Me not Healthy: Allergies (Part 2)

Usually, I'm a giant sneezing and itchy mess when spring/summer finally comes around. Red eyes, runny nose, itchy palette, I've experienced that garbage more times than I care to remember. However, this year was pretty good. Nothing in February, March or April. Which is very strange.

Maybe it had something to do with all the random bouts of snow we've been getting. You know, killing flowers, catching all the pollen or something.

See? Living in Canada has its benefits!

And I was looking forward to getting through May with no problems at all. But it always starts slowly.

First your eyes feel a bit itchy, along with the roof of your mouth. Maybe you ate something you were allergic to. Either way something doesn't feel right.

And then you sneeze and your face is just covered in a spray of liquid. And you'd wipe your face off except you're still sneezing and you're just making a huge mess all over the place.

Make it stop!

It could be due to the snow I guess. Maybe it trapped all the pollen and dust together and when it melted released it all at the same time. Like some kind of allergy bomb.

So right now I'm having the worst pollen allergies I've had in a long time. As in, if I don't have tissue paper with me when it hits, my nose is going to look like a disgusting waterfall in a minute. Really not fun when you're trying to brush your teeth or when you're eating lunch with your girlfriend.

Yes... This will make the food more appetizing...

I'm really considering changing anti-histamine brands. Normally I use Reactine, it has served me well over the years and acted quickly.

Right now, I'm questioning if it even works on some days. Sometimes I'll take 1 and hours later I'm still dribbling like some 12 year old who can't wipe his nose properly. And when it does work, it's certainly much later than the advertised 20 minutes.

At least it's cheaper from the other stuff I've seen. Guess you get what you pay for.

Yay drugs!

Maybe I'll do what my Aunt does and take the anti-histamine before she sleeps. Maybe I need to switch brands.

Maybe I need to stay in the basement and never leave the house again until all the plants are dead.

The Further (Mis)Adventures of Yu

Ok, Blogger hopefully won't end up deleting this post. A lot has happened to Yu in the past few weeks and none of them are really good. In fact, it has gotten a bit ridiculous and I'm not sure how much of it is true. But I'll let you decide for yourself. Posts about Yu are here and here.

Where to begin? Well I think we should start with Yu's recent re-hospitalization. From what I heard, he suddenly passed out during a final and had to be carted away in a stretcher to the hospital.

This is not surprising. The kid brags about how he sleeps in random places on campus instead of going home, fueled on Red Bull and other energy drinks. And then when he's feeling stressed, he takes double if not triple the dosage of whatever prescription anti-anxiety drugs he currently has.

The outcome was never really in doubt.

He claims that the reason why he was in the hospital was because not only did his stomach ulcer re-open, but also because he had an aneurysm. That's right, an aneurysm.

Yu, I'm fairly certain that we would have noticed signs of this much, much sooner if you had actually had an aneurysm. Also, I don't think they'd let you out of the hospital only after a day or two had this occurred. Of course, if anyone out there is more knowledgeable about these things, feel free to share.

So, Yu comes out of the hospital. Do you think he's learned his lesson?

Of course not.

Looks like the guy is only school-smart.

This is further confirmed during one of our study sessions. I see him guzzling more energy drinks as he tries to stay awake long enough to read through his notes. He fails, crawls under a table and tries to sleep. Maybe he was tired of me telling him that energy drinks are bad, and that he should go home and get some proper rest.

Then he gets up, tries to study again, drinks more Red Bull, mutters random incoherent messages to himself and then start shoving cigarettes up his nose.

Followed by "Yo man, my cigarettes are wet".

I WISH I COULD FACEPALM THIS HARD.

But the other day I get a message from Yu and it looks a bit odd. A bit of backstory first, he had recently found some other drug that was supposed to boost your memory. To give you an idea of how suspicious it sounded, my girlfriend Theresa didn't recognize the name, and she's getting close to graduating from the top of her  Pharmacy class.

Yu decides to take triple the recommended dosage the day before his last final.

And the message he sent me went something like this:

"Hey man, I don't feel so good. I should have listened to you. I don't think I should have taken so many of those pills. I haven't even covered half the material yet".

