Modern Hippocratic Oath

by Dr. Loius Lasagna


I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

NIkon D40

This is the digital SLR camera I really wanted. How I wish I could buy one of this. The reviews are really impressive.

2 More Weeks

I'm beginning to count the days, only 14 days to go and I will fly back to Manila... I guess my holiday is over. I'm still praying for a positive outcome of my immigrant visa application. DIMIA has so many backlogs, I'm afraid they are saturated by applicants already. I am hoping for the best.

I really hate goodbyes! I will miss my mother very much when I go home. I have to save for another round trip airfare for me to return here. Why is it always like this???

2 more weeks...

Federer In 3 Sets

Although my heart goes for the underdog in tonight's men's singles championship of the Australian Open, my fearless forecast is still Roger Federer winning in 3 to 4 sets.

Statistics will prove that the number 1 seed is on the peak of his form and career. He is very tough to beat as of now.

Prove me wrong Fernando...

Game is abut to start! Ciao!

Nadal Takes A Beating Of His Career

We just finished viewing the quarter final game of the on going Australian Open between Spain's Rafael Nadal and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez. The game was easily won by the number 10 seed in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. Nadal was no match to Gonzalez' wide serves and volley.

Gonzalez will face Tommy Haas of Germany in the semi-finals. Andy Roddick (my favorite player) of the USA will have a tough time in the semis facing defending champion and numero uno, Roger Federer of Switzerland.

This is the first time I saw Nadal beaten to the pulp!

Arriba Fernando! Bring Roger or Andy on!!!

Nothing Much To Blog

My apologies, I haven't updated my blogsite for days now. Its just that I am not in the mood to blog. It comes to each and everyone of us, I'm sure. Looks like I'm in the "depressed mood" again. I am just listening to my Jim Brickman collection and it makes me "sentimental" again. I miss someone I truly love...

Haaaayyyy.... =(

Even my ranking is slipping down the drain. Fair enough because I have nothing much to say.

I need a drink!!!

From Mobile Phone Snatching To Camera Theft!

Here's another depressing news I received via email. Its from the PiPho forum... I just want it to share with you.

Hello there!

Its been a while since I've been commanded by a task.

I would like to warn people to be careful on where you go, there are
already two different incidents of camera theft and camera holdup.

1. Happened near baywalk. The burglars busted the cars quarter window
and took the whole camera bag with lenses.

2. Somewhere in Laguna. This is probably a by chance holdup, it
happened last week. The holdupper pointed a gun to the victims and the
perpetrators took their important belongings including their photography
gears.

3. We all know that Lee "Bubuekak" has passed away because of cellphone
holdup.

The incidents are not directly associated in this forum but we are
alarmed, these are events that we dont wish to happen to anyone especially
to our beloved co-PiphoLs.


What we would like to suggest are:

1. Go in groups for your photo ops.
2. Don't leave your gears inside your car.
3. Don't deal with strangers. The internet is a public place.
4. List all the serial numbers of your gears. Just in case you need it.
5. Post here your lost gears with serial numbers.


IMPORTANT PLS READ
From now on all members of this forum are required to put their full
names on their profiles. DEADLINE January 31, 2007
Guests will only see the Portal, News & Announcements, Photography
Discussions and Measurebating Sections
All new registrants and zero (0) post counts should introduce
themselves to the Behind the Viewfinder section
All inactive members 90 days from now will be deleted.
All double registrations and duplicate IP addresses will be questioned.

I hope you understand this move, we did this so we can further enhance
the security inside this community. Happy new year and advance happy
Valentines day to all.
Many thanks and take care always.

I ENVY THOSE WHO ALREADY LEFT THE COUNTRY AND MIGRATED TO SOMEWHERE ELSE...

Monfils Vs. Baghdatis In The Second Round Of The Australian Open

We are presently glued on channel 7, its already quarter past 11 but me and tatay are still alive and awake. We are currently being thrilled by Gael Monfils of France. He is presently 2 sets up against the 11th seed Marcus Baghdatis of Cyprus.

