Forehead sweating

I had been told prior to the ETS that I probably would not sweat anymore on my forehead. In fact  I read on the internet, many patients who underwent the ETS described their "bone dry" skin above the nipple line.

Today I wanted to try if this is all true, post ETS. And I ordered a bowl of spicy curry noodle for lunch. Before the surgery, I had always sweated very badly on my forehead, scalp and around the lips whenever I took something spicy. I also wanted to test out if the "gustatory sweating" is happening to me or not.

Halfway through the spicy meal, I was rather elated that my forehead and scalp and neck started sweating just like before! However my arms, forearms, armpits and both palms were dry and warm! That's exactly what I have wanted. This is what I call the "normal" response.

And my lower back and buttock area did not sweat. Soles were a little sweaty but that was normal for me. There was no "gustatory sweating".

All I can conclude after today's spicy meal is that I am happy that I am being normal again, thanks to the ETS.

Coffee

Coffee has always been my favourite. But back in those sweaty palm days, drinking coffee was a nightmare for me. I used to call it "enjoy now, suffer later".

Everytime after drinking a cup of coffee, my palms were sweaty and my heart beat very fast. My head would pound and become heavy, and both my arm pits and soles would be drenched. Thanks to the caffeine effect. That's why I could only always drink at Starbucks, not because I particularly like the coffee, but because they are the one who provide de-caffeinated coffee in all of their choices.

Today, I am different. I can drink whatever types of coffee at any bistro or cafeteria, without any problem even after 2 cups of Espresso! My heart beat does not increase, my palms stay dry, my head does not hurt, and my armpits and soles are just slightly moist.

I do not need to specially order for de-caffeinated drinks anymore. I can choose whatever I like, anywhere, anytime.

Now, that's what I call "suffer first (ETS surgery), enjoy there after"! ;)

Ophthalmoscope

I was never able to use the ophthalmoscope properly during those wet hand days. It's all because of the dials both in front and side of the scope. With wet fingers, the grip was never there, and adjusting the dial up and down to get the best vision while busy looking into patient's eye, was actually more of a nightmare than a enjoyable moment.

I really wish there was a digital ophthalmoscope around, but so far I have not seen one.

The otoscope, on the other hand, has got no dial. And therefore I had no problem using it even though the hands and fingers were wet.

But today, using the scope is a breeze. Good grip, index finger turning the dial whenever I want, and even my the other hand touching the patients' foreheads does not return that weird look from them anymore.

Menthol sweets

In those days, I could not enjoy any mint-containing sweets, like Menthos, Fisherman Friends or Hacks. The mint/menthol content would accentuate my sweaty palms by many folds. Whenever I took any of those sweets, my palms would go into a "berserk" mode. The sweat would come on non-stop. And it took a long while for the sweat to go off, even after stopped taking the sweets.

Today, my palms no longer sweat. I can take any spicy food, menthol/mint containing sweets or even strong Espresso. That's what I call "enjoying life".