January 2025.
It has been a while since I have written a note. I was supposed to make this a roleplay thing where I talked to an entity "you" but I guess I'll drop it and just write my thoughts normally.
A lot had happen since I last wrote a note, like, literally a lot.
I won't dwell on each of them, as I'd like to focus on stuff happened to me this month.
My New Year celebration was quite lacking compared to the previous year. The celebration with my family was certainly enough, but I wasn't able to continue the tradition of my friends in the neighborhood of playing a band set during the New Year's celebration. It was due to the rainy weather and lack of band members (once again it was just me and my guitarist Loyd). After celebrating with my family, I joined Loyd and his friends' drinking session and just skipped the band set entirely. I appreciated that I was able to drink alcohol after a long time and have fun with good friends. When I got home afterwards, I continued drinking for a bit while watching videos of my favorite idols on YouTube. I also modified my Twitter bio to reflect my two main idols at the moment. Then, I went to sleep and my New Year's celebration had ended.
January 6: I went to the doctor for a check-up because I was experiencing fatigue, anxiety, and chest pain. Prior to going to the doctor, I found out that my blood pressure was high since I have my own digital blood pressure monitor. I was prescribed medicine to lower blood pressure as well as medicine to treat my chest pain. I was also issued by the doctor a request for some laboratory tests to further assess my condition which he said I can accomplish any time.
January 11: I was finally back to my part-time job as a drummer for a three-piece band which played at a garden restaurant during the evening. The vocalist had problems with his voice after our December 21 band set and was unable to sing up until the day, which costed the band our supposedly Christmas and New Year band sets at the restaurant. I was angry at him for that, not really because of the money I was supposed to earn for those sets, but because of the lost opportunity to show appreciation during the holidays to the higher-ups of the restaurant for giving us our job. That day, the vocalist still wasn't fully healed, so he had to bring an extra singer to cover his parts. Fortunately, we were able to finish the set, albeit with noticeably lesser quality than our normal band sets. The vocalist issued a proper apology to the band for what happened, so I wasn't angry at him from that point.
In the early morning of January 14, I was rushed to the hospital because of what I would describe as a panic attack, in which my high blood pressure greatly contributed to. Fortunately, I wasn't admitted to the hospital and was cleared to be sent home after being given painkillers and some time to rest at the emergency room. I was also recommended to consult a cardiologist for some follow-up check-up. Later on I'd realize that this was not really a practical decision.
January 15: I went back to the hospital to consult with a cardiologist regarding what happened. The doctor explained possible causes of that panic attack and did not confirm a definite cause, so she issued a request for several laboratory tests, including a 24-hour blood pressure monitoring test, which costed me PHP 3500 (about JPY 9300 or USD 60). I was also instructed to stop the prescription by the first doctor to not affect the result of the monitoring test. I was able to do the test from January 16 to 17.
January 18: I did my part-time job at the restaurant. The vocalist hasn't fully recovered yet, but he did not bring the other singer this time, since management wanted only the three of us and would not adjust our talent fee to accommodate another member so we just compromised in the end. Our band set was decent although it was still not at 100%. Also, I was not feeling well for most of the set and there were points where I felt so dizzy and almost collapsed. Fortunately, I endured and was still able to do my parts with little to no issues. When I checked my blood pressure again later that night, it was at 140/110. I then realized that my blood pressure went high again because I stopped taking medication from my actual doctor (the first one), resulting to my first symptoms haunting me back.
January 19: There was a medical mission in our area which offered free laboratory tests so with the advice of my parents, I decided to avail the services offered there. When I was already there waiting for my turn, it was then announced that only three tests were available and the results will be made available after seven days. I was dismayed but still went through with the tests since I don't want to waste the effort of going there.
January 20: With the advice of my parents, I decided to do the rest of the needed laboratory tests at a private testing center which costed me about PHP 1700 (about JPY 4500 or USD 29). The entire time, I was enduring symptoms like headache with numbness of the back of the head, difficulty in breathing, dizziness, anxiety, and chest pain and my blood pressure stayed at the 140/100-110 range.
January 24: I decided to do the first three tests again at a private testing center since my symptoms did not appear to subside and instead appeared to worsen and I can't really wait for the results of the first test anymore. Upon getting the results, I then went back to the first doctor for a check-up and to have him assess the test results I have accumulated for the past few days. I was then given prescription based on the test results I brought. Having a second doctor assess me turned out to be impractical since it lengthened the time I had to be monitored while giving practically the same diagnosis as my original doctor for a more expensive consultation fee. That time frame of just waiting for blood test results was just grueling as I had to endure my symptoms while somehow convincing myself that I won't experience a panic attack again so I felt some relief that I was able to take proper medication again. At night, I went into my part-time job and fortunately, both me and the vocalist were slightly better, health-wise.
January 27: The second semester just started at the university I attend. I was lucky enough that my sudden health complications did not coincide with my classes as I was already taking medication at this point and my health has been improving since then.
Some other updates:
Due to my health complication, I am now observing some dietary restrictions such as cutting on processed and fried/oily foods, and also carbonated drinks (the reason I have to stop drinking Monster Energy even though I loved it so much).
I bought my own water tumbler for the first time (since childhood, I think). I opted for one of those AquaFlask tumblers. The reason being to increase my water intake which I really needed to do actually.
I bought a DI Box to solve my problem of my drum pad not being able to connect to FOH Mixers directly once and for all.
I haven't been able to make new original music yet because of all those unexpected stuff that happened.
Hopefully the succeeding months would be better. Here's a photo of my official mascot "tako-roki" to end this note.