Off the charts.

And where is Yu now? Not sure. He's been fairly quiet. But now that we're done classes maybe he'll start taking better care of himself.

Hopefully.

Me not Healthy: Always Tired (Part 6)

I think enough has happened that would allow me to give an update to this particular arc. Last time I left the specialist needing to get the specialized mouth guard called a Thornton Adjustable Positioner (TAP) 3.

For those of you who forgot or didn't read the last post, here's how it works. Basically my problem is that my jaw falls onto my throat when I sleep, causing me to choke, wake up and ruin my sleep. The mouth guard prevents this by having a hook on the top piece that locks into a slot in the bottom piece. This prevents my jaw from really moving and crushing things. Also to kill two birds with one stone, it also prevents me from grinding my teeth at night because my teeth can't even touch each other now.

It comes with a key so you can adjust the position, hence the name.

But as anyone who has gotten any form of oral appliance should know, first, they need to take a mold of your teeth.

It's not bad, it's um, unpleasant? I'm really not sure how else to describe it. Basically, the technician takes a tray of goo and crams as much of her hands into your mouth as possible so she can fit said tray into your mouth. Then the two of you sort of sit there in awkward silence as the goo begins to set. You're probably going to breath through your nose so you don't swallow excess junk by accident. Repeat twice and you're good to go.

Unless you move. If you move even the slightest bit during the procedure the mold is no good and they have to repeat it. You're also probably going to have goo all over your face making it look like you vomited goo.

All that work to get this ugly thing.

After the two weeks it takes them to make the mouth guard from the molds I finally get to try them.

And I barely use them.

Seriously, if I'm not going to get at least 5 hours of sleep that night I don't even bother wearing it. It's such a pain to place and remove from my mouth.

It's like I'm purposely not sleeping. I have things that are keeping me up at night.

So yeah, hard to say if this thing is really helping at the moment.

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

But I can share some details based on the nights I have used the appliance. Firstly, it's not a good idea to cough when the mouth guard is locked in place. Believe it or not, your jaw actually moves significantly when you cough and now that it's locked in place you just end up performing a half-hearted cough that doesn't clear your throat and hurts your mouth.

Second, I'm not sure if anyone else reads through my comments but what Nurse Myra said is true (also I can't link to your blog or view your profile as of this post, Blogger error?). The mouth guard does trap a significant amount of saliva during your sleep. I mean, I guess you'll never wake up with a dry mouth again, but it's also REALLY gross taking it out in the morning when you drool all over your chin and there's a puddle in the sink.

So attractive.

Hopefully this is the cure to my sleep apnea. But unless I start using it more consistently I highly doubt that. I'm seriously running out of options, if this isn't a solution, what else could be? I am not going for corrective jaw surgery. Recovery takes way too long.

I really hope this works out.

Me not Healthy: Intestinal Adventures (Part 1)

I alluded to my potential intestinal issues back in this post. Since then I have gone for two tests in hopes to figure out what's going on with me.

And what exactly is wrong with me? Well, where do we start. Bloating and discomfort whenever my lower gut feels like it, I have not been able to eat yogurt or drink milk since High School without fear of the first problem. But the really annoying thing is my reduced appetite.

To give you an idea of how little I eat in a meal compared to when I was younger, 8-9 year-old Damian could eat 2 Big Macs, a large fries and a large drink.

21 year-old Damian can barely eat 1 Big Mac, a medium drink and half a box of medium fries.

Delicious.

Note for all these tests they ask that you don't eat anything prior to going in. The first test I went for was an ultrasound. Yes, the same test that pregnant women go for. That was fun, stripped to my underwear while a technician squirted gel on my stomach and pressed the scanner thing against me.

I couldn't see what was going on on the screen though. And before I knew it I was shooed away to my next test.

Here's a generic ultrasound picture in the meantime because I don't know what mine looked like.

Next test was a fluoroscopy. How this works is that they make you drink barium (which has the consistency of a melted milkshake and tastes like one gone bad) and then they run you through an x-ray to see where the barium goes.

Oh, and they make you eat something like pop rocks to create gas which inflates your stomach. So during the entire procedure you feel the need to burp but you can't. Otherwise your stomach deflates and they can't see anything.

