The Freudian Slip Of A Bacolodnon

I happened to read a news article about a new monument which was erected in Israel last week. This monument, entitled "Open Doors", is in honor of the Filipinos for the country's role in saving more than 1,000 Jews from the cruelty of Nazi Germany during World War II. At first glance, no one would believe how an Asian country was able to participate in the rescue and protection of the many Jews trying to escape the wrath of Nazi Terror. Philippines is very far from Europe and during the start of World War II, The Philippines, being a Commonwealth of the United States, was somewhat "indifferent" about the War between Europe's Free democracies and Hitler's Nazi Germany and allies. But stories like this are not usually being picked up by history books. So little Filipinos and Jews alike remember that there was a time in our shared dark history that our paths have crossed. Under the direction of former Philippine President Manuel Quezon, the Philippine Commo...

One of my favorite Michael Jackson songs. MJ's songs will live forever.

The week-long training for TB in children ended last Friday with a role-playing activity and workshop on planning for our activities related to TB in children. It was a refreshing experience, having re-learned my Tuberculosis lessons and having learned new updates on how to manage TB, including even new updates on IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses). IMCI is the standard guideline for managing common illnesses in children such as fever and diarrhea. Student nurses learn IMCI in school. What is funny is, medical students are not taught how to follow IMCI. IMCI is WHO recommended guidelines and while we doctors "know more" than "mere" nurses and midwives, that does not exempt us from following guidelines, especially evidence-based recommendations by the world's leading authority in health, the WHO. It is a surprise really for us doctors, especially when the new IMCI guidelines recommended that for uncomplicated pneumonia in children, we can use Amo...

People can get tired. So far, I am getting tired. Not that I am no longer physically able. I am still young and I can do physical with anything. I believe that it is the spirit that is feeling the weight of stress. Yes, the spirit can be tired too. And when the spirit is tired, it is definitely almost incapable of doing anything. Lately, I have been feeling tired, "spiritually". I need a "spiritual" break, a vacation for the spirit. Something that can recharge me and refuel me for another long month ahead. There is so much to do, so little time, and so little support. I was fortunate enough to have spent a week here in Bacolod because of our training for management of TB in children. But it wasn't really a restful week. The module was not a simple walk in the park. We did have a few laughs but most of the time we had to think and think and discuss and debate and whine even and then think and think and do and practice what we have just discussed. The following we...

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I am currently attending Day 2 of the Seminary/Training on TB in children for Doctors and Nurses. The training is conducted by the Regional Coordinating Committee-Public-Private Mix DOTS, together with the Provincial health office of the Province of Negros Occidental. Yesterday was spent for "learning" how to do Tuberculin Skin Testing. It was another eye-opener for many of the doctors. The last time many of the doctors conducted TST was during our med school days (internship). We went to a public school in Talisay and conducted TST among 300 children. I was able to conduct TST on 15 children. It was also an opportunity to meet an old friend and classmate, Dr. Reuben, who is now the Medical Officer-IV of Sagay CHO. He is also undergoing the same training. The last time I saw Bill was when I was still a medical clerk. Day 2 (today) is a more technical day for all of us; studying the module and re-learning how to approach children with Pulmonary TB. Tuberculosis is an old disea...

Yesterday, as promised, I bought for the family a new pet, a Dalmatian Puppy. My son named her Rossie, with a double S-I-E, as if the dog can spell her name. She is a 3-months old puppy and just had her first vaccine shot. Like all other Dalmatians, Rossie appears to be a very playful dog. We bought dog food, a dog collar and cord and dog food container for Rossie. When we brought the new addition to the family inside the house yesterday, my daughter squealed with joy. Rossie was running around the house and was definitely enjoying herself. We had to place Umpol a.k.a Brownie our faithful askal at the backyard. Umpol seemed to be contented with his limited surroundings. The arrangement is only temporary because as soon as Rossie gets older, we will be allowing Umpol to stay in the frontyard with her. Early this morning, I woke up to a cloudy day and brought Rossie outside the house and had her play. Before I went to work, Rossie and I jogged around near the house just to let her run ar...

I just saw the trailer of this upcoming doomsday movie, from the same guys who brought us Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. 2012: The Movie is definitely an intriguing movie. I am posting the trailer here in my blog courtesy of yahoo.com The movie is based on an old Mayan prophecy, that by December 21, 2012, the world will end. This is based on the fact that Mayans ended their calendar with the date 12/21/12. Coincidentally, during the winter solstice of 2012 (December 21-23), the orbital planes of the planets including the 12 zodiacal constellations will intersect with what they call as the "Dark Rift" which is actually a dark portion of the Milky Way galaxy located next to the Constellation Sagittarius. This conjunction in the heavens was perhaps identified by the early Mayan astronomers and made it a reference point for ending their calendar but for some radical thinkers, this might usher a new age for the entire planet. I am a history fanatic, whether it would ...

During our 2008 list of Morbidities and mortalities, we were able to identify Diarrhea as one of the top 10 leading causes of morbidity in the municipality. In fact, during the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2008, our community surveillance had noted a steady increase in cases of diarrhea. I had to release a memo instructing all of my health care workers especially in the field to report weekly cases of diarrhea within their catchment areas. Through this surveillance, we were able to map out "hot zones" of diarrhea. Some of the patients who were able to afford a laboratory exam were reported to have amebiasis. We immediately launched a campaign promoting the boiling of water and the early mitigation to avoid complications of diarrhea such as dehydration and eventually death (such as the early intake of ORESOL or Hydrite and early consultation). We were able to contain our diarrhea cases and so far, we only had 1 death last year due to severe dehydration secondary to acute gastroenter...

