13 September 2011, Tuesday
I was feeling so lousy this morning. I struggled the 8-10 mins walk to the market to post a letter and to meet my mum's helper, N, who had brought some stuff for me. N saw me in that condition and insisted on accompanying me home. I bought lunch and struggled all the way back again. I was in discomfort and aching all over.
After resting a while, I ate part of my lunch. I went back to rest on the recliner and started shivering all over, even with socks and sweater on. I drifted off to sleep and a short while later, awoke groggily to throw up. I went back to sleep again, and awoke once again to throw up. Then... I heard N shouting. I opened my eyes and asked what it was about. N said my eyes rolled upwards and my arms were shaking. She thought I was dying and got so frightened that she cried.
I guessed I went into fits. There were several occasions when I nearly passed out while throwing up. I think it is due to the head trauma that I sustained when I passed out a couple of times some years back. The last in 2008 while undergoing chemo.
This time round, my stomach did not settle as quickly after throwing up. I am still feeling bloated some days later. It could be due to some mooncake that I had eaten. It was even very much compared to normal consumption by others, but it was more than enough to make me sick. According to the ayurveda master, the bean paste when eaten would get stuck to our stomach wall. A healthy stomach would take about 3 weeks to completely expel it. As for me, it's creating havoc within. I will probably need the herbal brew to help expel it. So much for giving in to temptation!
Showing posts with label fainting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fainting. Show all posts
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Saturday, 20 November 2010
Indigestion
November 2010
On the eve of my maternal uncle's funeral, I attended his wake. The weather was cold and it had rain earlier. It took me more than an hour to reach there by public transport. By the time I arrived there in the late evening, I was feeling a little hungry and cold.
I took some of the catered food provided, but I guessed it didn't quite agree with my stomach as I was feeling a little bloated. However, I stayed for the service, but before the service ended, my lymphedemic right arm was in pain.
I have noticed that whenever I fall sick, especially with fever, my right arm would be the first part of my body to be affected. And when the fever subsided, my right arm would still remain red and very warm, like inflamed. And it usually takes a few days for the redness to disappear and the temperature to return to normal. So, I have resorted to using ice-packs to bring down the temperature of my arm, and this has proven to be very effective.
A cousin helped me with energy-healing therapy and it gave me some relief. When I got home, I took a cup of hot-boiled milk with ghee and honey, and went to shower.
I wasn't feeling good but had not realised that I was running a temperature. When the water fell on me, I started shivering uncontrollably, despite adjusting the thermostat to near maximum and staying under the running hot shower.
I was still shivering so hard even with sweater, socks, gloves and long pants on, that my family had to cover me with blankets as well. After some time, I threw up and the shivering stopped. It was much later that I broke out in sweat that I felt better. And as before, I nearly passed out while throwing up, which was why I would always sit on the floor with a waste paper basket lined with plastic bags.
On the eve of my maternal uncle's funeral, I attended his wake. The weather was cold and it had rain earlier. It took me more than an hour to reach there by public transport. By the time I arrived there in the late evening, I was feeling a little hungry and cold.
I took some of the catered food provided, but I guessed it didn't quite agree with my stomach as I was feeling a little bloated. However, I stayed for the service, but before the service ended, my lymphedemic right arm was in pain.
I have noticed that whenever I fall sick, especially with fever, my right arm would be the first part of my body to be affected. And when the fever subsided, my right arm would still remain red and very warm, like inflamed. And it usually takes a few days for the redness to disappear and the temperature to return to normal. So, I have resorted to using ice-packs to bring down the temperature of my arm, and this has proven to be very effective.
A cousin helped me with energy-healing therapy and it gave me some relief. When I got home, I took a cup of hot-boiled milk with ghee and honey, and went to shower.
I wasn't feeling good but had not realised that I was running a temperature. When the water fell on me, I started shivering uncontrollably, despite adjusting the thermostat to near maximum and staying under the running hot shower.