Also the barium causes constipation so have fun with that.

So, all done and good, they said send my doctor the results and we'll go from there. But unless it's something serious I doubt my doctor will want to book an appointment with me.

Oh wait, less than 24 hours after I'm done the tests my doctor gives me a call.

This is lovely.

The last time he wanted an appointment with me it was because my lung collapsed.

Not this garbage again...

So we'll see where this goes, probably no where good. But hey, it makes for good blogging material I guess.

6th Grade Intestinal Problems

Back when I was in Elementary School there was one field trip that all the students looked forward to. Every year the 6th graders would go and spend several nights at a Science Center. Think of it sort of like a sleepover with your classmates where you spent each day doing hands-on science stuff.

Or maybe I just liked it because I'm an Asian nerd.

They also fed us which was great. Due to the structured menu I think this was my first time having various "Caucasian" foods other than hamburgers. Back at home, Mom cooked everything and that meant Chinese food pretty much all the time. Thus, I rather enjoyed my first time eating something like roast beef.

That is, until something didn't agree with my stomach.

Uh oh.

On the last day I wake up in the middle of the night with a burning feeling in my gut. I hobble to the bathroom and then my intestines explode.

And then my stomach explodes.

And they both take turns exploding for the rest of the night.

Use your imagination I'm not using a picture here.

I was kind of bitter that I got sent home on the last day due to being sick. They ended up playing games and having fun which I missed out on. But that wasn't all that I would lose out on.

See, there's a psychological phenomenon called taste aversion. Basically how it works is that if you feel exceptionally nauseated or sick, your brain might attribute it to something you ate earlier, generally something unique or new. From that point onward, anything to do with that particular piece of food will make you feel sick. Sight, smell even thinking about it can make you feel sick and you'll want nothing to do with it.

It's a good idea in concept, brain is preventing you from eating something that might get you sick again. However, your brain doesn't understand that correlation does not equal causation and will blame whatever it thinks made you sick. And for me, it blamed the roast beef.

Not so delicious now are you?

And the thing is, I would end up avoiding beef for about half a decade. No hamburgers, steaks, and even meatballs depending on what was in them. Eventually I would get over it but I know people who have avoided certain foods for decades thanks to taste aversion.

But there's a reason why I'm sharing this little story with you. Not just because it's a funny thing that happened to me in the past, but because it also makes a nice segway into the next arc of the "Me Not Healthy" series that I've been doing. As if allergies, lung cysts, and sleep apnea wasn't bad enough I might have intestinal problems as well.

The lack of appetite, bloatedness, general discomfort and lactose intolerance development has finally pushed me to get some tests done. And when those results get back, well, I intend on sharing them.

Me Not Healthy: Always Tired (Part 5)

Does anyone still remember this ongoing arc of mine? I've lost and gained a lot of followers since the last post so for those of you who are just joining here's a link to Part 1 for my story on dealing with sleep apnea.

And for those who just need a refresher, I've finally been able to see that doctor, months after the appointment was booked.

Damn those long wait times.

The guy was apparently really high in demand. I'm not sure if there was a scheduling issue or if the last patient was taking too long but I sat there for about an hour until he finally showed up.

But no matter, I still got to see the guy and he takes a look around. He suggests that maybe I get the special mouth guard that the other specialist mentioned. A lot of people do not have the correct jaw structure for it but I was one of the few lucky candidate so yay for me?

Awesome.

And then I see what the mouth guard will look like. And, it's kind of bizarre. I can't remember the exact name so use your imagination here. Basically, it's two mouthpieces (one for the top and bottom) and on the top there's like a hook that fits into a slot in the bottom mouthpiece.

The purpose of this is to keep my jaw from falling onto my windpipe (and thus causing me to choke, gasp for air, briefly wake-up, ruin my sleep, etc. etc.) and also prevents me from grinding my teeth together because well, now they can't even touch.

And if your imagination (or my description) sucks, here's a picture.

So we'll see how this goes. I'm going for the fitting in a few weeks so expect hopefully a conclusion to my sleeping problems.

Link to Part 6 here.

