Once again, very efficient, and we got the results almost right away and had another consultation with the cardiologist.
All blood work is back within normal range, and the medication I am taking for cholesterol is working.
The CT scan angiogram showed minor calcification, but not bad enough to worry about. The ultrasound of the carotid arteries shows no plaque, and normal function. The echocardiogram shows all normal.
So, good news all around. But, I will likely be on the blood pressure and cholesterol medication the rest of my life. And, of course limit red meat intake and any fatty foods. Which we try and do anyhow, but we have certainly cut back on the red meat.
The only issue now is if there will be any side effects from the long term use of the medications. That is yet to be seen, but there are some things to watch out for. So, the doctor suggested I have some tests repeated one year from now, and the main CT angiogram and ultrasound and echocardiogram again five years from now.
The cost for all of this?
The final bill for all tests, the bloodwork, and two consultations was RM3,678 ($790 USD, $1,056 CAD).
The highest expense was for the CT scan angiogram... that alone was almost half the total at RM1,517 ($326 USD, $436 CAD). The consultation fees were RM535 ($115 USD, $154 CAD).
Anyhow, glad that I got it done, just for peace of mind. Now we can get on with our travels!
We left the hospital and went and got some breakfast.
Nice breakfast!
Then we walked from there to the older part of Georgetown where we would meet up with Han, Michelle, and her brother Peng.
Another example of an older property with a new highrise.
Street in old Georgetown.
Bar and cafe beside each other.
Old town is being decorated for upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations.
Pretty flowers.
Chinese temple.
The clock tower.
The clock tower was built in 1897.
Coastline at Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia.
Han, Michelle, and Peng picked us up and we went to a Chinese clan temple in the old town area.
More Chinese New Year decorations.
Another Chinese Temple.
Fancy decoration on the columns.
Scenery along the way.
There has been a lot of incense burned here!
Next we went to the clan temple. This is all part of the wealthy Khoo clan. I never did get a picture of the outside, so this is a photo of a photo that I took with it lit up at night. Quite spectacular!
The Khoo Clan Temple.
Scenes from the Jodie Foster movie Anna and The King were filmed here.
Fancy decorations looking up.
There are several interesting paintings.
And murals.
Ruth and Michelle.
The most famous street art in Georgetown.
From there, we drove over to the huge Kek Lok Si Temple Complex that overlooks the city. This is another big complex that seems to be constantly under some kind of construction or renovation.
Shops selling Chinese New Year decorations.
The main pagoda at the temple. We would end up climbing to the top level for a view.
This pretty plant is in the same family as the birds of paradise flower.
The Chinese Buddha looks a little different than the Thai ones.
Fancy ceiling.
Pretty hibiscus flower.
Looking back at the city.
The four faced Buddha.
This temple hall was huge.
More pretty flowers.
About to climb the pagoda.
These are the beautiful hills where we will go hiking over the next few days.
This temple is still under construction.
View looking back at the city.
Looking towards Georgetown.
From there, we went to yet another temple... this time, the very different snake temple!
Umm, yeah. I don't think we'll be handling any of the venomous snakes!
No idea what type of snakes these are, but they are most definitely venomous.
The story of the snake temple.
Peng wanted to take us all to a real Chinese food restaurant... not like the ones we have in North America... not an egg roll to be seen!
Desert.
Unfortunately, throughout the day Michelle received some bad news about a death in the family. This has totally changed all of our plans over the next few days, as they have had to depart early Sunday morning. Of course we understand, and we are totally flexible so it's not an issue for us, but we feel badly for them.
We have booked ourselves an Airbnb very close to the hills and the many forest trails, so we will stay here on Penang Island and do some hiking over the next few days. Then we are thinking of taking the ferry north to Langkawi Island for a week. We'll figure that out over the next day or two.
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Great deal on this Karcher Electric Pressure Washer.
And in Canada...
Kevin, glad the tests turned out ok for you; glad you got checked out, just in case! It's so exotic there...wow. Like nothing I have ever seen. The dinner looked amazing, but the dessert? Gray and not appealing to the eye; hopefully it was better to the tastebuds!
ReplyDeleteWe are glad that we got it the tests done, Kevin has wanted to have this done over the last year or two and we knew that Malaysia was a great place to do it in, so this worked out perfectly and now we have peace of mind, at least for the next year or two then he will get some tests done again.
DeleteYes, it is definitely very exotic here and it doesn't take much to feel like you are in the jungle once you get out of the city center.
Dinner was very good and the dessert was interesting. It was make from the taro root and mixed with sugar and coconut milk. It was a bit pasty/starchy but it tasted fine but to look at it, it doesn't look super appealing.
Thanks Ruth, I remember taro root from Hawaii. I was not a fan! But perhaps with coconut milk and sugar.... ;-)
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