Monfils is one helluvah tennis player! He is just 20 years old but his unorthodox style of playing tennis is making mince meat out of Baghdatis. His service is so awesome, that the commentators are comparing it to Andy Roddick's serve.

We are for Monfils in this match (the underdog as usual), we are hoping he wins! More beer please!

Walking With Dinosaurs

Migo, Eki, Wey and Jil experienced a time of their lives watching the show, "Walking with Dinosaurs" yesterday at the Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. Jorge, Abel, Eric, Cynthia and me went with them to watch the show. We arrived early at around 10:00 AM (show was at 11:00) but many arrived there earlier than us. We are supposed to sit at the upper most part of the arena but Eric could not stand the height! Good thing Abel asked one of those in charge of the show to at least transfer Eric to a lower seat but we are all treated to a much better location at the arena.

The show is just ok, however the "Dinos" are a far cry from what we expected. They looked so fake but the narrator of the show and the ones in charge of the lights and sound effects saved the day, they all did well! Overall, the kids had a great time!

Beautiful

by Jim Brickman

From the moment I saw you,
from the moment I looked into your eyes
there was something about you
I knew, I knew
that you were once in a life time
a treasure near impossible to find
and I know how lucky I am to have you

Chorus:
Cause I've seen the rainbows that can take your breath away
the beauty of the setting sun that ends a perfect day
and when it comes to shooting stars, I've seen a few
but I've never seen anything...as beautiful as you

Holding you in my arms
no one else has fit so perfectly
I could dance forever with you, with you
and at the stroke of midnight
please forgive me if I can't let go
cause I never dreamed I'd find a Cinderella of my own

Chorus:
Cause I've seen the rainbows that can take your breath away
the beauty of the setting sun that ends a perfect day
and when it comes to shooting stars, I've seen a few
but I've never seen anything...as beautiful as you

Chorus repeat:
Cause I've seen the rainbows that can take your breath away
the beauty of the setting sun that ends a perfect day
and when it comes to shooting stars, I've seen a few
but I've never seen anything...
Oh Oh, Oh no, I've never seen anything...as beautiful as you

from the moment I saw you,
from the moment I looked into your eyes...

Meningitis

My cousin, Ate Libet, a stewardess of Cathay Pacific visited us today. She had a Sydney flight yesterday. She had dinner with the family. On the course of our chit-chat, she mentioned that her son, Kevin had Viral Meningitis and was confined at the Makati Med for 9 days. Here is some of the things you should know about Meningitis....

Meningitis is a viral or bacterial infection of the meninges (membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord) that enters through the bloodstream from other parts of the body. The meninges have no host defenses to fight off invading bacteria. Meningeal inflammation of the brain or spinal cord can also be of noninfectious origin.

One of the most important things to determine when meningitis is suspected is whether it is bacterial (meningococcal) or viral. If a bacterial pathogen is the culprit, it is essential to identify the specific causative agent so that the appropriate antibiotics can be prescribed immediately. If left untreated, bacterial meningitis can lead to severe complications such as brain damage, hearing loss, epilepsy, and even death. Viral meningitis is generally less severe and typically resolves on its own.

The classic presentations of meningitis are fever, headache, meningismus (nuchal rigidity), and signs of cerebral dysfunction such as confusion, delirium, or impaired consciousness. However, in the vast majority of cases, only 1 or 2 of these symptoms will be present, so the diagnosis is not always so clear-cut. Only two thirds of patients with bacterial meningitis will present with all 3 classic symptoms of fever, nuchal rigidity, and change in mental status.[4] However, the diagnosis of meningitis can be ruled out, with 99% to 100% sensitivity, by the absence of at least one of the classic symptoms of fever, neck stiffness, and altered mental status.

