thought for a while, I ‘m having allergy from the medicine that I applied , though it wasn’t itchy.
I remained calm and keep hoping that it will clear away by itself, until I noticed that there was no blister, my bruises and scratches from the accident was already gone but the skin rashes was getting more reddish and bigger, so I decided to see a Dermatologist and to my surprised! He said…it is not skin allergy..it is not skin disease.. it is PURPURA!
progressively getting more
Huh! yes, I am a health care practitioner but let me remember what is PURPURA? Suddenly the word, Petechiae, Ecchymosis ,Purpura are all playing in my mind. These three terms are all referring to bleeding that occurs in the skin.These are all skin manifestation of underlying cause of bleeding. Clotting factor deficiency?
As the doctor was explaining to me, he was writing a prescription and laboratory test, not only one… a lot! Oh God! I was walking alone to go to the nearest laboratory for my blood test and at the same time trying to remember his words, Purpura, blood test, platelets, predlon (Prednisolon) huh! what a day!
So this is me, my unscathed legs
my legs at age 54, photo taken last august 2013
and this is how it looks now after 12 days.
Alright, I don’t want this blog to be like a textbook but let me try to explain in simple words my condition.
What is PURPURA? (MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia)
Purpura is purple-colored spots and patches that occur on the skin, organs and in mucus membranes including the lining of the mouth. It occurs when small blood vessels join together or leak blood under the skin. When the purpura spots are very small, they are called petechiae. Large purpura are called ecchymoses.
in other words..it is blood spots
He ordered blood test like : CBC, ESR ,Creatinine in serum, CPRH , basically , he wanted to know my platelets count (platelets helps the blood clot), to see if I have infection or inflammation, to see if my kidney is functioning well and my other organs as well, so he can also determined if I can take the Predlone (Prednisolone ) safely without complication. Inshaallah! (commonly uttered word in Saudi arabia at the end of every sentence : may God permits!)
Idiopathic meaning unknown! oh my! but related to blood clotting disorder. It is divided into : NonThrombocytopenic (normal platelets count) and Thrombocytopenic (a very low platelets count).
Me: huh? how can you treat if the cause is unknown?
There are factors of course like, it appears commonly in women, venous hypertension usually appears in lower legs, senile purpura which appears in elderly (I’m still in middle age), trauma ( impact of pool accident? ), scurvy (i don’t have vitamin deficiency). Well, I guess at this point, I would consider it as an autoimmune disorder.
Anyhow, to make the story short, I got my blood test which is all in normal count. Thank you Lord!
It’s probably my spleen or bone marrow is in limbo and thought that my body is under attack and trying to be a hero not knowing thats a normal platelets. that’s explain why i have purpura.
So, what now?
Initiate prophylactic treatment to boost immune system: Prednisolone (corticosteroid)
Rx: Prednisolon 5mg (8 tablets every morning) for two weeks.
8 tablets at one time every morning wow!
then repeat blood test etc…etc…
What are the things I should avoid?
-STRESS hahaha you must be kidding?
-contact sports, strenuous exercise
Ladies, if you are familiar with the steroid complications, then your guess is right…MOON face, huh who wants to have that? and many more (that would be in my next blog).
Taking photos of the kids and the kid’s adult (isip-bata) in play makes the Friday 13th memorable. I just selected a few shots to show some actions or movement, Sorry friends, I am practicing my novice skills in photography 🙂
I was carrying my gym bag on one hand and two white coats on another and a shoulder bag, my tarha ( a long black scarf, women use to cover their hair in public) was just loosely hanging on my neck.
I went inside the elevator and pressed number 2 without realising that my tarha was caught in between the elevator door.
as i pressed no.2 i didn’t know that my tarha went in.
As the elevator went up on the second floor, I saw my tarha disappeared in seconds! Thanks goodness, it wasn’t wrapped around my neck or else, I’ll be choke to death.
I heard a lot of stories about abaya (black robe women wears in public) being stuck in between doors of buses, cars or stairs of escalators , so I am so careful , but it seemed … tonight is not my night… 😦
what happened next?
i should have known the word elevator is commonly known as lift
– Iphone on the rescue!, called my brother to no availed, probably sleeping or he can’t hear the ring. the signal is erratic but manage to make another call.
– called the Haris (our guard man) but he can’t understand “elevator” and I forgot the arabic term for it.(wast’nat/mas’ad,shad,rafa’aa or asan’ser)) and i should have used the term “lift” instead of elevator.
– pick up the emergency elevator phone, no one on the line, no electric fan inside the elevator, temperature was getting higher, after all this is Saudi Arabia! what to expect?
– sat down, hoping my elder brother will wake up, tried calling him again.I was calm, I know my younger brother will come anytime soon, he just dropped off my staffs in their respective homes.
– after 10 minutes, I called my younger brother but he was still far from my house.
– called my friend Nabil, he can’t recognise my voice and can’t hear me well too, thanks goodness, his wife malou, recognised me, after so many calls and explanation” I am stuck in the elevator, please call the “Haris.” oh lalala..at the end she told me to send text so they could understand clearly.
– yes ” text messages” works great in this situation, but how can i text the ” haris” when he can’t even understand my language? can he read? so i texted his number to Nabil.
-I tried one more time to talk to “Haris” slowly but clearly, I told him in arabic,
” Ta’al epta bil bab” (come open the door).
Eventually, he sensed there’s something wrong , so he went inside the apartment and saw my tarha outside the door and figured out that I am stuck inside..hurray! he has good mind after all ! He got a metal bar, with his mighty hand forced the door opened, while I am pulling the Tarha to released it as well, together we tried and wallah! the elevator door opened.
the after effect
-After 25 minutes, I got out! My brother and friends finally came, just so thankful that I got out safely.
TIps:
elevator – arabic ( wash’nat acdg to Haris) in arabic (mas’ad or shad or rafa’a or asan’ser) or use the common term used in Jeddah, “LIFT”
Keep the “tarha” neatly tuck without any frills.
Look carefully…make sure everything is away from the door before pressing any number.
– use text messages, if no one understand you clearly, make sure before leaving any place phone battery is fully charged or at least not less than 50 percent.
– Keep Calm, don’t panic, PRAY
Ladies, I hope this mishap will not happen to any one of you. PLEASE be CAREFul!
Dr. Myriam- The Dental Aesthetic Clinic 
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