I am considered severely underweight by the doctors and dietician since i came back from my transplant (weighing only 29.5Kg). My god, i think this is my weight when i was in Primary School. Well, I lost about 6kg after the surgery and given my dry weight(35Kg) during dialysis is already very low, its a no wonder that i'm severely underweight.
I thought i will gain back my weight pretty fast given the good food and nutrition that mum was feeding me, but apparently it was not so. After 3 months, i have only put on about 2kg. I remembered the dietician asking me in the hospital whether i am suffering from anorexia, what a joke, i love to eat, how can i be suffering from anorexia.
The slow weight gain didn't bother me much untill i realized the problems it brought. When i was hospitalised for CMV, the doctors said my immunity is very low, partly due to the immunosuppresant i'm taking and also because of my small body size. Then as i did more research on the internet, i found that low blood pressure and irregular menstruation could also be due to loss of weight. Furthermore, i could feel that my stamina is not as good as before and body being weaker.
Ok, so the crucial thing now is to gain back my weight and be more healthy. According to my research on the internet, in order to gain weight, one need to consume more calories. The dietician asked me to eat oil (good oil like olive oil & seasame oil) to gain calories. Sounds oily, so i didn't really follow his advice. Well, maybe the reason why i'm gaining weight so slowly is because i have been following a good diet, low sugar, low salt, low cholesterol, less oil, therefore low calories. Haha...
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
CMV
The transplant coordinator called me on 28 Jan to inform me that my blood is tested positive for CMV and asked me to be admitted so for the injection to bring the virus down. Initially i thought i will only be hospitalised for 1 - 2 days for the injection but it turned out otherwise...
Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is a common virus that infects most people worldwide. CMV infection is usually harmless and rarely causes illness. A healthy immune system can hold the virus in check. However, if a person's immune system is seriously weakened in any way, the virus can become active and cause CMV disease. Because i am taking immunosuppresants, my immune system is weakened and according to the doctor, almost zero, henceforth the CMV becomes active. After i am admitted, the doctor immediately reduce my immunosuppresant dosage and the eye doctor also came to check whether my eyes are affected by the virus. Everything turn out to be ok except that i am positive for CMV.
So everyday i have to be on the ganciclovir (anti-viral medication) drip for 1 hr at 8am and 8pm. The rest of the day, there's nothing to do and its so boring staying in the hospital. Although there is TV in the room, watching TV all day also bores me. I finished all the 5 megazines which i have. In the end, i asked my brother to bring my laptop and story books for me. Thanks to hongguang too for bring 4 storybooks for me while i was warded.
Dr Angelene Goh came to see me when i was warded and inform me that she will be taking over from Dr Roger Tan to see me in future. She told me that she can only let me be discharged when the CMV is complete negative, i.e when the level falls to 0. But the CMV is really stubborn, it falls to 10 then to 3 then to 2 in the 2nd week but not 0. The worst thing is the CMV blood test is not taken everyday but every 2-3 days and the test takes 1 day for the results. So everyday is waiting, waiting untill fedup.
This year Chinese New Year i still have to stay in hospital although Dr Goh allowed me to go on home leave. I went home after my morning drip on new year eve and the first day of CNY. Home sweet home :) CNY this year is special to me as i really treasure the time i went back home and spend with my family. Staying in the hospital has brought me closer to my family as i know they really cares about me.
I was discharged on 16/2/10, the 3rd day of CNY as my CMV is tested negative. Thank god!
Cytomegalovirus, or CMV, is a common virus that infects most people worldwide. CMV infection is usually harmless and rarely causes illness. A healthy immune system can hold the virus in check. However, if a person's immune system is seriously weakened in any way, the virus can become active and cause CMV disease. Because i am taking immunosuppresants, my immune system is weakened and according to the doctor, almost zero, henceforth the CMV becomes active. After i am admitted, the doctor immediately reduce my immunosuppresant dosage and the eye doctor also came to check whether my eyes are affected by the virus. Everything turn out to be ok except that i am positive for CMV.
So everyday i have to be on the ganciclovir (anti-viral medication) drip for 1 hr at 8am and 8pm. The rest of the day, there's nothing to do and its so boring staying in the hospital. Although there is TV in the room, watching TV all day also bores me. I finished all the 5 megazines which i have. In the end, i asked my brother to bring my laptop and story books for me. Thanks to hongguang too for bring 4 storybooks for me while i was warded.
Dr Angelene Goh came to see me when i was warded and inform me that she will be taking over from Dr Roger Tan to see me in future. She told me that she can only let me be discharged when the CMV is complete negative, i.e when the level falls to 0. But the CMV is really stubborn, it falls to 10 then to 3 then to 2 in the 2nd week but not 0. The worst thing is the CMV blood test is not taken everyday but every 2-3 days and the test takes 1 day for the results. So everyday is waiting, waiting untill fedup.
This year Chinese New Year i still have to stay in hospital although Dr Goh allowed me to go on home leave. I went home after my morning drip on new year eve and the first day of CNY. Home sweet home :) CNY this year is special to me as i really treasure the time i went back home and spend with my family. Staying in the hospital has brought me closer to my family as i know they really cares about me.
I was discharged on 16/2/10, the 3rd day of CNY as my CMV is tested negative. Thank god!
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