My Colonoscopy and Endoscopy Experience

Last month, I had to undergo a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. For those of you who don’t know what these are, a colonoscopy is a procedure where a doctor (usually a Gastroenterologist) inserts a long, thin tube inside the patient’s rectum. The tube has a tiny video camera which is connected to a screen where it shows the live images, and this is used to look at the colon (aka large intestine) for any abnormalities. An endoscopy is pretty much the same thing, but this time the tube is inserted down the patient’s throat to look at his or her digestive tract.

Viral Ball: The Souqpinoy Slimdown Challenge Press Launch

I admit I’m not a fit or athletic person. I don’t go to the gym and the only exercise I do is walking and jogging around the neighborhood park. And although I’ve been trying to watch what I eat lately, I’m far from what you would describe as health conscious. So imagine my surprise when I received an invitation to the press launch of The Souqpinoy Slimdown Challenge. I was sure I wouldn’t fit in (pun intended ☺), but since I honestly wanted to know more about it, my family and I headed to The Coach Academy in Al Muneera Gym last Friday.

Guest Post: Hubby's Experience at Zen the Spa

Remember I won a session at Al Ghurair Rayhaan's Zen the Spa? Well, Hubby also wanted a massage, so he checked out the hotel’s website, and lo and behold, they had a promotion going on where you could avail a 50% discount off their packages just by downloading their coupon! Of course he did this right away, and he instantly told me to book an appointment for us that Saturday. Being the obedient wife I am (hehehe), I did, and we made sure our schedules were clear for that afternoon. Anyway, since he’s the one who enjoyed the session more than I did, I’ll let him share his experience. So, ladies and gentlemen, my first ever guest and his first blogging stint…my husband, Christian (aka Guchi). Take it away, Mahal! =) 

Breast Self Examination Demonstration

Women have been reminded time and time again the importance of having breast self-exams at least once a month. The 15 minutes one spends regularly to check her breasts can really save her life.

Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to do a self-exam properly…me included. All I knew was to feel around and look if there were any changes or lumps. It would take me just a couple of minutes.

I think the reason why I didn’t know how was because the only information I got was through words and pictures. I needed something with an actual person actually demonstrating how to do it.

Thanks to YouTube, I came across this video and can now make sure I’m doing the self-exam properly. I strongly encourage all women to watch it as well. I personally think it’s the most helpful and informative breast self-exam I’ve seen so far.

    

Next month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Let’s be more aware of the disease and do our best to ensure that we’re all free from this type of cancer by setting aside 15 minutes of our time each month to examine ourselves.

looking into the positive side of things

Hubby recently shared this image on our FB account:

Since it also applies to negative experiences, I’d like to share how I’m looking in a positive way the recent things that have been happening to me and my family.

First case: Sophie’s hospitalization for 2 days.
The positive: I was able to take a leave off work to spend more than 48 hours to take care of her, play with her, and attend to her needs. Bonding time galore within the confines of a hospital room…just my baby and me!

Second case: Getting a bad case of food poisoning.
The positive: Losing approximately 7 lbs off my weight! My face became smaller, my tummy became slightly flatter, and I fit into a pair of slacks that used to fit me perfectly 9 years ago!

Third case: Caila fell ill and started vomiting so we had to take her to the doctor; at the same time, Sophie became feverish again.
The positive: Both girls became very clingy to me and Hubby, so we were able to enjoy countless cuddles, kisses and hugs from them all night while we carried them in our arms. I was also able to joke around with their pedia when we left her office that night by saying “Good night, Doctor. I don’t want to see you again for a long time.” She laughed real hard upon hearing that, and replied “Yes! Kalas! Go away!”

Fourth case: I sprained my ankle.
The positive: Upon seeing me limping around the office, my managers and colleagues are very understanding and aren’t pressuring me too much…at least, not as much as they usually do.

