Yucky herbal meds

I lost my sense of taste October of 06. I don’t know how it happened, but I realized it one day when I couldn’t taste anything during a typical rich pasta dinner. Despite that, my appetite remained the same and I didn’t think twice about it. During my trip home last Christmas I was reminded of the situation when I simply rejected mommy dearest’s dinner noting how, “I can’t taste anyway.” This of course startled my mom and I was hurried (by mom) to see a doctor. Because there wasn’t time during my stay to visit SJMC, I made an appointment January 07 to see an ENT under insurance. There in an aged brown building near my workplace, I was tested for allergies with 20 teeny needles stuck into both arms. I found out that day that:

1. I am not allergic to cats (yay!)

2. I am allergic to some dust mites

3. I am allergic to ALL types of pollen you can think of

2 out of the many pollen pin pricks on my left arm swelled up to the size of quarters (think 20 ringgit cents) and itched for a day. Ouch! The verdict: oak and bay.

Dr N gently explained to me how I had “been allergic for a long time” and that was the primary reason I couldn’t smell. As a result, I lost my sense of taste as well. He then proceeded to stick a long metal thing up my nose. I'm not sure if I can describe to you what an odd sensation that was. The cold steely thing went upwards then inwards towards the back of my head. With my eyes tightly shut, I realized that the folds of tissue behind my bone-hard nose created a soft and mushy area within my skull. How interesting.

After causing a few sneezes (what if I had sneezed with the metal thing up my nose?!!) and uncontrollable mucus excretion, Dr N firmly recommended an anti-allergen shot. He also prescribed nasal spray and told me to come back in 10 days. Needless to say, I couldn’t. There was just too much to do at work so I didn’t go back resulting in my now malfunctioned nose. Instead I made do with the trial bottle of Nasalnex and kept my fingers crossed that the jab on my hip made a difference.

Most recently while I was home for CNY, a dear dear friend recommended that I see Mrs. C, a Chinese Dr specializing in insurance (she has two jobs!). Plump and friendly Mrs. C felt my pulse and came to the conclusion that I, Danielle Chong, am weak and pale. Her exact words translated:

“Your lungs are weak, and you look pale. You don’t breathe properly because both sides of your nose have swollen up to an unusual state. Notice how you take short breaths in between breaths? Take some prescribed (Chinese) meds, and you’ll get better. You’ll need to take them for a long period of time though, and eat yourself until you’re fat. You’re too skinny (I could tell she was lying. I caught her blinking).”

So I started off by paying for a week’s worth of meds. My younger sister witnessed my very first trial and said, “So how much did she rip you off?” Dear sis, you made me laugh really hard but I have faith in Mrs. C’s ground super brown powder.

I now have 3 months' supply, a total of RM900, of this super powder to consume. Ugh. I calculated how much I may be "wasting" on a daily basis (RM900/90 = RM10/day = 2 bowls of prawn mee + 1 teh peng).

Wish me luck.