Been really busy on many things, settling down with work life, stepping out of comfort zones, getting my health back on track and many many things ~ Been really mentally tired and kept falling sick easily. 

what should we talk about first ? Anyways, I feel that my Instagram or Facebook would be more happening than this space here. I guess hardly anyone would read it now ~ Lie has been really hard for a 22 year old like me, trying hard to achieve and not fall behind is really tough.. Am not someone who's born with a silver spoon so its all about hardwork and brain I guess ~ 

Let talk about health. To those who are really currently very HEALTHY, this doesn't mean you can do nothing about being healthy ~ If you don't already have a health insurance, GO GET YOUR ASS UP FROM THE SEAT AND TALK TO AN INSURANCE AGENT .. GET A HEALTH INSURANCE WHILE YOU'RE STILL HEALTHY ! 

I can finally understand the meaning of :

 HEALTH = WEALTH 

when you do not have HEALTH, most of your WEALTH will be diverted to get your HEALTH back.

So, in short, good health = good wealth ! 

Not cursing that you would one day be unhealthy, but you cant deny .. we are humans and our body have its own limits.. Humans age, and as we age, our health deteriorates considering also our daily activities, the food  we eat, and of course, our family member's health history since some of the illness/disease can be inherited. 

Well, my health alert when out since I was in secondary school when I felt pain occasionally in my joints. So pain I could hardly move and I had to stay stiff and felt like I'm paralyzed since my movement were limited by the pain ~ Initially I thought it was my sleeping position that caused the ache/pain .. But I realized, even after making sure that I slept in a good manner, I still have the pain..  

Over time, there was an obvious increase episode of pain when I was in my poly years. It came almost like my menstrual cycle and the pain can last for up to a week. The occurrence was initially just my shoulder joints and wrist but overtime, it happens even to my knee and my knuckles. For pain in my knuckles, it would be so bad it actually swelled up and have a burning sensation. I had no choice but to turn to polyclinic whom then gave me Mefenamic acid  (a kind of pain killer with an agent to curb inflammation). Went for countless of blood test through polyclinic and SGH which I was then referred to once. 

I was still in poly back than, SGH did many blood test on me and I had issue attending lesson when every time my appointment would clash with my lesson.. I had to take MC and was so worried it would affect my grades as a final year student. I had no choice but to turn to my mentor in school for advice. 

I gave up hope and did not turn up for my appointment. Every single time I went back for my blood test report, the doctor would say that I AM FINE and there are no signs of any disease or what-so-ever.  But to me, I clearly know that something was wrong and that SOMETHING is causing all my swell and pain ~ but since they couldn't check anything out, I stopped going for appointment, partially because of the cost I incurred every time I go for my appointment. NO MONEY YOU KNOW !?

So since no treatment was done, I ended up getting MORE mefenamic acid whenever I encounter pain and had to visit the polyclinic. But soon, I realized, the pain was unbearable and I didn't want to rely on painkillers since there are bad for the kidney.. So I went back to the polyclinic and the doctor suggested I do a blood test ONLY WHEN I EXPERIENCE THE SWELL AND PAIN .. I gave it a last try and waited for a horrible swell and pain to do my blood and urine test. 

Finally, they found something in my blood and I was referred back to SGH AGAIN ! I didnt want to because 

1) ITS SO FAR FROM MY HOUSE, VERY INACCESSIBLE TO ME 

2) I WENT THERE BEFORE AND HAD NOTHING AS A RESULT, WHY SEND ME THERE AGAIN ? 

But the doctor told me TTSH is very strict with their referrals, so my report wasn't strong enough for the referral to go through. I had no choice but to give SGH a last try before I turn to TCM. 

Anyone, the thing that they found in my blood is actually called "Rheumatoid Factor" it was positive in my blood test hence, it is some sort of rheumatism disease ... Went over the SGH, lucky this time, I was referred to a doctor (felt that he had more experience), Dr Warren Fong. He studied my reports from the polyclinic and sort of found out what exactly was wrong. Explained to me why they didn't found out 1-2 years back and I totally understand. Went for a final xray and blood test and I'm diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

I still have some issue spelling this by the way. When people asked me questions like: 

1) What's that ? 

2) How come you will have (What causes) ?

3) How to prevent ? 

4) Can cure or not ?

I really really don't know how to answer .. But well, here are some research I have done about Rheumatoid Arthritis ... 

1) What's that ? 

 Rheumatoid Arthritis - 类风湿性关节炎

2) How come you will have (What causes) ?

It is a form of inflammatory arthritis and an autoimmune disease. 

The immune system – which is designed to protect our health by attacking foreign cells such as viruses and bacteria – instead attacks the body’s own tissues, specifically the synovium, a thin membrane that lines the joints.

3) How to prevent ? 

Since the cause to rheumatoid arthritis is not known yet, there isn't any specific way to prevent it. However, early treatment can be put in place to prevent the joints from damaging caused by the inflammation, swell and  pain. If left untreated, joint deformation may occur causing disability. 

4) Can cure or not ?

Although there isn't a cure for rheumatoid arthritis, early, aggressive treatment has been shown to help prevent disability. 

So just a rough idea of this .... I'm currently on medication, hoping for everything to quiet down. So yeah, I am feeling alright though ~ Just a lilttle overwhelmed by the amount of medication I am taking and worrying how far the medication would affect my body as a whole ~ 

BTW: read that acupuncture helps with rheumatoid arthritis, MAYBE i will give it a try .. but gotta consult a TCM first and Dr Fong gave green light to external treatment instead of oral treatments from TCM since he doesn't want my liver to work doubly hard filtering the different medication. Though he suggested I try TCM medication before the one he gave me but guess I don't wanna drag anymore. Since TCM has external treatment and western medical don't .. 

guess I shall just stop here and get back to work (: 

thanks for reading ~ 

Shall end with this video (: 

 

info gotten from: 

- http://www.arthritis.org/conditions-treatments/disease-center/rheumatoid-arthritis/

-http://www.webmd.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/guide/rheumatoid-arthritis-basics 

-