by Jonny | Mar 18, 2013 | Opinion
Okay.
Today, I went in for a blood test and examination (With the doc asking me questions etc) and he checked my blood cells (white / red) and he told me that my immune system looked pretty strong, saying that I had plenty of white blood cells and that I shouldn’t worried.
So why did I have this random health check.
A couple of months ago I became extremely aware of the amount of welts, rashes, and bumps that appeared on the entirety of my body; this would happen after I had exercised for a substantial amount of time or essentially when my body temperature heated up. I went to Taichung hospital, which is a local hospital to where I live and they gave me an injection and to my surprise the doctor said I had hepatitis. I was shocked and disturbed at this thought because I had no idea where it had come from.
So, the hospital took a blood sample and to my relief I did not have hepatitis, but some other disease called the EB virus or more colloquially known as the “kissing virus”. I’ll admit the previous months I had been with my girlfriend in South Korea and we kissed a lot. But, she reassured me that she did not have this virus. So, I was clueless. Anyways, the hospital gave me medicine to treat the symptoms and sent me on my way.
Today, I went to another hospital because I did not trust the original hospital I went to, and to be honest it looked run down and old. Plus, the fact they said that my mother had cancer kind of steered me away from them, when they later retracted that. As I said before, the doctor whose English was quite impressive told me that I was healthy. I was happy and he explained the blood results to me saying that if I had contracted a virus then my white blood cell counts would be low; however, this was obviously not the case and I am perfectly healthy, aside from a few dental issues that I’m having.
As for my dental issues, well, I have periodontal disease which is causing my gum to recede, or specifically around the area on one of my teeth where the gum has receded substantially. I will be having an operation to repair that and hopefully they’ll be able to give me a nice looking smile. At $10,000NT it’s a little costly, but totally worth it, as I don’t think I would be comfortable talking to others or laughing at others’ jokes with a massive looking tooth staring people down as I open my mouth. There is also a substantial gap as well, where the gum has receded. It looks horrible and I feel horrible with that, so for me, the $10,000NT is totally worth it. I just hope that the operation meets my expectations.
So, now that I’m totally disease free, aside from the periodontal problem, I feel a little happier than I did before.
Something I quickly put together in photoshop!
I just want to re-iterate that the above image is real (Well, the before image) and that is really how badly damaged my gum is. Then the after photo I simply clone stamped new gum tissue around and in between both teeth there, where the problem lies. Now, if the dentists here in Taiwan can fix it to the standard above, I’d be pretty damn happy with a result like the above. I just hope it’s possible as I’m losing any self-confidence I have with this gaping hole.
by Jonny | Jun 25, 2012 | Updates
Quite obviously, I have not been able to exercise as much as I have wanted to, seeing as I had that tiny issue with my leg. It has been around a month since I had that operation and now I can walk properly and also run.
Last Friday, I started running again and I did swimming and running last weekend up until now.
It feels as if I have lost all my stamina as I can’t run as far without breathing heavily.
For example, I went to the racing track today and I could only run around the track for 15 minutes before feeling really tired. Perhaps, it is my work schedule along with the fact that I hadn’t exercised for 1 month straight. – I more or less became a coach potato, waiting for my leg to recover so I could go out and be active again.
I’m glad to say that I am now active. I’m still trying to regain the stamina that I built up, but I don’t want to push myself too far in-case something really bad does happen to my leg and it’ll be something I’ll regret as I grow up.
I haven’t got the six-pack yet, which I’m aiming for, but I think in a few months time it is very possible looking at my body now. I have done a lot of tone and fat-losing exercising and hopefully it will pay-off.
I just need to stay on track.
by Jonny | Jun 3, 2012 | Opinion
As you can see from the x-ray image below, I had a small operation on my leg, and the operation occurred on the 23rd of May, on my right ankle.
The operation took place at Changhua Christian Hospital, the surgery was good and it wasn’t too expensive. However, it was just minor surgery; essentially they pulled out the titanium screw in my leg that I had in there for around 4 years after braking my ankle playing football.
They said that it might lessen the pain when I walk, but I got the idea they were just going on a hunch, or it was actually as if they were following procedure as the screw had to come out anyway. So, I’m not sure if I’m fully cured of anymore pain, but what I do know is that when I walk now I do get pains in my ankle, unsurprisingly it is due to the recent surgery which took place. — I just hope there won’t be any more pain after my surgery wounds heal.
I hope I can run, swim, walk, and fly without any issues.
by Jonny | May 24, 2012 | Fitness
If you know me, you’d probably have added me on Facebook and likely would have seen the x-ray scans of my leg/foot/ankle. Ever since I came to Taiwan, I have exercised a lot and I mean a lot. I was on a strict diet and my goal was to lose 16kg. I achieved that goal in 3 months of planning it. I exercised everyday for an hour, doing cardiovascular exercises to lose the weight that I had gained from eating too much in England. I lost the weight I wanted to lose and to be honest I looked good so I was satisfied with what I had achieved.
However, then I started again…
I exercised a lot, similar to how I was exercising before, except I was probably less intense when it came to cardiovascular exercises, I did a lot more press-ups, went boating, swimming and all of that. Just two days ago, I felt significant enough pain in my foot to be concerned about the welfare of my foot as I had damaged that area before; I fractured my leg previously. This pain happened only about two nights ago.
I went to hospital to have my foot looked at after work. I had to miss an hour of work, but my health is more important so I decided to go and get it checked out.
As I was walking into the hospital as my mother had dropped me off by car, and I was feeling the same pains in my foot just walking normally. I felt there must have been something wrong, I could feel it and sense it.
So the doctor looked at my foot and he quietly dismissed any idea of getting an x-ray done. He stated all I had was a common among athletes called Achilles tendon; however I didn’t believe this to be the case. I insisted on an x-ray saying to him that I had not seen a doctor in while about my broken leg. He refused twice saying he could assure me that all I had was Achilles tendon. But, I think he just wanted to go home after a long day at work. I saw him at nearly closing time, even though I missed one hour of work.
I got the x-ray done in the end and this dear doctor informed me that I had early stages of arthritis. I was shocked, speechless and horrified. I wanted to ask, what the next step was.
I felt horrid, dismayed and extremely unhappy. The doctor said there is nothing that he could do. He recommended me to fly back to England or to go to Switzerland as apparently they have a fair few more experienced doctors who specialise on this particular issue of mine. He said something about bone corrective surgery.
I can’t walk without feeling pain, I definitely can’t run and I kind of feel crippled. I have to drag my leg along as it is too painful to step on the ground normally. The pain right now should subside, but I’ll be having an operation in Taiwan to correct some issues which should relieve the pain I’m experiencing.
You can see more of my x-ray pictures at my new photography site:
http://photography.jargoned.com/2012/05/x-rays-i-may-have-arthritis/