US President Obama has said that the reported cases in their country should be more of a concern that an alarm.  Then, there was no reported fatality until a Mexican toddler was reported to have died in a Houston, Texas hospital on Monday.

And this has raised the alarm.

While Michael Jackson and I suffered the constant stare from wearing face mask in public (although I don’t know why Jacko is wearing one, mine has health reasons), I find it chic seeing people wearing the mask all at the same time.

Unluckily though, the third world people, this side of the planet are not buying it. At least they are consistent now in giving comments that I’m protecting myself from swine flu.  It’s less effort for me to explain.

Well, at least I handed a couple of masks to my colleagues.  One will use it while commuting to protect herself from the pollution while the other one will use it inorder for her not to transmit her throat infection.

It’s been almost a week since I last hit the gym. I passed from Thursday to Saturday because I had my monthly period. It’s uncomfortable for me doing gym routines when I have my period.

Another thing, my feet have yet again become swollen. I noticed that Aldactone alone does not help make me urinate frequently.

I am supposed to have my lab work up today and to see my nephrologist tomorrow but my monthly period prevented me from submitting myself for the workup ergo my appointment was cancelled and was moved to May 4^th. May 1^st is Labor Day and the doctor won’t hold a clinic then.

Boohoo!

So I phoned my ever reliable doctor yesterday and consulted my bloated feet. He said that I should take Burinex again together with Aldactone. It’s really effective because I flushed tremendous amount of liquid through my urine within 2 hours of intake of the combo.

When I woke up this morning, my feet were still swelling so I told myself, I will go to the gym anyway but I will just do abdominal work out and so I did.

Since I ran so many errands (I went to see another doctor for my back pain and an orthodontist and I had a panoramic orthodontic x-ray) before I hit the gym, I felt so hungry. I fear that I will be hypoglycemic so I decided to chow down. Grilled Blue Marlin at the foodcourt which I did not enjoy by the way.

Full meal before working out? Works for me! I was able to do 100 crunches and so many crunches more using different ab workout machines including the gym ball! As promised, I skipped the treadmill but I hit the sauna which is my favorite part of my gym trips.

As I hit the shower, I was surprised to see that my feet are not swollen anymore.

God, I pray that this will last.

First, it was avian flu that hit Asia, now it is swine flu that is hitting North America, the US and maybe New Zealand.

The alarming outbreak that is said to have started in Mexico and is now suspected to have reached Queens, New York as about 100 students went on a spring vacation a couple of weeks ago in Cancun, Mexico.

Currently, there are 11 cases confirmed in California and Kansas while there have been 11 reported fatalities in Mexico about 1,324 since April 13, according to figures updated late Saturday by Mexico’s health secretary.

The swine flu affects the pigs and can be transferred to human. It is a highly contagious disease and unlike regular flu, humans don’t have natural immunity to a virus that includes animal genes.

There is a vaccine that can be given to pigs for prevention but there is none for humans.

Symptoms include fever, sore throat, nausea coughing, muscle aches and extreme tiredness. Swine flu appears to cause more diarrhea and vomiting than normal flu. If you have these symptoms, go to the nearest hospital.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said the outbreak of the never-before-seen virus has “pandemic potential.” But she said it is still too early to tell if it would become a pandemic.

Early detection and treatment are key to stopping any outbreak. WHO guidance calls for isolating the sick and blanketing everyone around them with anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu and Relenza.

What else to do to avoid catching this potentially dangerous flu?

1. Wash your hand frequently with antibacterial soap or always carry with you an antibacterial hand gel. (I always do)

2. Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing (Br sensitive of others)

3. If you have colds or sneezing or coughing, stay at home

People in the affected places are now wearing masks. Join the club!

Well, I wish I was there so I would not have the constant stare whenever I go out with my mask on.

Info and photo source: www.foxnews.com

For a person who seldom perspires, what I experienced last night was a total body workout.

I attended the level 2 Yoga class yesterday at Gold’s Gym Robinsons Galleria Ortigas. I used to attend Yoga Classes at Gold’s in Glorietta but I think those classes were for beginners. Since I was at the gym already yesterday I did not let the opportunity pass. Level 2 won’t hurt, I told myself.

The Yoga instructor was there speaking very softly telling us what to do. Oh, well from the looks of it, the lot are regular attendees as they actually know what to do even before the instructor could finish his sentence. Only a handful was being corrected on their postures and positions, myself included so I find it advantageous.

The positions being “dictated” to be done are the ones that I can see on TV. Standing on one foot, doing the Indian sit, standing on both feet and legs forming a pyramid, lying on our backs. But I am telling you, they are not as easy as they look. Maybe that’s why I sweat so hard.

As I feel my body shakes trying to keep a balance and not to fall on my bum and to “normalize” my breath, my forehead is like an open faucet with my sweat dripping so fast down to the floor.

Unlike the after-Yoga sessions I have had, I do not feel that my core though has been worked out to the fullest. I do not feel sore at all. What did I do or did not do?

If I were to rate the session from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, I would lift a score card of 6. I’d prefer to attend the Yogilates in Glorietta as you can actually feel that the core is being worked on during and after the session plus the instructor actually does the rituals along with the students.

Ever since I have started on steroids in October, I have not been sneezing.
I have coined Morning Sniffles for myself as I have been sneezing all my life especially in the morning. There isn’t a day that would pass without me sneezing.

