Candidiasis, a Closer Look

My soon-to-be 7 year old princess was discovered to have candidiasis in November 2008, 3 months after we discovered her severe allergies to dustmites and food.

It was Dr Wong from Tangkak who highlighted this to us and to him, we are thankful. Because from then on, we were adviced to minimize sugar and unnatural foods for her, mushrooms and yeast. He started her on probiotics which Vic has been religiously taking every day.

But it was only sometime last year that I chanced upon this book in a church book shop, just as I was about to leave but my eyes caught sight of the words "Candida and yeast infections" and correct me if I am wrong, but mention candida to most people on the streets, they give you the blank look. Even our usual paediatrician insists there is no such thing as candidiasis or yeast infection, because "if anyone does have it, s/he would be dead by now." Oh, what ignorance, so I decided not to argue with a man who has spent years studying and practicing medicine.

So this book tells me many things I do not know, helped me to understand Victoria's condition more, in an idiot-proof way. In a way, it answered me why. Why Vic. Why this. It also writes indepth about the cures (goodness, there IS a cure!)

Let me explain some salient points here, to start with. The below points are taken directly from "The Bible Cure for Candida and Yeast Infections" by Don Colbert, M.D.

1. Under normal conditions yeast lives in our bodies without causing us any problems... That's until we upset this delicate balance with antibiotics, prednisone, hormones such as estrogen and progesterone, too mush stress, diabetes, or by eating too much sugar and highly processed foods.

2. ... the harmless yeast can transform itself into an invasive fungal form. This invasive form, called "mycelial form" actually produces root like tentacles called "rhizoids". These roots can then penetrate through the lining of the GI tract, causing a painful condition known as "leaky gut" which is increased intestinal permeability.

3. When you have a leaky gut,partially digested food particles are able to pass through the intestinal lining and directly enter the bloodstream. Not only that,but toxic waste produced by the candida passes right into the bloodstream too. When this happens, food allergies can result, as well as symptoms of excessive bloating, gas, belching...

4. Food allergies may begin to surface as well as other food sensitivities. Once candida weakens the digestive system, it becomes increasingly difficlt to break down proteins into amino acids. When the partially digested proteins, called pepetides are absorbed directly into the bloodstream, your immune system recognizes them as foreign invaders. At this point your body may begin to form antibodies to attack them.

5. The most common reason that yeast grows out of control is due to excessive use of antibiotics.

Stop.

At this point, I am convinced that my little girl was NOT born with allergies. Her guts were spoilt by the antibiotics prescribed by her then paediatrician, a supposedly experienced but past retirement age man who has practiced privately and operates from his clinic, relatively well known in a town like Seremban.

I have no excuse eventhough we were young and first time parents. We were not hands on. We did not google, nor read on the severe side effects of antibiotics and allergies. Vic had at least twice or thrice been diagnosed with ear infections, which was why the doctor prescribed antibiotics. There was also occassions when she was feverish for few days and he put her on antibiotics as well. Sometimes up to 7 days.

Do I blame him? Do I hold any anger, even after 6 years? Yes! For goodness sake, my girl was less than 2 years old and she has had easily 3 rounds of antibiotics within 12 months. Of course it would be easy to point all our 20 fingers or more, and even our toes at him, but no, we are moving on. For everything that happened, there must be a reason, and I'm convinced God has great plans for her, to prosper her and not to harm her. And He will restore her health.

6. Food allergies are often related to a problem called "leaky gut". Leaky gut occurs when the lining of our intestines, which is supposed to absorb food and act as a barrier to keep out invading organisms,lies down on the job. This can happen when candida damages our GI tract.

7. When a yeast cell dies,it becomes food for another yeast cell,which tends to encourage the yeast colonies that are still present.

Vic is on a stricter diet now, since her last blood test that shows that yeast allergy has gone up. No sugar, or any kind - that includes all molasses, white or brown sugar, syrups, honey, fructose, glucose, maltose. Even sugars found in fruit juices and high sugar vegetable juices must be omitted.

Only Stevia, a herbal sweetener is an excellent alternative to sugar. However, I have yet to find Stevia even at the Village Grocer's or organic shops. The only place that sells it here is Vitacare however it contains addictives.

I may have to resort to ordering from the States.

Besides restrictions in diet, she is also on oil of oregano and grapefruit seed oil, pro/prebiotics and fibre drinks.

