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".

Power steering

Other than not able to use the camera with dials or slide down cover, I was also unable to drive cars which do not come with power steering. But luckily most cars nowadays come equipped with power steering feature.

I still recall how embarrased it was years ago, when my friend asked me to help her reverse park into a narrow parking lot. She was driving one of the smallest national cars - Kancil. But for your information, the Kancil did not come with power steering function. So although the car is light and tiny, i had a tough time manouvering the steering wheel. All because of my sweaty palms. There was no proper grip at all. And you could already predict the outcome - neither I could reverse park that car.

I have always installed the steering wheel grip in all the cars I drive. Even though they do come with power steering function, I just want to make sure that I always have proper grip to the wheel to prevent any untoward event.

Today, I do not need worry on that anymore. I have recently tried driving a Kancil without the power steering function. And you would also probably have guessed the outcome - I am now able to reverse park because my palms are dry and the grips are perfect.

Camera

During those sweaty palm days, I never was able to use a digital SLR camera. The heavy camera with its fully functioning dials and knobs and whats not, were really not easy in my hands. Loose grip, and the camera would fall to the ground. And with all those dials, my fingers were always wet, and it was really very difficult to turn it properly. All because there was inadequate grip between the fingers.

I had always opted for small point and shoot cameras, without dials, and only contained digital buttons. I could only press the buttons, but definitely not turning those dials. Even the Sony Cybershot series which come with the slide down front cover, I was not able to use properly. I was not able to pull down the slide cover each time, because my fingers were wet. All I could use were those like Canon iXus series, and not all of the models, but selected ones like the iXus 850, because all were only press-on buttons, and no dials.

Therefore my choices of cameras were always limited.

But now, I can use any camera I like. And I am planning to get a Digital SLR, and join my friends for outdoor shooting some days!

Piano

Although I managed to stop at ABRSM Piano Grade 7 level, I didn't really enjoy my piano sessions all these years. It was all the sweaty palm problem. No one could comprehend my problem, except my piano teacher. She was very compassionate, in fact she sympathized with my sweaty palm condition. She fully understood how difficult it was to play the piano with wet hands and fingers. I had to always bring along a high absorbent cloth with me to piano lessons. In between the playing sessions, either my teacher or I would have to continuously wipe the keyboard with that piece of cloth.

Wiping my hands would not bring any good, the sweat would just keep coming on. Playing scales, staccato pieces or stretching the fingers apart for chords would be the hardest for me. The grip on the keys was never good. Hence, the playing of the piano could never be improved. No matter how much I practised the piano, the slippery fingers would always give way and made me accidentally press on the wrong keys. Frustration was the word I could use to describe how I felt in those days.

During exam time, the examiner usually did not understand how a pair of wet hands could jeopardise the playing skill. It's just like you won't understand how a colour blind person could not see green or red; or how a myopic person could not see the blackboard clearly.

Today, my hands are dry. I wish to restart my piano lessons. Or in fact go for guitar lessons as well! This is just another instrument I could not play at all in the past.