Let's get critical

For the past 2 months we have been exposed to a couple of critical care units in PGH as opposed to chronic wards like what we had last year. Pediatric intesive care unit (PICU), Central ICU, Burn unit, Post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), Neuro-surgical special care unit and ER complex. It was an exhausting marathon but for me, who kind of enjoys the hardcore action side of nursing, it's the best clinical exposure yet. There are many highlights that will surely be remembered.

Workaholics Anonynous

I have to blog it if I'm beyond the 100th sheep yet there's still no hint of a yawn. It's when I thought a night shower will drain the pain off yet after 30 minutes of soaking, nothing changed but the water bill and the melted soap. This freaking heart - the only workaholic part of me - strikes me with pseudo premature contractions. How do we get to this part? Do relationships have this love half-life like Uranium does?..the part when controlling our feelings become an internal combustion process? They said the more we endure the more kinetically impossible it is not to implode like the law of physics regarding matter... But I refuse to agree that our love could be parallel to any Science. I refuse to believe we are mere stereotypes of history once enthusiastically spellbound. I refuse the existence of any force that wouldn't allow us to change. Finally, I refuse the idea that we are incompatible elements of nature that collided by chance.
I know for a fact that this relationship will never settle in perfect equilibrium but rest assured, I'd battle through this as long as my workaholic heart pace me. This corny, redundant word called "love"... beats me.
In the meantime, how many sheeps more before I sleep?

It Rained On Her

It was more than just a weather forecast
50 bucks - the cheapest sound for hope
The old woman and her cards of fate
The old woman beside the church's gate

50 bucks for a fairy tale
60 bucks for the kit
The truth but she'd rather a trick
The truth was 2 blue strips on the stick

22

We were just in time to catch the last of summer's sun in Boracay. It was actually perfect. They already called it an off-season back there so prices were down and there's a wider sand-space to stroll on (with lesser bodies to bump into). Well the stroll could also be considered a marathon while you're at it or if you're not really accustomed to long walks. I was told that the whole stretch was more or less 9 kilometers so if you really wanna appreciate all the bars, restaurants, shops, etc., a day or two wouldn't be enough. The sand was powder white and the beach blue-green. The strawberry shakes, beach benches, coconut trees, the gentle wind, multi-colored sailboats, parachutes and the sunset were all in orchestra creating a paradise-like feeling. Of course the reggae music was like a default island trip in my head since we got there. Mornings were about shopping walks, breakfast resto dilemma (tough decisions! tight competition when it comes to ambiance!), coffee talks, sunblock lotion logistics, and swim suit parade! Afternoons were about swimming (atleast for those that are afraid to have extra melanin), extra strolling, and rest (for lower leg pains caused by a day's walk; jaw pains caused by excessive chewing or whining, whichever; and pocket/arse pains which Einstein's law of relativity could explain). Nights were about bar hopping, night swimming (either at the the beach or resort pool), and dreaming together under the moon or better, kissing under the moon.
Parasailing was worth P1500 per head but we beheaded them with a P500 cut off. I remember once writing that sky-diving was one of my before-I-die-list. Parasailing is yet the closest I could get and boy was I freaked out at first! This was the first time someone made me cry on my birthday and it's funny that I'm not even brave enough to let go of the parachute handles to wipe my face. That's right what the ocean needs is more salt from my face! Even though parachutes are my kind of thing and sky diving is my fantasy, I am ironically afraid of heights. Luckily gravity was friendly to me at around 12:30-1pm that day. It was the time of my life and I'm with the love of my life up there! The highest high!

(The rest of the pics @ http://mustardstains.multiply.com)

...was out painting the town!

If you're a sucker for antiques, 30's-70's arts/inventions, indie artists, activist literature/works, cheap 2nd hand stuffs (old records/LPs, books, etc) and Italian food, head to Cubao's Shoe Expo. It's like a peninsula of all sorts of interesting stuffs. Too bad I wasn't able to charge my cam before getting there last time. We dug like 2 boxes of old books at home while having a general cleaning and decided to sell it in this store at the expo. To cut the story short, well, we're not so satisfied with how much we were able to bargain its worth but it rained on us that it's better than feeding a ton of termites. In the same store I got hold of this pair of eye glasses with a hip 70's frame. I was supposed to buy it if only they'd give me even a percent of discount for ol' time's sake (Literally, "old" time since I wouldn't be the first to wear it)! I should admit though that I'm not the best bargain-er in town. I seldom, if not never, get cut offs. So much for the charm, huh. I definitely need to work on my mojos on that department. :(
Moving on, I went over this rack filled with 2nd hand, who knows of if it's nth hand, old records priced for less than a hundred. Joseph has a shelf-long of these in his music studio and a record player which I will always covet. I was always interested with the granny stuffs (the vintage and dust-philic articles) and I imagined how cool it'd be if these were pinned around my room. Don't you think the record sleeves in those days were more fashionable than our handy CDs? It's like an art apart from the artist's music itself.
About the Italian food, Bellinis could be just the place. Tasty interior design and the pasta, particularly the putaneska, was great (just bring a fat wallet) that you'll mumble fantasticissimo while your mouth is full (they should be paying me for the ad, heeeh). The whole expo island is littered with the coolest stuffs for collectors- old refrigerator, classic jukebox, antique collections, blah blahs but maybe for the reader's sake I should get this writing part done and let the photos talk the next time I drop by there.