Me Not Healthy: Always Tired (Part 4)

This is a continuation of my quest to figure out why I've been constantly tired for the last few years. If you're new and not sure what's going on, here's part 1, part 2 and part 3.

This must be a pain to read from the beginning.

So I finally get to see this specialist. I fill out a few forms and as the guy is looking through the papers he stops and goes, "That's interesting, you grind your teeth at night? That might explain a few things".

Remember how I mentioned how one of the potential causes for my sleep apnea could be my jaw causing my throat to close up? Turns out, grinding your teeth at night is sometimes your body's way of forcing your jaw off so you can breathe again.

I get to chose between breathing or maintaining my awesome smile.

I've had the teeth grinding problem for (surprise surprise) years as well. I got a mouth guard to wear at night so I don't destroy my teeth in my sleep. So the next step is to go get a specially made mouth guard that not only prevents the teeth grinding BUT also stops my jaw from crushing things.

Oh! And you know what else the specialist told me? "You might have a special case for sleep apnea. We only see this kind of thing in tall and thin Asian males".

TALL, THIN, ASIAN MALES.

I WONDER WHAT OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS THESE GUYS GET.

I also wonder what other surprises my genes have in store for me.

Unfortunately, I guess the earliest I can see the orthodontics guy is in February. Which means there won't be an update to this until then.

In the meantime, I'll be using my Abnormal Psychology's professor's audio lectures to help me fall asleep.

If his voice can make me sleep in class, it can make me fall asleep anywhere.

Link here to Part 5.

Me Not Healthy: Always Tired (Part 3)

It's been a while but I've finally been able to go see my doctor and discuss a few things with him. Anyone who isn't sure what I'm talking about can catch up by reading Part 2 and/or Part 1.

First things first, we go over the data that was given with the new CPAP mask. The good news was that I had a significant reduction in apneas. I was waking up maybe like, 3 times a night or something at the very best which is a huge improvement over 15 times at worst.

The bad news was that even with the apnea reductions I was still waking up tired.

Sometimes even too tired to finish a blog post.

So my doctor recommends that I stop using it. I'm not seeing any visible improvements, I haven't got used to the thing even after a month of trying it, it's just not working out. I mean, the most sleep I ever get with the thing is maybe 5 hours? And it's usually because I wake up and tear it off my face so I can sleep more comfortably.

The CPAP was helping to reduce apneas but wasn't addressing the actual cause of them. The next logical thing was to check the most likely offenders; my thyroid, my tonsils, or my jaw. If my thyroid was enlarged it could be pressing down on my windpipe, causing me to choke and wake up in my sleep. Same thing applies to my tonsils except if they could be closing off my throat. Lastly, my jaw could be falling back and crushing something.

It's like my own body wants to kill me.

So, Doctor touches the side of my neck. Nope. No enlarged thyroids.

Doctor looks down my throat with a light. Nope. No enlarged tonsils.

And then he tells me that I'd need to see my dentist to verify if there are any jaw problems.

So, we still don't know what's wrong with me.

Back where we started...

It's not all bad though. He booked an appointment for me to go see a sleep specialist in a few weeks and we got more x-rays because I think there might be something wrong with my lungs again. But we'll see, I don't think I'll be falling over dead any time soon.

Unless it turns out I have gastrointestinal problems too...

Link to Part 4.

Me Not Healthy: Always Tired (Part 2)

My apologies for the rather abrupt, sudden and uh, "enthusiastic" previous post. It's just that a story that I'm rather engaged has been on hiatus for several months now and the end of a chapter was posted like night. However, due to the "enthusiasm" of several hundred thousand people eager to see the end (and crashing many things on the way rendering it unviewable) there was a lot of tension, anxiety and we fed off each other.

It was still awesome though. Fang and Sophia don't think I'm crazy.

And now for a legitimate post.

The unique thing about this particular arc that I'm sharing with you unlike the lung cysts or my previous relationships is that I'm currently experiencing this one. The prior events are drawn from memory but this story I'm telling you as it unfold. So yeah, let's see where this takes us?

