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Attack of the Killer Endometriosis

24 Sep

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Just when I thought I had a month’s break before the next endometriosis pain attack, the body went haywire. I had only a week’s reprieve! Boo hoo hoo… it’s such a messed up bloody affair.

Prior to the third long weekend getaway, I took the meds my O&G doctor prescribed – Tren (Tranexamic Acid) and Ponstan (Mefenamic Acid) before pain got the better of me when the unexpected cycle struck.

Thankfully both made the condition more bearable than before as the pain and discomfort were reduced by a whole lot. However the inconvenience of waking up in the middle of the night was still happening; I can’t overcome this just yet.

Only time can tell and unfortunately, I wait with fear for the next cycle to hit. Shudder… but before it could even occur, I was hit by another unexpected experience instead.

Last week, after our return from the third long weekend getaway, I had the worst cramps ever. EVER.

OMG… it was an epic scale attack of the killer endometriosis pain and this time, it floored me. I keeled over. I have no words for the immense agony and sleep–after downing painkillers–was the only option, which I did. For almost 12 hours.

The irony of the situation – it wasn’t even the cycle phase and the cramps just came suddenly. The pain level felt like a freight train mowing me down repeatedly. Dang… after the last bloody episode, this awfully painful experience. I had only the Ponstan to fight it because taking Tren wasn’t appropriate. And after two days of intense suffering, the cramps did lessen and a little more bearable before it subsided. Sigh.

I seriously hope this latest problem is a one-off freak occurrence. If I have to go through this again and again and again, perhaps vetoing my doctor’s veto on removing my uterus might be the ideal solution than waiting for nature to run its course. I can never be prepared enough to withstand the unexpected without keeling over. Shudder…

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I Bought Plants!

20 Sep

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It is a big deal when I buy plants because it is a known fact that hubby is the one with the green fingers, not me. Why… I don’t even venture into our garden to enjoy the greens and all, only he does that. I stay indoors to do my carvings. At most, I would venture out to the garden terrace and not beyond when I need to do some drilling or serious filing because I certainly can’t do this dusty and messy job inside.

Sometimes when hubby excitedly brings a potted plant to me, I become flabbergasted because I don’t know what I am supposed to look at or even compliment about. I don’t see anything special—at least to me—and as always, he has to point out specifically to me; that’s how useless I am when it comes to plants.

So it’s a big deal when I decided to pick up four little pots of greens when we were up North recently. I thought the petite leaves and succulents were oh-so-very cute and obviously appealed to me. But of course, the one taking care of them will be hubby and I know he will do a good job.

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A Delightful Discovery

13 Sep

It was a typical morning getting ready to leave the house for the office. Sometimes, we would do a quick spot check for caterpillars on the lime tree closest to the car at the front of the house. On this particular morning, we discovered a beauty hiding between the branches!

My my… looking rather alien but not spooked, the moth did not even budged when we took turns to take its picture up close. Later, when we got to the office, hubby googled it up to learn that it was an Oleander Hawk Moth. What a delightul discovery!

This species is rather large, sleek and thrives in warm climates. And it loves to hide within lush green foliage which I don’t think our lime tree is that lush though. But I am not complaining for we had the chance to admire a full grown beautiful moth instead of just caterpillars all the time.

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Enduring Endometriosis, Part 2

10 Sep

After our return from Club Med, I went to see my O&G doctor the next day to address the endometriosis problem. The conclusion on the situation is all about managing the pain and timing.

I was actually ready to have my uterus removed–considering I don’t need it anymore and also it’s giving me all this problems–but my doctor vetoed the idea. Instead she prescribed some medication and painkiller for me to take. And to take only when necessary.

Put it this way, I am at the crossroad for a change in my body (well, I can’t be forever 38) and ideally, I should let nature take its course. But this natural path is not the smoothest unfortunately. The only bright spot is the hope that with each passing day, the problem will lessen or go away without having to do anything drastic. Like a surgery…

In the meantime, when faced with the monthly agonizing cramps, I should just take the prescribed meds and painkiller without hesitation.

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Enduring Endometriosis

26 Aug

Last week, my excruciating endometriosis pain struck again because of the cycle. I did not see my O&G doctor immediately after last month’s attack because I wanted to monitor the situation and true enough, it struck to the core. And this time, I was popping more pain killers than ever, otherwise I would be down on the floor curled up and in agony.

To add to my stress or rather distress, I had a logo design deadline to meet and I played in my golf club’s Annual Championship Tournament over the weekend. Thankfully, I managed to pull through for the work that was expected. Maybe playing Cat Condo eased off some of the edge in the stress. As for the tournament, that’s another story all by itself.