Today, it seems that the good ‘ol days are back. I know it’s just today. Tomorrow’s gonna be another day.

I wish could have my morning sniffles back. I would not trade it for this present health condition that I have. I would not mind being “avoided” for the viral threat that I might pose to anyone than being the one avoiding the crowd for the fear of catching someone else’s viral or bacterial infection.

I want my old life back.

Achoooo!

While waiting for my college best bud at her home, I chanced upon a cable show featuring a young local celebrity who’s celebrating her birthday. I have no interest in local showbiz but what caught my interest is that this girl used to suffer from the disease similar to mine.
Her handler said, miraculously, her illness has completely healed.
I don’t know, but with my 5th week of consultation with my doctor, I have never asked about my illness. I mean in terms of its cause, the prognosis, complication and lifestyle adjustments.
For one, I just handed him the lab result ordered by my first doctor. So I am not sure if he is also certain about the diagnosis. But he writes the same diagnosis in the sick report.
My focus now is how to keep my protein from being wasted in my urine to keep me from bloating.
I am bound to meet up with him in two week’s time. I hope I could pull myself together and ask the things that I must know about my condition.

I got my flu shot this afternoon.
Being one, I know that there are nurses that have “heavy” hands in terms of administering medications via injection.
The one who administered my flu shot gave me a searing pain and my arm feels heavy. It was not painful last year and as far as I can remember all the kids on which I performed the injection did not cry. This means the pain, if there was, was tolerable. I just hope I did not loose the technique when I give them their shots tomorrow.
I feel also relieved reading from the shot’s literature that people on immunosuppressant are really advised to get the vaccinated although the efficacy might be affected.
So why do we really need to get vaccinated?

Anyone may avail of the vaccine especially:

People who are 50 years old and above.
Children 6 to 23 months old (Please consult your pediatrician first before you have your children vaccinated)
Adults and children with a chronic health condition
People who can give the flu to those at high risk
Anyone who wants to prevent the flu.

But it’s better to get the shot before the flu season starts.

I got my lab result. My creatinine protein ratio has decreased from 5.12 to 3.18. Still quite high than the normal range.
My scary edema has subsided but there is still noticeable water retention especially in my ankles. The doctor has ordered for me to stay away from salty food. I am still on 1000 ml max water intake per day but I am trying to limit it to 750 ml. It is summer and I really feel dehydrated but I do not want to be bloated again.
Although the doctor prescribed Aldactone intake every morning I noticed that it does not help me excrete the fluids in my urine. It is supposed to help me urinate.
I am on my fifth week on immunosuppressant and I am feeling that it starts to kick in terms of side effects. I always feel tired and I caught a cough which does not sound good. Although the doctor assessed my breath sounds; he did not mention anything about it. Too bad I was in a hurry to ask further questions as I was already late for work.
I was able to ask though if I could get a flu shot, he said it’s okay.
I just hope he knows what he is talking about.
Oh well, the feedback that I got from our company doctor is that my attending used to be her professor in med school and he was the one who attended to his diabetec father who died of renal failure. Now I feel confident – not!
First off, that resident doctor was the one who diagnosed that I had neuritis when I first consulted for my bipedal edema.
Second, his father died of heart attack at the very first session of his dialysis.
I have to scrap this horrible idea. He is my third consult already. I need to believe in him but more importantly I believe that God has brought me to him for some reason.

Five years ago, I have decided to take up a second course. BS Nursing. The requirement for nurses abroad espcially in the US was really huge.
While I keep my callcenter job, I managed to be a regular student for three years. I would travel to a nearby province (Bulacan) everyday in the morning and go straight to work in the afternoon.

I abused myself so to speak and I think its taking its toll on my health. I have been tryingto shake off this illness since September. I guess it’s the only thing that loves me. I am having remissions and excacerbations.

I passed the local board exam, the US stateboard exam, the IELTS (International English Language Testing Service) and I got my VisaScreen Certificate already.
The only problem now is I need to get a hospital experience to be deployed in the US.
Reality bites. Here in the Philippines, the proportion of registered nurses versus the hospital demand is not equal. In other words, there are too many nurses and hospitals cannot accomodate the high influx.

What really bites is that, you even have to pay for the “training program” (read: volunteer work) in order to get a slot not to mention that you have to fall in an unending line to be accomodated on the registration date. Lucky, if you fall in line the night before the registration.

The “training program” seems to be an income generating scheme for both public and private hospitals. Here are some facts about the hospitals and their training fees:

1. National Kidney and Transplant Institute – P7000 for the 4-month training program
2. Lung Center of the Philippines – P5000 for the 3-month training program
3. World Citi Colleges Hospital – P10000 for the 4-month training program
4. Makati Medical Center – P10000 for the 3-month training program
5. V. Luna Gen. Hospital – FREE 6-month training but nepotism is highly practiced. Unless you are referred by your relatives working there or a soldier, you would not stand a chance

I got into the “training program” of one private hospital. I have no better options. I was supposed to start in February but I deferred as the notice that I was accepted into the program was too short that I did not have time to arrange for my vacation leaves. I was planning to resign in May but due to my present health condition, I had to take a raincheck. The company is paying for my treatment incuding check ups, lab work ups and medications.

Right now, I am in no hurry.

I am buying myself some time as I need to stay “employed” for a while.

Still, I have this great American Dream in my mind.