In a few weeks' time we will bring her to see a doctor for Nystatin to kill off the candida. What we may expect is a condition called Candida Die Off, then another round of blood test.

My hat goes off to the little warrior. Please pray with us.

Sleeping without clothes on...

Sometime ago I received some free Huggies pants that comes with colorful printed Bunnies on them. I let William wear one, and decided also that he didn't need his pants over his diaper, worn like some babies running around with just their diapers. Moreover, the weather then was unforgivingly hot.

Since that day, the next time I was out and Daddy put him to sleep. Apparently he wanted to wear just his diaper too, without his pants!

And then, one morning I woke William for school and found his pyjama top worn backward front, if you get what I mean. The front part of his shirt was at his back, and vice versa. The mysterious part was that I remembered him sleeping with his pyjamas the right way worn, and he insisted that he did not change his pyjamas himself.

Another morning, I woke him and found his shirt all up to his neck exposing his chest and belly. Even his arms were out of his shirt. I almost freaked out as the air conditioner was on almost the whole night, and he was still recuperating from a cold.

And another morning, he was sleeping on my bed under the thick duvet, and when he woke he cheekily told me to close my eyes. So I did, and then he jumped back onto his bed at the foot of my bed. I suspected nothing, but when I checked on him later, guess what... he was pantless!

I recall another "caught with his pants down" episode was when he was taking his afternoon nap on my bed.

Another time, he had cheekily put two legs in one side of his pants and slept like that! Seriously I never expect my boy to be up to this!

And yet, another time when he was napping on my bed, and I checked on him to make sure he was properly clothed. I found his shirt pulled up exposing his chest and belly again but covered under my thick duvet. This boy is quite fond of sleeping this way.

Blame it on Huggies drypants or it's another passing phase in William's life?

Still the sweet sensitive boy although he also thumps his shirtless chest and puts on a macho voice saying "Hi I am gorilla!!!!" This afternoon he asked me if I was cold and needed the duvet since he was snugly covered. I said no, and the next thing I knew he closed his eyes and slept.

Day 5: Bye bye Sandakan!

Tuesday, 7 February

Today we leave Sandakan back to KL, after another wondrous trip with our cell friends. Our host's mother have previously bought bags and bags of seafood which are stored in more than 4 freezers I think - in 3 different locations!

All seafood have to be properly packed into handcarries and not leak through the bags, else it will not be allowed.  So our host waited till the very last minute to divide and wrap them up.  Here is only some of the bags, some seafood had to be wrapped up first, and divided when we arrived back in KL.

I didn't read the newspapers before the trip, and later realised we had the privilege of flying in the new aircraft for our trip back!  William was most excited because of the picture of dragon on the aircraft. 

Weeks after this holiday, William is asking to go back to Mabul Island. I told him it's really far, having to sit aeroplane for 3 hours, bus for 5 hours, two boats for close to 1.5hours.

Day 4: Sandakan Market, Orang Utans and Prosbocis Monkeys!

Monday, 6 February 2012

I set my alarm to wake me 330am as some friends were to pick me at 345am.  I lazed around in bed just a for few more minutes, but just as I started to freshen up, the car arrived.  They are early, totally unexpected and I am "late".  So I hurry hurry and almost forgotten my camera, but of course, I did not!

We picked up a few more friends staying in another house and then we headed to Sandakan market, enjoying the fresh air, me with groggy eyes still.

Here are some of the things we saw.

Fresh shrimps so cheap and fresh!  I loooovvvveee prawns. How I wish I can just carry the whole basket off!  

Different kinds of seafood available at the market

Sabah chili.  I bought a handful, cost me only RM2, just for fun.  I'm not a chili eater, but I'm a chili sauce eater. 

Some kind of shell fish, but I don't know what it's called, or how to eat this.  Rather just admire them from afar

Saw some sharks.  Here are a couple that came in from the vessel, minus their fins.  So sad. 

This is a common sight at the market.  Baskets and baskets full of small and medium fishes, shrimps and all other kinds of seafood.  Apparently these are not for sale to customers like us as we don't have the volume.  Moreover, a lot of these baskets have been booked / sold to retailers. 

A vessel docked and unloaded it's catch.  I found out that our host's uncle owns this vessel and a couple more.  He got some of the seafood here.  RM8/kg for mud crabs, and RM2x/kg for tiger prawns.  So cheap!  The crabs cost the same as chickens here in PJ... haha! 

