The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

Today is my last day as a surgical PGI. I am perhaps the last to assist in the elective surgery for our group. I assisted along with Melvin a laminectomy procedure with Dr. Gustilo and Dr. Jingco (who is our Ortho resident while I was still a JI in CLMMRH). Melvin however was unable to finish the laminectomy because he had to scrub out to assist in Dr. Amante's AVF formation. So far I have assisted in the following procedures: 1. Appendectomy 2. Exploratory Lapartomy 3. Subtotal gastrectomy 4. Gastrojejunostomy 5. Cholecestectomy 6. CBD Exploration 7. Choledochojejunostomy 8. Craniectomy 9. Open reduction, internal fixation of various fractures including a communited mandibular fracture 10. Fistulectomy 11. Hemorrhoidectomy 12. Palatoplasty 13. Cheiloplasty 14. Modified radical Mastectomy 15. Herniorrhaphy (Liechtenstein and Posterior approach) 16. Herniotomy 17. Debridement of diabetic ulcers 18. Excision of mass(es) 19. Laminectomy Most of my OR procedures are appendectomy and ch...

You should never hurry love, gesp. No matter how heavy the pressure is, love can never be rushed. It may look unfair. It may feel unfair. But love is never happy when rushed. For now, enjoy the moment of being single. In this hiatus of freedom, learn the ways of devotion and committment. Learn to hide from afar the admiration you have for the other. Learn to control the surges of emotion which may all the while be volatile. Through out the process, you acquire discipline. And you learn to control yourself, the only impediment any person has when it comes to loving others. Carpe Diem!

I have just received an email from Scribe, my alma mater's official literary portfolio, and the editorial board is inviting me to submit a contribution for this year's edition, in celebration of their 50th anniversary. So off to my inkwells and start cooking up a story. By the way, my son and I did our first homework together. He had to learn the difference between things that look ALIKE and things that look DIFFERENT. I think they are going to have a quiz tomorrow. I told him if he could bring home 5 stars, I'm treating him to Jollibee on Friday, which is a.k.a. Pay-day! Have to keep this blog short. Time to write up a story!

Yesterday, The Dep't of Surgery of the Riverside Medical Center sponsored a Basic Surgical Workshop for all PGIs and Junior Interns. I was fortunately permitted to join the workshop despite my On Duty status so at around 1 pm, the BOLMSH PGIs went to the 2nd Floor Pharmacy Building of RMC and joined the rest of the PGIs from other hospitals. It was an opportunity for us to reunite with former med school classmates who are doing their internship in other hospitals. Present were PGIs from CLMMRH (our alma mater), Sanitarium Hospital, Doctor's Hospital and Riverside Medical Center. It was basically a fun workshop. Lectures on sutures and needles and clinical application of suturing were given by former mentors and consultants during our med school days. After the lectures, snacks were given out and practical workshops were conducted. It was like a refresher's course of what we went through during our JI days. We reviewed how to do hand tying and perform various techniques in s...

I got hooked up with this online game, an MORPG (massive online role playing game), called Conquer Online. I began playing this like over 6 months ago. It is a swell game and what is so cool about it is the interaction with other players around the world. You start out by registering an account (which is totally free) then you download the game. There are basically four types of characters: Warrior, Trojan, Archer and Tao. So far, I have a Tao character, a water Tao to be specific. Taos can either be Water or Fire. The advantage of being a water tao is that you get to revive other players if they get killed. Archers are cool too because they got this Scatter Skill which lets them fire their arrows in any direction at the same time. Trojans have great defenses and warriors are so magnificent in close combats. What is nice about the game also is that in order to level up quick, you need to team up with a high leveled char. I haven't given much time on my char, who is named BlueSolsti...

