Best Mom and Nurse in Town

Her name is Beverly and she's the Best Mom and Nurse in town. I salute her for being strong despite all the struggles she had gone through when we were still kids. I remember when I was still young, I didn't want to go to school until highschool. I always wanted to go with her in the hospital where she worked, and she didn't force me to go to school. She knew deep inside that I will eventually have the confidence to face the academic world. This motivates me to become a Nurse just like her, even though she didn't force me to become one.

Right now, she has stopped practicing in the clinicals and decided to work as a clinical instructor in a nursing school. I always try to help her with teaching, but sometimes I'm too busy studying for the boards or blogging, perhaps.

Happy Mothers Day, Bevs.
This one's for you; the best mom in town!

The Price You Pay For Being A Professional

The service at the Professional Regulatory Commission (like most government agencies here in the Philippines) was horrible. I dreaded and almost fainted because of the scourging heat of the sun. PRC just doesn’t have enough staff to meet the increase of applicants. The queue was extremely long and if you are not entertained on that very day you will have to fall back on the same extremely long line on the next day. Not to mention the ordeal you had to go through of lining up early in the morning (like 3am) and waiting for almost entire day just to go through the application process.

The PRC predicted that 80,000 nursing applicants will take the licensure exam, compared to 43, 000 last year, they extended the registration until May 15 2007 not to mention the date of extension they gave to the June 2006 examiners who wanted retake.

The reason for the increase in the number of applicants filing for the boards this June is because most of the June 2006 passers wanted retake. Even though their retake is non-licensure in nature and will not affect the validity of licenses previously issued by the PRC, they are doing it so that they could take the CGFNS and apply for work abroad.

If ever should I fail the boards, I will not take PRC examinations ever again just because of this harrowing bureaucratic experience. Applicants surely deserve something better.

I'm out! I left the Bomb!

Starbucks with Yumi

Last night, I spent 3 hours waiting for spidey 3. Now,  whenever i see starbucks i always remember

 

I Bleed For You

Im here to BLEED for you, into a bag, for free, minus the juice.

For a long time I've been thinking about donating blood. Yesterday, my classmate, ate Mariam asked us to donate blood for her brother who has undergone an operation. So all of us decided to donate. After lunch we hurried our way to Medical City. In addition to helping her brother, my other motivation was not to "chicken out." I remember the lady who was screening me kept on smiling because she can't resist my honest answers to her sensitive questions. She was amazed because i didn't look as nervous as others but deep inside I was terrified. Since it was my first ever heroic deed for quite a while, I didn't have any idea how it would feel. But if you're going to ask how come that I'm a nurse, well, I've assisted patients into blood transfusion, but you wouldn't know how it would feel until you experienced it yourself. Moreover, we weren't asked to return demonstrate that bloody thing in nursing school because a Med-tech might lose his job.

I remember feeling that it was almost like having a baby – not that it was painful, but it felt like I was giving life to someone else. LOL

To be a blood donor you must:

Bring a valid ID (SCHOOL ID IS FINE) and know social security number
Minimum weight 110 lbs.
Age 17 - 76
Eat well (low fat) & drink fluids
No tattoos for past 12 months

Before you donate:

Drink plenty of fluids.
Don't forget to eat a good meal before you donate. Do not skip breakfast!
Eat these iron-rich foods in the week before you donate:

Fruit -- dates, dried apricots, dried peaches, dried prunes or prune juice, raisins
Vegetables -- beet greens, chard, dried beans or peas, spinach
Meat -- chicken, ham, liver, liver sausage, lean beef, lean pork, turkey, veal
Seafood -- clams, oysters, sardines, scallops, shrimp, tuna

Here are a few guidelines:

Frequency -- you can donate every 56 days.
Cold, flu, and sore throat -- you should wait until you're feeling normal.
Allergies -- you can donate if allergies are under control with no symptoms.
Antibiotics -- you must wait 48 hours after taking your last oral dose of antibiotics.
Tattoos -- wait one year.
Menstrual cycle -- you can donate during your menstrual cycle.

Here is the video clip of me donating blood:( sorry no sound)
 

Memories Gone Forever

Last weekend, the computer was due for an upgrade. Since there are tons of files, videos, pictures and other documents in the old 40 gig hard drive, we got ourselves a new 80 gig internal disk drive for file migration. The technician installed the new drive and we paid him 350 bucks. The next morning, the computer failed to boot.

We went back to the computer store in Megamall to have it fixed.

The technician was on day off and the technician on duty that day said that the 80 gig drive was not partitioned and all of the files are gone - forever. The bad news was that the technician who installed the new drive did not format and partitioned the 80 gig hard disk properly.

