Hijab+Uniform+Pork

On some days I wear my old skirt, on most days I wear pants which is the "proper" uniform. I felt the urgency to shop for more pretty tops. This is the time I wish I am rich. :D 

P.S.
My blockmates inquire about why I wear my hijab. They ask too many a question while I try my best to enlighten them about it but most of the time, the conversation falls to why I don't eat pork! I might as well have a deeper Islamic research about that. #choz!

Poor Brain, Rich Eyes

First of all, I know that this blog was created to air my insights and all that weird things boiling down inside my thoughts. However, due to the swift constant revolution of my everyday life, there has been some scarcity of musings nowadays. Or probably I get used to the wretchedness of this world---the hospital, that is---that I lost connection to my inner humanity. While it's good to escape and find diversion, I'm afraid to get stuck into  the "other world" that I might get lost on my way back. Still, I escape because I need that diversion. Now, instead of sharing a piece of my brain, I'm gonna share pieces of what my eyes see in my everyday life. I don't have a great camera, I only have my mobile phone with me hence the poor quality of my photos. :( 

Last weekends, I was fortunate to be duty-free on Saturday and Sunday morning, so I went home to Merville at my cousins' home. I haven't been there since the start of internship. I was so glad to be back and play with my nieces. Here is Sabreen, my cousin Ate Pie's eldest. Such a cute darling!

In this photo, she's pretending to read. I love it when she mumbles un-understandable words while pointing to every single paragraph. Haha!

Sab. She's only two.

 Before I went back to my dorm. I accompanied Ate Hannah to SM Makati where I had a chance to feast my eyes on the pretty dresses and blouses of Forever 21! Aaaaah! How I drooled! But I was broke I went out empty-handed. :(

 I loiter nowadays at our condo lounge at 10th floor where there is swimming pool and free Wi-Fi. I never tried the pool kasi stagnant ang water! Haha. One fine afternoon, I had this view from where I was sitting and tweeting. :) Love the sunset sky! I imagined myself to be sipping coffee with a loved one sitting beside me...but nerrrhhh, it didn't happen. Most probably it won't happen. Aaaaahh!!! Nooooo!!

 My housemates: Emily and Sal. We're gonna have a new housemate since Pie moved out. Yay for that! :D

Meet the Block U. "We Revive, U Survive!". That is our temporary slogan until we come up with a smarter one. LOL. Taken at Pedia-ER on our last day. Photo courtesy of Renzo G., our Track B co-intern. 

First row L-R: Crystal, DS, Dane and Rex
Second row L-R: Tina, moi, Suzie
Back: Alaric

 Our Pedia-ER team. I'm gonna miss them, they're the best so far! They're so sweet and all. I admire Ma'am Glo, our senior resident, for being so composed and calm no matter how toxic we are! (except for that time her voice rose because of a cruel patient's watcher).

L-R: Suzie, moi, Ma'am X-Tina (thanks for allowing me to write my own order!), Ma'am Glo (the great!), Ma'am Inah (thanks for that recommendation for 24-hour merit!) and Tina. :)

 Block U's first lunchdate. So, these are the people I'm gonna be with for the rest of internship. :)

Done with my first month in Pedia. Next round of Pedia-OPD and Ward will be April next year.

Next stop: Family and Community Medicine. I am so ignorant about Evidence-Based Medicine. We just don't have that back in MSU. Aaaah, why oh why!!! It will take time for me learning that while my blockmates are so knowledgeable about it. 

Talk To Me, Kid.

I declare: I LOATHE STUBBORN KIDS! Only because I wasn't when I was little. I wasn't afraid of needles, of people wearing white, i.e., nurses and/or doctors, and most importantly, I was easily talked to! I still am, by the way. Why do kids nowadays are so maarte like they are trying to act like an adult and they wanted their whims and caprices to be followed? BRATS! You know what, parents and older sibs out there, these kids MUST know who takes the lead and who is the follower. Right? 

We had a patient last night, 9 year old male, brought in at around 9:00 pm and was complaining of right lower quadrant abdominal pain. He was s/p appendectomy last year so we were contemplating on bowel obstruction secondary to adhesions. In other words, he will be transported to the OR as soon as possible to prevent further compromise. The Pedia-Surg resident asked us (Suzie and I) to insert a foley catheter and nasogastric tube. I was the one who inserted his IV line so I knew he was so inquisitive like he asks too many questions and since you cannot lie to a child, I had to explain tiny details including why I need to place leukoplast all over the IV cannula. Then comes foley cath insertion, we had to explain ALL the details that need to be done. The parents were there to console and assure him. So we thought everything's okay. When Suzie was about to enter the tip of the tube, he shrieked and closed his thighs together which made it impossible for us to perform the procedure. We talked him down in our most soothing voice, said all the things that would probably make him comfortable. Epic fail. We left and decided to return when he's ready.

