thank You

i almost ignored her complaints. while i was waiting for my mom to pick me up from the hospital, she called me up. she said she would like to have her blood pressure taken coz she could feel her heart beating like a drum.

i almost told her i would get her blood pressure when we get home. i really wanted to go home early that day because i wanna try a new game in my pc. if i did just that, i think i would never have forgiven myself.

when my mom arrived in the hospital, we went to the ER so i could borrow a BP apparatus and a stethoscope since i don't have mine with me (radiologists don't really need those things). her BP was 120/80 mmHg which was normal, considering her age, weight and other co-morbidities. that was her usual BP, by the way. then i auscultated her heart. that's when i realized my mom wasn't just over-acting. her heart beat was really fast and the rhythm was irregular.

i looked for an IM resident in the ER and asked him if he could check on my mom since i couldn't just order an ECG there. the ER wasn't my territory. on ECG, my mom's heart rate was in the 150s which was way above normal. there were also some irregularities, i.e. premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). considering my mom's medical history, it was possible that she was having a heart attack at that time.

a cardiac monitor was immediately attached to her, they inserted an IV line and gave her medications to slow down her heart and prevent progression of her condition. a work up was done to totally rule out a heart attack and determine the cause of the SVT and PVCs.

thank God her cardiac enzymes were normal. the only thing that was abnormal was her magnesium level. it was below normal which could have caused the PVCs. just the same, they kept her in the hospital, corrected the deficiency, adjusted her maintenance medications and made sure it wouldn't happen again...knock on wood.

during that time, i kept thinking, what if i insisted on going home? what if it was really an MI? what if? then i realized, the what ifs were not important. i made the right decision. what prompted me to do that is, i think, Divine Providence.

thank You.

clean fun

during a recent visit to boracay, B and i savored every second of our very short vacation leave from our respective jobs. from a party of four in the planning stage, only the two of us pushed through with the trip. and fun we had...GOOD CLEAN FUN! (i think i have to emphasize that, lest some people start imagining things.)

we didn't stay in the posh resorts in station 1 but opted to stay in the less expensive resorts in station 2-3. we tried to do everything our budget would allow, from island hopping to sailing. and when we got tired of the beach scene, we started to explore the island, this time, from the inside.

though i've been to boracay before, it was the first time that i went beyond the usual fare. we hailed a tricycle to take us to mt. luho, which was a great spot. at one point, during the climb, the manong asked us to hike a few meters coz his tricycle was having a hard time climbing. it didn't matter though, coz the view from the top was worth it. we also went to the butterfly farm, puka beach, etc. we even went to the dead forest. it was dead. period.

one of the highlights of the entire vacation was the happy hour, i.e, buy 1 take 1 alcoholic beverage. we tried to take advantage of it by starting at around 5 pm, but only after we were finished with the isaw rounds. and by 9 pm, which is the end of happy hour in some of the bars, i would be a little intoxicated. so by 10 pm, i would be snoring away! that, for me, is plain simple fun!

my next stop...batanes!

question # 2

got this from grey's anatomy ...

if you knew it's your last day on earth, what would you do?

definitely, i wouldn't go to work.

and if it's a wednesday, hear noel cabangon sing for the last time.

other than that, say goodbye to family, friends and even enemies.

that's it for now.