I was still shivering so hard even with sweater, socks, gloves and long pants on, that my family had to cover me with blankets as well. After some time, I threw up and the shivering stopped. It was much later that I broke out in sweat that I felt better. And as before, I nearly passed out while throwing up, which was why I would always sit on the floor with a waste paper basket lined with plastic bags.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Fainting Spell
Wow! I have not been posting for a long time. My long silence has caused my family and friends to worry about my well-being.
My apologies. Initially, my computer crashed. And then, there were certain things that happened - nothing to do with my health actually, just my time. Now, I have suddenly got into the mood for clearing out the junk in the house. The mess that I initially have no energy for and also been staring at with no idea where to start. Now that I have started, I did not feel like stopping and have turned it into spring cleaning since the Chinese New Year is fast approaching. It's therapeutic and I actually look forward to it everyday, looking for more junk to dump.
15 Nov 2008, Sunday - Just wanted to mention here that I have another fainting spell. I had a short nap before heading to the kitchen for lunch when I felt unwell. I sat on a kitchen stool (not a very wise move) to rest and before I realised it, my mind was in that now all too familiar state (one which I have since very much disliked and sort of fear too). It's like I am in another dimension and have difficulty waking up.
Fortunately, my husband was in the kitchen also and saw me slumped against the kitchen table. He grabbed me before I slid to the floor and I suddenly became fully conscious. I have a feeling these fainting spells have something to do with my stomach - waking up with either indigestion or hunger, and something to do with my poor blood circulation as well.
I would like to get over with the junk clearing so that I can concentrate on my blog postings. At the moment, I am also hard-pressed for time with my reading.
My apologies. Initially, my computer crashed. And then, there were certain things that happened - nothing to do with my health actually, just my time. Now, I have suddenly got into the mood for clearing out the junk in the house. The mess that I initially have no energy for and also been staring at with no idea where to start. Now that I have started, I did not feel like stopping and have turned it into spring cleaning since the Chinese New Year is fast approaching. It's therapeutic and I actually look forward to it everyday, looking for more junk to dump.
15 Nov 2008, Sunday - Just wanted to mention here that I have another fainting spell. I had a short nap before heading to the kitchen for lunch when I felt unwell. I sat on a kitchen stool (not a very wise move) to rest and before I realised it, my mind was in that now all too familiar state (one which I have since very much disliked and sort of fear too). It's like I am in another dimension and have difficulty waking up.
Fortunately, my husband was in the kitchen also and saw me slumped against the kitchen table. He grabbed me before I slid to the floor and I suddenly became fully conscious. I have a feeling these fainting spells have something to do with my stomach - waking up with either indigestion or hunger, and something to do with my poor blood circulation as well.
I would like to get over with the junk clearing so that I can concentrate on my blog postings. At the moment, I am also hard-pressed for time with my reading.
Monday, 29 September 2008
Passed out, again
28 Sep 2008, Sunday - Yeah, I passed out again, today.
I had gone for a short walk around the neighbourhood with my elder daughter just after 9 am. After the walk, I was tired but still went to the market alone. Back from the market, I was completely exhausted and rested before lunch.
After lunch, I was back on the recliner resting again when I felt pain on the right side of my abdomen, just below the last rib. I was feeling uncomfortable and was bothered by the pain and my aching back, so I put the recliner in an upright position. I was contemplating making a trip to the bathroom when I passed out.
As usual, in the moments that I struggled to regain consciousness, my mind was in a state of confusion. I was breaking out in cold sweat as I struggled to open my eyes and tried to control my mind. In my confused state, I thought I was alone at home, but then realised that it was Sunday and everyone was home.
I snapped and panicked and called for my family members and everyone rushed to my side. I was whining away and still very groggy. My son had wanted to call the ambulance but I said no, and instead asked my daughter to apply some essential oil for me. After resting for some time, I felt better and could go to the bathroom where I relieved myself of flatulence.
On reflection, I couldn't.understand why I had panicked and shouted for my family members. What had I been fearful of? From recent scans, I was aware that I could not afford another blow to the head as I had a fracture line all the way to the base of my skull from a fall some years ago and the fall in May has caused bleeding in my brain. I was lucky this time that I was on the recliner and did not fall.
