Dealing with Pulmonary Embolism - Part One

Three weeks in hospital, and this was how it happened...

It was a usual Saturday evening resting in bed when I realised I had pain at the back of my neck, of which I thought was just a tired/sore neck from improper posture or tiredness. Nonetheless, I went to sleep, though during the night, I woke up several times from feeling discomfort/pain in the left side of the body. I woke up the next day and noticed pain in my left shoulder. I thought I had slept wrong or pulled a muscle. I also noticed that I was always short of air, and always needed to take deep breaths, but whenever I took deep breaths, the left side of my body, including the neck, shoulder, and chest (the middle of my left lung) started feeling tight and painful. I thought I had strained something. At this point, I wasn't really concerned, and I wasn't into seeing a doctor, though I did call my usual GP to see whether my symptoms needed any medical attention, and he said that if was really worried, I could see a doctor, but just by the mere symptoms, he said I should be fine.That morning, I stayed at home.

Some time in the afternoon, I started coughing like mad, and when I coughed out the phlegm, there was blood. This happened twice, and it got me a little worried, though still not enough to make a visit to the doc's.  I started googling my symptoms, and came across this term "Pulmonary Embolism" - many people who had taken Yaz or Yasmin ended up having this, and had similar symptoms. I had been taking Yaz on and off since giving birth to my oldest son, and suspected it may be the cause of my discomforts. In the U.S., there have been many filed claims against Bayer, the company that produces the birth control pills, Yaz and Yasmin, and Bayer even "agreed to set aside almost US$57 million in a fund to settle Yasmin and Yaz claims outstanding as part of a multidistrict litigation program in Illinois federal court, and Yasmin/Yaz lawsuits that have been filed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California state courts. The settlement, which was announced August 6 [2015], will resolve arterial blood clot claims including heart attack and stroke". I figured that I really needed to have a check-up, but since it was Sunday family day, I decided to postpone my doctor's visit till the next day.

That night, we went out for dinner with the kids, and I didn't have much appetite. The pain on the left side of my body had increased, and even the back of my lungs had started hurting when I took in deep breaths. After sending the kids home, hubby suggested that I see a doctor, since the pain would not let me get a good night's rest anyway. Off to the doctor's we went, and after telling him my symptoms, by first glance, he suspected that I had Pneumothorax (the presence of air or gas in the cavity between the lungs and the chest wall, causing collapse of the lung), but needed to do tests to see what was really wrong with me, so he referred me to the Accident & Emergency Department (A&E) at the hospital. With the referral letter from the doctor, I was admitted into A&E immediately, and they set up an Electrocardiogram (ECG), and had me stay the night at the hospital, where they had my blood tested as well as having a CT scan early the next morning. I was off food for the night, and was given a sodium drip. After the CT scan, I was feeling a dizzy and short of breath again, so I was given a nasal cannula for extra oxygen intake.

I was surprised to see my doctor by my side as I was being pushed back into my room after the CT scan - he obviously had some bad news to tell me. He looked very worried and was slightly hesitant to tell me what was wrong. He told me that there were blood clots in the left and right side of my lungs, and needed to refer me to a specialist to see what they could do. A few minutes later after settling back in my room, the specialist came, and I was very surprised to see her - she was the doctor I saw when I was admitted into the hospital back in February, when I was down with Norovirus. She showed me my CT scan results, and said that there were blood clots in both sides of my lungs. As I was staying at a private hospital, she suggested that I transfer to a public hospital where they could monitor me 24-7, otherwise I would have to stay at the Intensive Care Unit (around HK$30,000 per night, excluding the doctor's fees, medical fees, etc) for around 2 weeks, and yet, it still wouldn't be as safe, as there isn't a specialist doctor at the hospital 24-7. I was instantly transferred to the closest public hospital via an ambulance.

Nonetheless, off the nearest public hospital I went. With the referral letter from the private hospital, I was admitted into the A&E pretty quickly, and after having done the ECG, I was taken up to the Medical Ward. They put me in the bed that was placed directly in front of the nurse's desks, and continued with the sodium drip and nasal cannula. Before the actual reports from the private hospital even arrived, I was instantly given a Clexane injection on the tummy. Who the hell invented injecting into the tummy? It's insanely painful, and the pain doesn't go away instantly either! The Clexane injection is used to stop blood clots from forming within the blood vessels. For the 2 out of 3 weeks of my stay at the hospital, I was given this injection, and my tummy was full of bruises.

