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Showing posts from January, 2018

three in a row...

Did you miss the Super Blue Blood Moon?  I catch a glimpse of it as I am already in the Kingdom as early as 4:30 this morning. Gawk!  It was awesome! My favorite Mama Mia is back!  On a gurney though... but she is perfectly fine.  I was waving at her to get her attention, while the EMTs were busy figuring out how to transfer her in my treatment chair.  I called out her name.  She shaded her eyes with both hands and peered, the Clinic’s well-lit surrounding must have blinded her.  Then she found me... and smiled.  She was mumbling unintelligibly now, I have a feeling she was happy to be back home. But then she is gone again. Back in the hospital. I hated it when I am, again, counting three in a row.  Two passed away from the other side of the Kingdom. My Mama Mia is strong.  She will back. My friend talked about “ guilt as chitterlings of the emotions” which actually went straight to my already heavy chest.  She was right, it’s like a leftover food in my pl

new kids on the block...

Its the season of new bloods on the block!   Both sides of the Kingdom is flourishing with fresh and new faces.  The newest kids I have were Mrs. White, an 84-year old lady who needed to have a caregiver next to her and there is Mrs. Gray whose spirits are still high in her 70s.  While preparing all the orders for these two back in December last year, I already have a notion on how they'd look like (I am not a xenophobe, I love them all).  It was the end of December when Mrs. Gray (an Asian lady who looked liked in her 60s) came, with all smiles, she walked toward the reception desk where I was standing, leaving her walker behind her seat.  I was dumbfounded!  Literally, I covered my mouth with my hand, waiting for her to fall (nahhh she did not, ok??)!  And stupefied because she looked too young for her age.  She managed to finish signing all the papers and before she turned her back we were both laughing, we found ourselves in joyful celebration for the benefit

sad movies...

What song makes you cry or saddens you when you hear it being played over the radio or just when you heard it around? Like, when somebody wails or I mean sings it in front of you with closed eyes? Piano Man by Billy Joel, for no reason at all --- it sounds sad to me.  Time in a Bottle , These Dreams and Dreamin' Again all by Jim Croce, I love all his songs, but it always left me with a heavy heart. State Library Victoria Collections I hated the song The End of the World by Skeeter Davis since I was 9. Sound of Silence.  Tears in Heaven.  Only Time by Enya.  What about the instrumentals Song for Anna or Ballade pour Adeline ? I was out of the Kingdom since Monday, well, I was serving other patients on a different capacity.  It's fulfilling but the travel or driving in between Clinics is taking a toll out of me.  I am starting to get the hang out of it again. This new patient I met was stuck in his headphones when I extended my hand and introduced my

dead man walking...

Wow! I guess I was really stressed-out yesterday... I woke up late today.  Late for my tummy to be grumbling for coffee; late for my morning's planned appointment; late to realized that I am home alone again. Yesterday was crazy infuriating!  Did you ever had a moment in your life where, the people around you were too crabby purr-fect???  For reason that you are where you are right now?  Or simply put, those with crab mentality !  Their insecurities just build up, they tend to disregard your authority. Anyhow, yah, I was bombarded with all those sort of people since Monday. I woke up today checked my phone and just jumped off my feet when I saw I have several missed call from a workmate!  Hmmm am I supposed to be in the Clinic today? So I gave her a callback right away. It turned out that she was returning a call from me apparently at five this morning! Huh??? I told her I just woke up and did not remember being awake at 5am, more so, made a call!

waiting in vain...

Have you ever waited for somebody or something to come that you just grow tired of waiting??? Last Friday, we're supposed to start using the graft of Sharon to no avail.  The last time I checked it, the thrill was palpable as my cellphone in my side pocket on a vibrate mode.  The following Monday, the Surgeon ordered to have it used by Friday of said week.  That was last Friday. Jazz grabbed a stool and started working on it.  To her dismay it just squirted a very dark blood like that of a squid...motionless.  I rechecked it, even called Sentinel to double checked it----nada! It just gave up and died down.  We had no choice but to still use her CVC. We explained to Sharon the issue and instructed her to go see her Surgeon (after informing him of the situation).  I jokingly told Sharon "your access waited in vain , it get tired from waiting that it started sulking". So, have you ever waited for somebody that you just got tired of it?  My poor mothe

my mother's runaway bride...

When you consciously (or unconsciously) forget unwanted memories, it's called motivated forgetting .  Its a coping technique I am good at-- even before I first step in school. I remembered my first days in school.  I don't go straight to the classroom but hangs around that big tree where the school's humungous bell was hanging...by myself.  Circling it, dancing around it as if playing with its soul.  Then I'd stop.  Runs back home.  Gets the ire of my mother who never failed to send me back to school accompanied by a neighbor who--- would just drop me off by the school's gate entrance.  And I'd be dancing with the tree again until it's time to go home. I don't remember when I started to like school.  But I am smart. I am smart but I am and had always been my mother's runaway bride . It was my mother's birthday yesterday.  I was aware of it, I've always looked forward to that date especially when I started earning my own money

Spanglish Totoy Bato...