I had always been collected and had never reacted in that manner before where my health is concerned, so what happened this time? Did the results of the last scan caused such an effect? Was my mind so disorientated and bad memories from the recent fall frightened me into action?
I had given my family cause for concern, especially my son, who quickly cancelled his music lesson so that he could be at home in case I needed to rush to hospital. I had not been thinking of death, in fact, I was more concerned about being alone at home and unable to move around, and wondered if I would be able to reach the phone and called for help. Each time I had lost consciousness without warning which is quite worrying.
A check with the traditional medicine practitioner found that I had wind in my kidney and that I passed out from the pain. But, at a scale of 1 - 10, it was probably only at 6 or 7 and not crippling pain, so I could not understand how that could cause me to pass out.
My threshold of pain is not too bad generally except during childbirth or had my tooth filled. I remembered some years back when I was having my tooth filled. The dentist had to give me more anesthetic as I kept complaining of pain, until he said, "okay, I have given you the maximum and if you still feel pain, then the only thing left is for me to hit you on the head to knock you out." Well, I still felt pain and he was exasperated and commented that I must be one of the very few who had nerves running in some unusual position.
I had gone for a short walk around the neighbourhood with my elder daughter just after 9 am. After the walk, I was tired but still went to the market alone. Back from the market, I was completely exhausted and rested before lunch.
After lunch, I was back on the recliner resting again when I felt pain on the right side of my abdomen, just below the last rib. I was feeling uncomfortable and was bothered by the pain and my aching back, so I put the recliner in an upright position. I was contemplating making a trip to the bathroom when I passed out.
As usual, in the moments that I struggled to regain consciousness, my mind was in a state of confusion. I was breaking out in cold sweat as I struggled to open my eyes and tried to control my mind. In my confused state, I thought I was alone at home, but then realised that it was Sunday and everyone was home.
I snapped and panicked and called for my family members and everyone rushed to my side. I was whining away and still very groggy. My son had wanted to call the ambulance but I said no, and instead asked my daughter to apply some essential oil for me. After resting for some time, I felt better and could go to the bathroom where I relieved myself of flatulence.
On reflection, I couldn't.understand why I had panicked and shouted for my family members. What had I been fearful of? From recent scans, I was aware that I could not afford another blow to the head as I had a fracture line all the way to the base of my skull from a fall some years ago and the fall in May has caused bleeding in my brain. I was lucky this time that I was on the recliner and did not fall.
I had always been collected and had never reacted in that manner before where my health is concerned, so what happened this time? Did the results of the last scan caused such an effect? Was my mind so disorientated and bad memories from the recent fall frightened me into action?
I had given my family cause for concern, especially my son, who quickly cancelled his music lesson so that he could be at home in case I needed to rush to hospital. I had not been thinking of death, in fact, I was more concerned about being alone at home and unable to move around, and wondered if I would be able to reach the phone and called for help. Each time I had lost consciousness without warning which is quite worrying.
A check with the traditional medicine practitioner found that I had wind in my kidney and that I passed out from the pain. But, at a scale of 1 - 10, it was probably only at 6 or 7 and not crippling pain, so I could not understand how that could cause me to pass out.
My threshold of pain is not too bad generally except during childbirth or had my tooth filled. I remembered some years back when I was having my tooth filled. The dentist had to give me more anesthetic as I kept complaining of pain, until he said, "okay, I have given you the maximum and if you still feel pain, then the only thing left is for me to hit you on the head to knock you out." Well, I still felt pain and he was exasperated and commented that I must be one of the very few who had nerves running in some unusual position.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Black-out
7 May 2008, Wed - By noon, the water retention was back.
8 May 2008, Thu - I took one each of frusemide and potassium chloride. I was very tired, but I was not surprised as this was around the time when I get the side-effects of chemo and I'd just had a full dose on Monday.
After I was back from the market, Nurse Trudi called. She was coming to check on me with Dr Rebecca. I mentioned that I was very tired, but she said they would come anyway. They came before noon.
