My co-staff nurse was beaming every so often and we are just puzzled by her consistent glowing aura.
She was extra cheerful and helpful that day and wondering continued until the end of our shift. As we were on our way to punch out, she whispered to me that her boyfriend has finally proposed. I looked at her finger and saw this sparkling huge rock on it. I am no gemmologist but I think that one that her boyfirned has gotten her is one of the certified diamonds. Isn’t sweet and fabulous?

Today is the last day of our favourite Micronesian patient who has undergone coronary artery bypass graft. Luckily, it is our unit meeting so the staff members were almost complete so when they requested for a group picture, it was almost hard to squeeze in everyone in the camera phone. But just before the picture was taken, the patient’s wife has asked for a minute to say something that sent chills to our spines. She and her husband were so thankful for making our institution their second home. She almost broke down into tears saying how they appreciated what we have done for them. I almost cried myself when I saw his husband, a tall man with a body of a wrestler, wiping his tears. The man rarely speaks English and his wife usually communicates with us for him. She even added that the staff members in our institution are like loose diamonds which are hard to find.

Exactly seven days have passed when Ka Erdy has been laid to his resting place yet, I still feel sad thinking that our “tatay” is gone. Last night, I was watching the special tribute to him and I again wept.
I am so thankful to him for taking time out speaking with my dad and giving him God’s words about family and marriage.
Dad accepted that his marriage to my mom was over and chose to raise us alone. He did not seek annulment nor look for another woman he could live with.
A very noble person he is.
Although my heart is broken due to his passing, my faith will never be shaken.

My rotation in the ward for my BST at the LCP has started last Monday and although sleep has been elusive, I still feel the adrenalin rush through my vein.

It is like I am an energizer bunny.

My feet are still swollen and although this signals me to follow the red light, I have no intentions of taking leave of absence. Although we are allowed to have 6 absences for the entire training period, I feel that it is just proper to maximize my training fee by taking the opportunity to be in the ward and learn new things about bedside care.

Aside from the bedside care, we are expected to perform admission and discharge procedures and to carry out doctor’s orders. If you want to excel in something you must not stop at just learning the 411 but you have to progressively learn the craft.

While I feel so pumped up in my training days, there are instances that sadness sucks the joy in my highly cholesteroled heart.

After every endorsement and rounds, I usually review the patient’s chart to check on the diagnosis, doctor’s progress notes, medications and everything I could wrap my mind around.

Last night, I managed only two patients.  One has so many medications needed to be given at certain intervals. The other has just prn (pro re nata) or as needed medications.  It was for pain.

The doctors made their rounds so I was not able to scan the charts of my patients.

At past 6:00 pm, I was asked by the charge nurse to assist the attending – an oncologist in medicating my patient (who only has prn med).  He was given Etoposide – a chemotherapy drug.

After regulating the drug, I looked for the patient’s chart and found out that he has bronchogenic cancer with non small cancer cells.  The cancer has metastatized in his brain.

He is undergoing 6-cycle chemotherapy.  I was really surprised because he looked healthy, not experiencing alopecia and he kept on playing tricks on me every time I entered his room.

I am imagining, If were in his bed, would I still be the same bubbly person that I used to be? Chemo is a very scary and horrible experience based on people who have undergone it.

I know that as a medical practitioner, emotion should not get in the way of my profession.  I was supposed to handle three patients that day but my third patient who had a DNR order expired. It is sad when you are in the room with the relatives to witness the doctor to pronounce the patient dead.

Every training day is a tiring and edematous day but at the end of the day, I do not feel exhausted.

This is what I wanted to do. Screw the odds, Death is not an option.

All I need now is my Trodat so that my hands will be spared from scribbling my complete name and license number on each page of the patient’s chart.