A-attack

Introducing, my first acute asthma attack of the year 2009!
Starting this year, I gonna track down my asthma progression.

The story starts after dinner, around 7:30pm WIB.

I felt something fishy going around my lungs, that fishy feeling is very familiar and it started to crept me out. I seldom get that fishy lungs while I'm here and it scares me cause I might need my dad so badly if the 'thing' gets worse. So, I had half mug of boiling water (supposed it helps), sip it slowly for about 5 minutes, but the lungs seem to get heavier. Then I took a puff of Ventoline inhaler. Waited for 5 minutes, no improvement, then another puff. I wanted to take as much puffs as possible, but only this Saturday (Pharmaco & therapy exam) I read that it shouldn't be taken more than 2 puffs. Thus, I took my second line therapy, a slow onset drug – Ventoline 4mg tablet (orally).
Ouch, that is a lot of Beta-blockers going around my system already! But still, I couldn't wait til the drugs work effectively and efficiently, the inhaler onset is 15 minutes, while the tablet is 30 minutes. I called out Kak Nuzul to bring me to the hospital. I need to be nebulized!

There was me, at the emergency unit, got rushed by the nurses. Hmm… Ape gelabah2 sgt ni? Relax la. I know it's an emergency case, but I've been doing this for my whole life, it's not like I'm going to die. The nurses were efficient, I felt important for a second. I guess the drugs worked eventually, that the nurses couldn't detect my 'wheezing expiratoir' in other word 'this girl is fine!'. I insisted to get nebulized since the lungs are still heavy, so they strolled me inside to the doctor in charge. Thank god the doctor could detect my wheezing lungs. She set up the nebulizer, but Kak Nuzul had to buy me the mask and tube and 2 ampoules of Ventoline (again).

While I was on the ER rush, I suddenly got an sms from Dyen (she misses me and asked when exactly am I coming back to msia). What a coincidence! I was so much thinking of her too, my asthma partner. Lol! As told by the doctor, my asthma has progressed from intermittent to persistent stage, in other word 'it has become worse' – just because I said I wasn't relief with the inhaler, so they thought that I need a higher dosage of Beta blockers, I should have had waited a little longer after the puff before I rushed to the ER. She (the doctor) than wrote me a referral note to the Lung department. Hmm!!

I wonder what triggers this A-attack. I only had Quaker oats and keropok ikan… and I haven't had a good laugh since I can't remember.

****

While the cause of the A-attack is still an uncertainty, there is however another weird symptom occurred this morning. I had a flank pain on the left of my waist. It was an acute pain of an unknown cause I felt right after the IPD (internal med) exam. I wonder if it's only a psychogenic – the IPD jinx!

IPD jinx??!

In a point of fact, I actually had felt the aura of this asthma attack since early this morning while reading about the Asthma Bronchiale (for exam). I came across reading on one of the etiology of asthma which is 'stress', which left me burst out laughing,

"who the hell so stressed out to proceed to an asthma attack?! Kesian gile! Dah stress, asthma plak tu!"

As time passed by and the exam was heating up, I got a little tensed up and kept telling myself "don't stress, it might develop an asthma", then I was on my very extra careful on controlling my blood pressure. I don't know how I did it, but I guessed I was doing it.

On the other hand, while reading on AKD (Acute Kidney Disease), I remembered I was once thought that I had a kidney problem, but none of the symptoms match my history. Until… I suddenly felt a flank pain on my posterior left waist. O-oh!

So, what is the conclusion of all these acute attack of funny symptoms bombarding me? Remember my very severe uterus contraction? It happened before the Obgyn exam. And this asthma and flank pain happened after the IPD exam. All the symptoms are actually written down in my notes as I was studying them. This is scary already…

Unit Gawat Darurat, Rumah Sakit Saiful Anwar, Malang