Something To Do

Dengue Alert!

The year was 1997, I was a first year pediatric resident back then. We were forced to go on 24 hours duty every other day because Dengue, an acute febrile illness caused by a virus transmitted by a day biting mosquito, reached epidemic proportions. All hospitals in Metro Manila were packed with patients, old and young, poor and rich.

It seems that the 3 year periodic boom in the rise of Dengue cases is still in effect. Endemics of Dengue were also recorded in 2000, 2003. Today, according to the Philippines' Department of Health, more than 1,500 new cases of Dengue and about 21 deaths related to this disease were recorded in the past week.


Again, nobody is to be blamed for the rise in Dengue but the citizenry itself. Our country is very DIRTY, plain and simple. Aedes Aegypti, the mosquito vector of Dengue breed in places were water stagnates. Cleanliness in our homes and communities plays a big role in preventing the breeding and spread of the deadly Dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

We should have not allowed Dengue to reached endemic proportions again, let us not rely on the government or other people to clean our surroundings. It is our responsibility to clean and take care of the environment. Maybe Dengue is one way of how mother earth is telling us Filipinos, "hey! do your share in protecting me."

It all boils down to what we Filipinos lack, DISCIPLINE. When will we learn? In 2008 perhaps? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, let us all act now and start cleaning before it's too late.

Sitti Live!

The Philippines' princess of bossanova has just released her second album last 15 September. Man I really love her.... voice. Hope she reads this because I have a big crush on her. Currently I am enjoying every song in this album.

More power to you Sitti!

Please buy her album.

Here I Am To Worship

Light of the world
you stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes
let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
hope for a life spent with you

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you're my God
You're altogether lovely
altogether worthy
altogether wonderful to me

King of all days
Oh, so highly exhaulted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly you came to the earth you created
all for love's sake became poor

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you're my God
You're altogether lovely
altogether worthy
altogether wonderful to me

I'll never know how much it cost
to see my sins upon that cross
I'll never know how much it cost
to see my sins upon that cross

Politics Defined

I found this from an interesting site. I just want to share it with you...

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all of the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and put them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you need.

FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

CAMBODIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The government takes both of them and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

PURE ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

LIBERTARIAN/ANARCHO-CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

How I Accidentally Became A Pediatrician

Like most of the newly licensed male doctors, back then I really wanted to become a top notch surgeon. After medical school and post graduate internship, I fell in love with surgery and was hell bent on undergoing surgical training. Call it a chauvinistic idea but fact is female doctors tend to shy away from this discipline which is dominated by men. They say surgery is where the "action" is. It is a branch of medicine in which you use your skillful hands and thinking brain at the same time. It is a unique specialty in which one become "the captain of the ship." During those days that is where I want to belong, to be a member of that elite group of doctors giving cure to the ill by using a scalpel.

After passing the physician licensure examination, I immediately went into moonlighting as an in-house resident physician in two secondary hospitals in Malolos, my hometown, 40 kms north of Manila. But my moonlighting stint did not last long because my hunger for knowledge and training was so great that I became disappointed with some of the "old" and "reputable" physicians in our place, they couldn't supply me with answers to all my queries. I just couldn't imagine those supposed to be "well known" doctors laid their stethoscopes on me when I was a kid. What they are practising and preaching to their patients were very different from what I have learned during my med school and internship at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

So after some vacuous period, I decided to move on and look for surgical residency training in Manila. Back then, it was very hard to enter one. Applicants are literally falling in line. Positions available were few not to mention that the "palakasan" system was also taking place. I applied in every tertiary hospitals in Metro Manila, took every entrance examinations they gave and to some extent I was called for interviews. I remember one hospital, named after the Blessed Virgin Mother, in Sta. Mesa, Manila area where I ranked #3 amongst the 50 or more applicants who took the written entrance examination. The top 10 applicants were interviewed and I was interviewed last. I was there as early as 7 in the morning and my interview was scheduled half past 12 noon. Actually I was not interviewed, I was only ridiculed, taunted and mocked by a panel of balding surgeons headed by that sinister and dreaded bald man, who was a former dean of the college of medicine of UERM. That was the greatest humiliation I ever experienced and obviously I was not accepted there. I was discriminated because I graduated from a medical school who, at that time was under hot waters because of allegations of cheating in the board exams. (I was included in the batch of graduates who took the board exams AFTER the scandal... so imagine the scrutiny we got during that time.)

