Hodgepodge

Dear Driver, I am but a pedestrian.  But I, like you, have my privilege on the street.  The road is yours.  The pedestrian lane is mine.  The traffic light is for both of us - even if it gives you at least 5 minutes and barely a minute to me and all of my walking buddies.  I don't mind that.  What I mind is when turfs are not respected.  I am a driver occasionally, and I know how annoying it is when a pedestrian crosses the street when MY green light is on.  As a pedestrian, I am annoyed when drivers do not respect MY green light as well.  And my pedestrian lane!  That's my road.  You do not load or unload passengers while your vehicle is on our pedestrian lane because that's where we should walk and because we barely have a minute to cross the street, any unnecessary obstruction is not acceptable.  You have your loading and unloading zones.  Or if you want to be near the street corner, there is a space a few meters away from our lane, so stop there.   Now, when we are cro...

I am going to be a good doctor.  And by that I don't mean being the most prominent, most famous, richest, sought after doctor.  But I will be a good one.  And I will be accountable to no one else but myself and my patient.   I will be a good doctor.  ' Taga niyo sa Oblation.

Today, I had my first 12 hour duty at AMBU as an intern.  For the sake of those who don't know what AMBU it's the small area across PGH-ER where the patients whose cases aren't very emergent are thrown. So anyway, I had a really amusing patient whose past medical history can be described by one word:  HODGEPODGE.   Grabe.   She has had Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Peptic Ulcer Disease, Enlargement of the Heart, Cholelithiasis, Pelvic Organ Prolapse, Urinary Tract Infection.  So if you come to think of it, she has a problem in her lungs, intestine/stomach, heart, gallbladder, pelvic organs, kidney/ureter/urinary bladder.  And I am guessing that if we digged through her medical history further, we could have uncovered some more diseases to include the skin, hair, muscles, etc.  Oh, she has Osteoporosis too, so that includes the bones.  And Hypertension!  So add the blood vessels. Hay. But what I like about her is that she's honest, even if she's very talkative.  I remember...

I like pink curtains and sunny days, and islands and acquiring one someday, and flowers and gardens and long-drives and fruit shakes, and music and city lights and heights and mountains and views and beaches and boat rides and hiking and thinking and laughing and eating and eating and eating and gaining weight then jogging and sleeping and staring long and filling in the spaces and walking along barefoot and hearing the waves and feeling the wind and finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and getting wet in the rain and playing and loving and caring and sharing and spending the night staring at the first star and making a wish and sleeping thinking and eventually dreaming and waking up hopeful and cooking and people appreciating, and reading and teaching and hugging cute kids, and get-togethers and stop-overs and putting on my nice shades and sleeping and chatting and singing and laughing and seeing my loved ones together - content and smiling. These and more.  Soon.

Robin Hood. That's who we become like in PGH.  You won't really understand what or how or why, but it's a given fact.  A sort of secret medical professionals (in PGH, or any government hospital for that matter) share.  We aren't proud of it.  I am not.  But I do understand why it is necessary. Theoretically, it's not right.  We were warned during our "Art of Medicine" classes.  But in a world where people aren't actually giving and the greater majority are in a state of extreme poverty, and you don't have much to spare anyway, what's the best option? What's one IV Cannula? one feeding tube?  One HGT Strip?  When they can be potentially life-saving...I just think that during the critical times that I need to get one IV cannula from one patient to use for another patient who does not have a cent to buy one, I become a social equalizer. Again, I reiterate, it's not right. But is it entirely wrong?