The One with the Huge Dose of Nostalgia

Who’s excited for the Friends: The Reunion tomorrow? I am!

Can you blame me? I’m a big fan of the show. Friends is the only American series I actually followed and loved. I was 18 when it started and already nearing my thirties when it ended so you can definitely say that it played a major part in my coming of age. 

To put it simply, Friends will always be the best show for me. 

Jabbed

Happy snaps! I finally got my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today.

When the COVID vaccination started in the Philippines early this year, I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to get one. When I found out through our HR that Barangay Bel-Air of Makati City is preparing a list for vaccination of non-residents working in Makati, I initially thought it would be best to wait for it knowing that Makati has better logistics and processes compared to Pasay. 

Besides, Chinese vaccine Sinovac was getting such bad rap in the beginning in comparison with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, or Moderna which are developed in the West. It’s easy to understand why most of us are reluctant to get vaccinated and would rather wait for the other brands.

But witnessing how two of my uncles died from COVID within a matter of days was a rude awakening. From that point on, all I’ve been waiting for was a chance to get inoculated. Frankly, I didn’t care anymore what they use on me. 

Getting the vaccine will not make me immune to the virus, but having it will reduce the risk of developing severe COVID complications. For me, that’s what’s important. 

Plank you

Photo by Larisa Birta on Unsplash

This week began with me wincing in pain. 

I should already be feeling some relief now that I started medication, right? Well, if it’s my primary complaint, then there were obvious improvements there. The symptoms that I was having days ago have lessened and I still have another week before my follow-up check-up with my gastroenterologist. 

But what started as an abdominal pain already went on to a full-blown, widespread pain all over my body. Name it: neck, back, legs, shoulders—all throbbing. It seems my body sneakily comes up with something new to torment me every day.

The tricky thing with this is I can’t just take pain relievers or NSAIDs because it’s bad for my stomach. So, for two days I have pain relief patches all over and my Peppermint Oil handy. If I had to take something it’ll be Paracetamol, which might as well be Altoids because it does nothing. 

This can’t be the case for me every single day. I can’t live like this. 

I “gut” an update!

I got the results of my upper abdomen ultrasound last week so let me start with the good news first. 

I have a normal scan for the gallbladder (no gallstones), kidneys, pancreas, spleen, and abdominal aorta. I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that I won’t need to go under the knife after suspecting gallstones earlier.

However, the bad news is I have what they call Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).