Good bye to a year and a half's worth of memories. Huhuhuhu.

I almost died when i lost all my files especially the pictures and videos. God is great he didn't allow to lose my "CASES" (good thing i have secured back up on my e-mail). Furthmore, some pics and vids are on multiply.

Now, i'm surfing on a newly reformatted computer. Today, is the day i'm gonna live my life where every moment should be treated special. I have to move on and start picking up all the pieces. I guess i have to start by taking pictures of myself again.

Confessions 101

As a child, I had a very nasty feelings about my father. I remember when I was 5 or younger, I used to say I love my mom but I hate my dad. I had a very strong Oedipus complex. I even proposed to my mother, I told her that I would marry her. I regarded my father as an adversary. My dad gave her so much stress and I‘ve seen her cry before. He would always went home so drunk, acting stupid and crazy and was even caught by my sister having sex with our maid. Mom was always yelling at Dad. I remember the time when he was hurting my mother, I stood before mom and told my dad: “Pa, ako na lang saktan mo ‘wag si Mama”, which made them cry. I would always argue with my mom why she can’t leave dad. For years she was the only one working for us and we could even do it without him. A couple of times my mom would pack our things and decide to stay for several weeks to grandma, aunt or sometimes close friends but still came home for reconciliation. Her martyr attitude seemed overly acted and just wrong. I don’t know if she was experiencing the battered woman syndrome but the fact that she can’t leave dad would only mean that she really loves her husband. I used to wish that he would just disappear for good. I thought my dad and I will never get along.


Now that I’m 20 and turning 21, I just realized that those childhood hardships have a negative effect on me as I grow older. Since I’m already in the “Intimacy vs. Isolation” stage. I am struggling to seeing my self as a strong and independent person but searching and staying in a relationship seemed to be the problem. I don’t know if it is the result of the unsuccessful resolution of the Oedipus complex. Love in my life seemed to be a must, it was all I knew, I thought everybody felt the same, I was alone and desperate for someone to make me safe and love me in the only way I knew. I was so afraid of life, in struggling with that. I am so afraid with the kind of relationship that my parents have.

The bad relationship I had with my father before helped me realize that if I want to transform any significant relationship in my life, I can stop trying to change others and open to accepting and loving everyone just as they are. By focusing on making shifts and changes in myself, I now know without a doubt that I alone can positively change any relationship in my life.

Yet, in looking back, I could see now what I once would never have admitted—I was just as stubborn as dad.

I wish I had a nice dad, he ran away for a day and then came back...


Moral lesson: Never date a Nurse especially when he has endured hardship in his childhood.

Behind the Scene Preparation for the Boards

After the in-house review last Tuesday for the pre-board (CHN and Communicable Dse.), my friends and i went night swimming. This is the first time in many, many months. The pool is just across the street, which is open from 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily. We started the night swimming at 8pm until 10pm. Swimming was quite fun in the very clean and warm pool.

The Birds: Me, Arch, Adette, RA and Pew. Both Adette and I can swim (well she’s a much stronger swimmer than me, but I can usually prevent myself from sinking). It's really funny how my friend Arch strokes his arms, he was like a puppy starting to be drowned. RA was very conscious of her ovary might float but we know Pew is always there to hide it from us.

I could certainly feel the water pressure working on my muscle. Right at the end of our wet and  wild session, I could feel some parts of my body aching. Furthermore, I decided not to swim too far away from the steps because of my fear of getting stranded in the middle of the pool. It would have been quite embarrassing if the poor lifeguard would have jumped into action and save my life. Did I mention that he was sleeping on his job? Maybe no one will save me afterall.

I hope that we could go back and eventually make it as a regular event. It is safe to say that swimming is the best exercise I've had all week. I’m also hoping that after swimming several times during the vacation, I will eventually  wake up one Saturday morning to feel that my legs and arms aren’t aching anymore. This could be the tell-tale signs of being fit. Hahahaha!
 

.

Called To Serve

So, when are you leaving on your mission?

I heard that question several times a week especially when i'm attending church meetings. If I was in a good mood, I'd dance around the issue, giving some vague answer. I still haven't decided yet

In many Mormon families, going on a mission is highly recommended when a guy reaches the age of 19 or older, attend one year of college or delay further education to volunteer for two-year domestic and foreign missions. The problem was when i reached 19, i continued my nursing career because i knew it was the right decision that time. A mission isn't something you want to be pressured to do but it's part of the culture, where the young men are strongly encouraged to go.

