The Fabellista Chronicles: Days 9 to 15 (+1)

Day 9 - Hard Labor (PRE-DUTY)

LR duty is HARD WORK, no matter what people say.. Constant monitoring, extracting, IV insertion.. Its' just nuts man...

I don't really remember much from this day, proably 'coz it was too unremarkable. All I know is that through my experiences at the Labor Room, I finally learned how to insert a wide-bore IV line. :D

Days 10 and 11 - Running Man (DUTY and FROM)

Tried my hand at being the runner during dinnertime. Ang toxic pala talaga!! You have to order for everyone (including the residents, whom you have to take individual orders from), scrape the money together, follow up the food, and collect cash from the appropriate people. Man, it was even more draining than doing the normal runner jobs!! Since the group was kinda running low on funds, I decided that we should try something simpler and ordered our food from a nearby carinderia which luckily offered deliveries to the hospital. However, they didn't have drinks available, so I had the added job of "running" for drinks at the cooperative store located (thank God!) within the hospital premises. =D

The LR and DR duties were kinda uneventful, with only one sucessful delivery done and a solitary CS assist performed a little bit before going-home time. Added to this was the fact that the operation wasn't as simple as a CS, because the residents discovered an ovarian cyst which they had to remove, thus prolonging the operation and producing a histopath specimen that I had to worry about.. Good thing I was able to handle things quite smoothly amidst all the panic and despair the was beggining to envelop me.. 24 hrs duties can really do strange things to people.. Anyway, it was really taxing, and I recall thinking that I couldn't wait 'till the day I would walk away from there...

Day 12 - The Day Brian Turned Benign (WARD)

I really thought that this would be one of my best days at Fabella. My RIC and I sent most of our patients home the day before because she was having her oral examinations in the next couple of days. So she decided to take five and study for the exam the following day, which pretty much meant that I was free!! :D So I just went around during discharge time, helping my team otu do vitals on their patients. Things got a bit more complicated once we took our posts at the Maternal High-Risk Ward and the ICU, and guess who was stationed at the ICU?.. :P Anyway, things got pretty toxic 'coz I wound up with two patients there, one which had probable Takayasu's Arterities, and the other who was probably in sepsis already.. Damn, I was so angry 'coz I thought I already had it made for the day, but wound up going home 2 hours later 'coz we couldn't find the clerks we were going to endorese our patients to.. :(

Day 13 - Huling Pahinga (OPD)

OPD day was a blast! I only needed one more, and patients were aplenty. There were also student nurses there who took up most of the load, so we had lots of time to ourselves. :D Ahh.. I'll never forget these OPD days... :D

Day 14 - The Crazy Lady and Operations Galore (PRE-DUTY)

Started the day with only one thing on my mind.. I had to get my 2 remaining CS requirements before time ran out..

The start of the day proved to be quite amusing, though in a twisted kind of way.. there was this woman in the labor room who was having her seventh pregnacy, and she was wailing and whining like there was no tomorrow. I guess all the pain and the prolonged labor (I understand that she'd been there since the previous evening, I think..) Grabe, she was wailing even harder than most of the first-time pregnancies I've seen so far who normally would have a tougher time in labor and childbirth as compared to more "experienced" mothers.

To cut a long story short, she wound up making quite a scene outside at the corridors before eventually ending up undergoing a CS due to fetal distress.. how sad..

I got my wish for this day, and my CS requirements have now been completed.

Day 15 - One Last Push (DUTY)

My goal for this day proved to be a but trickier. I had to complete 5 NSDs within the day to be able to finish up my requirements. This hassn't been as easy for me as it seems, 'coz I still lacked confidence and experience in delivering, especially on my own. It didn't help that during those times when tons of primis seemed to come out of nowhere, I was either in the OR assisting in an operation, or doing my job as the designated runner... (to be continued...)

Day 15 + 1 - Fabellista Forever, but Fabellan no more.. (FROM/Start of UST Gyne Rotation)

The Fabellista Chronicles: Days 3 to 8

Day 3 - May hangin din pala sa Fabella (OPD)

My day pretty much started like the rest, with me running around using my XT talents to good use before attempting to do a smattering of progress notes.. sigh..

This has got to be one of the better posts for our stay at this hospital. At least you'll be free of the hot oven-like atmosphere within the hospital. OPD patients are seen at this covered open-air space located beside the hospital building. Ang sarap! You just sit around interviewing patients as they come before sending them into the OPD building. Chicken! :D And the best part of it is that you can complete a rotation requirement (10 History and PEs at the OPD) in one day!

