Mei Hoe surprised me by bringing her old x-ray films, which I thought she would forget about it. They were about bone spurs and they looked bad.
I saw in a television programme a couple of weeks ago about bone spurs that were causing pains to the bottom of the feet, and the symptoms seemed familiar to mine.
I started having very bad pains during BMT and at that point of time, the top of my feet were seventy percent numbed. I could not walk properly with all the piercing pain upon contacting the ground on the joints and heels. The medical officers did not give me any aid except for excuse statuses and painkillers, and they probably grouped me among those who “chao keng” (pretend sick). I endured all the training like a death-fighter, suffering so badly even during my Signal course, whereby I had to carry the ultra heavy radio man pack set around. I managed to pull through everything and I was in fact very proud of myself. However, I felt very stupid for not being confident enough to talk to the medical doctors to get every injury treated during my enlistment days where medical bill was never a problem.
The numbness has now faded to a mild level; whereas the pains beneath the feet start upon standing for too long, walking over a long distance, jogging for more than 2.4km or carrying heavy loads over just a short distance, though not as painful as years ago when it first occurred.
The fear of the existence of the bone spurs, though probably are only mild ones, frustrates me a lot; I would never want to undergo any operation anymore, nor does my financial status allows me to waste any more money to stall my upcoming plans.
Anyway, I was very touched when Mdm Seet came over to show me concern after she chatted with Mei Hoe.