The frequent trips to the hospital would have made anyone cry out in despair. I admit that several times I would beg God “Tama na, Lord, please! Last na sana ‘to!” But then after a few minutes, I would realize that at least, these are the only things that happened. No lives were taken and we were all still together.

And those reasons are enough to make me see the silver lining and still be thankful in the end.

Stay positive, everyone! Good vibes all around!

food poisoned

If you're following me on Twitter (if not, please do @gutzytower) you must have read that I had a bout of food poisoning last Thursday.

It was terrible, I tell you. From about 1am until 6am, I was shivering as I was trying to sleep. I was already covered in a sweater and nightrobe on top of my pj's and socks, but I still felt really cold. And in between, I would get out of bed several times to rush to the bathroom and either throw up or do a number 2 which was pure liquid. I didn't check my temperature but I'm sure I had a fever because my forehead and neck felt pretty hot.

Although I felt weak, I knew I couldn't not go to work that day. I had been on Emergency Leave from Sunday to Tuesday because Sophie was in the hospital and there were still a couple of important and overdue reports I had to do.

As soon as I arrived at the office, I prepared a hot cup of tea and nibbled on some crackers before sitting down to work. At 9:10am, I threw up. One of the managers must have heard me because he told me that I should go home as I sounded and looked terrible (thanks a lot!). Even my manager noticed that I didn't look too good and told me to go home and get some rest. Still I insisted on working. But by 9:45am, after facing the toilet bowl 2 more times, I finally admitted defeat and told my manager I was going to the hospital. It was a good thing one of the drivers was available to drop me off.

By the time I had informed the lady at the hospital reception that I was there for my 11am appointment, I felt so weak I could barely stand. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long because I soon heard a nurse call my name, she took my vitals, and a few minutes later, she called me in to see the doctor. Upon telling him what I had been experiencing, he said it was most probably food poisoning. As he questioned me on what kind of foods I had eaten the day before and whether they were fresh or expired, or bought, I remembered the one thing that I had eaten that no one else I knew had eaten: a cold cuts sandwich that I had prepared from home.

After leaving the doctor's office room, I had to have my blood sample taken at the Laboratory. There were 2 bottles mixed with I-don't-know-what and 2 test tubes...all 4 of which had to be filled with my blood. By the last one, I began to feel really weak and woozy, so as soon as he was done, the nurse squirted some alcohol-based sanitizing gel in my hand to sniff. Then he told me to rest on one of the chairs before I went for my stool sample. I then headed down to the Pharmacy to get the medicines I needed, after which I proceeded to the Treatment Room where I would be taking the drugs by IV.

All this time as I shuffled in between departments and floors, I felt soooo weak like I could barely stand and want to throw up as well. I seriously wanted to just give in to my body and lie down wherever I was during those times. My arrival at the Treatment Room was the perfect time because I thought I couldn’t take it anymore.

 From 12 noon until 3:45pm, I was lying down having the 4 bags and bottles of medicines dripped into my vein. There was nothing else to do but take a nap.

Earlier, I had informed Hubby of what happened, so he took the afternoon off, and by 2:30pm, he arrived at my side. While waiting for the last bag to finish, he went to get a Sick Leave certificate from the doctor. And finally at 4pm, we were out of the hospital.

I still felt weak by the time we left, but at least I wasn’t throwing up anymore. My condition improved during the weekend through the help of fresh fruits, rice porridge, and a drink that I made which I found on the internet (a mix of water, sugar, salt and lemon juice) which I drank a lot of. Now, I’m completely ok.

Err, except for the sprained ankle I have which I got yesterday morning which resulted to severe swelling, forcing me to wear an ankle brace and to stay off my right foot for at least a week.

I so need a foot spa and pedicure!

Oh well.

sophie in the hospital

I’m back again! I’m sorry for the silent treatment on this blog lately. But again I have a valid reason: my youngest was confined in the hospital for 2 days last week and I was indisposed from Thursday until Saturday.

Yeah, I know. Too much sickness in less than a week!

