Hospitalisation Part 3

9th Oct 2008

Yesterday evening Dr. Thye came in and told me that my liver enzymes are a bit high...and that she suspects that i have fatty liver (means my liver covered with fats...duh...) and scared that i have high cholesterol...which if i do have...will lead to further problems in the future as it will lead to heart attack / stroke...and all sorts of other major diseases that are related to diabetes...so she told me that she will order an ultrasound and another blood test to confirm her suspicion...so she said i will have to start fasting starting midnight...yes my dear readers...puasa...as in no food and water AT ALL!!!...

So the night went on...i was a bit hungry at 9.55pm...so i ask the nurse...can i eat my crackers?? since i'm only starting to fast at 12am...suddenly one senior nurse came in and say i cannot eat and drink anything now because i'm fasting...not even water...i said dr say midnight!!!...she say no its 10pm and put one big sign FASTING on the table...i was like...why didn't say earlier???...i wanna drink water also cannot meh??? i thought can...she was persistant and said no...fine loh...i quickly gulp down 3 mouthful of water after she left...mind you that i didn't drink anything since like 8.45pm...the funny part was...i had to fast as well on the day i was admitted into the hospital...and the doctor said that i can drink water...and now the nurse was saying lipid blood test (means to test the cholesterol) cannot drink water...which even my parents were surprised since they have been checking their cholesterol through blood test and they were drinking water the whole fasting time...

Anyway...after i was on official fasting time...at about 11pm...one nurse came in with a container...and ask me to wee wee for the urine sample before 7am...i look straight at the nurse...how am i suppose to wee wee into that container...when i'm fasting and you all don't even allow me to drink water...and dr say fast at midnight and suddenly u all come in at 10pm to say i must start fasting now...the nurse was like...i also don't know la...think 10pm cause they want more accurate results...then she said...you try and pee la...

So in the morning...i woke up about 6 something just to go wee wee in that container...it was hard man...first i was half sleeping...second nothing much was coming out (sorry la a bit gross here)...anyway...managed to fill the container and gave the nurse....then back to sleep

About 9am...someone came in to take my blood sample...one full syringe of my blood to be send to the lab to see whether i have cholesterol or not...i mean high cholesterol...after she was done...i ask the nurse...can i drink now as i'm damn thirsty (made worst by me talking on the phone for 30 min during fasting time)...the nurse say...sorry cannot yet...u have ultrasound at 1030am...ok...fine...i told them to faster a bit la...

In the meantime while waiting for 1030 to come...i was so bloody thirsty that i washed my mouth a few times just to make my mouth and lips wet...the thirst was so overwhelming that i couldn't even feel the orchestra playing inside my stomach...and then 1030 came...no one came to take me to the ultrasound...i was getting pissed off...i called the nurse (think i've never pressed the emergency button so many times during my stay)...and told them to check and HURRY UP!! (was on the verge of cursing)

FINALLY...one porter (yes...i'm like a luggage where you need a porter to carry you to a designated place) came at 1050am (20 min late!!!) and took me to the radiology department where i'm supposed to do the ultrasound...and then just left me there as like in a queue...i was like...what?? more waiting ah???...thank goodness there was an abondoned newspaper on the seats there for me to read...after waiting for a while...i asked the people there...when's my turn??? the feller checked and said...oh there's 3 more persons in front of you...you wait a while ya...i told her...FASTER LA...I VERY THIRSTY!!!...after reading the newspaper in super detail (which i don't normally do)...it was my turn...at freaking 12pm!!!!!!!!!...yes my friends...i've been deprived of my food and water...my precious water for about 15 hours (if you count me fasting since 9pm since i didn't get proper notice...14 hours if count from 10pm)!!!...so inside the ultrasound room...the nurse told me to wait a while for the doctor and then asked me...so you fasted for 4 hours already right??? i kinda screamed at her at a very nice tone...4 hours??!!! i've been fasting since 10pm last night...and i'm super thirsty...and you ask me i've fasted 4 hours??? faster a bit can or not????...the nurse was like...hah?? ok ok i go get the doctor now...

So the ultrasound was exactly like what you see on tv for those pregnant ladies ultrasound-ing their babies...only difference for me is...i'm ultrasound-ing my internal organs...sorry no baby la...it turns out that i do have fatty liver...according to the doctor...its i see a lot of fats around the liver...the others were all ok...after the ultrasound...i was put into the wheelchair again...and they left me waiting again for the porter...i was so fed up i told the nurse...can i just walk back up to my ward??? its ok...i can still walk...i just hold my iv drips can d...they were like...no no you just wait a while ya...i go get the porter for you...thank goodness at this time one of the nurses from my ward came in and told me that she will take me back...and it was already 1230pm...i told her...don't need to push me la...i just walk can d...faster...she was like...nevermind la...i push you...so while she was pushing me...i had to hold my lab reports which she collected from the lab...so i was looking through it...my pee pee test shows that my ketones were back up...