I was on 24 hours duty last Thursday June 22, 2006 and it was to be considered a more benign duty than the one I had last Monday June 19. I only admitted 4 patients during the entire 24 hours, two for pediatric surgery (palatoplasty and cheiloplasty), one for orchiectomy, which was done earlier this afternoon, and the other was more of a psychiatric case, a patient with anxiety disorder, but was admitted under our department because the attending physician she prefered was a surgeon by specialty. She was later referred to the department of internal medicine. But how do you treat anxiety disorder? Not surgically of course but my personal approach would be to give the following therapeutics: a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on and 1 tab of Diazepam 5 mg if unable to sleep. I had the most interesting conversation with that middle-aged lady. And I felt fortunate to have admitted her under my care. Somehow, after the long conversation we had, I feel I have helped her somehow. She had been...

It was a weird day last Monday June 19. Along with the Santol Seeds Kid (see previous blog), I also admitted a young female, single, with no history of sexual contact, with a very distended abdomen. I had an animated conversation with her and her mom and during the course of my history taking, I discovered that she had been diagnosed earlier with a huge ovarian mass on her left ovary. The mass was said to be benign in nature. The mass had been growing in size for the past 5-6 months and she had been advised for surgical removal of the said mass. During the entire period, she had not experience any other signs and symptoms other than the distending abdomen and occasional abdominal pain. There had been no signs that would indicate an obstructive syndrome. Last Wednesday, June 21, 2006, I tried to catch up on her early morning exploratory laparotomy. I failed to witness how the ovarian mass was excised but I was able to see the specimen removed from my patient. It was huge! Perhaps twice ...

It was early 2:30 a.m. when the E.R. nurse called me up telling me about a patient from Himamaylan who was referred to BOLMSH with an initial impression of intestinal obstruction secondary to santol seeds. At first I wasn't really paying attention to the nurse's referral. I was still between dreamland and even farther-away-from-dreamland and the words intestinal obstruction due to ingested santol seeds didn't really strike me yet. So I went down the E.R. in my scrub suit tired and with heavy eyes. I have already admitted so far 7 patients half of which are scheduled for operation the following morning. I went to the E.R. and saw a young 12 year old boy with IV lines and an NGT inserted already. I introduced myself to the folks and asked a brief history of the patient. According to the folks, patient has been experiencing abdominal pain for the past two days after eating santol and swallowing its seeds. Since that time, patient had episodes of vomiting, anorexia and constipa...

Today is Father's Day; a day when all the Men of the House find reason not to do the laundry and dishes for the entire day for the first time of their married life. I am a proud father myself and I was greeted earlier in the day by my wife and kid and my co-workers at the hospital, including friends through SMS. Sunday at work wasn't really an eventful day, except for a stat Appendectomy with one of my favourite Surgeons, Dr. Hinolan. Melvin and I assisted in the Operation and he allowed me to cut the mesoappendix and close the subcutaneous and skin with Melvin. Right after work, I immediately went to my parents' computer shop where I was to meet Roann and Rien. We had our lunch there and went to the mall after a quick rest. I had to go back to the Mall and play once again at the arcades. These arcade games are perhaps the new Casino slot machines. All you need is a peso coin and you can drop them in any game machine available to win tickets. The many tickets you win, the b...

I had a bad toothache last night so, while I only had two admissions during my entire 24hours duty, I stayed up late nursing a whacked tooth, took two tabs of Tramadol, Mefenamic acid and Ibuprofen and fell asleep at around 5 a.m. already. I had to cut my sleep short because I had to wake up for a 7:30 a.m. cholecystectomy with Dr. Mogul. So, without even bothering to comb my hair and eat my breakfast, I dragged myself to the O.R., just when my patient was already being wheeled in by the orderlies. THe Anesthesiologist was already inside but Dr. Mogul wasn't yet so I was hoping Melvin, who was on call today, could come on time for the O.R. so he could assist instead of me. He did come and I was able to salvage some time for me to continue my sleep. My toothache was already subsiding by then but I still need to see a dentist and have this tooth pulled out. Easier said than done considering that I got no time to excuse myself from the hospital. But I should talk to Clarissa's mom...

This year is another year for Football Fans. The FIFA World Cup in Germany has begun! Which side are you on?