I’ll tell you all about what happened to me in a separate post, but first let me share what happened to Sophie.

So I took Thursday afternoon off just as I planned, then took her to see her paediatrician for her 3pm appointment. The doctor said that it was most probably a viral infection in addition to her teething, but instructed me to have her blood sample taken to be sure. She also told me to continue some of the meds that she had prescribed previously.

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon, Hubby went to collect the results while I was at work. However, when he met with the doctor, she told him that the reports showed a bacterial infection and Sophie needed to be admitted in the hospital for 2 to 3 days so that they could give her the antibiotics (through IV) and monitor her condition properly. I suddenly felt weak when Hubby called me to tell me this. I couldn’t concentrate on work anymore, and I was almost in tears as I explained the situation to my manager, telling him that I needed to go on leave for 3 days. Again, he understood, and let me leave work early so that Hubby could fetch me.

That evening, the three of us (Hubby, me and Sophie) headed to the hospital. As Hubby parked the car, Sophie and I went to the nurse’s desk, told them that Sophie was going to be admitted, and after a while, the nurse led us to a Semi-Private Room, which fortunately was going to be occupied only by us.

Soon after, a couple of nurses came to attach the cannula into Sophie’s hand. I honestly thought she would cry out, but she just made a small “Ow!” when she felt the needle prick, and after that, she just stared at her hand as the nurses got to work to cover it.

The time came when she had to be given the antibiotic (through the tube). She was sitting on Hubby’s lap and he was holding her hand to make sure she wouldn’t move too much, when he noticed that it seemed to be dripping. We immediately alerted the nurses who had to remove the entire cover and fix everything again, which most probably forced the needle to move around Sophie’s vein. As Sophie was sitting there, I kept stroking her hair and softly whispered “It’s ok, anak. You’re very brave. Don’t worry, Mommy and Daddy are here,” over and over. Amazingly, she didn’t cry at all! Her eyes would just shift between the nurses and her hand without any sign of pain! The nurses were so amazed at how high Sophie’s tolerance for pain was, because even they told me that what they had done was painful. Wow! 

my brave baby

After that, the next couple of nights and days were a mix of medicines, crying, nappy-changing, nebulizers, eating, preparing milk, drinking, washing, etc, etc. Well, you get the picture.

On the first night, Sophie woke up at 1am and couldn’t sleep until 4am. In between, we would walk in the corridors, watch her video clips on Tisay, feed on some biscuits, and listen to her favourite music on my mobile phone. On the second night, she woke up at 12 midnight and stayed awake until 3am! Again we did the same things. And on both nights err…early mornings, as soon as I had dozed off, a nurse would come in, poke me in the arm and hand me the nozzle of the nebulizer to hold near Sophie’s nose. Augh! It was a good thing Sophie slept longer and would wake up at around 9 or 9:30am, so I would just go along and sleep as well.

The good thing is, her blood and urine results on the second day had improved and her paediatrician gave us the green signal to go home that night. Whew!

The bad thing is, she has fever again today. I noticed it last night when I leaned over to kiss her goodnight as she was sleeping. Haaaay! I hope it’s just because she’s teething and not a relapse of the bacterial infection. 

Please, God, don’t let it be anything more than teething!

different body temperature readings

Whenever any of us in the family doesn’t feel well, we automatically take out our digital thermometer to check the temperature. Several months ago when Caila was sick, the doctor prescribed a suppository to use if her temperature went above 37.5 degrees. When she became sick again early last week and her temperature was 37.9 degrees, we immediately gave her that suppository. Her fever left the next day, but returned on Tuesday evening. So we gave her a suppository again. Finally, we decided to take her to the hospital on Wednesday night, and that’s when we found out that we were wrong in measuring her temperature and giving her the medicine.

