After three years of graduating from nursing school, I  am back to school or class, as you can appropriately call it.

Today is the beginning of my three-month training program at the Lung Center of te Philippines.

I am really excited to meet young and old faces. Some are newly graduates some have just graduated from nursing as their second course.

I have learned on the orientation that the top ten trainees would get a chance be lined up for manpower  pooling at the LCP. Well, with 121 students who are I think very much willing to kill just to get a job there, good luck on my quest!

First of all, I am having severe leg cramps, yet again. It is my second day on Burinex and Aldactone. My doctor instructed me to pop these pills whenever edema sets in my feet.

As I had to evenly space out my medications, I decided to take them in around lunch time right after my dental check up. These diuretics are expected to kick in from 15 minutes to 2 hours so I need to be near a comfort room to go.

I have been to St. Luke’s and Lung Center of the Philippines and fortunately, their comfort rooms really offer comfort. I also had to use Chow King’s rest room which is clean too on my way to LCP.

I got the result of my 2D echo and the finding s are mostly normal except for:

- Minimal pleural effusion

- Mild mitral and tricuspid regurgitation

I’m a nurse but I don’t know that exactly they mean but from the sound of it, they are on the lighter side. Well, I don’t want to second guess, I will be having a cardio consult with our in house cardiologist.

I also went to see a doctor who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Gosh, I have to check what these doctors are called.

Anyhow, I arrived around 1 p.m. and I am already 10^th on the list. I have waited for almost an hour and when there was no sign of the doctor’s arrival, I told the secretary that I will just be back.

This is why I hate doctors. They make you wait forever as if they are the only people in the world who are busy.

I need to go to LCP to complete my requirements for the nurse trainee program.

I arrived at LCP before 3 p.m. and went straight to the training office. I wore my mask on. It was the Lung Center of the Philippines, which means every possible lung disease are existing there and afloat. Good thing, wearing masks there is highly encouraged.

After reviewing my requirements, the administrator gave me an order to get chest x-ray and PPD (Purified Protein Derivative) test. These are the tests required to all the trainee applicants. Although I had my chest x-ray last March, the result would no longer be reliable according to her. SO I obliged. Anyway, I also want to know if my lungs are still healthy. I could have the test performed in our office lab but I had to justify my request and I need to have the result interpreted by LCP’s radiologist which will also cost me some money.

The chest x-ray was available immediately. It’s like Polaroid! I was called by the receptionist and the first words that came out of my mouth: Are my lungs okay?

The receptionist replied that they are okay and the result will be sent to the training office. I felt relieved. I was scared that they might see some problems like pleural effusion – the thing that my nephrologist wants to rule out.

Then I headed for the PPD test. It is a skin test to check if you have been exposed to TB bacillus and do not ask me why it is called PPD. I was asked to be back on Friday for the reading and as I look on the test site, there has no signs of wheal formation. Maybe because I lost all the protein in my urine. Ha-ha. If you get 10mm or more of induration, you might be considered positive for exposure but it’s non-confirmatory.

I finished all the tests before 4 p.m. and I headed back to St. Luke’s. I arrived around 4:30 and went in to see the secretary. He told me that I have been called already and just wait to be called again after the patient then being seen by the doctor. Well, not bad. At least I had no time wasted.

I was called in after 15 minutes and related my back problem to the doctor. She ran some physical exams and the last thing she did was like sort of massaged my back really hard and I was in pain. She told me that there is muscle spasm on my back and it is called the MPS or Myofascial Pain Syndrome.

She ordered a 6 physical therapy sessions and ordered me to plot a sked at the rehab department. She also gave me some muscle relaxant. Another pill? Aaargh!

I chose to get the thrice a week session in the morning. I am planning to head there right after my graveyard shift so I could have longer and uninterrupted sleeps when I get home.

I hope that this MPS thing will go away after the complete session. I will be evaluated after 6^th session.

This is a very tiring day for me, although my plan was to hit the gym after running the errands, I begged off. I have done so much cardio running from one floor to another and from one place to another.

I need a cold shower to relieve my leg cramps.

Last Saturday, I got a text from World Citi College (WCC) HR that I was chosen to undergo the Nurse Training Program and I was scheduled to take the exam this morning.  To which I texted back that I already went through final interview and has paid the initial training fee of P2500 in February and that I was supposed to be in the February batch of trainees but just deferred due to the short notice I got from them then.

The HR officer affirmed that I was indeed on the waiting list of the next batch of trainees and I should still come to their office on Monday at 9:00 am (which is today) for contract signing and instructions to which I obliged.

I swapped sked with my office mate so I could swing by WCC in the morning.

I was there before 9 am along with other examinees.  The HR assistant, after learning my purpose, did not ask me to take the exam and instructed me instead to wait for the HR supervisor. After almost an hour of patiently waiting, the  assistant informed me in a very apologetic manner that the contract has not been prepared yet and as she was about  to discuss further the supervisor approached us. She told me that there have been changes in their training program.

Originally it was a 4-month training program which is billed at P2500 per month. Starting the new batch, they will be adapting  the 2-month training program and they have not revised the contract yet as the signatories were out somewhere.

I was told that the training program will commence on May 25 and I will be surely contacted for the contract signing before then.

I was done with them at past 10:00 a.m. I decided to go straight to the office and just render an over time since my sked was at 1:00 p.m.

I needed to be productive.  The caffeine I chugged this morning at Mc Donald’s has kicked in and I was not expecting to doze off until the wee hours of the morning.

While in the office, I remembered to phone Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP).  I was included in the batch 18 of their “continuing education program” (read: volunteer) tagged P3000 for three months.

The batch in which I was reassigned is scheduled to be “trained” in mid-July.

I was told over the phone to submit the requirements already.

It’s my rest day tomorrow. So I will drop by to comply.

If my calculations are correct, I will be able to finish the 2-month training program at WCC right before the training  in LCP will start.

I won’t quit my call center job just yet.  Next week will be my first time to be on graveyard shift since time immemorial. I have aasked my team mates to swap their graveyard sked with me starting May 25. This way, I could joggle paid and volunteer works.

I just hope nothing gets compromised not even my health.

I also hope that LCP has pulled their acts together this time. The last time I went there, my name was missing on the list of any batches of trainees.

At this point in time, I am hoping for the best.