Rien just had his first school day last June 13, 2006. The following day, I hurriedly took off from the hospital to surprise my son on his second day at school. It wasn't really an encouraging sight. He was still kinda shy and he needed to be pulled up from his seat by his teacher in order to participate in the singing and praying. It wasn't really a big nursery class, around 10 kids were there, 9 were boys. The parents were also there at the back of the room. We were given a week to be with our children but starting next week the teacher will be strict already. It was really like a petting zoo, with us parents watching through the windows waving at our children, joining in the songs and even answering for our kids sometimes. I was busy taking videos of my son during the exercises. I am putting up a link to the videos I took using my cellphone. Today is Code 15-30, a.k.a. pay-day in PGI lingo. There has been some kind of mixed up in the handing out of the stipends of the PGIs. ...

It's June 12 and it's a holiday here in the Philippines. It's Independence Day and thank God I am On Call Status. So after staying half of the day waiting for an operation that wasn't coming, I went home and went out again with my wife and son for his pictorial for his I.D. requirement tomorrow. Yes, Rien's going to school! But even before leaving the house, we decided, in the spirit of Freedom Day, to hang up our huge Philippine flag outside the house. We were able to catch the ceremonies at Kawit, Cavite on TV. Kawit was where General Aguinaldo, the first Philippine president, proclaimed our independence. On his window he waved the first Philippine flag sewn in Hong Kong. Enough of history. We went to my parents' computer shop and ate poor man's Halo-halo. It's nothing more than just crushed ice with fruits and gelatin, milk and sugar. We then went to the mall to have Rien's pictures taken. The pictorial was 60 pesos, 4 2x2 shots then 8 1x1 shots. ...

Ever wonder what happens in a 24 hour duty of a PGI in BOLMSH? 24 hour duty starts as early as 7:30 a.m. and ends the same time the following day. However, everyone stays inside the hospital until 5 p.m. So, it isn't really strictly 24 hours duty. I happen to share a 24 hour duty schedule with Gerard, Ken and Gabby. We are not an all boys' group though. Ken and Gabby are girls. They were named as such thanks to their parents so frustrated enough to have boys of their own. Gerard a.k.a Gesper is currently rotating as a OB-GYNE PGI. Trivia: he is the only PGI in BOLMSH who is single and available and not because he wanted it to be so, if you know what I mean. Strengths: has loads of talents in singing and webpage design. Weakness: nulliparous women. Toxicity level: neutral. Gerard can be benign but sometimes toxic in his 24 hour duty. Role: He mans the Delivery Room and if need be the operating room if there are C-sections to be done. What he loves about his job? The Internal ...

I am loving this new game show brought by ABS-CBN in collaboration with Endemol, the guys that brought us Pinoy Big Brother. Deal or No Deal is crazy!Kapamilya Deal or No Deal is tension-filled game show where a contestant must choose one briefcase from among 26. Each briefcase contains a particular amount, ranging from one peso to two million pesos. It is only when a contestant chooses a briefcase that he/she discovers its value which is flashed on the screen. As the briefcases are opened, a Banker will offer an amount in exchange for the contestant’s briefcase. At this point, the host will ask the contestant, the famous Deal-No Deal question. If the contestant is confident that his/her briefcase has a higher value than the Banker’s offer, he/she can refuse the deal. The host will then continue to open the remaining briefcases until the amount of the contestant’s briefcase is revealed. Here’s the catch: should the remaining briefcases yield lower values, the contestant has no choice...

We are getting fat. And we have no one else to blame but ourselves. So for the four of us, Gesper, Ken, Gabby and me, it was time to wear our sweat pants and running shoes and hit the ground jogging to burn the excess lipids that hang around our bellies. I started my own road to fitness last week when I decided that I should be using my mountain bike instead of riding a jeepney to the Hospital. So, everyday since last week, I have been biking from my house to work then from work back to my house. It's an estimated 6 kilometers from home to work. So everyday I would bike for 12 kilometers usually running at an average speed of 10 kph. This afternoon, the four of us decided to jog around the tracks of the University of Saint La Salle which is around 2 kilometers away from the hospital. We did about 5 laps around the track jogging then about 2 laps brisk walking as part of our cool down exercise. The walk from the hospital to the tracks was the warm up already. From the university I b...

