Category: Health

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Biking to Work

So to include exercise and healthy habits into my life, I have decided to bike to work. This also helps in conserving little bit of gasoline as the prices are soaring still these days. When using Google Maps, it estimated my route to be about 5 miles each way.

Well, this wouldn’t be possible without a bike. Much thanks goes to Chung for lending me his awesome bike (rebuilt in the good ol’ Chung fashion) with new tires, brakes and chain! 😀 Both wheels can be removed. So after some purchases at local Academy store, I was set. I intentionally left bit earlier than normal to avoid my biggest nemesis: heat. I left at 7:30 am and it took me about 40 minutes to get to work. While that may sound slow, I do have a bag with me with a change of clothes.

Also thanks goes to Daniel for his tip on getting gloves ’cause otherwise, it would’ve been both my butt AND palms that hurt. My buttocks are still sore but I hope that they will be fine after a week or so. I will be leaving in about 15 minutes (5:30 pm local CST) to avoid heat. I’m starting at twice a week. In less than a month, I hope to increase it to 3 times a week.

The downside is that I can’t fit lunch into my messenger bag. I do have lunch bag but not sure if it would survive the bumpy ups and downs for 5 miles. Any tips from pros?! 😛 Anyhow, this was only possible since my work place has shower facility! Yeah, Boeing! 😀 Here’s to safe ride back! Please, if you see bikers on the road (not motorcycles!), be kind and don’t honk and give us some freakin’ space!!

EDIT: Ok… I just got back… and I have to say… Houston is NOT biker-friendly!!  I know Houston drivers in general are rough, let alone towards bikers.  So at any given major intersections, I get off my bike and cross as a walker.  HOWEVER, after pressing the button to walk across, I waited for not one, not two, but THREE cycles of traffic lights and the sucker wouldn’t change for a human to cross!!  Listen, Texas DoT or whoever owns these lights… FIX your d*** traffic lights!!  Where’s my freakin’ tax dollar going to, anyway?!! 😡

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MRI Results and Update

First, sorry for a day-late update but I stayed with Soojin at the hospital for past 24 hours so I had no Internet access…  and MRI results weren’t explained to us till about 6 pm local time anyway.  But in short, MRI results didn’t show anything to worry about.

I forget all the medications names but she’s been on IV medications of several kinds and at least Soojin’s conditions have been slowly improving.  The doctor told us that she can check out on Thursday and finish resting up.  SHL (Sudden Hearing Loss) is 50/50 in terms of full recovery in her high frequency hearing.  Her vertigo is lessening with the medications and some shots to her neck… forget what it was.  😛  You know me… clueless when it comes to medical stuff.  I think it was some kind of anesthesia.

Her place is shared with 4 other ENT patients, all females.  I couldn’t sleep till about 4 am because some of those grandmas snored louder than I do and two even talked in their sleep!  Loudly!  And personally, I still don’t understand why it takes 7 medications and a shot in the butt to cure cold!  I believe it’s all those medications that has been giving me diarrhea for past 4 days!  🙁  It sucks…  I skipped today’s breakfast to see if it helps…

I just wanted to thank everyone who has been praying for us and especially for Soojin.  We know now just how much God loves her.  🙂  And also how much you guys love her as well.  Thank you, thank you!  😀  I just pray that once she returns to her mom’s home, she will recover and be able to enjoy the rest of the time with the family.

My flight is tomorrow (Wednesday).  Don’t forget to pick me up Danny!  😛  See you all soon…

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Sudden Hearing Loss with vertigo

At least that’s what the doctors are calling it now from the Chonbuk University Hospital.  Worst part is that I feel responsible.  Why?  It’s because they say that it’s due to stress and fatigue, and I was responsible for the busy schedule while in the country trying to visit all the relatives and friends.  🙁

They are taking MRI to check for possible tumor in her ear.  If tumor exists, she has to be moved to Seoul for surgery.  :O  If not, they will treat her via medicines and what not here.  I just pray that it isn’t a tumor and that the treatment would be short.

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Unfortunate Turn of Events: Soojin’s Condition

Well, Soojin went to see a local ENT specialist today and came back with a not-so-good news…  after some testing, the doctor thought that her left ear’s high frequency response was rather poor.  And that this may not be BPPV after all.