Part of the market outside.  Believe me this is my FIRST time being at a market this early in the whole of my 30 + years of existence, and 7 years of patronizing wet / fresh markets. 

This bowl of beef noodle soup is, in my humble opinion, one that can compete with Seremban's famous beef noodle soup!  I love it.  Not even the Tangkak beef noodle soup (which I find a tad bit too saltish) taste this wholesome!  Or maybe, was it that I was famished at 7am in the morning after walking more than 2 hours? 

Sunrise.  Scene from the staircase of Sandakan market.   : )  We were heading upstairs for breakfast.

After breakfast at the market, we tapau-ed some dried shrimps and anchovies.  Cost of it is almost half the price here in PJ.  I wouldn't know how to tell the quality or price difference, and it's all thanks to being with other very experienced home makers.  The dried shrimps is so fresh, you can even eat it on its own.  

Then we tapau-ed deep fried pork noodle (claims to be around since 1940s) and beef noodle for the sleeping gang who should have woken up by now.

We visited Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre after breakfast in a convoy of four cars.

How can we visit Sandakan and not check out the orang utans there?  Well, this trip is more for the kids. 

We saw only a handful of orang utans, and they gathered at one place only because it was feeding time, I believe.  Else, I think the small entrance fee and half hour walk in and out of the "jungle" would have been futile. 

Piggy back ride on Daddy...

After Sepilok, we went to Labuk Bay.  I was not prepared to take off my shoes and go barefooted, and so close proximity with the monkeys. 

Similar to Singapore Zoo, we got attractive tickets which is a brilliant idea, so we get to keep these as souvenirs. 

Seriously, if one was pregnant, I would not encourage her to come here, but we had no preggars in our group, so it was alright.  Too many monkeys around!  I have never taken so many monkey pictures before, haha!

Makan time!  It's great that we almost get to catch the monkeys during feeding time.  They group together, hey, just like humans... hahaha!

These were the pair of monkeys that came towards us, as we were snapping pictures of them from afar.  Then they stopped just near enough, posed like this, and stayed like this for long enough so that we can take as many pictures of them.  Seriously, I think these silver hair monkeys have been trained. 

My boy stepped on monkey poo and his sister sounded the "alarm"... haha... guess who had to bring him to the washroom to wash his legs?  Daddy!  Kekekekeke

There were silver hair monkeys all around.  A few on the rooftop, some on the fences, some running around, some posing.  I go near enough, but avoid them when they are too close.  The kids however were much braver, as usual.  Well, except for Vic maybe.  She preferred to stick with her friends, and didn't get too close to these mammals.  Smart girl.

From an estimate of 200m, we saw proboscis monkeys.  Again, meal times are the most exciting time of the day.

Do you see the big proboscis MALE monkey?  Look closely!  He is the leader.  There is another male leader but he's lost the last battle, so I heard, that is why the two males can never go too close.  Else, we see another fight! 

William gets first class seats on Daddy's shoulders.  Only applicable to those below 30kg. 

In the afternoon, we visited our friend's office, and within the vicinity, we saw another lion dance.

This lion dance ranks one of the lowest I've seen, because although it did prance around abit on the ground, it look a long time to drink up the Tiger Beers and peel the oranges on the floor, so much so I joked that it must have got a hang over or fell asleep. 

Close to 4pm, I realise that I have been up for the past 12 hours and my body was shutting down at this time, yet I still had to bath the two kids first. I knock off before them, the very moment I lay my tired body on the bed. If there was a fire, I would have just slept through... haha! Kiddin.

Initially intended to help out in the kitchen for tonight's home cooked dinner, also to snoop around and learn some secret recipes from friend's mother, but I overslept.

Here's what we had.

Yam with pork belly.  I know how to eat, but forgotten the proper name of this dish. 

"Lau Yue Mang" fish steamed with tau cheong and salted plum and garnished with chili.  Lovely!  I tried to replicate this dish at home, but the outcome was not the same as Aunty's cooking. 

Simple stirfried prawns with salt. 

Real kampong chicken.  Reared and bred by my friend's aunt. 

Assorted vege with marinated chicken. 

There was so much leftover, it could feed another 10 person I think. Whilst the kids played with Ipads and ran around here and there, we women chatted, and waited for digestion before the next serving...crabs!

