TBC: End of Treatment Update

Almost a year ago, I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis - which I talked about here - and later on, I shared some info on the disease here. If you haven't already, I highly encourage you to read the aforementioned articles - especially the latter - as this will only be an overall view, comment and update of my story with this illness. First off, I'd like to announce - although you might have known from my instagram - that I am finally off my meds! After 12 months of strict pill-taking and a couple surgeries, I can finally let out a sigh of relief of having a pill-free life. Let me walk you through all the aspects of my treatment and how far I've come since I started.

LUNG CAPACITY

As you might remember, before I was diagnosed, I was almost always short of breath and, therefore, got tired very easily - even fainted once! After I was diagnosed, the doctor discovered that my left lung shrank into half its normal size thanks to some fluid filling my chest from the infection I got from the TB-bacteria. After the fluid got sucked out of my chest, it became really hard to breath for a while - my chest actually squeaked when I inhaled - but then it got better after a week or so, like I was almost back to normal. The x-ray above was taken in November, after two months of treatment. You can see that the size was already back to normal so soon. There was no more x-rays since then but I can imagine it looking exactly like it's supposed to now. In fact, I've managed to do aerobics weekly for around 2 months now. And I didn't faint once!

BODY WEIGHT

You might not have noticed how thin and unhealthy I looked a year ago. I didn't even notice it myself - and, in fact, was quite baffled to find people thinking so and asking me why. But, if I put a before-and-after sequence like above, you can see the immense difference. To put it into numbers: in the first photo, I weighed roughly 53 kg - with a height of 161 cm. Although according to the BMI scale that is within the healthy range, with my small bones, I looked positively ghastly. It is due to the sharp decline of appetite I had for the second quarter-year of 2014. After returning back home, being spoiled with food compatible with my taste buds and given appetite-enhancing medications, in seven months I was able to gain 18 kg. A shocker, I know. Thanks to Ramadhan and self-consciousness, I managed to lose around 3 kg within 2 months. I know, I still have a long way to go. Now you know how much I actually weigh...

SURGERY SCARS

Due to the malignancy of my disease when it was diagnosed, it developed really quickly from a couple harmless - albeit itchy - bumps on my neck to puss-filled lumps. When I went to the doctor, the bump below my right ear was already nigiri sushi-sized but it wasn't painful. After two months of treatment, it suddenly grew another, softer bump but it was red. Before it had a chance to explode on my neck - which would be majorly painful - I went to surgery to have it opened. It was slit open once more in the second surgery, when the doctor figured out that that bigger bump was connected to a smaller bump below it, near the shoulder. After the surgeries, I went to tons of check-ups, which were incredibly insufferable and not a walk-in-the-park, until both the scars closed - one was stitched up, one closed naturally - almost 2 months later. They were still kind of bumpy at first, not unlike a scar you get from a cut, but little by little became quite invisible - I bet you can't find the second one. Pictured above are what the first bump looked like before the surgery (left), what it looked like after they closed (right) and what it looks like now, 8 months later (last).

PILL INTAKE

Now, the moment of truth: how many pills did I actually take? After calculating it, based on memory alone, the essential medication adds up to 780 pills for 12 months. That, however, doesn't include the antibiotics, painkiller and stomach medicine for post-op. Also doesn't include the vitamin B pills, especially to make the body stronger to withstand the TB medication. While the TB medication is good to cure Tuberculosis, there is no denying how strong it is for our internal organs. Every patient reacts differently to the pills - some I know became very sleepy, some others became quite numb - so make sure you tell your doctor at the first sign of trouble. The most common case is vomiting. Thankfully, I found no unfortunate reaction my body gave to the medicine - the antibiotics, however, are a different story. I'm also proud to say that I've never missed one single pill intake, as prescribed by the doctor - not to say there weren't any close-calls, though. As of 15 August 2015, I can officially say that I am off my meds! Pictured above are my painkiller (pink) and vitamin B (green) - not sponsored, I swear.

Overall, this process has been the longest treatment I've ever had to go through for an illness, but I'm glad it wasn't something more serious or deadly - when you see a bump on your body, your mind just goes straight to cancer, am I right? It gave me quite an experience, in terms of medical care. Never before did I become this familiar with a hospital. Speaking of which, one of my childhood (macabre) dreams was finally crossed off the list: having a surgery. It felt like the blink of an eye - but post-op was painfully slow - although I'll never recommend it unless necessary. Last but not least, I cannot stress this enough to everyone: take good care of yourself! Eat well, sleep well and move well. Keep a balance diet, bed schedule and workout regime! If you find anything slightly off about your body - ANYTHING at all - never hesitate to consult with a doctor. Maybe I should tell you that I had a very strange skin condition over a year ago - I call it "zombie fingers and toes" - and it might have had something to do with this disease as well. Any abnormality can be caused by something you'd never thought of before, so be aware. Hope this helps anyone in some way, stay safe and stay healthy!