As Pulmonary Embolism is VERY UNCOMMON in young Chinese females, the doctors all were very shocked to see my scan results! I was the one who told my doctors that I had been taking Yaz, and I read online that Yaz can cause Pulmonary Embolism. The doctor then went to do some research to confirm my findings, but said that the pills only triggered the illness, and is not the sole cause of PE.

Most people who have Pulmonary Embolism, usually also have Deep Vein Thrombosis, so I also had an ultrasound on my legs to see whether I had blood clots in my legs, but results turned out negative. I was forbidden to walk around before having done the ultrasound, but was encouraged to start walking a bit when they found out that there were no clots in my legs. It had been over a week since I had just stayed in bed, and my legs felt weak, and I needed to hold something or have someone hold me when I walked to and from the toilet.

After I had started walking around again, I noticed that my right leg always felt tingly, and my right hip had felt painful every time I had walked around. The pelvic area became so painful that it had often disrupted my sleep. I had an X-ray on my back and also a CT scan on the pelvic area. The CT scan results showed that there were blood clots in the right pelvic area, and I was forbidden to walk around again.

Two weeks in hospital with most of the time unable to walk around, I had not taken a shower at all! I had my body wiped with a wet towel every now and then, but my hair had started becoming very oily. These two products absolutely saved me - the Foresta Curo Refresh Styling Powder helped to minimise the appearance of hair oil, but it was the Shills Jasmine Damascus Voluminizing Dry Shampoo that really did the trick to make my hair feel non-greasy, looks dry & voluminised, and also smells of jasmine! Even the nurses there had complimented the way my hair looked!

After two weeks had gone by, it was time for me to choose my anticoagulant medication that would help to reduce future blood clotting. I would be required to take this everyday for a period of one year. After some discussions with my dad, taking into consideration of its effectiveness, its known side effects, and whether an antidote existed (in case of any accidents of internal bleeding), I decided to take Warfarin, despite the doctors asking several times why I didn't choose the newer ones. Warfarin has been around since the 1950s (so there have been many clinical tests, and we know of all its side effects already). The Warfarin treatment has several shortcomings though, for one, many commonly used medications and foods (particularly dark leafy vegetables, since they contain large amounts of vitamin K) interact with Warfarin, and its activity must be monitored by blood testing for the International Normalised Ratio (INR) to ensure that an adequate yet safe dose is taken. This means that I have to follow a strict Warfarin diet by eating the same amount of leafy greens everyday, and going back to the hospital for regular blood tests and doctor visits to see whether my INR is stable, and to see whether my medications need adjusting.

Despite still feeling weak and occasionally feeling short of breath, chest pains, and dizzy, I was finally discharged after spending three weeks at the hospital. I have been told to avoid all sorts of exercise for the year, and to take everything super slow.

During my stay at the hospital, I'm so glad to have had these with me...

Protec Blend

After a few days of not taking a bath, I started feeling itchy down there. My solution was to pour some Protec onto a cotton pad, and wiped down there. Protec contains Frankincense, Myrrh, Sage, and Cumin essential oils! Godly blend!

Lavender Pure Essential Oil

A drop of Lavender essential oil on my undies really did the trick to calm the skin, and help avoid any further itchiness down there.

I only use essential oils that are pure and are of therapeutic grade.

This information is provided here for educational and informational purposes only, and to motivate you to make your own health care and dietary decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with your health care provider. It should not be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment. Individual articles and information on other websites are based upon the opinions of the respective authors who retain copyright as marked.

The information contained on this website is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information represents what I, and Independent Distributor of Young Living Essential Oils, have chosen to do to take charge of my own personal health and that of my family. Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products on this site are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using these products.

REVIEW: Pony Effect Spray Paint Nail Lacquer

Nail polish used to be my thing, though I was never really good at using it, especially when it came to applying it with my left hand. I was also never good at keeping my nails unscratched, so they always looked ugly within a few days. Sometime last year, I started getting gel nails done, and I was so pleased at how pretty they were and how long-lasting they were compared to my own polish-painted nails! This eventually became my monthly hobby, and I would come up with different patterns and ideas for the lady to copy. Soft gel nails usually only last 2-3 weeks, but hard gel nails can usually last 4-6 weeks (of course by 6 weeks, the nails would've grown out too much and would look very ugly). Recently, I've been in hospital, and my nails had grown out so much that I had to get them cut by myself at the hospital. Eventually, two of them fell off by themselves, and that's when I noticed how soft and thin my nails had become - they were like paper! I knew I had to get all the gels removed, and take a break from gel nails.