I was just informed yesterday by Tito Tres (Municipal Treasurer) that the suppliers were scheduled to deliver 2 sets of computer to our Main Health Center this Saturday. As promised, my Main Health Center nurse called me up to inform me that they have already delivered the computer units and they are currently setting up my LAN. We are currently establishing our Database for our monitoring and surveillance and it was necessary to purchase more computers. We already have one but it is perhaps the most abused computer unit in the entire municipality. It is used as a database, for clerical work and for presentation. Luckily, the Interlocal Health Zone was able to donate a laptop for us thus our laptop has been used for presentations and even consolidation of reports. What we wanted was to put up a system where we can easily monitor the many diseases we placed under surveillance. At the same time, we are also putting up a database for our OPD patients. Once we establish this database syste...

When the Romans were busy conquering lands in ancient Europe and Asia, a group of barbarians decided to fight back the conquerors using their dependable magic. The Chief of the village, Chief Dendidrix, consulted the wisdom of the venerable Druid, Matersatix. Dendidrix asked the druid if he could brew a magic potion that would guarantee success for his warriors. The old druid went to work, opening his cabinet filled with magical potions. He started to boil water inside his old cauldron and added what he felt were important ingredients. He added a vial of Bravery, a beaker of Strength, a flask of Competition, a handful of Speed and a heavy pound of Intimidation. He stirred slowly and poured the mixture on a cup. Dendidrix tasted the mixture but immediately spitted it out. The mixture was too strong, almost too bitter it could not stay long inside his mouth. "Make me another one, something which we can drink," Dendidrix commanded. The druid searched for more ingredients he coul...

Yesterday morning was our scheduled Local Health Board meeting and it was the first LHB meeting convened by Acting Mayor Jimmy Tiaga. Mayor Celot is recuperating right now and is doing well in his recovery. The agenda was perhaps the most controversial topic ever: the Magna Carta of our health workers. The LHB was attended by our DOH representative Eleanor Manzano, SB Chairman for Health Dolores Tomol, SB Beton, Budget Officer, the Municipal Accountant, MPDO, BHWF President Mrs. Hernando, Nurse-1 Jill Saril and PHM Maja Japzon, along with Acting Mayor Jimmy Tiaga (Chairman) and me of course as Vice Chairman. After discussing our scheduled training of our Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council and Rescue Team, we immediately raised the issue of Magna Carta. I presented my partial accomplishment report to the Mayor and SB Tomol and specified that so far, every objective was accomplished except for one: the full implementation of the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers. We gave the bud...

Dengue is still far more fatal than the "popular" Swine Flu virus. So far, 3 were found positive in Bacolod City. This morning I attended a consultative meeting of all MHOs and CHOs and COH's at the Provincial Health Office and part of the agenda was the update on the Swine Flu. Although there are at least 200 confirmed cases already in the country, there is still zero mortality. And so far, most of those positive for the Swine Flu Virus have already recovered and are doing well presently. My only fear is, with too much hype on this Flu Virus, we might forget another virus which is far even deadlier than the Swine Flu: Dengue Virus. It is no longer a seasonal disease. Throughout the year, there are cases of dengue and half of which are usually hemorrhagic in nature. The good news is, we can prevent dengue because the vector for the virus is something which we can eradicate: the mosquito, specifically Aedes aegypti mosquito. By destroying their breeding places, we can prev...

The small town of Candoni commemorated the 111th Independence Day with a parade and simple program. It was attended by everyone in town, from private individuals to local politicians. I was able to meet the former Mayor of Candoni, Mayor Etabag who told me that he once had a classmate in Miag-ao who happened to be a relative of our family. During the program, my RHU team who was supposed to represent the LGU during the ILHZ Foundation Anniversary in Sipalay also presented their tribal dance before the crowd at the Plaza. After the program, the entire health staff went to Sipalay together with Acting Mayor Jimmy Tiaga to attend the South Negros Interlocal Health Zone Anniversary. It was attended by all 6 towns and cities of the CHICKS area including our core-referral hospital, the Lorenzo D. Zayco Memorial District Hospital. It was a fun experience at Campo Manes Bay, Sipalay. During the Tribal Dance competition, Candoni won 3rd Place, besting other towns such as Hinobaan, Cauayan, Ilog...

My son went to school this morning, his first day as a Grade One student in my alma mater, USLS-IS. He went to school early and together with his mom, they looked for his section and room. My son is Grade 1-B and his adviser is new teacher, at least somebody whom I am not familiar with. We were able to talk to the teacher at the end of the day and she told us that there are a lot of Grade 1 students enrolled for this year. In my son's class alone, they are around 42 of them. As expected, they were plenty of parents hounding the corridors, taking pictures of their kids' first day in school as grade one. I was lucky that I have a scheduled seminar in Bacolod this morning so I was able to see my son off to school before heading for the one-day seminar. He was kind of shy at first and he looked taller than the rest of his classmates. He was seated at the 5th row, at the very last chair. I was quite concerned because he might get distracted and he would not listen well to his teache...

I am quite lucky considering that I have lots of volunteers working for free in my main health center. All of them are licensed nurses and are residents of Candoni. Three of them are deployed under the NARS program of the government, although one of them used to volunteer in the past in our main health center. Six of them are unpaid volunteers. I have a total of 9 volunteers so far. Plus, I have 2 casual nurses who are as young as the new volunteers. My staff therefore is a good mix of old and young. With this balance, it is a tough job how to ensure harmony between these seemingly two separate generations. Of course, being young as well, I know for a fact the enthusiasm and idealism of the youth. It is important therefore to tap this energy and pull them into doing the best that they can in their work in order for them to contribute significantly in our output as a team. The old ones of course are the very source of experience and wisdom. They have been doing this kind of work even be...