Touching Other People's Lives

Maaga pa lang nang tumungo ako s R.T. Lim branch ng LBC para sunduin ang package ng gamot para sa isang pasyente.
Palabas na ako ng nasabing lugar nang may dalawang mag-asawang nakasakay sa motorsiklo ang tuwang tuwang bumaba at tinawag ang aking pansin.
Pamilyar. pero d ko akalaing dito ko sila makikita..
Ang alam ko'y taga Pagadian sila nakatira bago nagkasakit si Ian..Pero simula nun, nakipagsapalaran na sa Kamaynilaan..
Bakit ko naman makakalimutan...
Sila ang mga magulang ni Ian, isang limang taong gulang na batang may ALL
"Dok, dok, dok! Tama gani ko.. Nakit-an nako ang imong ngalan didto sa ciudad...!
Di ako makaimik masyado... nalulungkot sa naibalitang wala na pala si Ian..Dalawang taon na pala ang nakakaraan...Mag tatatlong taon na ako dito.
"Pasalamat gyud me sa imo dok...sayang katong nawala ka sa PGH, nahirapan na ang mga doktor mag intathecal sa kanya...ikaw lang talaga nakakapag intrathecal doc...duha ka bulan wala sila nakahimo dayon nagrelapse"
Sayang. May kakambal si Ian. Magandang candidate sa transplant.
"May tutulong sana sa amin dok, si Dra Villarta, kaya lang nung nagrelapse, tuloy tuloy na..."
Ok na kayong mag-asawa? napatango sila.."natutuwa lang kami dok nakita ka namin..maraming salamat talaga dok.." nangingilid sa luha ang lalaki, samantalang ang babae ay di na mapigilan sa pagdaloy ang luha sa magkabilang pisngi..
Di na ko nakapagsalita pa. Hinawakan ko ang balikat ng inang nawalan at sabay inakap...
Napatingin ang mga taong dumadaan..
Sila ang inspirasyon ko sa paggiging manggagamot...
Sila rin ang dahilan kung bakit ako narito ngayon...
Nakikipagsapalaran.

Huwad na Proyekto

ang nakatiwangwang na ob-gyne ward

Sayang at hindi ko naisipang kunan ng kamera ang isang malaking billboard habang kasagsagan ng eleksiyon sa harap ng pampahalaang gamutan na nagsasaad tungkol sa itatayong bagong OB Gyne ward. Nakalagay ang presyo ng proyekto-6 million pesos, kung kelan ito matatapos at syempre nakalagay ang larawan ng isang tumatakbong congressman ng mga panahon na iyon (na ngayon ay nakaupo na)....

Anu na ang nangyari sa naturang proyekto? Sa ngayon, walang sariling OB-Gyne ward and naturang pagamutan...nakahilera lang ang mga pasyente sa mga corridors ng Ortho ward...naka expose sa mga taong dumadaan...
Ani ng mga nakakaalam...binawi ang funds ng proyekto matapos ang eleksiyon...

To Wong Foo With Love-Ms Julie Newmar

Hi classmates!!
One of our classmates.. .Art Bonifacio needs our help. He was recently diagnosed with colon CA (adenoCA), stage IV (liver mets). He underwent intestinal resection with end-to-end anastomosis. Now he needs several cycles of chemotherapy. However, finances not enough since a cycle needs 6 series (2x a week for 3 weeks) and each series costs around 100-180t (per cycle would cost him about a million). He is married with 2 children (4 and 3 years old). They live in Silay. Presently he is staying with his siblings in Pasig during the duration of the chemotherapy. This is not my idea. 2 of our classmates suggested this to me. It was for a good cause. Actually, when I opened this up to Alan (financial support) he was really hesitant. Nahihiya daw sya sa atin. However, we are not forcing you. You can share any amount that your heart is willing to give. Please acknowledge this message. Or, I can arrange a special mass for Art where we can all meet and get together. If you have any other suggestions please dont hesitate...send a message or text me through ......

Chenelyn

Breastfeeding Stations

I saw a 2 months old baby weighing 1.5 kg (birth weight of 3 kg) this morning. He has acute diarrhea...The mother is a 17 year old single mother...He is her only child... The baby looks ill. He has sunken eyes with very thin pale skin...he cries weakly...his mother was trying to bottle feed him with a diluted milk formula... i saw a can of Alaska at bedside...i almost died of heart attack!

