Sunday, June 06, 2010

change

someone said very philosophically that the only thing that won't change is change itself.

it's so nice to remain in our comfort zone & dwell on what we are familiar with. but conform we must, to adapt to changes that invariably occur from time to time. for example, if things get expensive, we buy less or even stop buying altogether if possible. i remember the time not long ago when petrol costs RM2.80 a lit. we went on less outstation trips, & didn't travel when it was not necesssary. we even comtemplated installing a NGV tank in the car.

having been on the hypertensive pill coversyl for over a week, i developed a dry irritating cough, which sometimes happens. actually, i wasn't sure if the pill was the cause, or was it due to the sinus problem that was acting up again. that's when the secretions from the nose trickle backwards into the throat & irritate it, causing the cough.

anyway, discussed this with  my cardiology colleague & decided to stop coversyl & start on cozaar instead. this is a totally different class of anti-hypertensives called angiotensin receptor blockers, or ARBs for short.  so far, the cough has gotten less, but then my sinus problem has gotten better at the same time. so i still don't know for sure what the cause of the cough really was.

but i've also decided to have the recurrent sinus problem corrected surgically later this year, once & for all. is that a major (upcoming) change or what?

the other change in my life is the arrival of the altis. that's a toyota, by the way!

another round of adaptation here. with 50 horses LESS, 1-speed LESS, 4-airbags LESS & 4-CDs LESS in the changer compared to the old car, that's quite a bit of change to get used to. after having it for almost a week & having driven down to s'pore & back, i didn't miss the 50 horses, 4-airbags or less CDs in the changer one bit. but the 4-speed transmission did produce a constant grunt on the highway, something not noticeable with a 5-speed.

encountered 2 speed-traps on the way down. only time will tell if this reformed speed-demon has himself changed.

PS. did i also mention that my life is now also partially guided by GPS?? more about this later.

14 comments:

ilene said...

Wow, drastic changes!

Congratulations on being the new owner of a Toyota Altis!

DOC,I've been told that operation for sinus is not that successful as it will reoccur. Is that true?

Unknown said...

So your Altis finally arrived, and you have taken it down to Singapore and back? bet the fuel comsumption is doing all right, i was told.......

About the GPS,, i am idiotic about it, dont love driving out of my comfort zone, like you said.

hey Doc, you have a great week ahead and God Bless and i know He will

jemima said...

Change is good and at the same times trepidatious yet exciting. ;)

Anonymous said...

congrats on the new car! :)

doc said...

Ilene,

yes, & all within a week!

it's true about sinus surgery - the problem may recur, but weigh this against having sinus that will DEFINITELY recur without surgery. which it has, 3 times already, & each time i just felt unwell - esp having to mouth-breath & coughing at nite.

you could call this a calculated risk.

or leaving it in the hands of God.

doc said...

Eugene,

i went to s'pore on a full tank & so far, there's still a quarter tank to go. when i refill, i will be able to do some calculations.

the GPS is unbelieveable - it guided me right up the destination. even on the way, i could see bus-stops & petrol stations on the display! it could even tell me the speed i was travelling!

too bad it could reveal where the speed traps were laid!!

doc said...

Jems,

you just revealed that change brings about a myriad of emotions!!

;)

doc said...

Mei Teng,

thanks.

Yan said...

While you have your altis, I have mine too, except for the GPS which has not been installed. Guess that's the difference between the west and the east, not to say we pay more!

I too have my share of "in sickness". Have been generally unwell for the past 10 days or so. Waiting for my blood test results - the basic to be ready by tomorrow afternoon, while the other cancer markers to be ready by Thursday morn only!

And rare, very rare that I am taking two days off from work to rest! Can imagine how "generally unwell" I am. Ha, ha.

doc said...

Yan,

the GPS is a portable Garmin unit that was offered free for all altis bookings in may & june. FYI, don't purchase GPS installed in cars, eg sylphy, because when you send to them for map updates, they'll charge you for it. for this portable unit, i can update myself via PC or get my own mechanic (member of some motoring group) to do for me.

hope your tests come out normal. is this sickness Someone Up There's way of telling you to slow down??

like, Be Still?

missyc said...

I remember not long ago you had
H1N1 jab could it have trigerred
sinus attack? Just told my immune system gone down south due to lack of thymus now having to 'snort' nasal steroids & you are right mouth breathing is no fun with all the contaminants in the air.

enjoy your new wheels :)

HC said...

hi doc,

2 years ago i found out i have hypertension at age 32 so my doc recommned me "coversyl".
Me too developed dry irritating cough and its always happen at nite... after 6 months due to my reading still not stable my doc told me to try "Micardis"...
Then the cough just disappear.

YAHOO... i found some1 whom re-act same as me on "coversyl".

Take care ya

doc said...

Missyc,

you are absolutely right - i did discuss this point with a few of my colleagues who also have flu-like symptoms. it's possible the vaccine may have contributed to it, but i doubt if that's applicable to me, because i know for sure i have an existing sinus problem.

with a whole nite of mouth-breathing, the throat feels dry & a little sore the next morning.

thanks, it's been almost a decade since i last had new wheels & leather!!

doc said...

hi HC,

thanks for your comment.

coversyl, & others of the same group of ACE-I, eg. tritace, zestril & renitec, are known to cause this irritating cough which goes away on cessation.

micardis, like cozaar, aprovel & diovan, are ARBs & are very much less likely to cause this cough.

hope your BP is well-controlled. you should have a thorough check-up because it's very unusual to develope hypertension at your age.

you take care, too!