Am still having giddy spells every now and then (when standing up after sitting down, or sitting up after lying down … well, you get the idea) but other than that I am almost fine. Definitely well down the recovery route.

My favourite doc’ traced the fainting spells down to my asthma condition being out of whack - which meant extreme heart palpitations and breathlessness whenever I walk for ten minutes or more, and so I’d feel faint because my body doesn’t have enough oxygen … or something like that.

As such, he upped my daily asthma control medication and the fainting spells are (more or less) gone. So, yay.

With regard to the giddiness - I’m supposed to go down and see him again sometime early next week for a re-review and apparently if it still persists, all those appointments with the specialists will still hold. So presently, I’m trying to move around slooooowly such that I wouldn’t feel giddy so technically, I can still go there and tell him that I don’t feel giddy anymore without the need to lie. (Hehe.)

Oh, and I’ve to go for another blood test in two months to ensure that everything is really okay. Whatever, but I’m a pro at this already anyway. Sit down, stick arm out, squeeze eyes shut.

Meanwhile, life has been packed with FYP - which basically means me sitting on my butt and coding all day long. The people up there still have an axe over our (me and my project group) heads, which means that progress must be fast - more than we can handle.

Trying to juggle (and survive) both FYP and being sick is … exhausting. But well, I’m surviving so I presume I must be doing something right?

Oh, and to Genting with Mum and Dad next month. (Initially thought it would be this week but it got postponed.) They said I could invite a friend - but a round of SMS-es to my closests yielded nothing. And I don’t want to invite some obscure person I rarely talk to to Genting with me so I’d rather be all by my little self.

So seems like I’d be heading there to emo - I tend to think a lot when I’m alone and the past two months hadn’t been good so … yeah. And perhaps work on my project there as well.

And I promise I’d write more again after this. Meanwhile, I need to get back to coding because that big axe over my head is looming closer.

Moral of the story:
Never assume that you’ve fully recovered, especially if it’s been less than a day since you’ve last had the symptoms.

Sounds like something really duh, but hey - I do believe in miracles.

Plus, it’s been almost three weeks since I’ve started experiencing unexplainable intermittent fainting spells. I’m getting pretty sick and tired of having my vision go white (or sometimes, black) each time I get up from a chair, or feeling the earth spin and teetering around unstably when I walk too much. So, I’m grabbing every chance I can to be my usual self.

To all the people who commented, and to my friends who’ve been helping me the past few weeks (i.e. escorting me to and fro the school bathrooms, enduring my repeated absence from project meetings, reading up on my condition on the internet and sharing your findings with me), thank you very very muchly.

What I’ve been reading online scared me somewhat, though - and it makes me feel like running back to my favourite doctor and bombarding him with a million and one questions.

Monocytosis
A condition in which the blood monocyte (a type of white blood cell response for immune system reactions) count greater than 0.8 x 10^9 per litre. Often occurs during chronic inflammation, bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases and certain leukaemias (rare).

My reading is 0.93. And although my doc’ had assured me that it will be okay to just wait it out since monocyte counts usually go back to normal after a while, several people around me are not quite convinced since monocytosis and persistent fainting spells do not bode very well together.

I’m not too worried, though. Meanwhile, I’m just waiting for all the symptoms to just disappear on their own - it takes a while, so all I have to do now is to be patient, no?

And no, don’t send me to another specialist, please.

I’m sick and tired of doctors, medicines, needles, clinics and whatsoever considering how I’m being hauled to my doc’s practically twice a week for the past few weeks. (And having blood drawn three times in the past one year is pretty trying for someone who hates needles with a passion and faints at the sight of blood.)

Even the receptionist has seen me so often that she no longer asks for my name when I walk through the door.

I. Will. Just. Wait. It. Out.

Plz. No. More. Doctors.

Kthxbai.

And hopefully - I will get better by next week because it’s likely that I’d be heading over to Genting Highlands (yes, again!) with my parents sometime either next weekend or the week after. Although it seems impossible, but I hope to get some peace and quiet there - perhaps lounging around in the hotel room with Frou Frou and working on my FYP, taking a walk around to admire the mountainside, or perhaps some shopping. (Just get those pesky kids that seem to plague Genting 24/7 outta’ my way, please - and I’ll be happy.)

Unwell people desire to travel too.

Meanwhile, if I want to wake up in one piece tomorrow and head to school as per normal, I should be going to sleep now.

Good night, world!

I’m still alive, barely. Health-wise, I’m barely beyond the pass mark, but still fighting.

As mentioned before, I’ve been plagued by giddy spells (especially when my posture or position changes) and especially when I’m standing up and going about. Nearly fainted on the way to school a couple of days ago as well, which really scared the crap out of me.

The asthma symptoms also seem to be making a return. Awoke yesterday and today feeling as though I had a giant weight on my torso - couldn’t really breathe properly and had to roll about for a while before I can get up for real.

With regard to the giddiness, my favourite doctor initially suspected anaemia - so I was put on iron tablets for about two weeks.

No avail. Instead, the giddiness because worse and even more prolonged. So when I visited him a couple of days back for my weekly review, he decided to draw blood instead.

My mum received a call from the clinic yesterday, informing her that my rest results were out and that I should go back and see him ASAP. The blur receptionist couldn’t provide more details (since she didn’t know how to read test reports) and so we requested to speak to my doctor instead.

Apparently, no - I do not have anaemia. (Yay! I can finally lay off the iron pills.)

However, the report isn’t very good, and he’s considering referring me to a specialist.

He initially wanted me to head down to see him today - but I was still in lalaland and in serious need of sleep, while he closes for the day at 1pm. (And I was only truly awake at 2pm.)

Going to see my doc’ again tomorrow to go through the report and find out what else he has to say, and perhaps seek more reprieve for the giddiness that is still plaguing me at this moment.

Meanwhile, I’m practically going through each day in a semi-consciousness state, walking in zig-zag lines and feeling like fainting up to ten times a day.

Nothing serious, I hope. :(

EDITED @ 3.16 P.M.
Okay, wrong. I still have mild anaemia - a borderline case, actually. So, it’s back to the iron pills all over again. :(

Not to mention other things such as an above-normal white blood cell (monocyte) count, which is a sideline issue not directly related to my intermittent giddiness but still a cause for concern.

Going to be sent to one specialist after another to rule out possible causes, with the worst-case scenario of having to go for X-rays, ECGs and multiple blood tests. (Doc’ says he hopes he wouldn’t have to resort to the worst case scenario though. Thank goodness.)

Meanwhile, I’m still giddy. :(