Hello, I blog!
I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
The daily 4 digit number
These days, my daily ritual has become to open ChannelNewsAsia and “check what is the 4D number of the day.”
That’s my way of referring to the act of checking our daily local Covid-19 community cases, which has been in the 4-digit range as of late. And “4D”, as every Singaporean would know, refers to one of the most popular modes legal gambling here, where people bet on 4-digit numbers – or “buying 4D”.
In fact, I’m certain there were people out there “buying 4D” with our daily case counts. (I don’t gamble though.)
Yesterday, I woke up to the number 1723.
“Strange, that’s pretty low.” I thought. Then I caught myself.
“What the fuck did I just say?” I mused. “Did I just say that 1723 new Covid-19 cases yesterday is low?!”
I stifled a laugh. How things have changed.
Earlier this year when the case counts suddenly hit 16 on the 29th of April, it became big news. It was as if shit was hitting the ceiling fan. Then, it started hurtling towards the hundreds and then past 500 in early September and I felt my fear increase.
In late September/early October, the daily cases shot past one thousand and then started to double. I remember I was in the hospital then for severe asthma (yes, again) feeling as if I was watching the world outside go to shits.
Then, we hit >5000 cases on October 27th.
So yep, 1723.
“That’s pretty low.”
I’ve been mostly keeping myself at home and limiting my social contact beyond immediate family members to just 1 person though. That’s the only responsible thing to do to keep myself safe while the virus is still circulating out there. And I thank my friends for being so understanding when I have to turn them down.
And no, I don’t agree with this whole “endemic” thing our local government is pushing for.
“You don’t look like someone with Sleep Apnea!”
… this is the sleep apnea variant of “you don’t look sick!” – the common (but unwanted) remark I get. But unlike the latter, this remark actually makes a lot of sense because this was a shock to me too.
Oops, I’ve disappeared for close to two months. Let’s just say that too many things have happened during this period.
Last month, I was in the hospital for close to 2 and a half weeks for an acute URTI (upper respiratory tract infection) and asthma that went full gangster on me. Then, it led to a secondary URTI because of my immunocompromised status. (Also adding to the drama was 3 blocked IV lines and getting poked a grand total of 10 times.)
And if things weren’t dramatic enough, I was diagnosed with a severe form of sleep apnea in the midst of all this.
What is Sleep Apnea?
It’s a breathing disorder which occurs while you sleep. Basically, you stop breathing for multiple seconds at a time.
As your oxygen saturation drops and carbon dioxide builds up in the body, your body’s autonomic systems will rouse you from your sleep to breathe.
The consequence of this is, due to the multiple (breathless) awakenings it’s impossible to be well-rested.
There are two main types of sleep apnea – Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), where your airway collapses and gets blocked, which causes you to stop breathing. Then, there’s Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), where your brain fails to send a signal to your respiratory system to breathe.
Mine is mainly OSA, with some episodes possibly caused by CSA. At my worst hour, my breathing stopped 54 times with the longest episode lasting 49 seconds.
I can’t even hold my breath this long when I’m awake!
Bad Romance
Do you recall those times when your friends wail to you about their bad relationships, only to keep returning to the same person over and over again?
And you always wonder why the heck people behave irrationally like that?
Today, I finally know what it’s like.
Coffee gives me the occasional tummy ache (like today when it’s excruciatingly bad) but the next day, I forget the pain and go back to drinking it again.
Oh, coffee. How I love you so. <3
Meanwhile I shall go back to lying flat on my bed because today, the score is coffee – 1, tummy – 0.
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