TBC: Educate Yourself to a Healthy Future

Quite recently, I was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In Germany, among the Indonesian students, there was an outbreak of this virus going on, which managed to cost some students their lives - or a very huge medical bill. It is dangerous and everyone should be on high alert. However, the information given throughout the students have been quite misleading, leaving them to think they're healthy or not affected by this virus when, in truth, it's probably developing inside of their bodies. To prevent that, I am here to tell you some of the information I have acquired through talking to doctors for the past couple months and going through the disease myself. Please notify that I have no medical degree and this is a very serious matter.

What is tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by air-borne mycobacteria, which most commonly attack lungs. The symptoms usually consist of profuse coughing, fever that comes and goes (especially at night), cold sweat, short breaths and - worst case scenario - coughing blood. The disease comes into view through an X-ray, where the lungs will look blotchy from the virus. When the virus takes over, your lung capacity will decrease.

However, contrary to popular belief, tuberculosis doesn't only attack the lungs. It attacks the colon, the lymph nodes, the spine and even the sexual organs. Obviously, when attacking different organs, the disease shows different symptoms. For instance, in the colon, the symptoms could be irregular bowel movements; in the lymph nodes, swellings on the neck - which could lead to inflammation; in the spine, the inability to sit up or constant sore muscles; and in the sexual organs, excessive peeing. Sometimes the excessive coughing fit, with which TBC is mostly associated, doesn't even happen. But, little do you know, the virus might be working its way throughout your system.

How to prevent it?

Like any other diseases, the best way to keep it at bay is by keeping optimal health. This can be done by eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, getting enough and healthy sleep and consume plenty of water. A balanced diet consists of the five healthy food: carbs, meat, veggie, fruits and milk - or the nutrition, such as protein, fat, vitamin, mineral and carbohydrates. If you can't give up junk/fast food, at least reduce their portions in your life. With that, exercising is necessary, three times a week is the best schedule. Enough sleep isn't enough to keep your body fit, it also has to be healthy. Start sleeping by 10 PM and wake up in around 7 hours. Even if you do get 7-hour sleep, starting from 1 AM, it wouldn't be healthy. Lastly, you can never drink too much water.

Even when your condition is primal, please never hesitate to see the doctor upon contact with a TBC patient. Since it is air-borne, the easiest way it will get into your system will be through the cough - and TBC patients cough a lot! The quicker you go see the doctor, the less chance there will be of the virus developing in your body. Better safe than sorry!

My left lung lost 50% of its capacity due to some fluid from the infections caused by TBC

How to treat it?

Go to the doctor! Well, the only way you can find out is through an X-ray - or blood test - anyway so you'd need to consult a doctor. TBC treatment usually lasts for at least 6 months. Depending on the stage and complications, it could take up to a year. It is highly detailed and intricate. The medications are to be drunk in a routine - that means, everyday according to dosage - and without stop for half a year. If you forget to drink at a designated time, you will have to start your treatment all over again - that means 6 more months. The doctor will usually tell you that you should come for a check up every two weeks or every month to see if the medications are working. However, pills alone won't cure you off the disease. You will need to keep optimal health, as mentioned above.

TBC virus is actually pretty weak to sunlight. It is doctor-recommended - in fact, it's part of the treatment - to get as much sun light as possible in the morning. It is when the sun is warm enough to affect the virus but not scorching as to cause skin cancer. So sunbathe every morning while exercising is like shooting two birds with one stone! Do not even attempt to use sun beds, as they are not healthy and might actually cause more diseases. Plus, the sun is free.

How to keep it from spreading?

TBC patients tend to cough a lot. Coughing lets out the phlegm which carries the virus. Even if it's invisible to the naked eye, it is always safer to carry around medical masks - even at home. Sharing food and drinks is controversial. Although my doctor says it is totally fine, as a precaution, don't share your food and beverages with anyone until at least the first stage of the treatment is over. Sleeping with someone can also be dangerous - although I believe it's mostly from the subconscious sneezing and coughing that might happen during sleep - so it is definitely safer to have a separate room from a TBC patient. And, not that you'd want to, but don't touch their phlegm.