Among the rules when on such a mission: No visits home; only two phone calls permitted home each year, one on Mother's Day, one on Christmas, and no dating. Missionaries cannot date during their missions and are limited to sending friends and family one letter a weekEach missionary gets half a day off on Mondays to attend to personal matters, such as laundry.

Every day you wear the same thing: a white shirt, a conservative tie and a smile. The idea is to get people to open their doors to you, to get people to warm up to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As one by one my friends made their way to the mission--I began to wonder if I was making a mistake in waiting. I felt like the young man who stays home from the war with vague claims of a disability, while all the townsfolk watch him disapprovingly. My mother urged me to go giving gentle suggestions, our bishop talked about what a handsome missionary I was, or would be. My siblings and parents kept nudging me in that direction. And still I resisted.

I'm turning 21 this year, 3 months to go and i'm graduating.

How will i spend the next two years of my life?should i grab the chance and go on a full-time mission? or should i stay for the board exam and get myself employed?

The Bible says in Mathew 6:33, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God in his Righteousness and all things shall be added unto you".

I hope somebody could inspire me. Thank you for listening.

Pinoy Care from Asia's Pop Idol

Sa 'yong haplos at mga ngiti, lungkot at sakit ay napapawi.
Saan ka man mapapunta alagang pinoy iyong pinadarama.
Sa Pinoy Care walang tatalo, Pinoy Care handog mo sa mundo!

NAGIGING mabenta ang charms ni Christian Bautista as a product endorser lately. Kung naaasar ka sa political ads ni Pichay, nasubukan mo na bang panoorin ang bagong TV commercial ni Christian Bautista? Utang na loob muntik ko na ibato ang remote. It was the most hilarious thing Asia's Pop Idol ever did in the history of his career.

Kilala ako sa school na nagfifeeling na Christian Bautista kaya naman mabilis kumalat ang kabaduyan ni Idol with matching trivias pa from my collegues.

Ganito na ba kahirap ang ekonomiya para gawin niya ang mga bagay na ito? Huhuhu. Hindi ko napigilang tumawa noong unang beses kong napanood. Walang hiya pati eskwelahan pinatos na. Hinahanap ko nga ang lyrics pero di ko makita. At ang mas nakakatawa pa dun isang negosyong nursing school pa. Mapapatawad ko pa sana siya kung Boy Bawang ang product endorsement. Hayaan mo Christian at ulitin ko ulit ang pang-aaral ng nursing sa St. Augustine. Wala na tayong magagawa kahit ano pa gawin niya... si Christian Bautista pa rin siya!

In fairness maslalo pang dumadami endorsements niya ngayon, hindi lang dito maging sa ibang Asian countries. Siya rin ang kinuha ng San Miguel Corporation na mag-endorse ng isang bagong line of soft beverage product in Asia starting with Indonesia kung saan siya tinatawag na Asia’s Pop Idol. Sa susunod tatawagin na siyang Nursing Pop Idol.

A Sad Day

I have been home for a few days now, but it is still odd to come back from immersion. It was our last week in Tanay. I felt soo sad. We left Tanay yesterday morning with my heart broken. I was happy in Tanay, there I learn the simple pleasures of life, I learned that mountains bring peace, and in Tanay, I made some of the most honest friends I ever met. And it always feels like time moves differently there. It felt like a lot more than four weeks. I think any more than four weeks would be too hard. I would become disconnected from reality. Those few weeks feels like a life time. I will update more once i gotten back to reality.

The Boy Under My Bed

Sometimes i sleep under my bed with my head sticking out

Call me weird! Call me regressed!
I just missed being cuddled and put back to bed...


But only sometimes when i am under emotional lows.When i was a toddler my mom would find me sleeping under the bed, in the bookcase, or behind the door. She would kept putting me back in my bed once i was asleep. Then when I was moved to my own room, I put pillows and blankets all around my bed. On particularly difficult days, I would sleep in the closet, surrounded by pillows. Now, I much prefer to sleep on the couch, because it has one side "enclosed" that I can sleep next to. I also prefer sleeping on my side, fetal position type. For me, it is probably that I was treated so badly by others, that I considered it very comforting to be enclosed, probably Freudian or whatever it is, for the womb feeling. Any place to feel comfortable and accepted.

I think it is because of the sensory experience of either surrounding pressure, or just simple enclosure, is probably at least partially accurate. Either i just love the feeling of pressure, or it would be because whether or not i can articulate what i am experiencing, at some level i know that i am different so i like enclosure and the feeling of aloneness and acceptance. Anyway, that is my opinion about it.