My nieces and I will be meeting their mother, my sister, in Makati later. My original plan was to bring my eldest niece to SM MOA to go ice skating but my sister just asked me instead to bring the girls to Ayala Ave to see the Christmas lights display there. She thinks that the kids will love them and it will save us money. My sister works for a jewelry shop in Manila Peninsula and I learned so much form her about different type of jewelry pieces including the baraka jewelry . I never knew that jewelry making has evolved throughout centuries.

It is gift giving season already and I am all crammed up thinking of what to give away to my beloved ones. I do not have the time to hop in malls although I have specific gifts in mind. I want to relax on my days off that is why I am considering getting funny t shirts online, have them personalized and just wrap them in dainty wrappers. I am sure that everyone in my family would love the treat.

This is a case of a 41-year-old male who came in for right atrial mass excision.
During his annual physical exam there was a noted mass in the right atrium of his heart and was advised to undergo surgery.
According to adam.com: A myxoma is a benign tumor in the heart. Right atrial myxomas occur less frequently than left atrial myxomas. Treatment is necessary to avoid metastasis and the formation of clots. In addition, untreated growth of the tumor can obstruct blood flow through the heart. Myxomas are curable with surgical removal.
During the endorsement from the Surgical ICU I was told that the patient’s case was taunted as one in a million as the most common site for myxoma is the left atrium. Checking on line at MedlinePlus, it says that about 75% of myxomas occur in the left atrium of the heart, usually beginning in the wall that divides the two upper chambers of the heart. The rest are in the right atrium. Right atrial myxomas are sometimes associated with tricuspid stenosis and atrial fibrillation.
Myxomas are more common in women. About 10% of myxomas are passed down through families (inherited). Such tumors are called familial myxomas. They tend to occur in more than one part of the heart at a time, and often cause symptoms at a younger age than other myxomas.
He presented with no symptoms as right atrial myxomas rarely produce symptoms until they have grown to be at least 13 cm (about 5 inches) wide. Common symptoms of such as disease are the following:
• Breathing difficulty when lying flat
• Breathing difficulty when asleep
• Chest pain or tightness
• Dizziness
• Fainting
• Sensation of feeling your heart beat (palpitations)
• Shortness of breath with activity

The operation which was done on his second hospitalization day was successful. Also, the biopsy performed on the excised mass turned out to be benign and non-cancerous. He continued to have normal vital signs and he was discharged the day before his birthday.

December is the perfect month for reunions.  There so many announcement and invites son facebook  about high school and college reunions. I myself has been invited to attend our high school reunion next month. There are class rings high school that will be given as memento of this rare occasion.  I am really excited to sit down with my former classmates and catch up with them.

This is a case of 56 year-old-female who was diagnosed to have diabetes mellitus for 38 years. Her uncontrolled diabetes has taken its toll on his other systems such as the urinary and cardiac systems. She has just underwent Coronary Artery Bypass Graft to treat her 3-vessel disease. Before that, she was diagnosed to have Chronic Kidney Disease secondary to Nephropathy and has not been urinating normally for years (anuric). She has been created with arteriovenous fistula (AVF) on her left antecubital area for hemodialysis about 1 ½ months ago. Right now she is on peritoneal dialysis for three years with her own dialyzer machine. Her caregiver is doing the peritoneal dialysis for her with the order she got directly from her nephrologist.
So what is the difference between peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD)?
Dialysis is the process of removing waste products and water from the bloodstream. Necessary elements include a semipermeable membrane, dialysate solution, and a surgically created access. Blood is separated from dialysate solution by a semipermeable membrane. Because the dialysate solution contains physiologic amounts of electrolytes and buffers, exposure to blood across the membrane allows diffusion to begin. Solutes dissolved in the blood, such as blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine, cross the membrane from an area of greater to an area of lesser concentration. Osmosis is the other process at work, whereby water moves across the membrane into the dialysate, which by virtue of its composition has a lesser concentration of water molecules. (Levy, Morgan, & Brown, 2001). Both HD and PD rely on these basic principles of osmosis and diffusion.
During hemodialysis, the blood is pumped into a machine to be filtered and then returned to the body. On the other hand, PD process include the infusion time, dwelling time and the drain time.
In PD, a soft tube called a catheter is used to fill the abdomen with a cleansing liquid called dialysis solution. The walls of the abdominal cavity are lined with a membrane called the peritoneum, which allows waste products and extra fluid to pass from the blood into the dialysis solution. The solution contains a sugar called dextrose that will pull wastes and extra fluid into the abdominal cavity. These wastes and fluid then leave the body when the dialysis solution is drained. The used solution, containing wastes and extra fluid, is then thrown away. The process of draining and filling is called an exchange and takes about 30 to 40 minutes. The period the dialysis solution is in the abdomen is called the dwell time. A typical schedule calls for four exchanges a day, each with a dwell time of 4 to 6 hours. Different types of PD have different schedules of daily exchanges.
Patients who are ambulatory, work, want independence, live a distance from the nearest dialysis unit, like to travel, and like to participate in their care are apt to choose PD. Often, patients who are severely limited in mobility or who live in a nursing home will opt for PD because someone else is available to perform the therapy. Medical reasons to use PD include failed vascular accesses and severely compromised cardiac function.
A particular advantage of PD is that because of its continuous nature, potassium is not nearly as restricted in the diet as it is on HD, nor is fluid. In fact, it is not uncommon to find hypokalemia and dehydration in certain PD patients.
In HD, a nurse or a technician cares for the patient during treatment. The PD patient performs self-care, with the support and encouragement of the PD team. (Source: Findarticles.com)
One of the biggest adjustments you must make when you start hemodialysis treatments is following a strict schedule. Most patients go to a clinic-a dialysis center-three times a week for 3 to 5 or more hours each visit.
One important step before starting hemodialysis is preparing a vascular access, a site on your body from which your blood is removed and returned. A vascular access should be prepared weeks or months before you start dialysis. It will allow easier and more efficient removal and replacement of your blood with fewer complications. (Source: National Kidney & Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC))
In a nutshell, the PD can be performed anywhere by a person who was taught to perform it while HD is done in dialysis centers performed by a dialysis nurse or any trainged healthcare personnel.

I admire people who know how to play around with coupons and end up getting tons and tons of merchandise for less than half its actual cost. Items are mostly food and household products but I recently come across Proflowers coupons which I think would give every couponer a whole new perspective in discount shopping. I hope that the coupon lady would device a strategy to turn things around in her favour.

Every person has physical attribute that he or she can be proud of. I am so thankful that I am blessed with long thick lashes, although they are not curled up, I can just pump them up with my eye lash curler. There are those who verbalize their words of appreciation of my lashes and they just wish that they could have the same. I always tell them that having long and beautiful lashes nowadays is not that as hard. I even told them to check eye-lashgrowthproducts.com to find something that would make the Kardashian sisters wear sunnies all the time.

Time is flying so fast.  A few years ago, I was excited to shop for my niece for her first birthday and next thing I know, she will be in high school next year. I caught them with her cousin who is in high school surfing for 2012 prom dresses online. Inspired by Hannah Montana and I-Carly, they are into contemporary fashion. I was really excited that I  joined them mixing and matching clothes, shoes and accessories. It just brings back my high school prom years.