Additional presenting symptoms include nausea, confusion, sleepiness, stupor, visual discomfort, and seizure activity. All of the above-mentioned characteristics are harder to detect in infants -- signs to look for in the very young include lethargy, irritability, vomiting, and poor appetite. Symptoms may have a sudden onset, whereby the patient becomes severely ill within a matter of hours, or they may develop more gradually (over the course of 1 to 2 days).

Budesonide/Formoterol Effective as Asthma Maintenance and Reliever Therapy in Children

Quoted from Medscape Pediatrics:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan 03 - Budesonide/formoterol used for maintenance therapy, and as-needed for symptom relief as well, reduces the asthma exacerbation rate in children compared with conventional regimens, a group of European investigators report.

"A fixed combination of long-acting beta-2-agonists (LABA) plus inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) has never been proven to reduce asthma exacerbations versus ICS alone in children," Dr. Hans Bisgaard, of Copenhagen University Hospital, and colleagues report in the December issue of Chest.

To investigate alternatives, they conducted a 12-month, double-blind, study with 341children between the ages of 4 and 11 years who were uncontrolled on ICS. The researchers randomized the subjects to budesonide/formoterol for maintenance and reliever therapy (Symbicort maintenance and relief therapy; SMART) or to one of two alternative regimens. These included a fixed dose of budesonide/formoterol once daily plus terbutaline as rescue therapy or a fixed dose of budesonide once daily (at a four-fold higher dose) plus terbutaline as rescue therapy.

Exacerbations were observed in 14% of patients in the SMART group, 38% of patients in the fixed-dose combination group, and 26% of those in the fixed-dose budesonide group. The SMART regimen also reduced rates of exacerbation requiring medical intervention compared with two fixed-dose groups.

SMART significantly prolonged the time to first asthma exacerbation versus fixed-dose combination (p < 0.001) and fixed-dose budesonide (p = 0.02).

"Mild exacerbations occurred in 63% in SMART, 84% in fixed-dose combination, and 75% in fixed-dose budesonide regimen," Dr. Bisgaard's team reports. "The number of mild exacerbation days was also significantly reduced with SMART versus both fixed-dose groups."

Nighttime awakenings and the mean number of as-needed inhalations were lower in the SMART group compared with both of the fixed-dose groups. Greater improvement in yearly growth was also observed in the SMART group.

Serious adverse events occurred in two patients in the SMART group compared with 16 and 5 in the fixed-dose combination and fixed-dose budesonide groups, respectively. None of the patients in the SMART group experienced serious adverse events related to asthma worsening/exacerbation, compared with 6% and 2% of patients in the fixed-dose combination and fixed-dose budesonide groups, respectively.

The investigators believe that this is the first time this protocol has been used in children with asthma and conclude that it is "an effective and well-tolerated treatment approach that may greatly simplify pediatric asthma management in the future."

January 16, 1996

A very memorable day for all of us. What seem to be a normal day became our worst nightmare. I still can't forget all the things that happened to my mother that day. All is very vivid to my memory. A week from now, it will be 11 years from that fateful day, still my mother is alive and "well." I think she can outlive the devil that is, Monching P.

What I am saying is that it will be 11 years since my mother suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage, a major brain stroke that she survived and endured. I already wrote the details in one of my early posts (October 2005 archive "Stroke Survivor"), if you still want to know what really happend that day.

To my mother, may your sufferings be light. GOD bless you always. I love you, nanay!

Christmas Pictures

Nanay and Tatay with their apo's
Me and my parents
Hornedo Clan

40

"The OLDER you become, the HARDER it is to lose weight. Getting OLD starts at 40... Have you noticed the ROMAN NUMERALS for 40?

It really fits: XL"

I received this text message from Anipot...

HAPPY 2007

A copy of the picture of the Sydney Harbour Bridge lighted by millions of $ worth of fireworks! A very beautiful sight indeed! We just stayed at home and watched the festivities on television.

Happy New Year to all! Peace to all of mankind.