At home and sipping Yakult.

My first two days back in camp were relatively uneventful, and then Wednesday came, sweeping in like a whirlwind. First up in the morning, returning a call, I found out from Rachel; it wasn't on the front page, but at least within our friendship circle, it made the headlines, that our childhood friend Ignatius "Meh Meh" Yong Wai Hong has been charged in court for his involvement in the Sunshine Empire 'Ponzi' scheme. His passport was impounded and he is now out on 600K bail. For a long time, we were all aware of his involvement in dodgy MLM businesses, but it was always in a grey area, as far the law was concerned, so it was a big shock to see his picture in the Straits Times.

Next up, during heli-marshalling practice, a seemingly innocuous activity, my shoulder popped out again, to the disbelief of all and sundry, convincing me that I should get an operation to fix it once and for all. I was rushed to the medical centre in accordance with SAF SOP, even if I had protested to the medic to give me some time to remedy it myself. In the medical centre, the doctor decided he would have to dislocate my shoulder completely (apparently, it was only partially out of its socket) to put it back in because that is what they had been taught. Despite my protests, that was what happened and I was left in excruciating pain, my arm dangling out of its socket. The only consolation - my first narcotic experience. To ease my pain, I was given the opiate penthidine, which rendered me all lightheaded and numb . Even after my shoulder was reset, for about two hours, I was stoned. In the medical centre, on the ambulance to NUH, at the waiting area at the A&E, slumping in my seat was all i could manage. I was groggy but at the same time elated, over nothing at all; that must be what they call the "high". The world around me seemed to be moving in slow motion and when I was asked for my contact number by the medic , I needed 3 attempts to get it right.

At NUH, I was taken first for an X-ray and then after a long, drowsy wait I got to see the doctor who decided I needed 3 days rest at home, bringing my ICT to a premature end.