Slippery When Wet

I had been suffering from hyperhidrosis for the past 20 years or so.

Hyperhidrosis = abnormal excessive perspiration, in excess of that required for regulation of body temperature. Most common sites being palms and sole. My problem is whenever i'm exposed to hot weather, my palm and sole will sweat profusely non stop for the whole day till i sleep at night.

I can still vividly remember how i have to put a tissue paper under my palm whenever i'm in a drawing competition; use a handkerchief when i write my homework and exams; made the keyboard, mouse & gamepad soaking and sticky after i use them; my guitar strings rust 10X faster than my friend's; and more recently, having trouble while examining patients; totally wet the hand glove when i wear them; plus not to mention all the social frustration in having difficulty shaking hands and holding hands.
Hyperhidrosis is a very common problems affecting around 3% of the population, and i myself have few friends suffering from this also.

Recently around 1 year back, i got to know that hyperhidrosis is treatable, and the ultimate cure is by surgery. That discovery is like a light in my life. I can now hope to actually get rid of all these above mentioned trouble once and for all! The surgery is called Endoscopic Thoraco Sympathectomy, which is minimal invasive surgery using laparascope to remove bilaterally the T2 nerve. Also, I stumbled upon an useful website called Wet Hands Club. It is a social website set up by all the hyperhidrosis sufferers in Malaysia and have all the information one needs to know. From there, i got to contact a doctor (Dr. Jasmi) in HUKM. I started emailing him about the possibility of getting the surgery done and he always answered me promptly without fail. After that, I also got to know he transferred to Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital. My plan was to do the surgery in this long vacation of mine.

After i knew i passed my Final year MBBS, i wanted my parents to 'award' me with the surgery. I really need it for my internship. I had a really hard time convincing my parents to do it. . They were very worried bout the complications such as Horner's syndrome, rebound sweating etc. Besides, the cost of the surgery is expected to be around 10k, which is a large amount. After non stop of explanation and insistence by me, on this Sunday, they finally agreed on it.

On Monday morning, my awesome dad drove me all the way to KL to Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital to see Dr. Jasmi. Dr. Jasmi is an energetic, cheerful, middle aged professor. He quickly explained to me the procedure and all the necessary things to me as i'd knew most of the things by that time already. He also promised he would help me reduce the cost as much as possible as i'm not covered by any insurance. He said he'll not use the disposable trocar for laparoscopy as that itself cost RM2k. He'll also ask the assistants to use as least disposable item as possible to reduce the fee. He told me instead of access through the axilla, he prefer to access through the back around the scapula as it is easier to perform and with less complication to the lung, just that the scar is more apparent. That day, I was immediately admitted. On that whole day, i had nothing to do after a simple blood test, and my dad and I walked around at Ampang Point and had the famous Ampang yongtoufu nearby.


The next morning, i was the first case to be operated. I changed into OT gown, was shifted into the OT at 10.30am, and then the anesthesiologist put me under GA, and off i went into a dream. When i woke up at 11.45, i found myself having dyspnoea due to the GA side effect. My back has some vague pain and i couldn't move at all. After 1 hour in the post op, I was then shifted back to my ward. As time goes by, the pain at the back became more apparent as the analgesic worn off. I continued to be in drowsy mooed and slept till around 4pm, then only i felt my breathing was better and the pain at the back became less. I could walked around a bit, woke up to pass my first urine after the surgery, and after a while, Dr, Jasmi came to see me. He also gave me the specimen of both my T2 ganglion (sending the specimens for confirmation is another amount of money, which he think is not required as he's 100% sure that are the nerve tissue). He also gave me a DVD of the recorded laparoscopic procedure for me to watch.


The next day, on Wednesday morning, Dr. Jasmi came again saying that i can be discharged. He removed the bandaged on my back to reveal 6 bullets-like holes. Then he sprayed some glue so that i could take bath, and asked me to go to any hospital in Kuantan to remove the suture a week later. By 11am, all the payment and discharge procedure has been settled by my dad and off we depart back to Kuantan. (I was really glad that in the end, the fee of the surgery is even less than what we expected.) Throughout the 3 hour journey, i dare not rest on my back at the car seat because of the surgery wound. That whole day, even at home, though the weather is blazingly hot, my arms and soles do not sweat a bit. I was so so glad and relieved. Now on, i do not have to worry about all those frustration of my clammy hands anymore. I can sweat normally like other ppl at the back. I do not need to worry about sweaty hands whenever i'm exposed to sunlight.


Thank God the surgery went on successfully.
Thank you Dr. Jasmi for his specialty in endoscopic surgeries and also his understanding on our financial restrain.
Thanks my papa for his sacrifice in terms of energy, time, business, & money to accompany me for 3 days at the hospital.
Also thanks my mummy, Caryn, Caryn's mum for their constant concern.