After Nurse Trudi and the doctor left, I went to sleep. I wasn't very hungry and with the metallic taste, I just didn't feel like eating. Awaking after 3pm, I was still very tired and feeling hungry. Went to the kitchen to look for food.
Taking a bowl, I had just poured some oats in and was about to get the hot water, when my eyes saw light...........
So dizzy... this is the kitchen floor........ why am I here??? what happened???
Took me some minutes to recall that I was preparing oats and that the last thing I remembered was the bright lights. I had passed out even before I hit the ground from a standing position. I must have hit a kitchen stool as I fell because it was way out of place, but I had no recollection of it. I couldn't have been out for very long because I noticed the kitchen clock was still at 3 plus.
I struggled to get up and managed to shift myself to the nearby cabinet. I sat there on the floor and leaning against the cabinet, groggy and dizzy and fighting hard to stay conscious. It was quite some time before I felt a little steady and slowly got up to add hot water to the oats. I sat back on the kitchen floor and ate the oats. That wasn't a wise thing to do as I started throwing up.
I kept wanting to pass out so I just sat there and rested. After a while, I made my way to the living room and sat near the phone. Glo happened to call and I mentioned that I just had a fall, didn't feel like talking and wanted to rest.
I called Nurse Trudi and told her what had happened. She consulted with the doctor who advised me to get to A&E. I told her I should be okay and just needed to rest. I rested for about half an hour and decided that things just weren't going to get better. I called my mum and asked her to send her maid, Marilou, over.
Made my way to the door, unlock the gate and went to the recliner to rest. I had told Marilou that I would leave the gate unlocked so that she could go in without having to bother me.
Marilou came and jammed the bolt on the gate instead. I heard her fiddling with the gate for quite some time and got up slowly to open the gate for her. Told her to boil some fresh milk for me and went back to the recliner.
I was vaguely aware that Marilou was trying to wake me up and massaging me at the same time. I found out later that I had suffered a seizure and had bitten my tongue. Marilou said she was frightened, my eyes rolled up, I was shaking and didn't seem to be breathing. She said she kept calling and massaging me at the same time until I regained consciousness.
I drank the milk and asked Marilou to cook porridge for me. It was nearly 6pm and by then, my elder daughter had come home from school, so I asked Marilou to go back to mum's.
I seemed to feel a little steadier after the milk but didn't feel like eating the porridge. I wanted a quick shower, and told my daughter that I would leave the bathroom door unlock and asked her to standby outside the door in case I fell. I managed to finish showering without problem.
In the meantime, my younger daughter and husband had returned.
I was on the recliner when I started feeling queasy again. I threw up so hard that I nearly passed out again. My son, who happened to be on leave the next day, came back and saw the sorry sight I was in. He was very concerned and insisted that I should go to hospital. I asked him to call 1777 for a private ambulance so that I could be sent to SGH A&E instead of Changi. With the help of my daughter, I grabbed some of my stuff and waited for the ambulance.
The ambulance was a small one, like a small panel van, with basic essentials. As I lie there on the stretcher, I could sense the ambulance speeding, just didn't know how fast. I opened my eyes and could see the treetops flying past. I quickly closed my eyes again and prayed that we reach the hospital safe and sound. My son, who had accompanied me and was sitting in front, said that the driver was speeding but seemed quite skilful.
Lying there and praying, I had recalled that years ago, when I was holidaying in the Philippines, I had noticed that a lot of the cab drivers there had this little prayer hanging in their vehicles :
O Lord,
Give me a steady hand and a watchful eye
So that no one will be hurt as I pass by.
I hoped my ambulance driver was praying too.
Going to the A&E by ambulance was a wise choice because the ambulance attendant had contacted the hospital and by the time, we arrived, they were waiting for me. I was admitted straightaway, avoiding the hassle of registering and queuing for admission.
8 May 2008, Thu - I took one each of frusemide and potassium chloride. I was very tired, but I was not surprised as this was around the time when I get the side-effects of chemo and I'd just had a full dose on Monday.
