"The Doctor Needs to See You Today.."

"The Doctor needs to see you at his office today", said the lady's voice over the phone, when hubby and I were just round the Paragon corner, 50m from MtE, on our way to see Dr Ang Peng Tiam for my regular 3-monthly review and iron-booster drips.

With my adrenaline now pumping a little, we walked into the reception to be told by the lady, "We have your case-file here and the Doctor needs to see you."

Hubby and I heard exactly what she said, but with perplexed looks on our faces, we just sat down to patiently wait for our turn, not wanting to ask the receptionist further about this sudden urgency. You know that feeling... you know it can be bad, so you don't want to know about it, not just yet..

80mins later, we were called in to see the Doc. Again, not wanting to look unnecessarily anxious, we let the Doc go through his paces, laid on his couch, checks, weight info, some small talk about his upcoming Bali getaway, and then..

"Everything is good, Nellie. In fact, you look younger than your husband here!"

Broad smiles swept over our faces.

We later realised that the receptionist was new, and in her new role, probably took her instructions to give a gentle reminder to all patients of the day, to attend their appointments, a little bit too enthusiatically. Her choice of words could have been couched in a better context, given my circumstance of being cancer-free since June2006.

A sense of relief, nonetheless. Still, it was a small gift we were happy to receive, given that it was the eve of the eve of Xmas (23Dec).

And feeling a little like Marilyn too (at ResortsWorld), I might add..well, just a little..