Cleaned crabs that died a few minutes before this picture was taken.  We worked like a small factory line.  Two ladies did the killing, then passed on to another who brushed it clean, and the last lady untied and cleaned the crabs up. 

Honestly, I salute the women in our group who did not blink twice when they executed death on the crabs.  Steady hands, stern faces and a determined will - silently I was thinking how lucky their husbands were to have such capable wives, and maybe I should also warn them... hehehe

Believe me that is my arm holding the chopstick.  I attempted a couple of times before getting the angle right to kill it. This is my first time experience.  : ) 

Mmmmm.... this is my favourite! 

I'm a contented woman! 

Tomorrow we leave Sandakan back to KL.

Day 3: Mabul Island back to Sandakan

Sunday, 5 February


My handphone was off, and there was no alarm clock. The thing I notice here is that sunset before 630pm, and sunrise, well... maybe around 6am! Since the lodge had a rule that electricity is only on between 6pm and 6am, I waited for the wall fan in my room to "automatically" off, to indicate the time. I could hear footsteps and people talking outside, and eventhough I was not lying on the most comfortable bed on earth, yet I was not too keen to get up.

So I waited whilst lying on the bed, until William woke. Guess what, it was nearing 830am and we were supposed to have breakfast at 7am!

So hurried the kids along, good thing we brought some snacks for the kids. I made Milo for them, and gave them some crackers. For hubs and I, we ate the meal provided ie plain mee goreng!

Less than 3 scoops later, we went along, passed a short stretch of beach, then crossed a wooden bridge, hopped on a buggy heading the same direction, and stopped at this luxurious chalets nearby. I don't know the names of these, but some friends who checked these out last night said they cost RM1600 per night per pax, and RM600 for the second night.

We had a great worship and sharing time "in the middle of the sea".

Praise God for good sunny weather. 

William with his good friend from cell, Moses

Victoria with Wynette

During our worship and prayer time, William was not in the mood for play.  He sat around mopping (like this) or attempted to run off, or just did things that require our attention.  Guess he was bored, and hungry as he didn't have proper breakfast.

After getting back to our lodge, we immediately had lunch then packed up to go, as we needed to catch our coach at 1pm leaving Semporna back to Sandakan.

On the boat, William is obviously enjoying himself with this position.  We were all amazed.

My two kids love the boat ride, eventhough they are quiet and seemed to be in their own thoughts. I love the ride too, and had both kids close by me. The wind was blowing strong, with a little sunshine touching our backs, but the feeling was surreal.

On the coach, we all rested. The ride didn't seem that long with all the chit chats and munching.

Sandakan. After cleaning up and waiting for the rest for dinner, we caught a lion dance act just a few doors away.  Realize that here in Sandakan, there are many lion dances especially invited to homes.  This lion dance, although single, did the most impressive prancing around on poles set far apart.  Two thumbs up for this lion dance!

At night we had Sabah Bak Kut Teh for dinner. The specialty at the shop was spicy bak kut teh, but I thought it was not spicy enough. They also had all kinds of Kut Teh, from prawns to fish to meat balls, on top of the usual porkribs.

Next day, me together with most ladies and some men will head to Sandakan market at 4am.

Day 2: Mabul Island

Saturday, 4 February 

We woke early this morning again at 5am-ish, to be ready by 6am to hop on our rental coach which will take us direct to Semporna, stopping only at Lahat Datu for a pee break.

With the big group that we are in, altogether 30 including ourselves, we finally left Sandakan around 730am after a 15minute stop at a kopitiam where most of us got down for a quick breakfast, and to tapau in case hungry along the way. I stayed in the coach with the two kids and Daddy bought some pau, lo mai kai and siew mai for the kids.

In the coach, the kids slept for a good 2 hours or so, and spent the remaining 2.5hours on the Ipad and PSP. Good thinking that we brought these (never leave home without these gadgets) to keep them entertained and seated!

Even then, we had moments of boredom and in the last 1 hour, Vic kept asking me when will we be arriving.  Honestly, I was getting "nails-in-my-bum" effect too, and to make it worse, I couldn't sleep for whatever reason despite waking up early.  

We arrived Semporna close to noon and had our lunch - local food, at a restaurant near the jetty.

Place is clean, food is reasonably priced and washrooms relatively clean. 

Hopping on!  This is the private boat we hired. 

