PS Sim Makes It To The Top Of Mount Everest

Yes, you read correctly, PS Sim has scaled the world's tallest mountain, Mount Everest! She reached the top of the 8,848m peak at 3 am on 22/5/19 (Nepali time).

As I hardly check Facebook, I only heard the news today as another of my patient who climbs told me when he came to the clinic this afternoon.

Thankfully she started early and avoided the crowd as you can see in the now infamous photo (below) that was posted by climber Nirmal Purja last Wednesday.

Since it was 3 am when she submitted, it was pitch black at that time, she traded off a good photo for not getting stuck in line. Better that than having to wait in line for hours.

Congratulations on a job well done PS! Come home soon.

Hillary step picture by Garret  Madison

The traffic jam is probably due to the few optimal weather windows open to the climbers trying to summit. From the picture above you can see the change in structure of the Hillary step after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2015. A big chunk of rock fell off and it is not as steep as before. The picture on the left was taken in 2017 while the one on the right in 2011.

Other than PS Sim, I had treated Edwin Siew and Khoo Swee Chow, members of the 1st Singapore Mt. Everest expedition in 1998 who also reached the top while I had another patient Rob who reached the peak in 2011.

Not The Neck, Not The Leg, But The Arms

This patient who came in recently this week complaining of neck pain, was a really interesting case.

She had pain in the cervical spine (neck) area with numbness and tingling sensations radiating down to her right arm and thumb. Sleeping on her right side made the pain worse.

Remember I had written about my patient with neck pain and I made her better by treating her leg. Well, this particular patient's presentation was definitely different.

This patient of mine lives on a yacht in the One 15 Marina Sentosa Cove. Recently it's been raining and she's had to work a lot harder cleaning her yacht so there won't be stains. Because of the proximity of the refinery nearby, whenever it rains it makes their yacht very dirty. Her husband cleans the hull, and she needs to polish the silicone joints.

She had also seen the spine surgeon and he sent her for an MRI just to be sure. Here's the whatsapp message I received from the doctor telling me my patient had R spinal exit stenosis from prolapsed discs in her neck.

That was a big clue for me as her neck didn't didn't seem particularly "bad" upon palpation. Her upper limb tension tests elicited some tenderness as well.

Superficial and deep front, back arm lines

So I treated her arm lines instead of treating her neck. Yes, at no point did I treat her neck, just her arms and nothing else.

When she sat up, her first comment was "it's like a whole weight have been lifted off my shoulders".

Surprised? I was, but I was hoping for a good result since she told me about all the extra cleaning she did earlier. Treating her arms was key in her case, not her neck.

Raising Two Kids And Two Clinics

Raising 2 boys

Today is the day we celebrate Mother's Day in Singapore. So let's remember Aized, as it was she who founded Physio Solutions back in 2007!

Then in October 2009, Sports Solutions was started. Many of you won't know this, she was expecting our first child to arrive in early 2010. Growing a family and two clinics at the same time was as difficult as could be. Life got more hectic for her as her due date drew near.

She was so focused on her fitness, the clinics and routine, she ran herself ragged. She felt she had a biological clock ticking down and at the same time she had to get Sports Solutions as ready  as possible before she popped. She was determined motherhood was not going to stop her.

On top of all that, she still saw patients at Physio Solutions right up till a month before she gave birth. This was only because her tummy grew too big for her to be handling patients.

Without her, there would not have been Physio Solutions. Without Physio Solutions, there would definitely not be Sports Solutions.

Here's wishing all mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day, especially those raising kids and a company at the same time.

Thank you to all our staff too, our clinics wouldn't be where we are today without you.