An Alternate Decision
[Personal Story Time]
Hello.
Okay so, here's an update of my earlier post, "Cyst in My Nose". After the decision to go for an operation (which most people found out about through this blog), my mom's friend suggested that I go to a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctor since she too, had a nose cyst problem back then. She said one of the reasons why the cyst sprouted out was because of spicy food (which I love, so it could be contributing factor to my problem). However, thanks to the Chinese doctor from Beijing, she's all fine now.
So, with this fact in mind, my mom and I went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor. The centre was located on the second floor of a shop lot, with one office for doctor-patient appointments, a mini pharmacy, and a roomy waiting area. Small and simple.
The centre is the one with the green-white banner:
There, my mom's friend (who was waiting for us at the centre) introduced us to the doctor. He was an average sized man at an experienced sixty, hair tinted white. His office was one step closer to an empty room, with only the usual doctor's desk and two extra chairs to sit in. It was the most casual medical setting I've ever been in. Even the doctor himself wore a random blue t-shirt.
I was half-surprised to find that the doctor could only speak Mandarin, and (probably) nothing else. His China-Chinese (Chinese from China. That's what I call them.) accent wasn't very heavy, loud and clear enough for me to understand. Luckily for us, we had my mom's friend (who is also a Chinese) to translate for her. I wasn't sure if I could translate every single word to my mom while listening to the doctor at the same time. I can't multitask.
He told me to place my hand on a sort of leather cushion thing and he examined... my hand? Then, he took out an LED torch and tilted my head up to look into my nose.
"She has a cyst in her nose." he said. I was impressed. He could see Ryu (My uncle has been asking me what its name is, and I didn't want to name it because I know I would be attached to it. But then again, *shrugs* why not.) without any long metal equipment shoving up my nose.
My mom told him (translated by her friend) that air has been "coming out" from my ear. He dismissed that and said that it wasn't air "coming out" of my ear, but a feeling caused by unbalanced pressure. Ryu wasn't really a cyst, but an infection. It's a type of sinus.
Aha! I knew it was a type of sinus problem. My dad, my uncle, and my grandpa have sinus issues. But when I had breathing issues, the doctor (the previous doctor I met at the hospital) said it wasn't a sinus problem, but "just a cyst". Really, how can a person who is directly related to three people with sinusitis not have sinus issues? Especially when said person has breathing issues. How is that not a sinus issue?
I felt like barging into the hospital and shake some sense into my previous doctor (I would've said "punch some sense into my previous doctor", but then punching is violent and violence is bad).
However, my sinus isn't the usual one where the patient has a lot of mucus and swollen sinus, including teary eyes and so on. Rather, it affects the ear-nose connection and therefore causes discomfort to the ear. Sometimes, it can even cause pain. (I know this fact is true because I constantly experience it on a daily basis.) Aha, so my ear "exhaling" is a legitimate thing, and not just my imagination.
The doctor said Ryu was an infection, and was affecting my ear. "Hers is very clean." he said, referring to my nose, telling my mom that my nose had no mucus overflow or anything of the sort like how a normal person with sinusitis would have.
We told him that we were planning to undergo an operation on Thursday to remove Ryu, but he objected. He said going for an operation would get rid of Ryu, but it would come back again. Moreover, if the operation doesn't go smoothly, it can damage my nose-board thing (I honestly don't know what it's called) and affect my voice. As squeaky as my voice is, I'm more or less used to it. What if my new voice sounds like a dying old hag? I don't want to sound like that my whole life.
After that, my mom showed the doctor a picture of Ryu (The picture was posted in my previous post. Click here to see it: http://storiesbynukey.blogspot.my/2017/07/cyst-in-my-nose.html). The doctor then said that Ryu is at the stage where it will soon turn yellow, and later on burst. From there, the mucus/phlegm can go down my throat while I sleep and cause irritation, which would then cause coughing. Then at one point, my eyes would become watery and swollen.
The doctor said in order for me to heal, I can't eat spicy food, no cold drinks, and I have to sleep early (all that I usually don't do). Nooooo, spicy food is life! And I live in a country where its forever summer, how can I not drink cold water?
You know what?
When I grow up, I'm going to live in a cold country where drinking cold water or anything related to that is a complete taboo and spicy food is scarce (compared to where I live). I think cold countries suit me. I can't stand the heat here and can more or less withstand cold temperature (sort of). Maybe I was born in the wrong country.