So, as I recall from part 1, I had been given a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) to try and use. Basically this thing is constantly pumping air via a mask into either my nose, mouth or both to reduce the incidents of waking up in the middle of the night. During the sleep I would wake 10-15 times for less than a second (meaning I'm not consciously aware of it) in 5 hours of sleeping. 6 hours of sleep was equivalent to maybe 3 hours because of how little REM sleep I got.

And then I look like this for the rest of the day.

The good news is, the based on the data gathered from the CPAP, the number of apneas (waking ups) went down significantly. The bad news? I didn't feel a difference. At All.

The first mask I used was a nasal only. Breathing through my mouth would result in a sensation not unlike choking due to the pressure caused by the CPAP. Not a problem, I'm not a mouth breather unless my sinuses are clogged.

Which is exactly what the stupid nasal mask did to me. It first took an hour to fall asleep because it's weird sleeping with something strapped to your face. And then when I finally fell asleep, 1 hour later I'd wake up choking, nose all clogged and I'd rip the mask from my face, turn over and fall asleep.

So then we did the next logical step:

Next I went with the full face one, mouth and nose were covered and I could breathe through either one. It was a lot better but I was still unable to sleep for more than 5 hours at a time with the machine. The neat thing about the CPAP was it recorded data so after a month I sent some things to my doctor. He wants to discuss a few things with me now.

And I'll let you know what those things are when I find out.

Link to Part 3.

Me Not Healthy: Always Tired (Part 1)

What you thought the allergies and the lung cysts were the only health issues I had? No, unfortunately not. At this rate I'm going to die pretty soon so enjoy me while you still can.

I wish.

For the last few years, I have always been tired. I fall asleep on car rides, in class, while eating... Actually now that I think about it place me in a sitting position and you risk having me passed out and drooling all over myself. Part of it is my fault. I mean, I probably should go sleep earlier but classes and exams sometimes don't allow for that. And when I don't have work, well, the internet is there to keep me company.

Who needs rest? I have my computer!

But this problem continued even when I get more than 8 hours of sleep. On the few days that I do end up sleeping earlier I still wake up tired. My favorite thing to see in the morning is that it's still dark outside so I can go back to sleep. I began to suspect it could be a medical problem. No amount of sleep was enough for me, I often woke up with headaches, and I snored really loudly. My siblings complain about it on vacation whenever we share a room. These symptoms fit that of someone with sleep apnea.

Basically, sleep apnea is when you wake up numerous times while sleeping, disrupting your sleep cycle. A lot of it has to do with your windpipe being closed due to being too fat or odd sleeping positions. You may not even be aware of it happening because it can last for seconds before you fall back asleep. If it happens enough it can cause 6 hours of sleep to feel more like 3.

Unfortunately I don't share the other symptoms which include smoking, being overweight, and being middle-aged. Regardless, I decided to get a level 3 sleep study done which means I'd bring a device home, it would record things and then I'd bring it back for analysis.

You get the idea.

The results... were inconclusive. Yes they confirmed that I was waking up several times a night and I snored really loudly for large portions of time but I didn't use the device long enough for any conclusive results.

The only thing left for me to do would be to either take a level 1 sleep study (go to a hospital and get even more things stuck to my face) or I could try using a CPAP, a device meant to aid in breathing to help me get a better night's sleep.

I opted for the CPAP and I'll share my experiences and results in a future blog post.

Link to Part 2.

Me Not Healthy: The Lung Cysts (Part 3)

For those that are new to my blog, welcome! You're joining us at the end of a small story arc about my poor health and lungs. Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

A quick recap from last time, I've been deemed healthy enough to be sent back to the comfort of my own home. They bandaged up the hole where the chest tube was and told me that the stitches in the other two incisions would eventually dissolve on their own. I only really remember two things from my at home recovery. 1. I slept a lot. 2. My hair starts to smell really bad even after just a week without a shower.

In the hospital I was pretty much just given a damp cloth to wipe myself down with. At home I was too busy sleeping, glad to no longer be interrupted by check-ups and x-rays. I couldn't shower at home just yet because I had to wait a few days to allow for the chest tube hole to partial heal up because I don't think I want excess water just sloshing around inside me. You have no idea how good it felt to get that first shower. You just feel refreshed, clean and rejuvenated.