I came across this nice religious song by accident and when I downloaded it to my mp3 player, I fell in love with it instantly. Lyrics below: For all the times I felt cheated, I complained You know how I love to complain For all the wrongs I repeated, though I was to blame I still cursed that rain I didn't have a prayer, didn't have a clue Then out of the blue God gave me you to show me what's real There's more to life than just how I feel And all that I'm worth is right before my eyes And all that I live for though I didn't know why Now I do, 'cause God gave me you For all the times I wore my self pity like a favorite shirt All wrapped up in that hurt For every glass I saw, I saw half empty Now it overflows like a river through my soul From every doubt I had, I'm finally free I truly believe God gave me you to show me what's real There's more to life than just how I feel And all that I'm worth is right before my eyes And all that I live for ...

Kim Chui Kim Chiu, the cebuana Chinese 16 year old girl in the top rating Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition won last Saturday, after garnering more than 600,000 votes from her adoring Filipino fans nationwide. Ever since the start of the PBB series, I was counting on this Chinese mestiza to win the reality show. She has charisma, never had a fight with anyone in the PBB house and endeared everyone when she sang with gusto a Chinese song about friendship without knowing she was already being aired by Big Brother to her fellow housemates and the entire nation. I had to admit though that I was counting on Aldred to win but I guess he chickened out right from the start and only after a week of staying in the house, he opted to leave. Kanugon Anyway, Kim walks away with a million pesos, a condo unit and a ticket to fame. Way to go Kim! For more on discussions on PBB and other TV shows, click here . ABS-CBN vs GMA forum.

I just came from Sugarland hotel where the Foundation for Lay Education on Heart Diseases, Inc is having their regional assembly on Preventive Cardiology. I am from Sunday duty and I have two days off from the hospital to attend this seminar. Freebies await and I had to move around to get some free stuff from pharmaceutical companies sponsoring this event. So far, I got a bag, loads of free samples of medicines, a rim of prescription pad, posters, and other gimmicks. I like this miniature toy used for body massage being handed out by one of the drug companies. It's like a 4x4 truck made of wood with the wheels loaded with studs and you use it by just rolling it across your back or wherever. Most of the morning was spent listening to lectures and stuff about Cardiology and the ailments of the heart and how to prevent them. Lunch was free but the meal was kinda cheap; didn't like the dessert either. After lunch, "community singing" was held as an ice breaker. It was not...

And I thought General McArthur was the only guy who screamed I shall return. 60 years later, this guy in blue and red cape, who's more powerful than a locomotive, faster than a speeding bullet and can leap over tall buildings in a single bounce. We like to call him Superman and when he decided to make a comback in the movies, the entire world is screaming with excitement. I haven't had this same euphoria, not since the day Michael Jordan stunned the same world with his "I'm back" line. And that guy can fly too. Superman Bayen Trademark Warner Bros' Superman Returns will indeed return the 80's craze and fascination for this super Superhero. I am currently watching the trailers and teaser videos in its official website, " http://supermanreturns.warnerbros.com/" , and I couldn't help but have goosebumps all over me. I love the storyline. I love the soundtrack! I can't wait for this one to hit the big screen.

If there is one thing X-men and Marvel fanatics would love about this latest addition to the X-Men trilogy, it is the epic and breath-taking display of mutant powers and skills from both sides of the fence. X-Men III is perhaps the best X-Men movie ever so far and it is not hard to believe why. I loved it! As one nurtured in the fantasies of an X-Men generation, this film has teleported me back to childhood days when collecting cards of these awesome superheroes and villains was the "in" thing. During my childhood, there was a thing as Mutantology when every kid who has an X-Men card knows the profile, skills, strength level and mutant class of any mutant, whether belonging to Professor X's uncanny X-men or Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. What I love so much about this film is the introduction of other superheroes and villains. Most favourite of the new superhero addition is Archangel, played by Ben Forster, also known as Warren Worthington III. Most favourite of th...