"It's good that your mom helped take pictures of these," said the doctor before explaining that if we don't fix my sinus soon, Ryu can grow and affect my frontal sinuses (the area above my eyebrows/the lower part of my forehead. You can google it for better understanding), which can cause headaches.
"Does she like to sing?" the doctor asked my mom. I thought about it for a while. Sure, I do sing at times whenever I'm jumping in my room with earphones plugged in, but I don't necessarily like singing. Plus, my singing voice is terrible. I sound like a ten year old midget with a sore throat.
"No, not really." I shook my head.
"She likes to listen to music." my mom told him. Well, that part was true. A day without music is a day full of misery and doom.
"Likes to listen to music huh," said the doctor, turning back to the CT scan of my head, zooming into my brain. "I can see here that she likes music."
Does that mean that I have a musical brain? Cool.
Then, he zoomed in again.
"She doesn't like crowds, does she?" he asked my mom again, which my mom's friend translated to her. "Too many people makes her feel like its too noisy. She prefers silence."
Whoa. He can tell my preferences just by looking at my brain?
This is my new favourite doctor, people.
Wait. If the doctor could tell that I value peace and quiet more than anything just by looking at my brain, then that means my brain is actually naturally structured to dislike/unable to handle noise (loud voices hurt my ears, especially in the car when my sister speaks too loudly).
Seeeeeeeee, not my fault I don't like being around people. It's just how my brain is structured.
With a sharp nod and an expression of gratitude, we left the centre with a bag of traditional chinese medicine enough to last me a week. The medicine costed less than a check up at the doctor I've been going to.
My medicine:
On the way back home, my mom asked me what I wanted to do. Operation, or no operation?
"It's your choice." she said.
With careful thinking, I decided to give this medicine a try and postpone my operation. The doctor said I would notice an improvement in a week's time. So, in the mean time, the operation will be postponed to a later date which is to be determined. If the medicine works, then I won't go for the operation. However, if it doesn't, then maybe I will go for the operation.
Either way, we've got this sorted out. Plus, this is good news. I won't be stabbed by another needle any time soon.
Hopefully this will help clear things up and improve my health. Don't worry. I'll still be here, forever writing and going to school.
See you next time.
- Nukey
Hello.
So, with this fact in mind, my mom and I went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor. The centre was located on the second floor of a shop lot, with one office for doctor-patient appointments, a mini pharmacy, and a roomy waiting area. Small and simple.
The centre is the one with the green-white banner:
There, my mom's friend (who was waiting for us at the centre) introduced us to the doctor. He was an average sized man at an experienced sixty, hair tinted white. His office was one step closer to an empty room, with only the usual doctor's desk and two extra chairs to sit in. It was the most casual medical setting I've ever been in. Even the doctor himself wore a random blue t-shirt.
I was half-surprised to find that the doctor could only speak Mandarin, and (probably) nothing else. His China-Chinese (Chinese from China. That's what I call them.) accent wasn't very heavy, loud and clear enough for me to understand. Luckily for us, we had my mom's friend (who is also a Chinese) to translate for her. I wasn't sure if I could translate every single word to my mom while listening to the doctor at the same time. I can't multitask.
He told me to place my hand on a sort of leather cushion thing and he examined... my hand? Then, he took out an LED torch and tilted my head up to look into my nose.
"She has a cyst in her nose." he said. I was impressed. He could see Ryu (My uncle has been asking me what its name is, and I didn't want to name it because I know I would be attached to it. But then again, *shrugs* why not.) without any long metal equipment shoving up my nose.
My mom told him (translated by her friend) that air has been "coming out" from my ear. He dismissed that and said that it wasn't air "coming out" of my ear, but a feeling caused by unbalanced pressure. Ryu wasn't really a cyst, but an infection. It's a type of sinus.
Aha! I knew it was a type of sinus problem. My dad, my uncle, and my grandpa have sinus issues. But when I had breathing issues, the doctor (the previous doctor I met at the hospital) said it wasn't a sinus problem, but "just a cyst". Really, how can a person who is directly related to three people with sinusitis not have sinus issues? Especially when said person has breathing issues. How is that not a sinus issue?
I felt like barging into the hospital and shake some sense into my previous doctor (I would've said "punch some sense into my previous doctor", but then punching is violent and violence is bad).
However, my sinus isn't the usual one where the patient has a lot of mucus and swollen sinus, including teary eyes and so on. Rather, it affects the ear-nose connection and therefore causes discomfort to the ear. Sometimes, it can even cause pain. (I know this fact is true because I constantly experience it on a daily basis.) Aha, so my ear "exhaling" is a legitimate thing, and not just my imagination.