This was when I came across these spray paint nail polishes! I originally only wanted to order the silver and blue, but then I realised they came in a set, and I could not purchase them separately. I ordered these from www.minikmall.com for HK$328 (US$41.60) for 5 cans, each can costs HK$65.60 (US$8.30). This set took around 2-3 weeks to arrive, because they said that spray cans could not be shipped by airmail, and needed to be shipped to HK via surface mail.

Pony Effect Spray Paint Lacquer Set (HK$328/US$42)

Colours:

#Secret Code (gold/yellow)

#PingPong Game (green)

#Chic Chico (blue)

#Go Play (purple)

#City Roller Coaster (silver)

The set also includes some stickers for you to decorate your nails with.

How To Use:

1. Apply base coat onto nails.

2. Give the bottle a good shake, and hold around 10-15cm away from your finger.

3. Spray onto your finger nail in a downward motion (towards fingertip). Repeat if necessary.

4. Apply top coat onto nails.

5. Wash away the nail lacquer on the skin with water.

To remove the lacquer from your nails, use your usual nail polish remover.

The Packaging:

They all come in a reflective gold cardboard box with a colour label on the top.

The cans look like this - not girly and pretty as such, and you can only see the colours from the front, but if I were to put these into a box, I would've hoped to see which colours I would be taking out on the lid, instead of having to guess the colour of each.

Here is a swatch of the five colours under natural lighting.

All the colours turned out pretty okay, except for the green. Even after a few sprays, the green still appeared to be thin, uneven, and cheap. The silver, blue, and the purple looked pretty good, though the gold was a bit too yellow for my liking. I actually quite liked the silver, as it's quite bold in colour, and it's unlike the colour of other silver nail polishes. I didn't add a top coating to these, as I wasn't planning to have multi-colour fingers. With the exception of the silver, all the other colours washed off pretty easily. I had to use my nails to scratch away the silver, as it wasn't as easy to wash off.

The next day, I decided to make my nails silver and blue. I added the base coat from Missha, the paint lacquer, and the top coat from Missha. The top coat actually makes the nails appear to be more glossy rather than matte. When I tried to wash off the excess paint on my skin, the blue on the nails washed off too (I didn't even rub it with my fingers). Most of the silver remained on my nails, but a little bit chipped off too.

The Verdict:

The idea behind these paint sprays are amazing, but only if the colours had stayed ON my nails instead of having being washed off so easily under water. I wonder what would happen if I washed my hands with soap and water! I also ended up having a blue sink, and I had to rub the blue off (I started off using nail polish remover, but it took too long and I had to literally scrub my sink, and then I started using my Young Living Thieves Household Cleaner, and it got the job done within a few seconds! These were fun to play with and easy to use (even with my left hand), but I would definitely not repurchase again! Will try again using a different brand of base coat and top coat, but I doubt it would make a difference!

If you want to find more about Young Living products, you can go here.

Thank you for reading, and have a nice day!

Dealing with Itchy Skin Problems

I've always had near-to-perfect skin, with no major problems, and only 1-2 blemishes on my face each time after PMS. I woke up on Wednesday morning, to find half my face covered in pus-filled red spots, and my face swollen. I literally didn't know what to do! I instantly went to see a doctor (he's my GP, but he also specialises in dermatology), and he told me I had Folliculitis. I asked him whether it was because I had a Lipodermis treatment on Monday, or whether it was the new mask that I had used on Tuesday night, but he said it was neither, as it's only on one side of the face, AND that it had grown in a circle.

He literally stared at my face and jokingly said "I really can't figure out why it's grown in a circle shape. That's really unusual". I told him it might have been my pillow, since I mainly sleep on my left side. He prescribed me with a non-steroid ointment (Fucidin) to apply morning and night, but the results were too slow, as I had a high school reunion on Saturday, and I wanted to recover ASAP. This is what my face looked like, and although it doesn't look that bad in the photos, I was devastated and depressed already by the sight of it! My face was literally SWOLLEN, and of course, I wasn't used to seeing my face so red and eww!

My face felt itchy and irritated, and I was too scared to use anything. I used the Cerave mild face cleanser that the doctor had given, then used the Hydro Intensive Toner and Doctoray Intensive Hydrating Cream from CNP Laboratory, which I reviewed here.

To help relieve the irritations, I decided to create my own mask. I applied this 3-4 times a day.

Ingredients:

Distilled Water (acidic)

Lavender Essential Oil

Frankincense Essential Oil

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil (optional)

Cotton Pads or Blank Sheet Masks

I usually add 1-2 drops of Lavender, and 1-2 drops of Frankincense into a ceramic (non-reactive) bowl. I also started adding in 1-2 drops of Ylang Ylang too as I had an inflammation, and wanted too see quicker results. Fill the rest of the bowl with distilled water.

