For the some of you that have seen me out and about this week, you’ve noticed that I’ve lost a ton of weight. I’ve been losing at the rate of about a kilogram a week and for those of you that know me, you know that I had no weight to spare in the first place. So I thought I should disclose here what’s going on – one of the advantages of publishing a weblog read by my professional associates.
For the past six or so weeks I’ve been fighting (how can I put this delicately) “digestive track disorders.” Yes, lots and lots of trips to the bathroom. I was in the hospital for three days and that conveniently gave me time to get a colonoscopy. But basically I’ve been meeting with my gastroenterologist weekly as we move through tests and try treatments.
After two rounds of different antibiotics it’s probably unlikely, but still possible, that it’s a microorganism problem. The colonoscopy showed a perfectly healthy colon with no problems. A CT scan of my full abdominal area shows absolutely no indications of problems – so much so that my doctor has not followed through with a purely diagnostic endoscopy he earlier considered. All of my blood work, so far, is showing no signs of any problems going on – all normal.
I’ve had absolutely no tummy pain through all of this. In general, my appetite is quite good – I feel like eating anything, although my doctor has me on a low fat diet. So in a way I count my lucky stars. As bad as it seems to me at times, it could be a lot worse.
My wife has come up to Manila from our home in Mindanao, with our new baby and her yaya, to be with me here for several weeks and getting good home-cooked meals every day is helping. And just having Jenny and Isabella around gives me the psychological equivalent of a sugar boost.