What’s worse is that he thinks that there may be a tumor in the ear.  She will be hospitalized at local University Hospital for MRI to see if there is a tumor.  If there is a tumor, she will have to be moved Seoul for surgery.  This totally sucks.  Tumor?!  Dang… 🙁  And if it’s not a tumor, it may be a virus or something…  sheesh…  Anna cried today after Soojin told the kids that she will be gone for several days.

Please pray for good development….

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Feeling very crappy

Well, I guess I couldn’t stay away from sickness….  starting Monday, I started to have a runny nose, which later became a full-blown out sickness.  I have had fever, body ache, and severe coughing.  Blah indeed…

So I went to some of the clinics, an even without insurance, my visits were always about $12!  But socialistic tendencies must have price ’cause the doctors were very straight to the point, and no personal touch whatsoever!

Not to mention that each visit I had gone, once to Internal Medicine, another this morning to ENT doctor, both ended with shots to the butt!  🙁  It has been more than 20 years since I had shots on the butt!  I don’t know why Koreans insist on that.

Soojin will be visiting an ENT specialist to see about her BPPV later today.  Please pray that her condition will improve.  I would just hate to leave her here while she’s still sick.  There’s evidently a set of head rotating exercises that is supposed to improve the condition.

On similar note, I don’t know why we are facing such huge sicknesses… it’s not like I’m good enough to be compared to Job.  But trying to remind ourselves that God has a reason for all this madness is the only thing that gets me through.

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Update on Soojin’s Status

So once we got back from Namwon (my late grandfather’s home), we were hanging out and resting and planning… when all of a sudden, upon Soojin’s return from an interview, she complained of dizziness.  She went to bed early.

However, when she woke up at 6:30 am on Saturday morning, she wanted to be rushed to ER and she was debilitated and beyond capable of standing up.  After calling 119 (Korean version of 911), ambulance came in 5 minutes!  I was impressed!  What impressed me even more was the fact that ambulance ride was FREE!!

She spent the next 4 hours or so at Yesu (Jesus) Hospital and was diagnosed with what is known as “Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo“.  It basically immobilizes you by messing up your “ear stones” that help your balance.  When she returned, she was in major agonizing pain and suffering.  Imagine being stuck in a 50-mph merri-go-round for continous time!  🙁  She threw up pretty much everything.  And when she couldn’t even keep water down, we had to hospitalize her for IV to keep her hydrated.

Another impressive thing?  ER bill was $400!  Shoot… if our State-side of medical bills were of that caliber!  And she was hospitalized for day and half which, without insurance, only cost $150.  Perhaps social health care isn’t so bad.  When she returned home, she’s been bedridden since and slowly recovering.

She isn’t throwing up anymore.  She drinks water and porridge and is able to keep them down.  She can slowly walk herself.  But two things I learned is that:

  1. This condition can come back anytime once you have it
  2. Recovery can take as long as several months

So please pray for quicker recovery and that it wouldn’t come back.  Thanks everyone for your prayers and concerns.  While it wasn’t desirable to spend our long overdue vacation being sick and all, we believe it’s for a reason.  At least, the kids are handling it well…  watching loads of cartoons and loading up on awesome (but bad for you) snacks!!  😛

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Folding @ Home – Stanford’s Crusade against Cancer

Folding is a some kind of bio/chemical process.  That’s my extent of the knowledge in that field.  I try to get people to donate their computer time to help in this cause to find a cure for cancer, and trying to understand better about protein and its behaviors.

In research, resources are hard to come by.  So what Stanford University’s Prof. Vijay Pande started 2001 is recruiting people’s computer for time to crunch through the computer simulations.  Ever since I found out about it few years ago, I have thrown whatever I could at donating time.

On personal side of things, I have lost way too many people to cancer.  First person was my cousin who died in his early 20’s due to leukemia.  Then over the time, I have lost 1 aunt, 1 uncle, 2 of my grandparents, 1 friend, all to cancer in one form or another.  Soojin’s 2 uncles and 1 aunt have died from liver cancer, another uncle just recently diagnosed with early form of liver cancer.  It sucks.  I hate the disease with passion.  And for the longest time, I felt helpless.  But when I found out about this distributed computing, I signed up.

Sure, you have to pay for your own electricity, but if my computer helps in finding a cure, it is a small price to pay.  You can donate as much or as little as you wish.  With today’s computers, this form of distributed computing surpasses that of supercomputers.

So please, please, please!  Donate your computer and its time!