Mix the mixture a little with your finger. Soak the cotton pad or blank sheet mask into the mixture, and apply to the face. If the mask does not adhere properly, wet a cotton pad, and press gently against the bits that are sticking out.

I created this mask to apply to my face 3-4 times a day. On the first day, I only used Lavender and Frankincense, and I found that they were too mild for my condition, like they were soothing as such, but it didn't help with the spots in particular. I must say, I hate the smell of Frankincense and Ylang Ylang, but anything that would help my skin, I would try, and when they were diluted in water, it didn't smell as bad! During the first two days, I used cotton pads as I didn't have any blank sheet masks, and although some cotton pads may not adhere very well, they actually stay wet for longer, and can stay there for up to 1 hour.

Cotton pads usually stay wet for longer, so you can leave it on for 30 minutes or so, or until it dries, whereas the blank sheet mask will dry quicker, so you'll have to remove the mask after 15-20 minutes. You can keep wetting the mask with a cotton pad if you want it on for longer.

After waking up on Day 2, I realised that my pillow must have been the cause, as the spots were redder than they were the previous night, AND I started having spots on the other side of my face too! I instantly put the pillow case in the washing, and used another pillow just in case. I also started using Ylang Ylang on Day 2, and sometimes, it would sting my face, but I read online that it's just doing its anti-septic job.

I cheated, and replaced the Fucidin with Hydrocortisone 1%, since the Fucidin was too mild for me. I continued to mask my face 3-4 times a day though. On Day 3, I was able to purchase the blank sheet masks from Miniso, and the fitting was terrible! The blank sheet masks were made of cotton, had a slightly different shape each time, and required lots of folding down and touch-ups. Putting the masks into the water was quite entertaining though, as they reminded me of the tampon-in-water experiment we had at high school. The only good thing about my DIY masks, is that I know I used quality ingredients in the making of the mask!

By the end of Day 3, I could see that the spots had become less bumpy. I also went to purchase a new foundation and concealer to cover it all up the next day!

By Day 4, the day of my high school reunion, the spots had subsided significantly, and the spots on the right side of the face were nearly gone!

A quick photo while heading to the reunion! The spots were still slightly visible, but were definitely much easier to cover, and were barely noticeable to others, unless they stared at my face!

A happy girl heading to the reunion!

I usually use the leftover mixture as a toner as well - I just soak cotton pads into it, and then use it to wipe my face. If you don't want the mixture to go to waste, you can either pour it into your diffuser, or add some Himalayan Salt, and make a foot bath.

My friend started having a spot "down there" that felt itchy and painful, and she remembered what I had said about using Frankincense and Lavender to mask, so she stuck (literally, using tape) a cotton pad soaked with the oils onto that spot. She continued doing this consecutively for a few days, and the spot magically disappeared. She was so happy, and so was her wallet!

I really like how the products from CNP Laboratory are fragrance free, and are even suitable for the most sensitive skins. I soon found a sample cleanser from CNP Laboratory (also from the Hydro Intensive line, which is used to hydrate and soothe skin), and started using that instead of the one that the doctor gave. I also started using the CNP Laboratory Mugener Ampule and Mugener Deep Soothing Pack recently too.

Things have gotten much better, and now there are just three faint pink dots on my skin, which will hopefully go away soon after using some peeling products. I now change my pillow case every few days, and I'm still sticking to gentle (fragrance-free) products for now. Sometimes I will add a few drops of Frankincense Essential Oil to my toner, so that my skin can recover faster.

The doctor told me not to apply any essential oils to my skin, but I didn't listen, as I knew I had the most trusted essential oils at home. All the oils I used are therapeutic grade, and are from Young Living.

If you wish to order any Young Living essential oils, you can get them here. 

If you have any questions or need help enrolling/setting up your account, please e-mail me at geniesfavproducts@gmail.com

This information provided here is for educational and informational purposes only, and to motivate you to make your own health care and dietary decisions based upon your own research and in partnership with your health care provider. It should not be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment. Individual articles and information on other websites are based upon the opinions of the respective authors who retain copyright as marked.

The information contained on this website is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information represents what I, an Independent Distributor of Young Living Essential Oils, have chosen to do to take charge of my own personal health and that of my family. Statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products on this site are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your physician before using these products.

That's probably enough for today. Thank you for reading, and have a nice day!