However, things weren't as easy for me, 'coz I had to run back to the lab every so often to follow up the results of our patients... =(

Day 4 - Labor of Love (PRE-DUTY)

Things were gonna be different today, since it was gonna be the first time we would be in scrubs at our post in the LR-DR Complex (Labor Room, Delivery Room). Pre-duty clerks man the LR from 7-4, after which the Duty clerks (who are on DR detail) split up to cover both areas. LR jobs are quite simple and straightforward. You basically monitor the LR patients, insert IV lines, and get called to be the OR clerk when there's an operation to be done. Oh, and the most toxic job in the OR goes to the one assigned as the runner. Th runner is basically a gofer guy. He/she would not be in scrubs and had limited movement in the LR/DR complex. His/her job is to run to the lab and back with specimens, results, blood for transfusion, etc.

This day kinda went well. I wasn't a runner (thank God!) and I assisted in 2 cesarian sections(the requirement is 5).

Day 5 - Baby out!! (DUTY)

In any scenario, 24-hour duty is never a good thing. We braced ourselves for the worst.. and we got it.. In the delivery room, you are expected to deliver babies.. enough said.. However, we didn't know how yet, and thus we proceeded higher up the learning curve. Little did I know that at the end of the day (or should i say, at the start of the next), I'd find myself with skills that I never thought I had, doing things I never thought I could do...

The day went by slowly, with the residents patiently teaching us the intricacies of assisting normal spontaneous deliveries. We also had nursing students in the DR with us, as they also had requirements to complete. As a rule, all primigravids (that's first-time pregnancies to you non-med people) belong to us, the medical clerks, since they usually reqired episiotomy and episorraphy (in other words, incision and suturing). The multigravids (2nd pregnancy and up) came under the domain of the nursing people, since the vaginal outlet was usually already lax already after having previously given birth.

As the day dragged on, I found myself being amazed at the volume of women giving birth and passing out kids and placentas.. At 4PM, the LR guys left and our group was split into two to cover both terrritories. As a result, I attended two more caesarian operations, and tired myself out by being the runner from 9PM to 1AM..

Once I got back in my scrubs to man the DR, business was pretty slow.. until patients started coming in in packs until...

Day 6 - Placenta out!! (FROM)

I remeber it well.. it was around 1:30 am when I was able to complete my first episiorraphy (that's repair for you guys). I had to do it by hand, since I still didn't quite get the concept of instrument tying.. But a close wound is a closed wound, so chalk one up for the good guys. =D

When it hit around 4:00am, people were starting to get pretty tense and irritable due to the lack of sleep. But that's when the pregnant women started arriving, one after the other, and most of them were primis!!! =P Good Lord, I thought that day would never end!!!I was finally able to get the hang of instrument tying and performed my frist delivery. Cool pare. =D It was tiring, but well worth it.

At 8am, we were relieved by the incoming duty clerks and we proceeded to to our progress notes and labs before going home. I also prepared the laboratory requests that I was gonna use for the next day so I wouldn't waste too much time writing in the morning.

Up to this point, I still have no idea how I managed to stagger home after that very draining duty. What a night!!!

Day 7 - Discharges (WARD)

We had ward duty today. Fortunately, it was a Saturday, and we only had half-day duty! Unfortunately, I still had to run my usual gamut of laboratory examinations that needed to be done, plus two other patients who weren't under me but I still had to draw specimens from 'coz they were under the responsibility of the group. Once at the releasing ward, things went a bit more smoother this time around, seeing as we've already completed a full cycle of duties. At least we now had an idea of what to expect. Suddenly, the wards didn't seem as daunting as they were during our first day. The only downside to this day was that we were detained at the log-out point by a resident who was hell-bent on teaching us the finer points of proper endorsement.. Thank God Braix was there..

Day 8 - Fabella, benign?!? (OPD)

It's a Sunday, and the OPD is closed! Yahoo! This meant that all we had to do was finish up our progress notes for the day then we were home free!! =D I went along on my merry way, taking my sweet time 'coz I had all the time in the world to do the progress notes. Fortunately, Discharge day had just ended, so there were few patients left to work on, at least, until the next cycle of admissions and deliveries..

And so here I am blogging away 'coz we had it easy this time around. Tomorrow is Pre-duty day. I still need to get some more CS assists under my belt..