Apparently, when the doctor prescribed the suppository previously, it was based on the temperature if it was taken from her mouth. However, when we use the thermometer, we measure through the ears. And there is a difference in the readings if taken from the mouth, ear, armpit and rectum. Haaaay!!! Good thing the doctor explained this to us and gave us this small piece of paper for our reference.

With a bottle of Panadol syrup which the doctor prescribed and that paper, we left the hospital that night more informed and assured that Caila’s fever would go away soon.

back at the park and my inspirations to work out

Once again, I had excuses not to go to the neighborhood park last week for my (supposed to be) regular brisk walk/jog in the early evenings. On the top of the list were the meetings we had practically every night. And even though I would set the alarm for 5:40am so that I would do it in the mornings instead, the bed was just too comfortable to leave.

But finally, in spite of a (sort of) late night yesterday visiting friends, I decided that if all our nights would be like last week’s and if I really wanted to become more healthy, I had to start getting up early. So this morning, I pushed myself to get out of bed and, along with Hubby, we headed to the park at 6am.

I’ll be honest with you. One of the reasons why it took me so long to decide to start jogging in the morning was because I thought the park would be closed. If it was, I would have to settle on using the roads and streets around the area, and I didn’t want to do that alone. Which is why I asked Hubby to go with me today. But luckily, even though the sign outside the park said it opens at 8 o’clock, I was relieved to find it open and there were lots of other people going around the track.

After forty minutes of brisk walking and jogging for a total of almost 2.7 kilometers, we could feel the heat of the sun upon us, so Hubby and I walked back home.  The mix of crisp morning air, sunshine, and the energy boost we got from the workout felt really good. And since it’s much more better than in the evenings, I really, really hope I can do this morning exercise on a regular basis.

By the way, Hubby practically forced me to buy a new pair of shoes last week. For one thing, the soles of the ones I used to wear were almost falling apart. For another, para daw I’ll be more inspired to work out. And looking at the brand new gear for my feet that I have now (not to mention the price I had to pay for it), dapat lang na ma-inspire ako ‘di ba? =)

Before I forget, I have something to make kwento about...slightly off topic, but a bit related (magulo ba?! hahaha!). Yesterday morning in the elevator of our apartment building, a woman asked me how many babies I had (because she had seen me and Hubby waving to Sophie earlier). I told her 1 baby and a 4 year old child. To which she replied “Really? You don’t look like you have two kids!”

The second instance was also yesterday morning, but at work. A manager from a nearby hotel dropped by the office for her regular client visit. After the usual chit chat about business, the topic shifted to our ages and having children. When she said that I still had lots of time to have more kids if I wanted to, I told her that she was wrong because I was already 34. She was so surprised because she thought I was only 27.

Those two women really made my day yesterday! =)

motivation quotes

If I had a room all to myself, I’d print each of these quotes on A3 paper and stick them on the walls.

When I saw these, it was as if they were all talking to screaming at me.  Relate na relate ako. Ikaw, nakaka-relate din ba? =)

ang hirap magsimula

It’s been more than a week since I said that I had to start losing weight, and although I knew that it meant that I should reduce my food intake, or lessen the amount of fatty foods I put in my mouth, (plus exercise, of course) I didn’t think it would be so hard. If I were a regular working mom who simply spent her time between the office and home, it would be easy for me to eat before six and escape to the nearby park for a brisk walk, jog, or run each day. And for the first few days when I did, I really believed that I could.

i need to take action now!

I seriously have to start losing weight! I know I’ve been growing bigger in all areas of my body lately, but I didn’t realize how huge I’ve become. Before, I could easily fit in XS dresses and blouses; now I have to look at the M and sometimes L sizes to find clothes that I can comfortably fit into. Sure, it took years for all the changes to happen, but still, I can’t believe how much I’ve neglected my body! See the photo below?

free health assessment for women

Most of us may be our family’s Super Mom, but we still need to do our part in making sure our bodies are as healthy and fit as a superhero’s. And what better time to have our health checked than now?! It’s Mother’s Day month after all. Which brings me to this...
I shared this on facebook and forwarded it to some forums and several of my friends as well. And if you noticed, the assessment is FREE! You just need to book your appointment in advance to avoid the rush. Just a tip: It’s better to have your appointment in the morning because you need to fast for 10-12 hours prior.