Two hours later, we came back with another set of foley cath. Still wearing our baby voice, we talked to him as if he's an adult hoping to alleviate his apprehension. Yet, no effect. We called a resident, who did a lot consoling. The kid was shouting: "Hindi niyo kasi alam ang pakiramdam!", and the resident answered: "Naku hijo, pinagdaanan ko na ang lahat. Lahat na ng klase ng tubo nagawa na sa'kin..Kaya sige na please, mabilis lang naman eh. Please?" in her most begging look.We even mixed lidocaine with the lubricant to make him a little numb. Still, no effect.

Five hours passed and he was still throwing tantrums. We called the Pedia-Surg resident to help us out who did a lot of bargaining with the boy until she almost lost her patience. He was so whimsical he wanted everything he says to be followed. We were initially giving in to him, until the Pedia-Surg resident noticed how stubborn he is. So much talking on our part and so much yelling and shouting on the boy's part. He's 9 years old and difficult to restrain. He doesn't listen to anyone, not even to hisparents. We gave him midazolam which sedated him for like a few minutes, but when he felt the NGT poking on his nose, he struggled again and regained his energy!! Aaaaack! This time, we had other watchers help us restrain him until we successfully inserted both the NGT and the foley cath at around 3:00 am! The worst part is, when I pushed 10cc of water on the catheter for inflation, he squeaked and struggled so the needle passed through my skin! That was my second prick last night. On the positive note, both needles were not used for blood extraction...otherwise, I need to panic!

It was a long 24-hour duty. We bagged almost whole day, two of which expired. :(
Conducting patients who doesn't respond to midazolam to the CT-Scan room.
Suzie and I had "The Phenobarbital Incident".
And, THAT BOY.
We left the ER this morning with the preduties bagging again. *Sigh*

Bagging Tina

Triage Area. 

Adult Triage. Sitting and looking from the Pedia Triage, parang ayoko mag-duty diyan!

Finally, na-sedate na rin ang patient na ayn!

L-R: Tina, Ai and Suzie! :)

What Now, Internship

I'm on my third week of the daily grind of internship, my first rotation is Pedia-NICU where we catch babies at the delivery room, doing rounds at the ward and on the last four days of our NICU rotation, we served as manongs (meaning, running all the errands) at the neonatal intensive care unit. Here, we are practicing the Essential Newborn Care (ENC) advocated by the World Health Organization wherein there is delayed cord clamping (to prevent anemia), skin to skin contact with the mother and early latching on. Apparently, this provides closer mother-child bonding. Sweet. :) Although, I don't get to read as much as I can (oh well, I don't actually read at all! crazy!), the residents here are not selfish of their knowledge. You ask anything and everything and they will totally exhaust whatever they know to teach you. All you need is to be inquisitive. At first I was hesitant to ask because I get used to the culture of getting your questions thrown back at you with that "hindi mo alam?" look. It's so different here, residents say a lot of thank yous which they're not actually obliged to because it is our job to do the work. They're that courteous. I am not saying that people from where I came from are not courteous enough, they're just different, probably in the manner of speaking (?). On my first catcher duty, I didn't know it was High Risk day, which means that all high-risk pregnancies are scheduled to deliver. We got two congenital hydrocephalus, one nasoethmoidal meningocoele, one 24 weeker (we considered abortion because the baby weighed only 450 g), another 28 weeker and babies of preeclamptic mothers. We got 16 catches that night. 

At the NICU, where I had hard time studying how mechanical ventilators work (yeah, shame on me, right? wala kaya kami dun, bow.), we still had cases of hydrocephalus, mostly preterm babies on sepsis, hyaline membrane diseases, cases of craniosynostosis like pfeiffer syndrome and we also had cases of abandoned babies!! No kidding! There's an 8-month old twin girls there! Nananawagan po kami sa nanay nila, balikan niyo po mga anak niyo!

*I want to share photos of them but to avoid legal issues, whatever it is, wag na lang. :)

We are now posted at the Pedia ER where the cases continue to amaze me. We got rare cases (rare from where I came from, but they seem to be uncommon here, LOL) such as:

a. posterior fossa tumor probably astrocytoma vs. medullastoma with hydrocephalus (5 year old, male)

b. sacrococcygeal teratoma (3 year old, female)

c. hereditary spherocytosis

d. aplastic anemia vs. acute leukemia (9 year old, male)

e. congenital heart disease, cyanotic; transposition of great arteries (7 month old)

f. nasoethmoidal meningocoele (3 year old, female)

g. chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura 

h. congenital heart disease, cyanotic with severe infundibular valvular pulmonary stenosis (3 year old, female)

i. congenital adrenal hyperplasia in crisis

j. acute lymphoid leukemia

There are also cases that seemed to have no place in the ER like:

a. kerosene ingestion, accidental

b. paracetamol overdosage, non-accidental

c. mr. muscle ingestion, non-accidental

d. acute appendicitis

People are asking me how toxic PGH can get, I say toxic is an understatement, yet it is only in the mind! *winks* :) 

P.S.
I got merit during the Pedia-Neuro teaching rounds last night for being able to trace the CSF pathway. What now, Dr. L? HAHA. :)

This Is How The World Is

Marcus Aurelius, one of the more wise of the Roman Emperors stated one day:

"Today, I shall meet people who speak much, who are selfish, loathsome, and who love only themselves. Yet I will not be annoyed or bewildered by them, because I don't imagine the rest of the world to be any different."