That cat has no idea what it's missing out on.

A few more weeks pass and we go to see the doctor again. More x-rays are taken and I look and feel perfectly fine. They remind me again that there is a 95% chance that they got all the cysts. I should not have anymore problems.

And four days later I feel what I think is a cyst bursting.

Seriously?

And this hasn't been an isolated situation. Either they didn't get all the cysts, they're somehow coming back or I've gone crazy. Sometimes it's just a short period of difficulty breathing but recently pain has returned. Just last week I was walking up some stairs when suddenly I bent over in pain and stood there for a good minute. Oh, and did I mention that my right lung probably has cysts too? I've felt something wrong in it but a cat scan wasn't done on that side because it didn't happen as often as the left lung. And did I also mentioned the only way they can do anything is probably with more surgery?

So there's not much I can do other than hope the problem goes away on its own. I don't have time to go for another surgery even if it is free in Canada. It took me well over a month to recover so I think I'll just let it keep happening.

Insert obscure MSPA reference here.

On a side note, everytime it does happen I have a tendency to sleep in which pisses off my parents to no end. They think I'm being lazy and I'll let them keep thinking that. Better to have them think that than worrying about my stupid lungs again.

Speaking of sleep, that's another health problem I probably have. Maybe another day I'll discuss it.

Me Not Healthy: The Lung Cysts (Part 2)

If you're just joining us head back here to read part 1.

To clarify a few things this surgery actually happened a few months ago and I'm trying my best to recall it. Painkillers seem to have a way with messing with your memory, or maybe it's the pain that they don't block out that causes you to forget. Either way, that entire week was kind of fuzzy.

What I do remember was that my surgery was scheduled 4 days after the discussion I had with the doctor. He's one of the few specialists who are able to do the surgery and thus managed to work little things in the system for me. I was pretty lucky.

It was on a Saturday, scheduled for 11AM and my parents accompany me to Emergency, file out forms and wait for me to be wheeled off to the operating room. They tell me that 3 incisions will be made; 1 under the arm for a camera to be inserted (to see the cysts), 1 on the side of my chest for a tube to suck out blood and air, and 1 in the front of my chest for cyst removal.

They also tell me that this is a MASS improvement over the original surgery. They used to cut down the back of an individual, basically peel him open and then remove the cysts that way. My Aunt's friend's son had the old operation, he has a huge scar apparently.

Imagine this to be someone's back and that's how they used to do it.

I was put out for two hours and when I wake up I have a transparent tube sticking out of the side of me. I can see blood dripping through as it transfers to a plastic box attached to the tube. For the rest of my time at the hospital the box goes where I go. Its purpose is to be hooked up to a suction machine to help suck out any remaining blood and stuff from the operation and to store said fluids.

I share a room with a friendly old man who has cancer. I can't remember what kind of cancer but it prevents him from eating so he gets nutrients from other sources. My parents have brought me books to keep me occupied and my girlfriend Theresa has brought flowers. I didn't look at either very much because my hospital experience consisted mostly of me sleeping, only waking up to eat (and fall asleep mid-bite), interact with visitors (and fall asleep mid-speech), go for check-ups, or take painkillers.

I'm guessing this is what it's like to live in a Senior's home.

Did I mention how much I loved the painkillers? They helped me sleep, they took away the pain in my chest and I felt so relaxed afterwards. They started me off with Tylenol-3's. I've had them before and they were awesome. However, my body is kind of weird. And soon the Tylenol-3's stopped working after a day or two.

I'm guessing it's because my body gains a tolerance to things very quickly. They upgrade me to morphine which is amazing and I love it. I don't care that they're stabbing me in the arm every few hours and now my arm is all bruised and sore. I sleep like a baby, I can breathe, and I asked for it as often as possible.

But to my dismay the morphine suddenly stopped working. They decided to try something inbetween morphine and Tylenol 3 and gave me Oxycontin. It sort of worked but it never gave me the same feeling as the morphine did. And who knows how long it would take until my body no longer was affected by the Oxycontin.

I'm an addict and I don't care!