After I was back from the market, Nurse Trudi called. She was coming to check on me with Dr Rebecca. I mentioned that I was very tired, but she said they would come anyway. They came before noon.
After Nurse Trudi and the doctor left, I went to sleep. I wasn't very hungry and with the metallic taste, I just didn't feel like eating. Awaking after 3pm, I was still very tired and feeling hungry. Went to the kitchen to look for food.
Taking a bowl, I had just poured some oats in and was about to get the hot water, when my eyes saw light...........
So dizzy... this is the kitchen floor........ why am I here??? what happened???
Took me some minutes to recall that I was preparing oats and that the last thing I remembered was the bright lights. I had passed out even before I hit the ground from a standing position. I must have hit a kitchen stool as I fell because it was way out of place, but I had no recollection of it. I couldn't have been out for very long because I noticed the kitchen clock was still at 3 plus.
I struggled to get up and managed to shift myself to the nearby cabinet. I sat there on the floor and leaning against the cabinet, groggy and dizzy and fighting hard to stay conscious. It was quite some time before I felt a little steady and slowly got up to add hot water to the oats. I sat back on the kitchen floor and ate the oats. That wasn't a wise thing to do as I started throwing up.
I kept wanting to pass out so I just sat there and rested. After a while, I made my way to the living room and sat near the phone. Glo happened to call and I mentioned that I just had a fall, didn't feel like talking and wanted to rest.
I called Nurse Trudi and told her what had happened. She consulted with the doctor who advised me to get to A&E. I told her I should be okay and just needed to rest. I rested for about half an hour and decided that things just weren't going to get better. I called my mum and asked her to send her maid, Marilou, over.
Made my way to the door, unlock the gate and went to the recliner to rest. I had told Marilou that I would leave the gate unlocked so that she could go in without having to bother me.
Marilou came and jammed the bolt on the gate instead. I heard her fiddling with the gate for quite some time and got up slowly to open the gate for her. Told her to boil some fresh milk for me and went back to the recliner.
I was vaguely aware that Marilou was trying to wake me up and massaging me at the same time. I found out later that I had suffered a seizure and had bitten my tongue. Marilou said she was frightened, my eyes rolled up, I was shaking and didn't seem to be breathing. She said she kept calling and massaging me at the same time until I regained consciousness.
I drank the milk and asked Marilou to cook porridge for me. It was nearly 6pm and by then, my elder daughter had come home from school, so I asked Marilou to go back to mum's.
I seemed to feel a little steadier after the milk but didn't feel like eating the porridge. I wanted a quick shower, and told my daughter that I would leave the bathroom door unlock and asked her to standby outside the door in case I fell. I managed to finish showering without problem.
In the meantime, my younger daughter and husband had returned.
I was on the recliner when I started feeling queasy again. I threw up so hard that I nearly passed out again. My son, who happened to be on leave the next day, came back and saw the sorry sight I was in. He was very concerned and insisted that I should go to hospital. I asked him to call 1777 for a private ambulance so that I could be sent to SGH A&E instead of Changi. With the help of my daughter, I grabbed some of my stuff and waited for the ambulance.
The ambulance was a small one, like a small panel van, with basic essentials. As I lie there on the stretcher, I could sense the ambulance speeding, just didn't know how fast. I opened my eyes and could see the treetops flying past. I quickly closed my eyes again and prayed that we reach the hospital safe and sound. My son, who had accompanied me and was sitting in front, said that the driver was speeding but seemed quite skilful.
Lying there and praying, I had recalled that years ago, when I was holidaying in the Philippines, I had noticed that a lot of the cab drivers there had this little prayer hanging in their vehicles :
O Lord,
Give me a steady hand and a watchful eye
So that no one will be hurt as I pass by.
I hoped my ambulance driver was praying too.
Going to the A&E by ambulance was a wise choice because the ambulance attendant had contacted the hospital and by the time, we arrived, they were waiting for me. I was admitted straightaway, avoiding the hassle of registering and queuing for admission.
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