Anyway...when i finally reached the room...the first thing i did was gulp down 2 bottles of water...the 600ml bottle...and water never tasted so good...i tell you...at that moment...water tasted like cendol, coke, sprite, orange juice, etc...whatever drink you can think of...water tasted as good or better than those...and then my food came...i was so freaking hungry that i immediately started eating the food without even taking out all the covers first...it was fried chicken with 2 types of vege...one of them is curry vege...it tasted good as well...almost the best in the world...of course its not la when u think back...but at that time...it was that good...except for the fried chicken...cause first...it was fried chicken which the dietician said i shouldn't eat...and second...it was all breast meat...i don't eat breast meat...and third...it was quite dry and hard....

While i was eating...gideon and family came to visit...the first thing they said was...wah...eating FRIED CHICKEN AH!!!...you still dare to eat fried chicken ah...then i told them i not eating la...but since i ordered the thing before the dietician came...can't change the menu d...so in the end...olivia was the one ended up eating my chicken...hehehe...and she was so cute...she dare not come near me cause of the thing stuck in my hand and that it was connected to the iv drips...which reminded her of her doctor...which she hates...she didn't even dare to give me a kiss...but instead hid behind her momma's legs...mei mei (isabel) on the other hand...was not afraid at all...instead she was smiling and playing with me...hehehe...think olivia wanted to play as well...as after a while...she asked me to play peekaboo with her...using the curtains...but she made sure she stayed far far away from my iv pole...heheheh

About 2pm...the nurses asked me to give them another pee pee sample...i think to give a more accurate result compared to the one i gave in the morning...(sorry disgusting a bit here)...the colour was a total contrast to that in the morning...i'll let u all figure it urself...

Dr. Thye came in about 5pm...and then gave me the results of the lab...she said...you have fatty liver...but don't worry its ok...and then your cholesterol is ok la...just your good cholesterol a bit low...so just do more exercise to increase it...just some brisk walking will do...and then you need to learn how to jab yourself the insulin...i will ask the nurses to teach you tonight...and then your ketones are quite low d...so i think i will stop the drips la...finish this bottle and i'll stop it...(at that time the bottle was still quite full)...i will discharge you...but only until you learn how to jab yourself ...so hopefully you can go back tomorrow...and also you need to watch out for hypo...and if you do get into hypo...where you will feel giddy and weak...just take a sweet or drink milo la...then i told her...if tht's the symptom...then i got it this afternoon...she was like...why??...then i said...cause i didn't get to eat or drink until 1230!!! i was shaking actually...the doctor could only smile back as if implying...it won't happen again...

After Dr. Thye gave me the news...I was like...PHEW...no cholesterol...and considering the amout of seafood and high cholesterol food i ate just the week before...i was soooooooooooo relief...then i asked the nurse to check for me my cholesterol level...she said ok i'll check for you...i repeated this for another 3 times and all said the same but none came back...until about 7pm when i ask one nice nurse (most of them are nice...just some will show some face when they come to check my pressure and all...attitude...) to check again my cholesterol level...which i've asked the previous 4 nurses to do so...this time she came back...my total cholesterol level is 3.7...i was like...WHAT??? THAT OK AH!!!???...(its damn good ok 3.7...after 5.4 is high d...)...i was damn surprise at how good it was...even my parents were impressed by it...considering how little i exercise and the super unhealthy food i eat...

About 8pm...Ms Koh came and visit with one full bag of goodies...diabetic friendly misai kuching tea, sugarless strawberry jam and chocolates!!!...at first i didn't know the chocolates were sugarless...and then i told her...you want me to die ah...give me chocolates somemore...and in the typical ms koh's tone...siow ah...this one sugarless la...diabetic friendly one la....the pharmacy say one...(in hokkien ya)

About 8.45pm...the nurses came in to teach me how to jab myself with insulin...i'm supposed to jab at the belly button area...then use 2 fingers from the belly button to measure...and the area after the second finger is where i'm supposed to poke the needle into and jab...so i have to take the swab and swab the area one time and make it the clean area...then wait for it to dry...hold the fats with one hand and hold the pen with the other and jab it in...once inside push the knob down until it stops...and just make sure the hand is stable...first time doing it was scary...but it turned out ok...luckily the needle didn't break inside me...cause i did let it hang a while...hehehe

About 9pm...the nurse came in to remove the iv drip bottle...and that concludes the end of my reliance on the iv drips to get rid of the ketones in my body...the thing was still stuck to my hand though...just that now i don't have to drag the iv pole along to anyway i go...be it the toilet or just anywhere around my room...

More visitors started to come in after 930pm...and they stayed till almost 1130pm!!!...thank goodness i have a single room to accommodate all of them...after they left...it was the first time in 3 days that i finally get to sleep without the iv line getting in the way...my hand was FREE!!! The feeling was so good to be able to move around without needing to be concious of the iv drip line getting entangled or somehow disrupts the flow of the drips...

Next up...part 4...my discharge day!!!