Fortunately the x-rays showed that I was healing just fine. The tube was removed, the hole where the tube used to be was patched up and I was sent home. They told me there was a 95% chance that they got all the cysts and my lungs would be fine from then on.

And I'll conclude this little arc in my next post. Comments and critique is appreciated as always.

Me Not Healthy: The Lung Cysts (Part 1)

As some of you are aware I'm not exactly the pinnacle of good health. Some of it is my fault, I could sleep more, eat healthier and exercise more frequently so I wouldn't be such a skinny nerdy Asian. But there are some things I have no control over.

I was a happy and active child but a problem began to appear as I grew older. Occasionally I would be short of breath without pain. It didn't make much sense but I ignored it until one day it happened along with tons of pain and breathlessness.

I thought I was having a heart attack.

No one knew what was going on during these bouts. X-rays revealed pockets of air spontaneously popping up in my lungs so they shoved a tube inside me to suck it out the air and left it at that. I don't know how many of you out there have ever had a foreign object half dangling inside and out of your body but I can confirm that it's not fun or painless. After this little episode I was informed should another bubble appear I would need surgery.

For the next year or so the frequency of breathlessness increased. There were times where I'd feel anxious, suddenly fatigued or "uncomfortable". Occasionally there would be pain. Each episode was different, it can feel like heart burn, muscle fatigue/soreness, a cramp or combination of the above and many more.

Finally after enough pressure from family I went and got additional x-rays which showed nothing. So I went and got a cat scan done on the left side of my body which most of the discomfort was coming from. Turns out, I had cysts in my lungs.

And the cysts just lined the top.

See, the thing about the lung cysts was that I was probably born with them. And everytime one of them burst, the air, blood, pus, etc. would come out, press down on my lung and BAM, breathlessness. They think that a drop in barometric pressure increases the likelihood of them bursting because whenever there is a drop, there's an increase in these kinds of incidents.

The doctors gave me a choice, get surgery now and (hopefully) get rid of the problem OR leave it alone and risk having more "Oh god is it a cyst bursting or am I having a heart attack" moments.

I opted for the surgery.

Which I will share with you in my next post.

I did not look forward to it.

Me Not Healthy: Allergies

I'm not exactly spitting image of health and wellness. With a BMI of 16 I weigh less and have a thinner body than most people including girls. I have poor circulation which results in me having cold hands and feet constantly. I burn incredibly fast in the sun causing itchy, red rashes. It's a never ending list of problems for poor Damian at the ripe old age of 21.

What's ironic is that this character is part of my Chinese name and it stands for "Good Health".

But those aren't even the worst problems. In recent years more "interesting" ones have appeared such as the lung cysts and the sleeping problems. Today I'd like to share with you what seems to be my allergies with too many plants.

Allergies have always been a problem. I remember summer and spring being a sticky and itchy hell as pollen from every piece of fauna in the city decided to release pollen simultaneously. Plus, most anti-histamines only last for 24 hours and in instant those 24 hours are up, my face becomes a mess. I hate forests and fields of wild plants with a passion as these can be the worst offenders for me.

Making similar faces is how I've managed to stay so attractive.

But this is pretty normal, I'm quite sure a lot of you have similar problems. But how many of you are also allergic dozens upon dozens of edible plants and plant products? It's not a death sentence if I eat them, but they do make my mouth and palate itch like crazy if it even touches my lips. This isn't a problem if I hate the food. Eggplant is my favorite example. I don't know why anyone would want to eat this thing.

Also fairly certain it's a euphemism in Japanese culture.

But I'm also allergic to things like avocados, almonds, kiwis, lychee, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and even apples. What's even more frightening is that recently I've developed a mild allergy to watermelon and bananas.

I actually went to get an allergy test done to prove that it was a reaction as opposed to me being crazy. It's fun, they prick your skin in a dozen sections and then expose the broken skin to oils containing whatever you may be allergic to. Then you sit and wait while your entire forearm turns red and itchy. I learned that day that birch trees really, really hate me.

I also have an EpiPen now in case I ever get a deadly reaction to something. I highly doubt I'll use it, but if I do, I'm going to pretend it's adrenaline from Left 4 Dead 2.

And pretend I'm Ellis.