The day the doctors sucked the fluid out of my lungs

Maybe I've told you parts of the story before but never the whole picture. So here goes. Around 4-5 months ago, I discovered weird bumps on my shoulder blade. It felt like there were pearls underneath my skin. I managed to ignore it for maybe a month before another bump arose below my right ear. It started out small but turned big real fast, until I was finally diagnosed with TBC 2 months ago. I've been undergoing treatment since then and it has been working well for the first month. Then it got inflamed and I had to go into surgery to remove the cheese-like puss underneath. Now, I am still in recovery and doing the treatment everyday. I have to say I did not go to the doctor for two reasons, the probability of getting held back in Germany for treatment and my lack of knowledge about the disease. Due to the lack of coughing - or blood coughing, for that matter -, I let it go untreated for far too long. As a result, I had to go through surgery - which isn't fun, I must tell you - and stick my parents a bigger medical bill than it could probably have been.

In Germany, there was a case where a student died from having TBC and either couldn't or wouldn't get treatment. There was also another case where a student almost died from having a sloppy diet and undiagnosed TBC, where luckily one of his neighbours called the ambulance and he was rushed to the hospital to get treatment. However, by then, it was already bad enough that he had to get surgery. In the end, he was thankfully cured though not without an enormous medical bill - excluding the parts covered by insurance - which will hunt him forever. So, people, please do not be ignorant of your own wellbeing! Stay healthy and safe!

Edit: There are some errors in this article which were brought to my attention. My revisions are as follows:

• TBC isn't caused by a virus, but rather by bacteria - Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to be exact.

• The best way to diagnose a TBC patient is by running tests on their phlegm. Blood tests are not recommended and X-ray has low sensitivity.

• TBC that attacks the lungs is very contagious, whereas when any other parts of the body is attacked, it is less so (probably from the lack of coughing involved).

• When a person gets infected by the TBC bacteria, they are not always sick right away. It depends on their antibody.

• The sun kills the TBC bacteria directly. It is important for TB patients to have a room which gets enough sun light so that the bacteria in the room will get killed instantly. However, sunbathing has yet to prove useful for TBC patient. Some researches connect it with the forming of vitamin D to kill the bacteria in the body but it is yet to be proven. It is, however, no harm to try.

• During treatment, at the very earliest on the second month the patient has to get their phlegm tested in order to determine the next course of action. This is when it is decided whether the treatment would go on for 6 months or more.

• TBC is not a shameful disease. It is something that could happen to anyone and at anytime. It could happen years after contact with the bacteria and it could happen right away. The best course of action is always to get treatment as soon as possible.

My Life This Week

DISCLAIMER: I know this isn't fashion- or adventure-related. But this is my blog, this is my experience and I want to share it here. It's not gloomy by any definition of the word. Feel free to skip if you like.

This week was a whirlwind of hospital visits. First day of the week, we went to the doctor to finally find out what is going on with my body. After looking at the x-ray scan - I GOT X-RAYED! Yes, super excited! - and the lab results, the doctor concluded that I had Tuberculosis. It was strange because I didn't cough or get fevers. Apparently, it attacked my lymph nodes. So, instead, my thyroid glands swelled up. According to the scan, my left lung was almost half-filled - or half-empty, depending on your psychological view (badum tss!) - with some kind of fluid. Now, this is where all the pictures come in.

The next day, - the doctor wasn't wasting any time - I had to sit for an hour with an IV on my right hand and a heartbeat detector on my left arm while the doctor poked a hole on my back, sucking all the fluid out. You can see what it looks like below. The process was bearable but the sensation I got as the fluid left my lung...I started having difficulty breathing. It was okay at first. Then it was almost impossible to inhale. They gave me oxygen to help me breathe. And that's how I looked like that in the picture below.

Pictures taken by Dad and Sis

Okay, that face? Just a joke. Honestly, after it was all said and done, I felt okay. It wasn't bad at all. This might be bad, but ever since I was little, I've always wanted to know what it felt like to be admitted into a hospital. But I never had an accident that big or any diseases that life-threatening - thank God! This procedure gives me a glimpse of what it could be like. And it felt perfect. Now I don't want to get admitted anymore. This was as good as it gets. Aside from that, although I have yet to receive any medications, the treatment has served me rather well. I can breathe better now, I feel like my stamina is starting to come back and the lump on my neck seems to shrink. I really hope this means I'm getting better. Because I do feel better.

To be honest, I have no idea why I'm writing this or telling you guys this. But I feel like this is what my life has been lately and that's what's been keeping me from posting. With all the x-rays, blood samples, fluid sucking and other remedies, I honestly don't have time in my day to think about outfits. Especially since I haven't been going anywhere lately. But I'm thinking of an awesome project soon and I hope to be posting more interesting stuff soon. Thanks for reading! If you've made it this far, you're my hero.