A Post Script on my Mom's Operation

In fairness to the good doctors of Ospital ng Muntinlupa who operated on my mom, upon further research it turns out that it wasn't at all medieval (like I referred to in a previous post). The doctors performed what is called a Laparoscopic Exploratory Surgery. According to the Surgical Specialists of Hazelton web site, Exploratory laparoscopy has often been used for diagnostic purposes to view the abdomen after abdominal trauma and in cases of abdominal illness.

Laparoscopy is a term given to a group of operations that are performed with the aid of a camera placed in the abdomen. Originally, the laparoscope was used during surgical removal of the gallbladder (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) and appendix (laparoscopic appendectomy). You could read more about it here.

Given the condition my mom was in when she got to the hospital, I guess It would've taken too long to run tests and bloodwork and MRIs and CT scans when all the symptoms pointed to a ruptured appendix. I guess my dad knew better, being a veterinarian and knowledgable in these matters and he was there to discuss it with the doctors. Please excuse me if you're eating while reading this but what happened was that my mom's appendix did already rupture when she was brought to the hospital and the pus was all over her insides, so the doctors had to make a bigger incision than what the surgery called for since they had to take out her intestines and clean them up to prevent further infection before putting them all back in. Ugh.

Anyway, my mom's ok now. I'll have another post script to this post script later. About my sister's harrowing experience with the Ospital ng Muntinlupa. I just need to run off somewhere for now. Later!

Vintage Technology Woes

I know, I'm a ridiculously LATE adapter.

http://www.portel.it/speciali/7650/img/nokia1.jpg

This Nokia 7650 which is a hand-me-down from my sister, is getting a bit stuffed with too much info than it was meant to handle. I am not aware of any cables designed for this specific model to synch with desktop PCs.

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50457065/Bluetooth_USB_Dongle.jpg

So I think I'm going to need this USB Bluetooth dongle (sounds obscene, don't you think?). Or I could just go back to my mom's Nokia 3310. Better yet, do away with the idea of having a phone. There is always the landline anyway. Then I'll join a club. The Philippine Landline Users Group otherwise known as PLUG and attend EBs and meets and stuff. Such joy.

In Sickness and On Labor

My sister told me through SMS the other day that my mom was to undergo an operation. She wasn't in top shape when I went home during the weekend. She couldn't get up and she was vomitting. So I asked my sister what my mom was going to have an operation for. All she could tell me was that she didn't know and that the doctors were going to do an "exploratory" surgery to find out what's wrong with her. How medieval was that?! I guess deep into the heart of the second season of Grey's Anatomy, I'd think that they would've probably done a CT scan or an MRI first before opening my mom up right?! Anyway, my sister texts me back in the evening that my mom's operation was done and they were taking her into recovery as she was texting me. Apparently, my mom burst her appendix and that was that.

*****
I would've went to visit her at the hospital this morning if it wasn't for this project I am currently working on. I honestly think that it's too tight a deadline. But then that's what you get when you drop the price down for the client so that they'll award you the said project and then they'd have you do everything and demand stuff from you like they're shelling über big bucks for the whole thing. But them I'm not really in a position to complain. I got myself into this rut voluntarily. Being careful not to mention any names of people and companies involved. We wouldn't want to get into another "mess" with the corporate world. We'd never know who might be reading this blog. But then again, I DON'T CARE. To all my real friends, y'all know who you are. :)

Pwede... :-)

An Appeal for Help...

Helping out a friend spread the word.

AN APPEAL FOR HELP

Dear Friends,

With 2 million liters of oil spillage each day leaking out to destroy what is left of our natural resources along in Guimaras, recent reports say it is the worst natural disaster our country is facing. As i type, the oil spillage slowly encompasses the areas around Guimaras Island and is now moving up towards the north through Guimaras Strait, damaging Panay and Negros in its wake. Families dependent on their fishing livelihood are robbed of their means of living. Our rich seafood is contaminated, and we are slowly but surely killed with health problems resulting from this terrible environmental disaster.