Those bad experiences didn't stopped me from continuing to look for a surgical residency training. Until one morning I saw an ad from a newspaper that Mary Chiles General Hospital in Gastambide, Manila was in need of surgical residents. I ended up applying there. The Department of Surgery of Mary Chiles was very promising back then. They were in the process of accreditation by the Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS). Dr. Ray Malilay, a well known surgeon from the Santo Tomas University Hospital, was the chair of the department. It was under his guidance and the other surgical consultant staffs' teachings that I honed my surgical skills and know hows. But the promise of accreditation from the PCS didn't materialized so I decided to quit the training and look for another which is accredited by the PCS.

Months passed by, I was not lucky to find one. So while waiting for the right opportunity, I decided to apply as a surgical resident in our provincial hospital. Again frustrations set in. I was very disappointed on how the surgeons in our province manage our patients. Cases of obvious acute appendicitis being admitted but not operated on, instead just given antibiotics, a case of a penetrating abdominal wound admitted but not operated on, instead just being observed. These are but some of the many bizarre practises I saw there. I, being the most junior resident, do nothing but conduct patients from our provincial hospital to the government hospitals in Manila and mind you without proper coordination. You could just imagine how mad the surgical residents in those government hospitals are everytime we transfer patients to their ER's. So frustrated that I quitted the job after less than a month of stay there.

Months passed by and pressure from my then fiance, for me to look for a residency training, was mounting up. Then an unexpected call from Dr. Rhine Gozum, my buddy in med school, came. He said they were in dire need of a pediatric resident in Delos Santos Medical Center because a pre-resident quitted. So I applied half heartedly for the position and because they had no choice then, they accepted me as a pre- resident of the pediatric department. I gave my word to Dr. Fererria, our chairman, that I will not leave the Department of Pediatrics even if I was offered a surgical residency training from any accredited hospital I applied for. I guess I just kept my promise and without me knowing, I was able to satisfactorily finish the whole pediatric residency program.

I know deep in my heart that pediatrics is not suitable for me. Pediatrics being dominated by girls and gays! But I just have to accept my destiny. As time passed by I began to like what I am doing, although not using a scalpel, I still was able to serve and give cure to sick and the needy.

This is my story...

Efren Reyes Wins Again

photo from IPT.com

Efren "Bata" Reyes has won the half-million dollar first prize of the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship. He beat American, Rodney Morris 8-6. The event was a culmination of seven days of continuous play from 200 of the world's finest biliards players.

Read on the complete article here.

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINO!

It's So Hard To Start Again

I had a very busy day. I started early in the clinic. I saw more than 40 patients from 8am until 4pm. It was very exhausting seeing so many patients and talking to all of their parents. Many are really sick but some are not, they just want to avail the free medicines we are giving, nevertheless it was a fruitful afternoon.

I will be starting my private practise on the 13th of September, I hope its a lucky day. (13 being notoriously "unlucky"). How I wish we (me and her) are into this together. I hope she'll find this site and read everything that is in here. I miss her sooooo badly!

I am going nuts again! Help!

Going Back To Practice

Tomorrow at 8am I will be officially joining the group of Dr. Eartha Quizon. She established a new polyclinic named "Malolos Clinika at Laboratorio" I will be the sole pediatrician there.

We are going to have a free clinic tomorrow. I am hoping for patients to come. This will be my first private practice since I left for Sydney last May 2005. I sure hope I still have my "clinical eye."

Wish me luck!

"Crocodile Hunter" Dead

The famous Australian crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin is dead at 44. He died while filming an underwater documentary. He was apparently killed by a stingray barb that pierced his chest. Full detail can be read at the news.com.au website.

A terrible loss to the environmentalists' cause indeed! My condolences to his family and friends.

Agassi Survives Baghdatis

Andre Agassi played well for 3 hours and 49 minutes, beats the number 8 seed Marcos Baghdatis in the 2006 US OPEN. 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5. The quest for his last grandslam championship continues...

Enjoy Your Parents

I am writing this because I miss my parents so much. It's been 9 months since I went home here in the Philippines and I haven't seen them since. They are now living in Sydney. Sure I get to talk to them often, over the phone, but what I miss is their presence, their touch.

Why is it many of us do not want to be with our parents? Or why is it that many don't love their parents anymore? Is it because they are so strict we can not do whatever we want to do? Is it because they are so busy at work that they spend less time with you? Is it because they were not able to buy you a new iPod that you really really wanted?

Before jumping into conclusions, hold our horses and think.... Maybe the things your parents are doing or not doing are FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! No mother or father in this planet will ever think or do bad for their children. Even lower forms of animals do that, parents always protect and feed their offsprings.

My advise for you is to enjoy your parents while they are still alive. Hug them, kiss them, tell them you love them, go out with them, have fun. You can't do this anymore when they are all gone. So do it now before its too late!