So pick up your phone and book your appointment now. You never know...this just might save your life.

Disclaimer: This isn’t a sponsored post. I just wanted to do my part in sharing this great piece of information to the women of Dubai.

i have 2 holes, the left and the right

My residence visa is about to expire so I had to go with our PRO to Al Baraha Hospital this morning for my medical as part of the renewal requirements. After the usual payment and paper processing, the doctor who was doing the verifying put a stamp on my paper and told me to proceed to Room 5 where I just needed to have my blood drawn. At Room 5, the man at the Reception told me to go to the last room on the left where two ladies were drawing the blood from the female applicants, and fortunately I didn’t have to wait. Unfortunately though, when the lady stuck the needle in my left arm, something went wrong; she said either my vein was too small or the needle was too big (whaaaattttt?!?!?!?!) because she got just a few drops of blood. So she told me to give her my right arm (which I did), and fortunately, this time she easily located the vein and got the blood.

pregnant with pharyngitis

I just came back to work from 1½ days of sick leave. My throat suddenly started to hurt from Monday night whenever I coughed and swallowed; Tuesday morning when I woke up to get ready from work, I felt a bit weak, but still felt I was well enough to go to the office. By 9am, I was coughing non-stop (and my throat hurt every time), so I scheduled an appointment with an ENT specialist, and informed my bosses and colleagues that most probably I wouldn’t return until Thursday.

uh-oh, it's virus time again

Yesterday, almost half the employees of our office were on leave due to fever or colds. Two came to work but then left after a while. Two others, although they stayed in the office to work, looked like they weren’t feeling well either. One of my colleagues who left early told me that the hospital he went to was full of people coughing, sneezing, and shivering.

walking

Ever since our stay in Atlantis, I think my bulges have become bigger. Don't get me wrong...I'm not blaming Atlantis. It's just that that's about the same time I started noticing this. My weight is still the same, but although I haven’t checked, it seems my waistline is growing. Although hubby hasn’t commented about it (he wouldn’t dare!), I decided to take my butt off the couch and start exercising again. Much as I’d love to join a health club or work out at a gym, I don’t yet have the funds or time to. So, I chose the no-cost option which didn’t require that much physical strain: walk.

a pain in the butt neck

For two days now, I’ve been having problems with my neck.
Yesterday morning, I woke up with a stiff neck, hurting so much that I had to ask hubby’s help to get me out of bed. I thought it would go away after my shower, but I ended up having to endure it the whole day. I could barely turn my head to the left without having to turn my entire body (and even when I did, it still hurt).

they finally fit!

Remember my sacrifices for lent? Well, it has definitely given me good results so far.
Last week, I happened to pull out a dark blue pants suit out of my closet which I haven’t worn for I-don’t-know-how-long because I can never close the buttons without my tummy seeming to want to burst out.

paos

Since I woke up on Saturday morning, my voice has been hoarse and husky. My throat isn’t hurting and I don’t have a cold; I haven’t even been drinking ice cold drinks lately, nor have I had sweets (err...except maybe for the slice of Oreo Cookie Bash from Gourmet Burger Kitchen last night). The only reason I can think of is because hubby and I were asked to host the first part of a friend’s daughter’s 7th birthday party last Friday night.
Because the guests were not all Pinoy, we had to speak in English so that everyone could understand (nosebleed!), and getting the attention of about 25 boys and girls (dressed up as princes and princesses), ranging between 1 and 9 years old, telling them what to do was, of course, no simple task. We had to repeat everything we said!
It was fun, but now that I’m on my 4th day of having a “bedroom voice,” I think I’d rather leave the hosting to the pros and enjoy being a simple guest instead.