An Apple A Day

Keeps The Doctor Away

I was hospitalised last Saturday and was discharged on Monday.
I had this condition known as "Diverticular Disease".
What a big word;;; it means my diet lacked fibre, lacked fruits, vegetable and water for too long. The large intestine overworked to push the broken stools along, hence, over time, it weakens and becomes thicker, which is abnormal. Ladies and gentlemen, dehydration does not only mean you dont drink sufficient water, but external stress factors like mental and emotional stress constitute to dehydration too. oh, now it is beginning to make sense. it all adds up- neglect to my diet, prolonged rushing of lunch, ignoring the blotedness, laziness, not chewing my food, as well as work stress all added to this.
I would like to look at this positively, I said.
OK, so what did i learn?
wake up call. health is indeed important. initially, i thought it was appendititis and i was scared out of my pants. I am afraid of any operation and was afraid that i may never wake up. that would be a shame.
I have very little knowledge that this infection of the intestine could actually be easily cured with antibiotics, which did me a lot of good. the vitro drip was converted to oral tablets so that i can go home.
I spent ten hours at the A&E, seeing the doctor, test blood, test urine, scanned the uterus to make sure all was well. by the time i got a bed, it was 7pm. but i still think that they have done an excellent job for me.
oh, i have to tell you this,, you know, if you know of anyone having to check in at the hospitals, please do test the nurse-call buttons but at the bed and the one in the bathroom. My friend's father fell in the bathroom and that button didn't work.
for me, i had a drug allergic reaction to my first drip in the wee hours, my face was hot and itchy, tensed, palms reddening itchy and painful, i pressed the button repeatedly but no help came! They had forgotten to plug in the electrical cord. My saving grace was that I was next to the window outlooking the nurse station. so i waved and waved for attention. Luckily they flushed me with Saline and i was fine after a few hours. I have very little exposure to medicines so I didn't know of any allergy before.

So anyway, there were three other patients in the room.
One had an operation on her nose / breathing passage as she said she always turn green if she goes anywhere with some altitude. she gets breathless easily. so she decided to go for this operation to help her breathe better as she was afraid if she dont do anything about it, her brain may be affected as she age. she said she is still young, like 46, and she wants to be old and healthy. she is a Mandarin Tuition Teacher for 25 years. She said she loves to travel with her husband and they always go holiday in China, Taiwan and other Hilly areas. Her husband's motto is "bu yao ren zai tian tang, qian zai ying hang" means, you're in heaven while your money's in the bank. their motto is to live a full live, earn money, live well and travel.

Another lady, she has a seven yr old kid and a one yr old baby. she found out she had tyroid cancer after giving birth to her baby and had her tyroid removed. she is very cheerful, positive, makes fun of herself, and i say again, positive. she has this sunny disposition that her doctors called her their preferred patient.

Then there was this lady that had a concussion after falling off a golf buggy. she was whinning the whole time about being giddy, body pain, and that she was humid hot. everyone tried to be supportive, told her to be patient as it is natural for the body to take some time to heal and recover. she was very cranky as she was not allowed to bathe for a few days. The whole time i was passively listening to the conversations that took place and never volunteered about myself. On the last day, I surprised myself when i walked up to that cranky lady and gave her a sachet of my shampoo because she was allowed to bathe that morning. she was delighted and i was pleased with myself.

So, that's so much for my eventful weekend.
Will still need to go for follow-up checks as well as an endoscopy in a few months time.