The doctor said Ryu was an infection, and was affecting my ear. "Hers is very clean." he said, referring to my nose, telling my mom that my nose had no mucus overflow or anything of the sort like how a normal person with sinusitis would have.
We told him that we were planning to undergo an operation on Thursday to remove Ryu, but he objected. He said going for an operation would get rid of Ryu, but it would come back again. Moreover, if the operation doesn't go smoothly, it can damage my nose-board thing (I honestly don't know what it's called) and affect my voice. As squeaky as my voice is, I'm more or less used to it. What if my new voice sounds like a dying old hag? I don't want to sound like that my whole life.
After that, my mom showed the doctor a picture of Ryu (The picture was posted in my previous post. Click here to see it: http://storiesbynukey.blogspot.my/2017/07/cyst-in-my-nose.html). The doctor then said that Ryu is at the stage where it will soon turn yellow, and later on burst. From there, the mucus/phlegm can go down my throat while I sleep and cause irritation, which would then cause coughing. Then at one point, my eyes would become watery and swollen.
The doctor said in order for me to heal, I can't eat spicy food, no cold drinks, and I have to sleep early (all that I usually don't do). Nooooo, spicy food is life! And I live in a country where its forever summer, how can I not drink cold water?
You know what?
When I grow up, I'm going to live in a cold country where drinking cold water or anything related to that is a complete taboo and spicy food is scarce (compared to where I live). I think cold countries suit me. I can't stand the heat here and can more or less withstand cold temperature (sort of). Maybe I was born in the wrong country.
"It's good that your mom helped take pictures of these," said the doctor before explaining that if we don't fix my sinus soon, Ryu can grow and affect my frontal sinuses (the area above my eyebrows/the lower part of my forehead. You can google it for better understanding), which can cause headaches.
"No, not really." I shook my head.
"She likes to listen to music." my mom told him. Well, that part was true. A day without music is a day full of misery and doom.
"Likes to listen to music huh," said the doctor, turning back to the CT scan of my head, zooming into my brain. "I can see here that she likes music."
Does that mean that I have a musical brain? Cool.
Then, he zoomed in again.
"She doesn't like crowds, does she?" he asked my mom again, which my mom's friend translated to her. "Too many people makes her feel like its too noisy. She prefers silence."
Whoa. He can tell my preferences just by looking at my brain?
This is my new favourite doctor, people.
Wait. If the doctor could tell that I value peace and quiet more than anything just by looking at my brain, then that means my brain is actually naturally structured to dislike/unable to handle noise (loud voices hurt my ears, especially in the car when my sister speaks too loudly).
Seeeeeeeee, not my fault I don't like being around people. It's just how my brain is structured.
With a sharp nod and an expression of gratitude, we left the centre with a bag of traditional chinese medicine enough to last me a week. The medicine costed less than a check up at the doctor I've been going to.
My medicine:
On the way back home, my mom asked me what I wanted to do. Operation, or no operation?
"It's your choice." she said.
With careful thinking, I decided to give this medicine a try and postpone my operation. The doctor said I would notice an improvement in a week's time. So, in the mean time, the operation will be postponed to a later date which is to be determined. If the medicine works, then I won't go for the operation. However, if it doesn't, then maybe I will go for the operation.
Either way, we've got this sorted out. Plus, this is good news. I won't be stabbed by another needle any time soon.
Hopefully this will help clear things up and improve my health. Don't worry. I'll still be here, forever writing and going to school.
See you next time.
- Nukey
Awesome Nuha. Let's try this and see what happens in the week. Sorry in wasn't around with Mama and you. today.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay, I hope this works.
DeleteI hope this work out and the doctor is awesome. Hope Ryu will decide to go somewhere else :P Also, I, too, call them China Chinese. And I would rather live in a could country too because as cold as it is, layering up is much easier than stripping down and try to peel off your skin or something. My asthma tends to be better in dry areas compared to humid and hot Malaysia too, so there's that. Genuinely hope you're all good and in tip top shape soon! Remember to slee early! No more late night tumblr scrolling and AO3 marathons.....
ReplyDelete*cold country
DeleteYeah. We were just born in the wrong country Claudia. I haven't read AO3 in a long while. Like actually read-read. I haven't read for quite some time now. I feel sad.
Hopefully I'll get better soon. Doctor said I can't swim since it'll affect my sinus. Now I'm even more sad.