Further investigation required

Hey Hivers!

Last week I was talking about my health, regarding my liver and the symptoms that I have. They're pretty draining. I wanted to give you guys an update since I had this Ultrasound (ECHO) scan last week, and the results came in. "Oh, this is strange" the doctor's assistant started, "What a weird way of writing this down". You can imagine the frustration I started to have while doubting the quality of the research. "Unclear results, hard to determine", but... "Everything is all right". I agree with her, it certainly is a weird way to inform my general practitioner. I start to question myself, is it just me who goes through this random stuff -all the friggn time-, or are people just... not caring enough to do something right? Or what is it?

I'll try to distract you with some photographs that I took during an "ice-cold" hike in Jakobsberg, in Jarfälla. I kinda like the top photographs because it is so abstract. It's a photograph taken with a mirror lens where I photographed the reflection of the sun shining through the trees in a puddle of rainwater. During this hike, I also saw blue/turquoise-colored ice for the first time since most of the snow just melts rapidly here in the Netherlands.

So, the person who did the Ultrasound scan was a young girl, most probably a trainee, under the supervision of a Radiologist who sporadically looked behind her shoulders to check if the trainee was doing it right. "Did you get everything?" the radiologist asked. "Yes, I think I have everything, but the pancreas was hard to find". So, the radiologist took over, and she took several photographs of my Liver, the pancreas, and something else. If that did not happen, since this scan was more about my Liver since these values were 8x the maximum, I would certainly be unhappy with the results. So, the general practitioner's assistant asked me if I had questions or something else to talk about, I simply have no idea how this stuff works because my brain is probably wired differently, and I don't understand how this stuff usually goes or what I have to say or ask. She proposed that the doctor would call me the day after himself to talk about it. Yes. please.

The only way is forward

The conversation with the doctor was really helpful. I like that he is pushing forward like this. It helps me to get out of my comfort zone as I often feel that I expose fragile and sensitive information about myself and my well-being. Well, that's what doctors are for, right? I applaud him for that, it makes me feel taken seriously, and that there's no time to spare to stay idle. I have to undergo a series of tests, including more blood tests, and hopefully, he's going to monitor my sleep behavior in case of Sleep Apnea. While I honestly think this has nothing to do with my liver values (and hopefully, they are the residue of undergoing a stressful period), it will hopefully help with how exhausted I wake up. It's preposterous to think that I have to wake up at 8-9 AM, only to stay in bed for at least 1 or 2 more hours to "wake up" properly. Overall, during the day, I'm just as adequately tired, which makes me feel extremely slow in doing and finishing things.

I also talked with @blind-spot a bit, since he is a doctor, and right after my general practitioner told me what they would do, or how from now on further. Blind spot kinda told me the same, and he gave me some additional information about Caffeine and Alcohol, and how this impacts the effects of stress. Thanks for that!

I'm looking forward to doing these tests, today I'll have my blood taken for me, and since this hasn't been the first time, I'm pretty sure I won't get lost and that the people who take the blood will probably start to recognize me. Hooray.

Change is unpostponable

I'm determined to get my liver values lower, I honestly think that should be the top priority since it is nearly 8 times higher than the maximum amount anyone should have. Since I received the blood results that concluded this, I tried to change my lifestyle right away. The biggest impact that I noticed almost right away was mainly drinking a lot more water or tea. I had no idea this could have such an impact on my body. I also try to avoid unhealthy snacks. Because yeh... 2 minutes later after lunch and dinner, I'm eating a bag of chips or something else. Forcing myself to sleep 'earlier' is so boring, but I'm exhausted so it might be something that I need to do.

Since I send my general practitioner a brief of my old and new lifestyle, it's really confronting, to sum up, all the dumb stuff that I've been doing. Sleeping 3-4 hours per day, eating, skipping eating, and so on. I pulled a number on my body. On the other hand, it also illustrates what I could do, like the obvious one of exercising. LOL. I don't know what happened there as I used to be fit and pretty shredded. Oh well. A few steps a day should be beneficial for me and my health.

Downhill? Let's climb higher then and make it fun

NGL here, but I was pretty nervous about the result, and was preparing for the worst. I mean, what else could drain the fuck out of me for the last 3-4 years? When I hang up the first time, I was expecting that my general practitioner would be the bearer of bad news the day after. So, kinda relieved that nothing is wrong with my abdomen physically. But still, it's going to take more research to find out what it is, that causes this exhaustion.

I also wouldn't be surprised if it is just something simple like Ruben... go move your lazy ass outside and try to make at least 500-1000 steps per day. If that's the case... I'm gonna laugh and hide in a corner for a while because that would be pretty embarrassing. Imagine, fainting, and vomiting because you don't drink enough water and don't exercise. That's extreme. Not sure if that's even possible, but again, I'm glad stuff is being sent through the pipelines. Hopefully, it won't end up with me being on the receiving end for a shitty result.

Cheers,
Ruben

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