I am now fully recovered from my spinal surgery done in 2007.
I'll be going for a follow up with my orthopedic surgeon, Prof Hee Hwan Tuck at NUH in the coming month. My L4 & L5 vetebrates should be now fused together as a single bone.
Wonder if I need to remove the pins?
That'll mean going through another round of surgery! argghh
I can't feel the implants at all and it doesn't discomfort me in the slightest.
The implants were supposed to be made from platinum I was told. Hmmm, maybe I should get it out and get it re-forged into some jewelry? Do my part and recycle stuff to save the earth? Or perhaps recover some cost? Maybe sell it and go for another holiday?? Hmm, I wonder.
Early in 2009 when the H1N1 outbreak hit Singapore, I did come down with flu. But by that time, the H1N1 had reached the mitigation stage and hospitalization was not required. Just isolation and rest at home. But even then, it wasn't proven that I had H1N1. I probably just had a case of the common flu. There was no test done as my case was not classified as severe. Anyway, that came to pass...
The whopper came in early October when I had my routine blood test and the glycaemic (blood sugar) result show 19 on the scale. Anything over 7 is considered having diabetes!
My GP and I went into panic mode. More tests, scans and medication followed. (see my earlier blogs below)
Tests results came back showing everything seemingly normal but blood sugar was still elevated. Thus, I was diagnosed as probable Type 2 Diabetic and went on a course of medication, basically, Glipzide 5mg daily before meals.
And bi-weekly monitoring of blood sugar levels.
Diet was completely revamped voluntarily (actually no choice, it's do or die!)
No more sugars, no more alcohol, no starchy food, reduce, reduce, reduce!
Well meaning and caring friends advised "eat more bitter gourd, drink celery juice," etc, etc, etc.
I was really touched by all my friends' concern, thank you guys!
And I really did follow up on the bitter gourd advice.
For the past 3 months, I've had bitter gourd soup, bitter gourd omelettes, bitter gourd stew, fried bitter gourd, grilled bitter gourd, stuffed bitter gourd, baked bitter gourd and bitter gourd whatever.
Thanks to my dear wife who so lovingly prepared all these and sacrificing her own preferences. She hates bitter gourd and never eats them, but luckily, I LOVE bitter gourd!
But was it really effective for diabetes or just old wives tales?
Last week I went for my 3rd blood test since the initial diagnosis and the result came back just yesterday. Here it is for you to see...
| Test Name | Results | Reference |
| HL2-Liver Function |
|
|
| Total Cholesterol | 139 | 140-200 |
| HDL-Cholesterol | 42 | 40-70 |
| LDL-Cholesterol | 79 | 0-130 |
| Total/HDL Ratio | 3.3 | 0.0-4.0 |
| Triglycides | 88 | 20-200 |
| Bilirubin (Total) | 0.7 | 0-1.5 |
| Alkaline Phosphatase | 70 | 25-105 |
| GGT | 36 | 0-50 |
| Total Protein | 7.8 | 6.0-8.2 |
| Albumin | 4.6 | 3.5-5.0 |
| Globulin | 3.2 | 2.5-3.6 |
|
|
|
|
| DP1: Glycemic |
|
|
| Fasting Blood Sugar | 75 | 65-110 |
It a clean bill of health! Yeaaaaa!!!!!!
Blood sugar is 75 mg/dl or 4 mmol/L. Remember the shocking 19? I went from 19 to 4 in 3 months! Level 4 is regarded as non-diabetic. Yeaaa.
However, I am still on medication to ensure that there's no relapse.
Even my cholesterol had dropped from 179 to 139 which is even below the 'healthy' benchmark.
Maybe the bitter gourd does work after all !
This is the best way to end the old year 2009.
So to everyone, here's to you all.
Have a Happy New Year 2010 and stay healthy.
