BiTs 'N PiEces oF mY LifE...

okays, tt was the only event tt i can update with photos. hehs. lotsa other stuff happened before and after tt actually but the lack of photos kinda waned my memory a bit.

but one thing i'll never forget is how i suddenly got acquainted with tan tock seng hospital. heh. okays not really in a good way. i din like suddenly inherit or own shares in ttsh or anything. lols. rather, i became a patient there.

it was a wk of many many gatherings i rmb. was out till late for like at least 2 or 3 days consecutively, meeting many different grps of pple. cldnt miss any gathering as a result. then on sunday, i left home early to go out with kane. n we had lunch quite late.. at like 1 plus? yeahs and i only drank a packet of milo on my way out. btw, that packet was really v v v filling, at least at tt time. hahas.

then when we were having lunch, omg my stomach started hurting. really very very badly. but since i've had this prob for quite some time, i thought tt it was nothing n waited for the pain to just subside. however it didnt! omg in fact, it worsened. heh. i really scared my darling man. the only thing he cld do was just look at me suffer in pain and lend me his hand to squeeze when the pain got worse.

we decided tt he'll just send me home so tt i can rest n stuff but on our way back, the pain seemed to have subsided. however when we were walking towards my estate, it hurt again! my goodness it was so horrible to the extent tt i wld just stop walking n bend down to lessen my agony. the hot weather just worsened my condition and soon, i think i really cldnt take it. we decided to go to the doctor or nearest hospital to consult a doctor before i went home.

i think i scared my dad too when i called home asking him where the nearest doctor was and tt i was gg to see a doctor coz my stomach hurt. hahas. n the next thing he knew, his daughter and her boyfriend were on the way to tan tock seng hospital in a cab. the cab driver was really nice though, he was telling us what to say to make sure i get fast treatment.

but wells, the A & E department at the hospital on a sunday afternoon was super packed. and the estimated waiting time was more than 2 hours. hahaha omg. my parents drove down to the hospital once my mum reached home with the car and that was how my parents met my boyfriend for the first time. heh. how exciting =S

well fast-forwarding the minor details, i saw myself back at TTSH this morning for a medical appointment set on that sunday. went for a consultation with the specialist and decided to go do an endoscopy test to check out wad's wrong with my stomach.

went to the endoscopy center in the afternoon with my dad, registered at the reception and soon i was brought in to take my blood pressure. apparently my blood pressure was on the low side. ahaha. the nurses measured my bp from my right arm and the machine showed tt it was low. so they took it again and it was still low. then they changed over to taking my bp from my left arm and it was STILL low! hahas. they kept asking if my blood pressure is naturally low but i have no idea. heh. they decided to just monitor and go ahead with the procedures.

oh and they asked if i wanted to be sedated for the procedure. but the thing was, with sedation, the whole process would take more than 2 hrs coz it involves the resting time. but without sedation, the process would take around 1 hr. considering the fact that my dad was waiting outside for me, i decided not to be sedated. hahaa. actually i didnt see the need to be sedated either. the doctor said tt the actual scoping procedure takes only 5 to 10 mins. sounds reasonably bearable i guess. heh. so i just bravely said i din need sedation. LoL

so i waited on one of the seats they had for patients to wait in before and after they have taken the endoscopy test. i was just sitting there, watching this quite old local chinese sitcom when this lady came into the waiting area. i think she was sedated for her procedure, coz she looked quite weak and faint. and she looked like she was suffering. but maybe its coz its a different procedure, since she had to have a needle inserted into the back of her hand. but seeing her so weak and everything made me kinda worried abt how mine would be like.

think i was one of the youngest patients there. lol. when the nurse called my name to prepare for the endoscopy procedure i was still like alert and all. heh. but anyways, she confirmed my identity and made sure i knew what i was there for and she brought me to this hospital bed where she told me to lie on. and then she started wheeling me towards the ward. it felt like what u usually see on those drama serials, when the patients are being wheeled into operation theatres n everything. and what the patient (me) sees (saw) was the ceiling, the lights, nurses in blue gowns walking around, etc. heh. quite cool actually. honestly i was quite excited LOL i guess coz it was my first time. hahaa =p

i was then wheeled into this room where the nurse told me not to worry. hahas. she's really nice, reassuring me and everything =) she then gave me this small cup of white stuff to drink. apparently its to clear the gas in my stomach. tasted kinda like the antacid the doctor prescribed to me at the A&E department.

the nurses there then told me to wait awhile more. the door to the operating room opened again and this uncle was wheeled out on a bed also. heh. but i think it was frm another procedure i guess. i stared at the ceiling for quite some time, then observed the place i was in for some more time before i was finally wheeled into the operating theatre. it sounded quite scary actually, with the blood pressure machine beeping all the time coz the blood pressure of the previous person has been taken.

coz i wasnt being sedated, i was fully aware of my surroundings. and since i saw my doctor gg for lunch when i arrived at TTSH, i knew it would be quite a long wait. hehs. they wrapped the bp thing ard my arm again and took my blood pressure yet again. and it was still low. lols. anyways, coz i was just lying there for so long i kept fidgeting a lot, looking to my left n right n everything. hehs another nurse came over and sprayed something at my throat to numb it. the doctor came at the appointment time and by tt time the nurses there had already set everything up and my throat was so numb tt i cldnt feel tt i was swallowing properly. started to feel kinda weird haha.

when the doctor was ready, i was told to bite onto this white ring-like thing to make sure my mouth was open throughout the whole procedure. then i suddenly felt a huge bout of discomfort in my throat. apparently the endoscope was already halfway through my esophagus. i felt a number of pats around me and reassuring voices saying that i was doing well. really felt very very grateful to the nurses there. think i wld have felt worse if they didnt reassure me like that. i guess as a patient, all u need is just a little reassurance to give you the motivation to hang in there. okay my condition's not very serious (not that i want it to!) but wells, i was a patient at tt time and i guess most patients would think tt way even if they dun say it.

i cld see what my esophagus looked like from the screen coz it was right in front of me. hahas. was quite fascinated actually but the feeling of having something foreign going into my stomach made me quite nauseated. there were times when i felt tt i cldnt breathe properly n i felt tt i was choking or sth.

they told me to close my eyes n initially when i did so, all i envisioned was the scope going thru my internal organs. my eyes sprung open immediately. hehs. but then i learnt to relax a bit and managed to close my eyes again. by then i cld feel tears rolling down for i dunno wad reason and i was grabbing my thigh as tightly as possible coz that was the only thing i cld grab. heh.

it felt like ages before the doctor said "its ending soon". apparently the endoscope had already reached my small intestine. in fact, i could feel the whole long thing moving thru my whole digestive system. the feeling's quite disgusting actually. and i can still feel it now =S

i cant describe the sense of relief when the thing was finally pulled out from my mouth. even though there was a whole pool of saliva + gastric juices + a bit of blood + i dunno what else. hahaa sounds super gross right! imagine tt was what i saw when i opened my eyes =S luckily the nurses were very nice. heh. i think they've assisted such procedures so many times that its just another procedure to them. lols.

woohooo feel so brave after the whole procedure! hahas. never thought i wld be able to endure such a procedure man. im not as hum as i thought wahahhaa. went for my long-awaited lunch with daddy before cabbing home after tt. hehs. really thankful to have my parents and my darling around throughout this whole thing.

oh anws, the diagnosis was gastritis. guess i'll have to put in more effort to take extra care of myself! heh. fortunately it isnt very very serious though i cld have had a healthier stomach if i had taken better care of myself before all this happened =p

okays, gtg!! flu vaccination after dinner heh byeee!