I still wince at the thought of earlier onset of malnutrition or "failure to thrive" as early as one month old in this part of the world...this is almost unheard of in the richer cities in the country... not unless a baby is afflicted with other systemic illness. A good example of this is a baby born with heart problem... but "failure to thrive" or babies who did not gain its expected weight for age because of poor feeding practices?... that is another story... specially in this day and age where every coin should be spent wisely, then the practice of breastfeeding is a must....

A 17-year old teen-age single mother, or a 30 year old mother of ten children, a Tausug or Samal mother of two living at Rio Hondo or a newly-wed with first baby from Sangali..The risk factors are there... ignorance, poverty, religious conflict, tradition or just plain stupidity ? ( i don't believe in that)

Coffee mate or water with sugar as breastmilk substitutes? Ehhww!

The efforts of some concerned citizens, institutions, foundations advocating breastfeeding practices is commendable...Lets thank their simple yet significant contribution for the sake of this country who's main treasure is its people...

As simple as encouraging a young nursing mother is a small task... but it can make a BIG difference... by forgetting the bonna, s26, enfalac, nan, nestogen, etc... this is not only the task of the doctors or pediatricians who first "catch" the baby when he/she was born... this is also the responsibility of the hilots, midwives, lolas and previously nursing mothers to spread to the 7,107 islands of this country that breastfeeding is the best for babies!

On Breastfeeding Week

There are two reasons to rejoice for advocates of breastfeeding.

First, it was celebrated last month and I would like to commend the Department of Health for emphasizing breastfeeding as part of the Nutrition month celebration for the month of July. Breasfeeding is a "give-away". It should not be questioned but rather promoted all the time.. Their theme this year, "Breastfeeding panatilihin, dagdagan ng wastong pagkain".

I have already highlighted in one of my posts the importance of breastfeeding in this region. Though there's still difficulty in disseminating information because there are several islands in the Tawi-Tawi and Sulu archipelago that are inaccessible by todays' modern means of communication and transportation. I believe there's still few signals in Jolo for text messaging to be effective..

The second reason,the Department of Social Welfare and Development and UNICEF spearheaded the “Sabay-Sabay Sumususo sa Nanay ,"a strategy to promote breastfeeding to set a new world record for simultaneous breastfeeding in several areas of the country. This is to correct the advertising claims that artifical milk formula is better than breastmilk..

Poor Filipinos are easy victims by these advertising mis-information . A Promil kid? Ehhwww!

Excuse me. I was breastfed until 2 years old. And i would like to thank my mother for that!

Jabona Filipina

A simple maneuver which can save a lot of money and even lives..A patient on intensive chemotherapy is prevented from acquiring life-threathening infections by singing " Happy Birthday " during handwashing sessions. And Voila! at the end of the song, you're now prepared to handle your favourite and cute patient...use soap please..hand soaps from Foliage at 12 $ each (540 pesos)

cofeemate or breastmilk?

shocked, stunned, shaken, taken aback, appalled, outraged!

who would not? it was the first time i heard of coffee mate being given as a milk substitute for infants..it was about this patient at the government hospital-the youngest of 8 siblings to a 24 year old mother ( she does look forty-ish, though) she was admitted for diarrhea. when i saw her in her foul-smelling bed, the poor child moaned weakly, appeared lethargic, her eyes were sunken, her lips were very dry with multiple oral ulcers and vesicular lesion on the vermillion border. her sunburned hair was very dry and thinning. For people in the non-medical field she would appear to be "well nourished"-because she doesnt look thin at all! But for md's like us, she appeared to be "poorly nourished" ironically, this is because of edema or water retention due to protein energy malnutrition or what we called as kwashiorkor. On close examination- her distended abdomen is actually due to her enlarged liver and presence of ascites or water inside the abdomen.

Aside from her physical appearance, she is suffering from a case of chronic gastroenteritis, a very common condition among children with poor nutrition.

only in zamboanga, only here where you can find children afflicted with kwashiorkor. The PPS (Philippine Pediatric Society) people thought its an extinct condition in the Philippines . At least that was according to a pediatric gastroenterologist from Manila during a special lecture on Lactose Intolerance..I wonder why? Is it under reported? Something fishy is going on here..

Is it because of Cesar Montano's ad on TV..? im very sure they were'nt promoting the product as such..but i vividly remember one particular Tausug patient i had who was suffering from meningitis, was consoled before submitting to a particular procedure..(this time its lumbar puncture) ..

"ayaw ka magtangis kaugun in luha.. parihi sin panyuh supaya makawa.. bukun da dusa ko, dusa sin mo ako nagbabayubayu.. mami man cofee mate lagak!"( stop crying, we will buy coffee mate later promise)..

...and then the child stopped crying...