Soliloquy of a Mind Under Construction

I dont look forward to Christmas anymore. I mean I don’t enjoy it as much as I did when i was little. I am going to Isabela for my Christmas break. I feel bad since Bian and Erika are planning to go to Bian’s resort on December 27 and stay there until 30, I think. [READ MORE]

Hanzel and I entered the Neonatal (Newborn) Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at 3:45 in the morning to replace Loren and Rose. Our clinical Instructor ordered us to clean the place and check for the newborns’ vital signs.

Hanzel was having a lot of trouble taking the Respiratory and Heart Rate of a premature baby so he asked me to check them instead. Unfortunately, the baby was born an hour ago. Though premature, it was laid in an ordinary bassinet. There wasn’t an available incubator so it was left there with only an oxygen hood and a lamp to keep it alive. It was really tiny. The fingers were indeed small that one couldn’t help but think of jellies. They are dry, yet looked slimy plus the color was somewhat transparent. The hand was folded in a different way and was so…[READ MORE]

Mortality is a subdued thought that is always scratching from the back of our minds- Casey

I got bored of helping my classmate putting the diaper on the baby that she just had suctioned of its secretions and bathe, so I decided to stroll around the nursery living her behind panicking. The room is not that big. Earlier, I was able to mop the place in less than 4 minutes.

Just like an eager enthusiast scrutinizing each specimen of his collection, I pored around from one bassinet to next and from one incubator to another gazing at the babies sound asleep. I somehow felt envious, it was already 5 in the morning and I haven’t sleep yet.[READ MORE]

Dear Miss Sakamoto,

More than a year ago, I assisted a delivery in this particular hospital where I am about to return for my internship tonight (10pm-6am shift). The birth opened my awareness to the great sacrifice that hails the coming of motherhood, especially having to witness the blood, screams and pain that came with it. I would be ashamed of my self if I,[READ MORE]

Lallaine and I boarded an air-conditioned bus on our way home after our 2-10PM duty last Wedenesday in San Fernando. It was nearing midnight and the bus was almost empty when Lallaine and I sat two seats away from the driver. Interestingly it was a lot warmer there and the television’s audio was… [READ MORE]

The diagnosis is Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rapid-onset disease that starts after a viral infection. Sometimes it is also triggered by vaccination and other autoimmune idiopathies. It is characterized by the demyelination of the peripheral nervous system that leads to motor paralysis. This was the first time I have encountered a patient with this disease. I was surprised by how fast it progresses. It was pretty painful when the young pediatrician explained to his parents how…[READ MORE]

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When we met our CI he quickly mentioned his relief because we are all non graduates in our group. It turned out that he endured three consecutive hellish, sleepless nights wrestling against the Monday to Wednesday Group-who are all consisted of second courser with some are registered doctors and dentists.

What happened was that when he welcomed that group for their 10PM t0 6AM duty last Monday, he noticed that one of the girls was chewing a gum. So he told the girl that next time he won’t tolerate it. Since our CI was a freshly graduate, Batch 2006-he hasn’t got a Masteral yet, and was definitely younger than anyone in the group, the girl thought that she can pick on him. The girl answered back by saying, "Sir, what was the rationale behind that?" So he calmly expressed that that it is very much unethical if they would face other hospital personnel and the patients while chewing a gum. The girl retorted that she’ll just stop chewing it once she’s in front of them.

And our CI recounted the rest of his night’s misfortune of meeting our Group’s Monday to Wednesday counterpart (we are the Group 1 and they are the Group A). I wanted to ask why he didn’t give the girl an incidental report but our group has an agreement to not to meddle with other group’s and other school’s affairs inside the ward so I just exclaimed my disbelief by gasping "grabe naman yun." and by contorting my face to look that I am in disbelief and definitely appalled by the group’s insurmountable disrespect.

It must have been really hard for our CI. Actually I have never been really close with any second coursers, let alone those medical doctors and denstists. I’ve been hearing things about them from the other groups also. It was indeed brave for him to stand his ground against those huge (literally) people. And it wasn’t easy, imagine spending the whole night with them, boy, that’s suicide.

By the way, I only have one patient last night. I didn’t really plan to take him as my patient since I wanted to have an easier night but because of some complications I took him and gave two patients each to my groupmates who are assisting the easier patients.

My patient was freshly released from the ICU just an hour before our duty. He has a CHD (congenital heart defect) but when I asked the parents about this, I was surprised when I found out that they didn’t know that he has a heart problem since birth. All they know was that he had a palpitation and he must stay inside the hospital until he’s better.

The task of taking the vital signs every thirty minutes wasn’t that difficult at all. All I had to do was read the heart rate on his cardiac monitor every thirty minutes and the check the other Vital signs manually. What really made me toxic was his ECG, everytime he moves, the line of the ECG on the cardiac monitor changes. One time it even became a straight line and the heart rate changes from 59 per minute to 107 per minute in just a manner of second. The nurse laughed at me and explained that the wire might just have been moved as he changes his position. He instructed me to check for the Glasgo Coma Scale but I find this ridiculous since he was asleep and snoring and even flexes his arms whenever I put the BP cuff.

It was indeed a tiring night, I didn’t sleep at all and we were not allowed to go out to est. thank goodness we all brought our own snacks and sandwiches… and he sterilized milk definitely calmed down my tummy.

PS Our CI postponed our duty tonight since he has to attend a meeting tomorrow morning from 8 to 2.