Looking after health

I was bleeding from my stomach, you know. So I went to my GP and he sent me to [a gastroenterology clinic at the hospital] to check my stomach. They found out I have polyps in my stomach, which [is] when you drink beer too much. [There] is too much liquid in your stomach […] But my stomach expanded, [and the polyps broke] and after that, I was bleeding. So, I was told I should diet, you know, and not only what I [should eat but… ] another thing, don’t drink too much liquid […] My doctor [asked], ‘How much [do you drink]?’ I said, ‘Oh, two longnecks, not much.’ No. He told me it’s too much. Too much because [the] amount of liquid makes my stomach bigger. Two things, one because my stomach is bigger than normal, which is not good. My liver is bigger than normal. They call it ‘fatty liver’.

NOTE: Heavy drinking can sometimes lead to what Jakub calls ‘polyps’, growths, usually benign, protruding from a mucous membrane in the body such as the stomach and the colon.

I went to my daughter’s wedding and […] I couldn’t even eat dessert, I was that sick. So I went and put myself in the hospital the week afterwards. I admitted myself downstairs in the Emergency Department and that’s when they first came up with the diagnosis of ascites. [They said] you’ve got a swelling below your belly button, yeah, so it’s actually internal, inside your stomach – not [in your] stomach, but inside your body. So it’s caught in limbo. It’s a yellow liquid. It doesn’t smell or anything. I still don’t like the taps when they come with a needle for your side that is 12 inches long. That is kind of invasive and hurts a lot.

Like I said, [it’s] my liver. [Drinking has] blown my liver. It’s blown my spleen. The liver can repair itself if you don’t injure it, that’s why I’m getting back to the diet. If you eat properly and you exercise… your body’s a temple and you’ve got to treat it like one. If you treat it like rubbish, you’ll die, and I’ve been close to it. Twice in here I nearly died because of alcohol consumption.

Well, [the effect of my] heavy drinking has been spewing up blood, and obviously they found […] my oesophagus […] had a slit in it, which was [bleeding… ] And they rectified that situation, but then from there, [other situations arose]. I had to come in again because I started to have dehydration issues. Things [… of that manner], where they needed to put certain things in place, and [I’ve had] it all done now. [I need] constant monitor[ing] from the nurses here and, obviously, my specialist, I have to see her as well […] because the other aspect of it was the kidney; because of the liver, [an issue with my kidney] started to arise. So, hence I had […] a temporary dialysis, but [the] biggest concern was how to maintain the kidney. So, [I had a lot of] blood tests, [I]see the nurses and [I] keep going with that process.

Health to me is eating two meals a day […] The last time I was in [hospital, I weighed] 76 kilos. Now I weigh [… more] because they put me on a supplement, so they could boost my protein […] and help [the peripheral vascular disease] in my feet. But now […] I know how to cook for myself. I know how to cook for one person now, and I have breakfast […] I do a four kilometre walk, I know exactly where [the route] is. And then at night time, I’ve got to eat a high protein [meal]: meat, pork, beef and stuff like that [… And] you’ve got to look at your mental health too. It’s not just physical health. Physical health is wonderful, but if you are mentally screwed, it’s pointless you know. While you are mentally screwed, you’re not going to be eating properly, because you are going to be thinking about all this other crap […] You know, yesterday is history, tomorrow’s a mystery.

Like I said, I’m on medication [for] my liver. I am on medication to, let’s say, reduce [the] chance for diabetes. Because [the] doctor didn’t say exactly if I have got diabetes or not, but sometimes my sugar level is too high, sometimes [it’s] not bad. To help my liver, I am on special medication. I don’t remember now which one. I have to use medication and, of course, [my] doctor asks me, he wants to know what did I do in the past, you know. Eat too much or drinking? And [when] I told them I was a heavy drinker, they immediately knew my liver was harmed by alcohol. So far, it’s okay, you know, but I have to now be aware and, like I said, take medication, don’t eat too much fat.

I’ve got liver support tablets. I’m taking plenty of, what’s it called, vitamin B, and that’s [a] constant. As well as the antibiotic to stop the ascites from coming. Because I’ve been told, now I’ve had ascites, it can come back very easily if I don’t take care of myself. If I start drinking and I start eating salt again, [continue with] my bad habits, I could die and that’s a scary feeling, you know. But what I’m on now, like [I’m] not on any heavy medication. It’s mainly my diet, the antibiotics, and the vitamins. Because the more I build my body up with that type of thing, the stronger I become, and it makes my immune system stronger. So, that helps me because I’m extremely liable to infection now. So, because inside, my immune system is way down and that’s what we’re working on.

I love alcohol, but it is hurting me at the moment in numerous ways, so I’m motivated to stop that for a while, you know. Like I said, I haven’t even been counting the days of being off the grog. I’m happy to be off the grog. Like I said, now [in the interview] I feel a bit funny. But before that, yesterday for instance, I was actually saying … I was sitting in the kitchen having a cup of tea about half past three and a smoke, and I thought, ‘I’ve got such a[lot done] … this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this done today. If I was drinking last night for instance, none of that would’ve got done. So, this is good and I’m doing something.’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, good. I’m going to stay sober for a while.’ Maybe I was thinking about having a drink, I don’t know, but for now, I’m going to stay sober for a while. I’m not having any … this is all right. I’m getting shit done.

And my kids support me in a way, ‘How are you going, Dad?’ by telephone. Sometimes, they come around, not very often because they’re working, they’ve got their own lives, but they ring up. ‘How are you going, Dad?’ you know, and I really appreciate that because I never had it before and they’re just ringing up off their own back. ‘How are you feeling? How’s your condition going?’ you know. Just making enquiries about my general well-being, and that’s helping me.

I was coming back from the gym and I could smell onions and I bumped into someone and I said, ‘Are you having a barbecue in there or something?’ I’d never drunk in that pub. I hated it, avoided it like the plague. He said, ‘Oh mate, [we’re] having a sausage sizzle and schooners are only $3.80’ and I thought, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘Just come in and have a beer and a sausage and we can have a chat’. That screwed me up. I went in there and I had three drinks, and I know after those three drinks, I was feeling pissy. And then I thought ‘I’ve got to get out of here’, because I could feel it […] After the gym on Saturday, I used to go to the pub from 12pm until three o’clock and then I’d leave, and I’d only have three schooners. But then of course the pub also has a lucky badge draw. So, I thought, ‘Well that’s on Thursdays, so I’ll make it on Saturdays and Thursdays and only have three each day’. That’s what I’ve been doing. Rarely have more than three.