Dr. Chen's Wedding Ring Came Off his Finger This Morning...

Friends of Dr. Chen know that Dr. Chen always wear his wedding ring wherever he goes. Sadly, this morning (Sept. 30, 2009), his wedding ring came off his finger and dropped on the floor. He found the ring and put the ring in a safe place. This was a heart-breaking, painful, and emotional experiences. Dr. Chen has lost substantial weight in the past few months.

Dr. Chen was sick during the last month of his sabbatical leave in Taiwan and is continuously ill after he arrived in the U.S. on July 15, 2009. He has gone through a battery of medical examination. Here are the results:

1) Blood test results: Clean.

2) CAT scan results: Clean.

3) Endoscope results: permanent damages in the lower esophagus, it is called the Barret esophagus, a pre-cancer state of esophagus but not the cancer.

Beneath this obvious gastrointestinal problems is his severe insomnia problem caused by the anxiety.

During the last two months, His doctor has prescribed several sleeping and anti-anxiety medications. These medications not only did not help; they cause severe side effects on Dr. Chen already weaken health. For example, a pill of 10 mg Lexapro caused him nausea, diarrhea, and stomach upset for three days. Due to the side effects of these medications, he has lost a lot of weight.

This past three weeks had been very difficult for me. My wife is in New York City helping out the new parent of our first grand-daughter. The professor job at UW-Green Bay is very demanding. On top of that, I also need to commute to Green Bay from Appleton every day which takes 45 minutes for each way. Meeilei will comeback home next Monday. Everything will look better then.

Meanwhile, I am take a good care of myself. No big meals after 8:00 PM. If I have evening classes, I will just eat oatmeal after the class, and nothing after the oat meal. I also put the scale away from sight to reduce my anxiety of losing weight. One positive outcome of this painful experience is that I know I have serious acid reflux problem which had been there for a long time and had done substantial damages to my esophagus. I now know I need to well-manage my acid reflux problem so that no further damages for my digestion system. I also realize I need to rely on relaxation techniques for treating my insomnia and other anxiety-related problems. The medication to treat those problems has done more damages to me than the benefit it may provided.

In the conclusion, the bad news is that I had lost a lot of weight. The good news is that I had caught the problems early enough to manage my health problem before it becomes worse. I know some day, I will be able to wear my wedding ring again.

Friends, I appreciate your concern. Your prayers are also appreciated.