I’m alive! Hahaha. I haven’t written in three months! I guess it can’t be helped, especially when I feel I’m losing my creative jive. Ever since I transferred to a different department and stopped writing at work, it’s like my will to write disappeared. But what really got me down was when my health grew weak and years of not taking care of my body got to me.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I got UTI October of last year. Around January, my toenail was removed because something heavy landed on it. Then, 2 weeks ago, my asthma came back and I had upper respiratory tract infection. What I thought was a normal cough and colds was actually something dangerous for my health.
According to my doctor, my asthma could have been triggered by stress or sleeping very late. I blame it on the latter. For the past months, I slept very late. But, I think it was last March 16 that made my asthma come back :( I slept at 4 in the morning because I was preparing for an event. On March 17, I really didn’t feel well anymore and was not able to go to work on Monday and Tuesday.
To make the long story short, my body started to get weak. And here I thought I have learned my lesson when I had UTI. I’m really such a hard-headed person when it comes to my health.
Because of my respiratory situation, I had to take numerous medicines, drink lots of water, avoid certain food and smells, and rest a lot. Also, because of this, I learned some life lessons regarding my health:
1. Never sleep so late (or at least get 7-8 hours of sleep). Ironically, despite loving sleep, I like to sleep late. This has been my long-time bad habit. I feel that by sleeping late, I can do more things. However, as a result, I get groggy and very sleepy the next day at work. And, as you can see, sleeping late got to me. It’s still hard to sleep a bit early now, but I’m trying.
2. Do not wait until the pain worsens and you can’t take it anymore. This is what happened to me with my UTI and my toenail. Maybe because I was scared of what the doctor will diagnose. Or I really just don’t want to go to the hospital. Or the pain might go away. In other words, I was scared. But, unfortunately, that got me too. I waited long before I had the checkups, thus I needed to endure the pain and go through a toe operation because it was getting ugly. This is the same with UTI and my cough and colds. I advise you: if you feel a slight pain and can’t take it anymore, don’t wait---have it checked by the doctor immediately.
3. Follow the doctor’s orders and drink meds as prescribed. I know it takes a lot of will to drink plenty of medicines, especially if you feel bloated afterward. I’ll be honest with you: I HATE DRINKING MEDICINES. Like really, I don’t like it. Which is also why I don’t want to go to the doctor---because I know I’ll be taking medicines. But I realize that these doctors gave me medicines so my body can heal immediately. Yes, it's so hassling to take a LOT of medicines (which I’m doing now). However, I know that once I’m done with all of them, I’ll feel accomplished and be a step closer to making my body healthier. Besides, medicines won’t be there forever. I’ll stop taking them once the doctor sees improvement in my body.
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| I kept track of all my medicines by creating this medicine tracker in my health notebook. |
4. Don’t be hard-headed. Hahaha, believe it or not, this is me. Ask Marc. There are times when I’m too stubborn to take my meds, to sleep early, and to even eat my meals. When you realize that your body is not as strong as before, you get frustrated and depressed and don’t want to do anything anymore. It’s hard to accept that our bodies are getting weaker. As a result, we lash out or get stubborn, making our bodies suffer more. I realized that what happened to me should serve as a motivation to take care of my body more. So, if you are experiencing what I experienced, don’t be hard-headed. Just eat your meals or take your meds. I promise it will make you feel better---especially when you see the improvements.
5. Watch out for your health more afterward. Taking care of your health doesn’t stop when the medicines are done or the pain disappears. You still have to do it even after everything. I don’t want to call it maintenance, but I guess that’s way of putting it. Start exercising, think of your diet, drink lots of water, and lessen the unhealthy habits. This is what I plan to do even after all the medicines and the pain is gone. It will be hard, but I have to be patient and determined in taking care of my health. I know it’s a lot of work, but I feel it’s worth it when I become healthier and better.
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| Photo by Skeeze |
Getting sick or having a mini operation is not easy. I admit, it really made me feel so down---which, I think, is normal. But once I got over it, I realize it’s time to step up and make my body better.
For my readers, take my advice: don’t wait until your body gets weak or the pain gets worse. Take care of your health now and, if possible, do some frequent checkups. It never hurts to go to the doctor and ask if there’s something wrong with the little pain that you have or ask if you can have some tests. Do it as early as now so you won’t regret it in the future.
~Hainrihi