+++

Manila Water has been good to us. We never get problems with our supply. So good that they were even drilling for the pipes in our street directly in front of our humble abode for a month now explaining how rock (literally, rock/cement) music has been wallowing our ears even in our sleep. However, Manila Water being good to us was not the reason for us going out to swim last Black Saturday. I don't know whose bright idea it was but it may not be as bright as he/she thought it'd be hehe.. There were like hundreds of people that certainly peed in the pools of the fantastic 9Waves that day. The whole idea was to have a good time with family and friends and we certainly did of course with certain challenges such as the find-a-swimming-space competition, the dressing-up (while skillfully hiding 2 separate female parts) arena, and my favorite the most-oblivious-to-the-chloriney-peey-toned scent award! Irony aside, I personally think that spending time with my family was still the brightest idea of all, for all its worth :P

Lessons learned: (1) Never expect to relax in public pools during holy weeks and in any day of April; and (2) Mourn on Black Saturdays for chrissake you're a Catholic!

+++

Before leaving for a girls nightout, you should definitely pee or avoid the skinny jeans. Hold on to your eyebrows and stop looking perplexed. If you're not good at Kegel's, you might end up incontinent with a few bottles of beer and a freaking good laugh!

Got Milk?

As I submitted the last of my dues in the pigeonhole, I felt a liberating high. After a sem-worth of stress, I am finally off. This must be the most exhausting year, as far I know, juggling 3 majors + an N-elective. It was going to be an overkill if I loaded myself with minor subjects to clutter my brain. On the brightside of things, I've distinguished the hard from the soft bones in me while on clinicals. The whole idea of the classic "TLC" nurse as advertised academically- the tender, loving, and caring people wearing white caps, is being replaced with the smart, tough, and proactive hospital personnels wearing scrub suits (I just love the Honda car-with-a-scrub-suit ad!) in medical journals. I love the evolution but I'd still want a piece of that cap. Aside that looks good with the uniform? Nothing. Sheesh I missed writing! hehehe. It's just my personal realization of how the TLC completes the care package. The class cards will matter but the thank yous from the patients is indeed the cherry, without droplets of hypocrisy on top. One prolific season to wrap up!

Hydrophilic

10 pints of sweat, 30 minutes of sleep and 1 gram of sunburn

Although it won't be the priority for most cases, patients in the hospital share only one common diagnosis - Pain, which is only understood upon assessment of the multidimensional aspects of human. The hospital turned me into this different person. Someone who is capable of change. Someone who is capable of alleviating or at least minimizing the pain. Well, sometimes I metaphorically think I could be that Greenmile character.

+++

One of the amazing things in this course is being able to face most of my fears primarily because it was compulsary. The sight of blood made me weak to my knees when I was a kid. Now I can even yawn while assisting in a major GSII surgery. The brain part would typically give me a chemical reaction to faint, but now I thought it was the coolest thing to be able to appreciate a successful crainiotomy before my eyes. (The tumor maggots of my friend's cancer patient was a different story, however. Kudos to Marish and Louie! Without you, it could've been my case. hehe!) Other than compulsary, some things are just irresistable like dozing off the entire trip to and fro Manila for one hour like it's just a fleeting moment of my day. I used to be paranoid when it comes to hold-up and pick-pocket lucks but lately I chose to swallow the fear and lazily drop my head over the fx seats (my most comfortable position).

+++

The sun must've been 90 degrees high and steady but it didn't beat our efforts in community mental health nursing. The activities last weekend with the children and parents of San Andres Bukid were fulfilling. And even though "Nangitim kami ng isang gramo!" as exclaimed by our diosa Rej, it was worth it up to the last minute. Sarap!

+++

And now I'd start warming up for my sleep marathon if you'll excuse me. :P