Before I Write About 2018

I wrote about our Genting Trip but didn't write down what happened after. A quick summary.

Got back from Genting on Monday night (18 Dec) and had taken the next day off (19 Dec) so we could rest a bit, knowing that a road-trip would be quite tiring. We had lunch at Lawry's to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary (3 years! and I'm still madly in love) and then headed to the cinema to catch the latest Star Wars movie.

I was having a bit of a headache, and the 3D glasses made me feel worse, so by the time the movie was done and we were having dinner at Ichiban Sushi, I was feeling so ill I could barely eat. Popped a couple of panadols and went back home to rest.

Took another 2 panadols before heading to bed, but couldn't really sleep. Took my BP measurements and they were high - 185/111. By midnight, my headache was THROBBING and it was worrying that the panadol didn't really seem to kick in. CH suggested I go to a 24 hour clinic or the A&E so I made my way to Raffles Hospital.

At the clinic (or was it A&E), my BP had risen to 194/133 and the doctor ordered some blood tests and a CT scan. My BP kept rising (217/133!) so they had me warded in the ICU. They wanted to observe me so I had an ECG thing stuck and a BP cuff (actually 2 BP cuffs) and a very expensive hospital bill.

Long story short, I was in ICU for 2 nights, and moved to a normal ward for the third night. I had to do CT scans (brain looked ok), and echograms (heart looks ok - a bit thicker than normal but the doctor didn't seem too worried). I was on pain meds and new BP meds and had stabilised before the doctor gave me the OK to be discharged.

I was wondering why I had to do so many heart tests and why they assigned a cardiologist to me, but later read that high blood pressure (hypertension) is a warning of more serious cardiovascular problems. Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases the risks of aneurysm, heart failure, heart attack, kidney damage and stroke. SO THAT'S WHY.

Frankly, knowing I had high BP didn't really worry me all that much till this hospital scare. Cos now it's not a BP issue but one potentially to do with my heart. Ack.

All my tests came out ok so the doctors weren't sure why my BP spiked so high. Which I reckon is quite dangerous because that means my BP could easily spike highly again. Gah.

So 2018 is a year where I really, really need to make lifestyle changes and focus more on getting healthier. Let's work towards that!