Thankful

Last night, I watched the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice where Bret Michaels (a Rockstar) beat Holly-Robinson Peete (an actress) to win the title. Bret Michaels has been dealing with a lifelong illness of diabetes since he fell very ill at the age of 6. Recently, he suffered from a brain haemorrhage and was in critical condition. But he made it to the finale of Celebrity Apprentice and I read that he will soon be going for a heart surgery.

I feel for people who have to battle with illnesses, especially lifelong or terminal ones. Perhaps it has a lot to do with my year working for the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in Singapore many years ago before I ventured into the hospitality industry and made that my career. At the NKF, my job was to organise marketing campaigns to garner donations and raise funds for the needy patients. A big part of the funds that were raised went towards the Children's Medical Fund for the Children's Kidney Centre - CKC (alright, this may be debatable as NKF was involved in some highly publicised scandal where the CEO was found guilty of cheating of the public funds a few years ago. But this happened long after I left the organization and is not for me to comment on).

So anyway, as a result of my responsibilities at the foundation, I often had to work with young patients, some as little as 2 years old. I had to visit them at the hospitals, chat with the doctors and their parents, and understand their condition. It was very tough. i remember some of those kids were battling with diabetes and had to face the possibility of a kidney failure. Some suffered strokes when they were only toddlers. And even for those that were lucky enough to receive kidney transplant, had to be on medication for life that would stunt their growth and hamper their development. Even though I was young, single, and had no children, I felt a lot of those kids. And I told myself to never take good health for granted.

There was this particular girl that I remember very well. She was about 5 or 6 at that time (about 10 years ago) and had kidney disease. Because of her condition, she had to be attached to the dialysis machine for 10 to 12 hours on a daily basis. She was a trooper though. I once asked her if she was in pain and she said no with a smile. I remember that face. And when I asked what her wish was, she said to me all she wanted was to be able to go to the beach with her dad and play. Such a simple wish, yet unachievable for someone like her.

Today, I am a mother. Everytime I watch my son running around the playground and screaming with joy, I am so thankful. And I remind myself to never take this for granted.