So how am I feeling this week? Well, the storm passed and there’s relief but I need to find a window to schedule an appointment to see what’s the best option to resolve this problematic pain once and for all.

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New Injuries

5 Aug

Over the weekend, I picked up new injuries because I have been golfing more than ever. It used to be just a game on either Saturday or Sunday only but now, it’s both days. Also the last two weeks, it was three games in a week. So it’s just a matter of time before something like this happened.

Thankfully the left wrist tendonitis did not flare up during those outings and is under control; it’s two ‘new’ injuries that cropped up and are causing a lot of discomfort instead.

Injury #1: plantar fasciitis at the left foot. This problem started out very mild towards the end our stay in the US. And it has ‘grown’ since because I have been walking a lot with golf added to my usual routine. There’s no let up for it to rest and recover totally.

Injury #2: golfer’s elbow on the right arm that previously had tennis elbow but recovered when I stopped golf for some time last year. Now the pain, quite recent and acute has struck the inside area of the elbow instead of outside. The pain was already there when I hit the gym three weeks ago but I brushed it aside. Now I know…Hmm.

It looks like too much golf has taken its toll on me and the body has not been able to cope. Maybe the second injury is easier to solve than the first one because I can stop or reduce playing to rest but to stop walking? I certainly can’t don’t walk, it will be hard, very hard. I have to learn how to manage. Sigh…

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An Epic Fail

2 Aug

I have been playing golf for dinosaur years. And somehow there’s always a first for an unthinkable shot. An epic fail that is…

Tuesday was a public holiday and we took the opportunity to go play golf instead of just staying at home doing the usual carving (me) and gardening (hubby).

Our tee-off at 8.11am was later than our usual weekend 7-ish slot but we didn’t mind, it’s a public holiday and everyone’s playing golf. Anyway, the weather was lovely and the pace good without having to wait too long for every shot.

I must say I am playing much better now because there’s no pain in the wrist, carving less Gnomes these days. So the results are encouraging as each game goes by. But there’s always a first for an unthinkable scenario.

As we headed towards Hole 9, the last hole, I was getting a little tired because it was very hot by then. After all, we teed off late.

I had about 60m to the green. And although the coconut tree on the right wasn’t directly in my path, I thought launching my ball slightly left of the tree was the best approach to land nicely on the green center, close to the pin. So I took a full swing.

The ball flew above the tree but it never landed on the green as envisioned. Instead it landed in the tree! Yes, in the tree 15 feet or thereabouts above ground; my pink Nike golf ball never came out, dropped down or go past the tree. I was in disbelief!

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There, right there amidst the coconuts on the tree lies a pink Nike ball.

The approach space was so wide and yet, I managed to land my ball in the tree. That’s a first for me with such an unbelievable approach shot! An epic fail. Hahahaha…

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So Unfortunate

30 Jul

Over the weekend, hubby trimmed the trees on the front lawn and brought down the branch that had the cocoon. It looked dry and still sealed.

I slit open the thing, unsure of what we would discover. The structure of the cocoon had layers and layers of silk, molded to the shape of the leaf and very hard like a shell. And I had to use a pair of scissors with some effort to cut it because it was super strong.

When I finally managed to cut through a little, two spiders escaped and I knew they were the culprits that killed the moth. The black and white one scurried away quickly but I managed to snap a quick picture of the second one, an orangy looking varmint. Murderers!

Our highly anticipated Atlas Moth didn’t make it past its pupa stage. So unfortunate for we had waited and anticipated so long and in vain for its moment to emerge from the metamorphosis.

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Something’s Not Right, Part 2

29 Jul

My woes continued over the weekend. As if the stomach cramps and backache were not enough to give me sleepless nights, I had a swollen left eye too! Haish…

On Thursday night, I was carving and drilling, so I suspect the dust from this activity was the culprit to my eye problem. By Friday, it was rather swollen, like a goldfish.

Over the weekend, after many eye washes with Optrex, it subsided a little, thank goodness. Something may not be right but life goes on with activities to keep busy for I can’t put it on whole with all these problems trying to derail me.

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Don’t stare…

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Something’s Not Right

26 Jul

My Endometriosis pain has returned unexpectedly.

On Monday I was hit with the most excruciating pain (like the good old days) that I had to cancel my gym session. I couldn’t even sit straight, let alone walk properly, what more workout at the gym? Something’s not right.

The week before, there was pain building up but I did not think much of it. However I did wonder whether it was my food intake that’s causing my misery? After all, I did drink more beer than I should that week and had indulged in more chocolate than necessary.

This week, the severe pain struck me to the core literally and I had to resort to pain killers to manage. If the pain persists, a visit to my O&G is inevitable to have the problem checked.

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