OGTT...huh??? ... and a trip up to KL

Delayed post again...sorry... biasa la... hehehe

4th June 2010

Been quite exited over this day for a long time... and no its not because i'm going for a holiday or something... but more of I will be having my OGTT on that day...

what is OGTT?? stands for Oral Glucose Tolerance Test... where you drink a small glass /bottle of pure sugar water and see how your sugar levels fare at the 1st and 2nd hour mark...

So after arriving late at the hosp... 30 min late to be more exact because of STUPID FREAKING Klang jam... reach the main lab area still got to wait... but wasn't too bad la... they didn't tell me that the OGTT included urine test too... so obviously after being stuck in the jam for 1.5 hours... naturally you wanna go ......... right? yeah... the lady was like "Hannah!! Hannah!! you dah habis ke?? Ada urine test la... (have you finished?? there's urine test...)"... my expression was immediately... -_-

so for the next 5 min... i gulped down my whole bottle of water... full 500ml... and then wait somemore... and finally after I was done... my lab appointment has been delayed by 1.5 hours from the scheduled 8.30am... and the "good news" is... i'm not supposed to eat anything until the end of the 2nd hour blooddraw... so yes... i was super hungry that time!!

I was given a bottle of orange liquid... bottle writes 75g glucose (orange flavoured)... honestly? it tastes like Fanta Orange... or you know the orange miranda??... yeah kinda like that minus the gassy part... sweet like crazy... but i gulped it down quickly... faster get it over with... after that... i was taken to the waiting area (a big hall with some sofa chairs) and was told not to go anywhere and drink anything as it might affect the reading... so what can i do while waiting for the 2 hours? well... i can read newspaper or even sleep and then they'll come and call me at the 1 hour and 2 hour time to go get blood draw....ok....

Guess i was smarter... i brought my laptop =P ... and thank goodness there was a powerpoint there!!! (no... not that presentation slide pp... but the power plug point! =P ) ... and thank goodness too my phone can be used as my modem for 3G internet... luckily the signal was ok... not too bad... and i was able to surf the net and talk on msn / facebook during the whole wait... the rest of the people there that were doing OGTT too... the uncles and aunties... they were either just flipping the newspapers 10x or sleeping...snoring really loudly @_@

Thing was... i couldn't even take my file and line up at Dr. Thye's clinic first because the lab can't release the file... I can only go and line up after i've finished all the test... so a lot of waiting for me on this day...

I decided to do my own checking too using my bg meter and then compare it to the lab results... and then also do 3rd hour bg check to see whether i get reactive hypo... so means i still can't eat even after my OGTT ends... this is call itchy backside!! just like how i itchy backside go ask Dr. Thye to let me do the OGTT =P

During the 1 hour and 2 hour interval where i checked my own bg... the readings were kinda high... kinda something i expected since i could feel the headache come in... and then at the 3rd hour (after all the walking up and down to get food and then to the clinic to line up)... my bg dropped quite a lot... but i was already super hungry at that time... so ate something first since I have lunch appointment after that in KL with Jas (from DD... gonna be the DD Malaysian meet up! like... FINALLY!!)

Anyway... finally got to see Dr. Thye at like 1.15pm(??)... last patient from her morning round... and i saw the labs for the OGTT and A1c (which i actually saw it earlier since i asked the nurse for it first =P )... and whoa... big shock! the OGTT lab results and my meter results... BIG DIFFERENCE! not even 20% error of margin...

OGTT - Lab
Fasting = 4.8
1 hour = 7.8
2 hour = 5.9

OGTT - meter
Fasting = 4.6 -- about the same as lab...
1 hour = 11.5
2 hour = 9.5
3 hour = 4.2

The one possible reason for the big difference in the meter readings is perhaps cause i didn't clean my hands first since I thought it'll be ok as I didn't do anything except touch my keyboard! ... considering the fasting reading was quite consistent where i took my meter reading after washing my hands =S

Anyway... even Dr. Thye was surprised with the big difference... but we decided to just stick to the lab results... since they're after all... labs and should be accurate... A1c was 5.0% =D ... lower than my previous 5 a1cs of 5.2%! ... and after reviewing my bg log... we decided to try to go off medication and just try diet + exercise to manage my sugar levels for 3 months until the next visit... she asked me whether i want to do another OGTT on the next visit? I said... errr... one time headache enough... don't need to repeat the test so fast... maybe end of the year... LOL!!

Dr. Thye really very cute la... I gave her a copy of DD's 7 days simple meal plan and she happily accepted it and said she can pass this to her other patients... then since it was about lunch time... her phone started to ring and she said its her husband who's now working at Assunta too and is a colon-rectum surgeon... and asked me to recommend anyone i know that needs that specialist to him... well i said no problem (after all i really like Dr. Thye...)... but his kind of specialisation is one where people wanna avoid seeing that doctor! =P ... after that... she asked me whether i want some diabetic milk samples she got from the nestle folks... and then she took out ONE BIG plastic bag full of samples and started digging through and kept taking out all the diabetic milk... and i was like... errrrr... enough!! enough!!! i don't drink this and i'll prob give my auntie!! ... i told her that i gave away a tin of that milk to my aunt after my cousin (who decided I was the diabetic that needs it) gave me... she asked why... and my answer... uncle died... and she was like... WAHhhhh... d complications? (well... sort of... but not the main one)... i said... er... not this uncle... another uncle yes... d complications renal failure (and she's a nephrologist...)... her reaction... sigh... -_-

I was supposed to meet up with Waily initially for lunch at 1.30pm... in KL... thank goodness she couldn't make it... as my plans were all messed up now... i left the hospital at 1.30pm instead! and it takes another 45 min to get to KL - Pandan Indah... since the plan to meet waily is out now... my lunch would now be with Jas from DD! FINALLY meeting up with her and her fiance!!!

So... after getting lost due to Fairus thinking i was coming from the other direction when i specifically said i'm coming from Klang... (thank goodness i was familiar with that place since i worked near there for 3 months last time)... had our lunch at Secret Recipe and had a good time there...

After meeting up for about 1 hour + ... i left to meet waily at the BB office (ex office) which was just 5 minutes away... but because of the jam... the 5 min became 30 mins!!!!!! and it was only 4.30pm!!!!!!!!! CHIA LAT!!! (terrible...) ... after going through the massive jam and going through the back lane to get to BB... finally I arrived... good to see Waily again... although most of the colleagues have left... but still managed to see a few familiar faces...

I guess the meet ups with 2 different people really made the jam i went through for 3 hours (total) was worth it =) ... but one thing is for sure... my leg... esp the left leg... OUCH!!!!!! (from pressing the clutch... =P )

p.s) special thanks to Dane, Daena, Samantha (aka Ah lian =P ) and Jas for keeping me company on MSN while i was waiting during the 2 hours for the OGTT... and hearing me talk nonsense =P