It's quiet now... on to my mundane existence-- I needed to live by it or leave it.   Hah mundane!  I have a recent acquaintance who loved to play with words and her treasure chest of vocabulary is really, really, really monumental!  That when I read her blog , I often find myself looking up for the meaning of some unfamiliar words.  That's how massive it is, but I love reading her blog because I learn from it. Okay, on to my mundane existence.  The Sorceress is busy working her magic while I checked on each of her wands casted on all my patients now.  Everything seemed to be working fine. photo from Wikimedia commons I stopped by Totoy Bato seated in a corner.  Asked how he was doing before I started my assessment.  I continued to hold a conversation with him to a mundane chit-chat.  My Totoy Bato is handling it well!  He blurted out a three or four-words sentence in straight English!  I'm awed!  Finally our Totoy Bato is a certified Spanglish!

the scale and I...

There is always a battle in this scale.  Be it with the patient, the gurney, the wheelchair even with the walker.  Even between the scale and I. Everyone who walks in our Kingdom must weigh themselves.  It is our way of knowing how much attention or magic the Sorceress needs to allot on you.  Funny but true. Early in the morning especially Mondays, a stampede is never ending in the scale -- either to an eager patient or a reluctant one! LOL I am sorry the idea or the sight of it is repulsive to them!  I admit it is too, for me.  That scale is in your way going to the lobby or to the medical records room.  I stepped on that scale one day for curiosity’s sake and I did not like the feeling, so I avoided it as much as I can. But, take note, but when all the magic during treatment is over, ahh the sight in the scale is magnificent!  We do all the magic in our land and turn everyone who step in the scale a kilo or two or even four if we're lucky, lighter in their three or

the girlfriend experience...

The Girlfriend Experience is an anthology drama TV series that airs on a premium cable.  I started the first season that I followed its second one.  It's an intriguing service provided for wealthy men and women whose desired relations are according to their dictates.  The second season was with a twist, I just do not like the fact that it was cut into two stories season.  It's chilly fascinating!  So I wonder, what is that feeling or experience?  Hmmm that would have been 5th in my job list when I was a kid!  What??? LOL! Cut!   ( The photo is from http://blackfilm.com posted by Wilson Morales.) http://amzn.to/2DhMlNa My favorite Mama had her share of that GFE years before.  Chill! okay--- when I said she had the GFE did not mean that GFE thing TV series ok?  but just plain that feeling of a "girlfriend experience".  But it was cut short when Prince Charming had to transfer somewhere else.  Mama and Prince Charming was a regular for sometime when we no

The Avengers...

In the TTS side of Avantusland the show is being run by Iron Man and the Black Widow.  The four Pods are manned by Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Hulk.  Together they form the Avengers! ArteGamor/pixabay Ms. Nicky Fury the FA, recruited them all including the Transformers.  Nowadays, she lives comfortably in her solitary knowing that her Kingdom is being manned and safeguarded by her trusted Autobots and Extraordinary Individuals. Iron Man equipped with all her abilities and knowledge moves around everybody, when I say everybody it is spelled as EVERYONE including the invaders of the Land!  She used to be my partner and yes, she used to be an Autobot!  Let's say she is Megatron a very nice one, the Megatron who used to be brother-in-arms of Prime in the heydays!  She is loved and trusted by all the patients even during the heydays.  In fact, during our reign together she is the Prime and I am more of the real Megatron-- the bad one! Black Widow teams up we

the game of thrones....

Sitting in the throne is no fun especially if you have your days scheduled ahead of you.  I was supposed to be making money the past days but I was stuck in what they called "jury duty".  I have this scribbled yesterday but was caught up mending my colds so hear me out--- The sight in the cafeteria of the Courts is exhilarating.  But all you hear are busy bees buzzing around camouflaged in human faces of all walks of life.  I tried to sneak in a vacant spot, adeptly sank in, blending to a now harrowing swarm of bees.  But the buzzing is deafening, I tried to look at their masks----one dressed in red had exactly the same number I am wearing, also I cannot help ogling at the bee in front of me with a blue tinged hair.  Darn!  How she carries her head without hesitation?  I am always known as the non-conforming red/violet haired fairy but hers is oddly different, should I try that? I caught a glimpse of another bee behind me looking intently at my orts. Hey! this is me--

The Transformers...