The Visayan Sea Squadron have started volunteer work to help out fishermen, residents and fellow ilonggos who have been badly affected. Atty. Antonio Oposa, a lawyer specializing on environmental law, is currently heading the organization. Yesterday, the group along with Senator Cayetano, Congressman Acosta and Congressman Roces assessed the damage along Guimaras. With heavy hearts and tearful eyes, they watch helplessly as oil slick and sludge slowly ate up what was left of the rich marine life that was carefully proected by Guimaras. A few more days and it will reach Eastancia and the northern area of Iloilo, where Panay's fishing port is located.

We encourage fellow filipinos to help out in the cause of preventing its spillage to reach further waters, and as much as possible, clean up the damage done. We appeal to all filipinos to help out and be more aware of the situation. We appeal to members of Congress, the Senate and other government officials to help us by thoroughly investigating this matter and TAKE ACTION.

It is for this cause that i am coordinating with them to create this donation drive. In lieu of cash, we are readily accepting donations of fishing rubber boots, rubber gloves and masks for the volunteers and fisherfolk who are, as i type, working to clean up the damage, with no thought of their health. They go through the muck in sandals and slippers, with not even a mask to protect their lungs. We also accept donations of hair and chicken feathers to create brooms needed to mop up the oil.

Our first shipment of donations will be on the 30th of August, 2006. Due to those who were unable to send us donations during the week, we have extended our initial deadline to that date. For those in the QC area, please send over donations to 12 Highland drive Blueridge A, Katipunan Q.C. Please contact the number below if you want to have your donations picked up instead. :-) Cash is also a good alternative, for those who shall donate this, we will be buying the much needed materials for you, and put the donation under your name. Please contact the individuals below on where to channel the cash donations if ever, since we don't have an account up yet. You can also send it in through the address given.We thank all those who have readily sent cash and the abovementioned donations, your efforts and willingness to help have given much needed hope to us and families affected by this disaster. Our next shipment shall be on the Sept. 5, 2006.

Please attach with your donations your name and contact number so we can update you on the progress .You can also contact these numbers for more info and volunteer help:

Archie (0919 2253262)
Haydee (0928 2313193)
Lette (0915.7854035)

You can also email us at cleanupoilspill@gmail.com.
You can also drop off donations (cash or kind) at the College of Fine Arts in UP-Diliman, Q.C. Please look for Jen Alfon (faculty)

For more information and updates, please check greenpeace.org, and projectsunrise.org

Endtimes

The Israel-Lebanon war. Bombings in India. Tsunami in Indonesia. Mayon Volcano acting up. Hmmm...

On Temporary Hiatus...

Updates soon... I promise... :D

Inconspicuous Consumption

Spotted on one of my grocery shopping excursions:

Green Teazzz
From the makers of my favorite C2 Green Tea drink come Green Teazz, Green Tea with a Fizz. I have a feeling this drink was designed for those undecided if they like iced tea or soda. Now they could have the best of both worlds in one drink. :) It comes in three variants, (I'm not really sure if there's more, these are the only three I found so far) Cola, Raspberry and Lemon flavors. It's a bit weird at first, you'd think you're drinking flavored green tea but when it hits your tongue, it fizzles. So it's probably more of a soda drink than green tea. It may not be to everyone taste since it took a while for me to decide if I like it or not. It's an acquired taste. It's a bit on the expensive side, the 500mL bottle costs around PhP25.00 in MiniStop outlets.

Glinter SOFT DRINK
What attracted me in getting this one is the fancy packaging, it comes in a transparent can. And its not really a soft drink, more like flavored sparkling water. It would probably be best explained if I quote from the packaging:
"Glinter brand peach (also comes in Green Apple and Lychee) flavour aerated water uses natural water mixed with artificially (sic) peach fruit flavour essence, refined fructose and CO2. It is the most suitable beverage for sports, work, meals and for making cocktails. Tastes best when chilled.
Ingridients: water, fructose, carbon dioxide, citric acid, malic acid, acesulfame
potassium, aspartame, sodium citrate, potassium sorbate, artificially (sic) peach flavour."

At around PhP29.00 for a 350mL can (in Robinson's Supermarket), I think its too expensive even for an imported product (it's made in Malaysia). I'd rather go for Summit's flavored water with several variants and cool packaging as well which costs around PhP17.00 for a way bigger bottle.