Stomach issues

I had gastric on last Sunday night that I had to wake up at 3am to take antacid which did not work. I was awakened up again at 4am and I took cimetidine. Lucky that was good enough until my wake up time. It was not my first time experiencing such thing so I did not think much. On Monday, I visited my uncle who was warded at Sengkang Hospital and this was when I started to notice abnormalities with my stomach. I only had bak chor mee for dinner and yet I felt as full as if I just had buffet. On Tuesday, I was not feeling hungry even though I ate much less than normally. Something was definitely not normal since usually I would already feel hungry at around 4pm-ish. My suspicion grew in the evening when I noticed my stomach was ballooning despite the little food.

I say 'balloon' rather than 'bloated' because internally I did not feel anything unusual. I only saw something not right when I saw myself in the mirror. My stomach was so big and looked like a pregnant belly. I was doubtful since perhaps I could be just fat or gaining weight. However another part of me was sure something was not right since I am so preoccupied with my tummy that I look at self in mirror quite frequently. I would 'suck' in to flatten my tummy but this time even 'sucking' in did nothing to the stomach. I was confident to see doctor on Wednesday after I saw my stomach did not deflate.

The GP referred me to a specialist for scopes. He did not say if something was wrong but I knew the physical examination was not similar to how he did it when I went for gastric and bloating previously. He suggested further check because it is quite unusual for someone young to keep on having stomach issues. I think I have stomach problems more frequent than flu or headache. Because of my company's insurance coverage, the GP clinic arranged referral with a specialist from the panel list. I was referred to Mt Alvernia for an appointment in the same afternoon. Cool! Very efficient. The specialist left it to me if I wanted to do scopes. I think he was very reasonable. He said that I have been experienced with gastric since I was young so I should know if this current episode is normal or not. If I suspect it is unusual, then I should consider scopes to check for possibility of things that have never been assessed before e.g. ulcer, Helicobacter and all that.

I do not mind gastroscopy since it will only required 6 hours fast and the procedure will take less than 5 minutes. I am more resistant about colonoscopy but since I would be sedated anyway, I may as well do it. Colonoscopy will take around 30 minutes maximum so it is not going to lengthen the sedation until I need to spend a night in the hospital. I am just lazy thinking about the bowel preparations. Haiz.. Anyway with my dad's colon cancer, it is just a matter of time before I need colonoscopy. Since colonoscopy result will be good for ~10 years before I need to re-do it again, I decide to do it.

I know I am being kiasi about these scopes. I am tempted to just brush this off since physically I do not feel any disturbing symptoms. However, looking back at my hernia previously, it started with monthly gastric pain for few months before. Then I had my dad and my uncle who tahan their stomach issues and by the time they became so bad to seek medical help, they ended up requiring surgery. So it is better to do it now rather than waiting until I have no other choice.

This week I am supposed to be in the office but I asked my boss to be at home so that I am nearer to Sengkang Hospital. I ended up returning to office just to settle my insurance coverage. Haha the irony.. Insurance is my biggest worry and now that has been settled. I am not worried about the scopes at all because it cannot be as bad as a surgery which I experienced before. In fact, I honestly hope that I never wake up again from the sedation and to wake up seeing God in heaven insteady. Haiz.. It is Lent and I am still thinking like that :(

I think I make the right decision to go for scope. This morning I had diarrhea 3x but I still think it was not complete emptying. Although I did not feel complete emptying, I can see that my stomach no longer looks as big as yesterday. Thus definitely it is not simply because I become fat but something is happening inside my stomach and it is better to have it checked.

Because of repeated diarrhea, I did not make it for my dermatologist appointment. I start to feel lazy for my regular visit as I still have a lot of the medicines. With working from home and the mask wearing when going outside, I only apply the creams in the evening instead of twice a day. My motivation of going is usually to help hitting $500 monthly spending requirement for my savings account interest. I decided to just heck it. I will not hit $500 and it's okay. I am just tired of chasing dollars and cents. Now I am only hoping that this stomach will not act up and disrupt my Mass tomorrow morning.