Together on the boat ride which took 45 minutes.  Weather was good and sunny, but the sea waters was rather choppy.  We had to hang on tight.  With the strong wind blowing in our faces, thank God no one had sea sick or threw up, else it'd be "raining" - what more, after lunch! 

Little captain William - he was really steady on the boat. 

He really love the boat ride!  From his ambition of being a pilot, to an astronaut, to fireman, William now wants to be a... fisherman!  Haha... ask him why, and he says sitting in a boat out to the sea to catch fish sounds like everlasting fun to him! 

Scenes along the way to our accommodation.

When planning, we had a choice of staying here - a former oil rig. But we didn't stay here...

Nor did we stay here.  These are beautiful individual chalets with air conditioners from Uncle Chang's (who owns some accommodations on the island) that greeted us as we neared Mabul Island.

We stayed here! Mabul Backpackers. No aircon, no carpet flooring, no house keeping, no coffee making facility in the rooms, no ensuite bathrooms, no concierge service and no blankets!  We have a unisex wash area comprising of two bathrooms (with plastic doors) and 3 toilets.  The men and women walk in an out freely, so this was my first time bathing with clothes on! 

Our room had a double bed, two mattresses on a floor (covered with plastic sheets under the linens which is a plus for hygiene but minus for comfort), a dustbin, a dying potted plant, a wall fan that could not oscillate and a much-needed two panel window.

Honestly, I was lost for a moment, not knowing how to change, where to put the luggage, where to hang my clothes, to separate as dirty or wearable-again. But the crowd brings me back to reality, and I hurried the kids to change into their swimming clothes, then go pee, then lather them with SPF50 and myself too, before adjourning with the rest to the "lobby area" where we chose our snorkeling masks.

Snorkeling

I did not bring my camera, as we were going into waters. So sorry folks, no picture. Maybe can get some pictures from friends at a later stage.

The boat took all of us to another place about 10 minutes away, and the waters were still rather choppy. This being my first time, but nothing was up to my imagination. I had thought we will get shallow quiet waters, but we stopped somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Wah liao eh! I told myself I'm definitely not jumping in! Our boat had no ladder attached, and we were only given life jackets, no floats or flippers.

But some enthusiastic friends jumped in, followed by hubby and William insisted that he wants to get in the waters. Vic rather stay on the boat, and I kept wishing William will change his mind, but he went down. This brave little boy had his sister's swimming float around him, two arm floaties and his life jacket. He climbed over the boat, into the waters where Daddy waited to catch him. Then they "sailed" away...further and further.

After what seems like 10 minutes, I told the guides to bring the baby back... my son! So the boat went to a jetty and the others in the ocean together with Daddy and William swam back.

William stayed in the boat thereafter, whilst the rest played on the jetty. I invited him to join us a few times, but he declined, saying he was scared and rather watch. Sigh, what a matured boy. He didn't cry, he just watched us in folded arms.

First time experience

Our game plan was to pair off with a buddy who knows how to swim. Only adult-adult or adult-child. Hubs was my snorkeling buddy since he knew how to swim, and I didn't. Vic stayed on the jetty with her friends and some adults. William was on the boat with some adults.

I saw schools of fishes only for a short while, blue star fishes, small fishes of many kinds. I don't recall colorful corals, albeit there were some brown ones.

The waters was clear, but in summary, I had expected a Nemo experience... but did not see one.

After an hour or so, we went back to our accommodation to freshen up relax before dinner. The kids went to the beach, and even at shallow, clear beach waters, there were fishes.

Some of the kids (and Vic) played board games while waiting for dinner.  Dinner was scheduled at 7pm but they only served past 8pm.  Daddy walked straight to the kitchen to talk to the kitchen staff, and convinced them to allow 11 plates of rice and food for the children to eat first. 

Evening scene from our backpackers' "lobby area." Really serene, peaceful and lovely.  Pity I missed the sunset.  I think that would be glorious!

Fishermen going home after a hard day's work. 

I hardly slept at night. Eventhough there was no air conditioner, the wall fan was blowing into the soles of our feet. Due to lack of space also, I had to sleep at the foot of the bed, whilst the two kids slept on the bed, and Daddy on the floor mattress. I woke at least 5-6 times that night, later discovered many others did not have a good night rest too.

Forgot to mention we only had electricity from 6pm-6am.