The MWF side of Avantusland is protected and kept safe by the Transformers led by the two known Primes --- Optimus and Sentinel.  Guardians of the Pods are Ironhide in 1, Jazz in 2, Bumblebee is in 3 and Ratchet in 4.   My partner in the station is Sentinel, she is soft spoken and handles any fire there is and she was once an Avenger.  She is kind and compassionate.  I just wish she is as quick as Prowl.  Hopefully she will not betray the Autobots for the love of earth!  I am Optimus , I may not be the last of the Primes but currently the leader of the Autobots (nahhh Sentinel won't know this, she never read my blog).  Okay, just for this episode the Fairy turns out to be a heavy metal truck.  I move around everyone, even Sentinel! Bumblebee in Pod3 is my most trusted Tech (okay, all of them) especially when starting a very small new fistula as the other trusted one I had before, moved to the other side and became an Avenger.  bumblebee  leads the team before I come in a

who runs the world...

As Beyoncé rants: Girls, we run this mother, Girls, we run this mother, yeah Who run the world? Girls! Who run the world? Girls! Yes! Girls run the Avantusland--- any day of the week.   From our FA down to our Techs and remember that closed door? There’s two giggly girls there!   Oh and of course, we are no man-haters!   We love them as there’s only three of them or four, or some who comes and go. We’re not gender non-coforming nor we have gender dysphoria in fact we love gender outlaws!   Despite the fact that many people identify along a clear male or female division, some people consider themselves neither men nor women. Others identify as both men and women. We love all of them; we always strive to create a safe, nonjudgmental environment for all our patients.   The whimsical unexpectedness??? We have most of them in TTS.   The TTS world PCT are mostly guys but still run by girls!   Oh! and the most undefeated Queen???? Is Ayl!   He is still there--- w

wanted: hero for life....

A kidney transplant is a surgery to place a healthy kidney from a donor into your body. A donor is a person who has just died or a living person, most often a family member. A kidney from someone who has just died is a deceased donor kidney. A kidney from a living person is a living donor kidney (NIDDK, 2017). Mr. S was one of our transplant patient in 2017. Kudos to him whose surgery really came in as a surprise. I've known Mr. S since I transferred to this Clinic. Never was a day in his dialysis treatment that he had no complaint --- be it with his treatment, with his Technician, with my Manager, with his blood works, or even with the floor of the Clinic! Argh! These rich-bitchy patients sometimes will get into your nerves, but hey you cannot discount it from him because he is generous sometimes and well, he used it to his advantage! Rumor was, he bought his kidney or he brought in a donor from his foreign country. Rumor or not, I am happy for Mr. S and best, I am happy for

the Sorceress....

When your craft is not the best in town you resort to a most sought after witchery there is!   If and when it is not working at all and you have patients that you just wish their whims and caprices, spelled as whining and complaints, will disappear – you resort to the most sought after sorcery! My 2008T machine in the Clinic is the best Sorceress there is ---- well, next to me!   Because in my patient’s eyes they see me as a FAIRY !!! They see me as fairy who has a magic wand that will make all their nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, high blood pressure or even their blood sugar of 600 disappear with just one stroke of my magic wand! Dang! Yes! Just like Harry Potter raising his wand to go to another world via Platform 9 ¾! Or they see the power of the great Sorceress 2008T that can do wonders within hours of their treatments.   They all became clingy to sorcery!   Mr. O who defies proper treatment schedule called, he said he is too weak that he needed dialysis a

I won't remember you....

I won’t remember you.  I never remember anything that hurts me.   Harsh huh!     Acknowledging the pain and feeling it is one way but the easiest way there is when you have pain is to suck it up and forget about it.   I did that.   Done that.   I learned to be cynical and stoical.   I never remember anything that hurts me.   When my father died, I only cried the day he was laid to rest.   I cried hard in 2013 when I left my mother in a hospital bed without all her senses and memories…and the day she died.   Crying helps.   Instead of avoiding our feelings, we can simply feel them and forget about it.   However, when events and circumstances overwhelm one to the point where they are an emotional wreck --- there’s always a medicine for it!   So, Mrs. M got her dose.   She passed away.   It was sad.   She was a happy soul.   Someone just hurt me.   I won’t remember you.   I never remember anything that hurts me . G.

last straw...

It's officially 2018! I am taking my single most break of the week, hopefully not the only break I will have this month! Yesterday's shift was crazy taxing! I thought it wouldn't end.  We have had an ongoing issue with CJ's AVF and finally it reached it's end.  It just gave up and gave way to its last straw.  Blood seeped through whatever thick pressure packing we applied, gushing to his arm, soaking the blue pads underneath. I got an order from the Doctor but still adamant to carry it out.  I tried to make phone calls--- there must be another way. I peeked over the clock in front of me while doing my charting; Lori's been standing next to CJ for almost an hour now putting all the mighty pressure she can muster.  I'm so desperate to carry out the order and dial the three most sought after numbers. Why are we putting it off????  Trust me, Lori and I have our reasons.  10AM.  I saw Lori back in her feet in the floor; CJ's still in the corner with