-from the book, Don't Be Sad by 'Aidh ibn Abdullah bin Al-Qarni. Such an enlightening book.

Postduty (5-16-11)

Postduty at Pedia ER means going home as early as 7:30 am so long as the duties and the preduties are already in. How can I not love it?! After freshin' up, I went to Coffee Bean at Rob, bringing Febro's laptop (which he just stashed away in our sala. Mayaman?!). For god's sake I cannot bring my own coz aside from its heavy weight, the battery dies away in like three minutes!! I think I need a new one. I wish my dad gets to read this. Hehe. 

Now after living in this condominium for two weeks now, I just got the chance to check out the amenities. Here I am blogging at the lounge enjoying the FREE WIFI and the windy, sunny afternoon! I kinda regret buying a broadband. It cost quite a heavy amount on my pocket.

The children at the swimming people just stepped out so I gained back my peace of mind. Wohoo! 

I LOVE IT TODAY! That's the point of this entry. 

P.S.

We're supposed to have a small group discussion (SGD) today but was postponed by the consultant. She told us that our SGD will be on "THUESDAY"! Typo? Yeah, but still, it confused us. Consultant kaya yun, nakaka-intimidate mag-clarify ulit. There's a wide difference between Tuesday and Thursday. As confirmed, it's gonna be tomorrow, TUESDAY. I just can't figure out what was the "H" doing there. LOL. 

Of Shoes And Comfort

Photo taken at Taal Vista, Tagaytay City on the last week of April. The view was magnificent!!

This is my first post about fashion here because firstly I am not a fashionista-slash-fashion blogger. I love fashion, I love seeing (and sometimes buying) fashionable items but I am not the kind who religiously follow the trend. The first thing I consider is comfort. I have to be comfortable with what I wear. Hence, you don't see me wearing high-heeled footwears often. Now that internship requires a lot of walking, I need something that pampers my feet while running all the errands. For that, I am grateful to this Sanuk I bought last year. It took me to places without hurting my feet! 

Days before internship, my cousins and I were at Power Plant Mall and this Toms shoes definitely caught my eye! Been musing about buying a pair of Toms for internship because first and foremost, their One on One campaign is interesting. You buy one pair and you give another pair to those children in utter need of shoes---children in Africa. You can google it, I'm lazy posting the link. LOL. BTW, it's a good form of charity. My cousin was jokingly asking the saleslady if she could just get the free pair coz she's also in need of a pair of shoes. Haha.  

This is what mine looks like, except that it is brown plaid. Perfect for running errands all over the maze called PGH. Probably I will write about how often I get lost in the corridors of PGH. I get lost and then find myself. But with Toms, I don't get lost!! I kid!

Why This Jungle

 Written on April 21, 2011; 2:55 pm, thousands feet above the ground on PAL flight PR 186.

I am writing on a plane bound for Manila, where after spending my whole life in Mindanao, I will be settling for a year (and more) to pursue my internship. I left my loved ones with a heavy heart due to the distance and the fact that I will not be seeing them for the coming months. I melted when my aunts and uncles threw a surprise send-off party two days before I left, everyone was there! I was ecstatic! Then, my mom invited them for dinner a night before my flight. Happiness! I couldn’t help my tears though when it was time to bid farewell.

Several months ago, I was confronted by a major confusion on where to pursue my one year post-grad internship (PGI). There were several aspects to consider and after a long mind boggling battle, here are the reasons why I chose a hospital in Metro Manila over Cebu and Davao:

1.       It is Manila, the Capital of the Philippines which monopolizes almost everything that is supposed to be shared to other parts of the country. Hence, Manila has almost everything. Here is where is you can see and observe everyone from the opposite ends of the economic scale. Exploring this urban jungle will help me become strong and vigilant. I will meet plethora of people with different personalities, way far from where I came and for that I believe I can adapt proficiently. *cross fingers*

2.       It is UP-PGH. The National University Hospital. Need I say more? Yes, toxic na kung toxic, OA sa katoxican but how can one become better if one doesn’t push himself a little harder? One has to try to the end of his limits to test what he is capable of.

3.       I have my cousins here. Like I always say, nothing beats being with the family. Knowing I have my cousins here, my parents are quite comfortable sending me here. They need not worry about me coz I have people to run to whenever something untoward is up.

4.     I have my friends here. More than half of my highschool berks are Manila-based. Some are raising a happy family here (yes, they have children, I’m so old!), some are pursuing post grad studies while others are earning bundles of bucks here. My Quasar friends are here also, in fact, Rox is a co-intern ad hopefully Jehan will join us here at UP-PGH, soon! Happiness!

With this, I can only pray to God to give me the courage and strength (physical, spiritual, intellectual and emotional strength) in facing and beating all the ODDS.