Steven Leong’s Blog

….that used to be something that is something that can be uttered casually for me because all I ever had was maybe a simple flu, some cough or the occasional bout of diarhrea because I ate too much but during the last month or so, when I say to someone, “I am sick.”… I really, really meant it.

No… I am not going to write about photography today and the story started around 5months ago : mid-August 2008.  Back then, I started with a simple fever… a fever that keep going on and eventually, a strange pain developed on my right upper abdomen until one day it became a cramp that was so painful that I practially couldn’t stand up straight.

The doctors diagnosed me for having UTI (urinary tract infection) and fed me more antibiotics… the antibiotics had some effect. This took maybe 3-4 weeks and during which time, I still continued doing assignments… and the flight to Kota Kinabalu and back was basically hell as my stomach kept having periodic cramps while I was on the plane.

For the next couple of months… I never felt well eventhough the pain went away, it was mild fever for a couple of days and then sometimes loss of apetite and in general… I was feeling lethargic.

Come late November… it was continous coughing day and night for a week plus; then a bout of swinging high (39.5degree+) and low fever which seems to go away for a day, then suddenly the next day without warning, I was shaking and shivering from the high fever.

The fever continued… went to the hospital, from emergency to outpatient maybe 3 times before I was finally admitted : shaking and shivering, could barely walk straight while I walked to the outpatient registration counter, unable to even write my IC numbers clearly.

Was finally diagnosed with Liver Abcess, a condition where there is a mass in my liver contained abcess or pus for the layman. The abcess was huge, the size of a small apple, roughly 10cm.

Yes, if I was not diagnosed and treated in time, I might probably not be writing anymore posts on my blog nor will I be taking anymore photos. Left untreated, the pus-filled mass could rupture and spill all the puss everywhere… probably infecting a lot more than my liver and become seriously difficult to treat, if I survived…

So… like the sentence,  “I am sick” that I told my friends; the sentence the gastro-specialist told me, “Your condition is life-threatening!”; both are to be taken seriously. This was no joke… this was nothing that could be “weathered” by staying at home and wishing it would go away AND this could have been the end, “The END”.

So… dear reader, when a friend or a loved one tells you, “I am sick.” or “I am not feeling well.”; do remember the gravity of those words.

If I have learnt anything from this episode in my life, it is that : To lose a person that you know is easy… and it’s surprisingly fast; as fast as the time between them telling you that they are sick and from the time you call them a week later to check if they are ok.

Take care everyone and my friends, do call me even if it’s for the smallest reasons.

Every moment we remain friends in this world, is a moment to be cherished.

Please don’t let me lose any of you anytime soon.