The Fabellista Chronicles: Days 0 to 2

Fabellista... that's a new term I made up for our group, the blessed clerks of our batch who get the privilege of plunging headlong into clerkship with Fabella as the first assignment. All the others who follow after us will just be called Fabellans. =P The OB orientation I had previously mentioned realized my deepest fears.. KAMI ang mauuna... sa Fabella!!! bwahahaha

For those who don't know, Fabella is an OB/Gyne and Pediatric hospital. In short, it's a freakin' HATCHERY of sorts. Or in the vernacular, PAANAKAN po siya na malapit dun sa Central Market. heehee

I never thought I'd see so many pregnant women in one place!!! Pucha, ANG DAMI!!!! Literally HUNDREDS of gravid women!

I'm a little behind in my blogging, so I'll have a bit of catching up to do, well I should at least complete this little project, the Fabellista Chronicles... =D

DAY 0 - Zero Hour
So named 'coz this was just the endorsement day. We weren't really expected at Fabella 'till the 16th but we went there anyway a day earlier to scout out the place and get a feel of the surroundings. And since the outgoing clerks weren't going to be there the day we went in, we wanted to get as much information as we could. There were 11 of us in the Fabellista group, or group 8b of the unitedclerks 2007, (Go united!!! =D) namely Jayveeh, Braix, Kathy, Mark, Ed, Binx, Pat, myself, Nats, Raissa, and Haids. I remeber the first thought that came to mind when I saw the hospital from afar.. "Oh my God, it looks like a freakin' PRISON!!!". Admittedly, the place has a kind of gloomy atmosphere that hung around it, but it wasn't what I was expecting.. pregnant women lying in the corridors giving birth out in the open, medical staff running around damp floors which are coated with God-knows-what, etc. wala namang ganun... Sobrang daming buntis lang nga. (as in!)

The outgoing clerks were kind enough to lend us some of their time and energy (tapos na rin naman kasi sila eh!) to orient us to how life is in the hospital. And we also had an orientation with the resident in charge of the clerkship training program there.

Just a short primer on Fabella life: The rotation is divided into 5; Duty, From, Ward, OPD, and Pre-Duty in that order. The only constants there are the toxicity due to the overwhelming volume of patients, and the neverending progress reports (more on this later).

After the orientation, the group trooped back to UST via pedicabs to have our little "refresher" orientation with the UST OB residents. Had lunch at the carpark KFC and saw the other groups there as well (it was Black Saturday by the way, which meant that the school was more or less deserted except for the hospital people). Grabe, lumalabas na ang pagka-clannish ng different (sub) groups. Almost everyone was eating with their own little "families". Grabe ang bonding, and clerkship hadn't even really started yet!

The OB refresher wasn't that interesting, so I'll just leave that out.

DAY 1 - The Beginning... (FROM) *Note, the words in all-caps within the parentheses are our group's assignments for that day

As luck of the draw would have it, me and Nats found ourselves with "From duty" status for the first day, which meant that we could just go for a courtesy call to our residents, but fate had other plans... After meeting with our Team leader, we were immediately assigned to do some progress notes!! Arrgh! Now, I would dare say that this is one of the most toxic things that we do in Fabella (other than helping the patients giving birth =P) We were a wreck! We only expected to be there for about an hour but would up gioing home a little before lunch! Braix wasn't available yet due to other commitments so we were pretty much on our own.. eh ang dami pa naman pasyente dun... and since the teams weren't complete yet, wala pang sistema yung ginagawa namin...

Went home tired and severly dehydrated.. (bought Gatorade at 7-11 before going home 'coz I was afraid I'd pass out while commuting) =c Halfway through the half-day, I was seriously comtemplating quitting and just going home... But still I kept on... hay.. I just hope one day I can look back at all of this and laugh.

DAY 2 - Andami naman nito!!! (WARD)

Today was an even greater challenge.. we were supposed to do progress on ALL the patients before 9am so that the residents could do a mass discharge. But at least this time our group was complete, so I feel that that went quite well.. although andami talagang pasyente. We were assinged to the different residents. I was paired up with Dra. Remo. Fortunately, despite all the toxicity, the Fabella OB residents are the kindest bunch I have ever met. They were really patient with us, understanding that it was our first ever rotation and stuff like that.

Found myself putting my MedTech skills to good use once again. It was kinda like I was on XT for the day, and I was running about the hospital like some crazy top. Man, I'm really glad that Fabella has only 3 floors... =P

We had a mortality today... sayang, 'coz that patient was already "to go home"...

It was kinda weird, watching someone that everyone was trying to resuscitate, seeing the life ebb from the person... (well, not really, 'coz I think the patient expired already when I got to the scene) I'll never forget this day.. ever... I mean, I've seen cadavers at Anatomy class, and even had the privilege of watching an autopsy during my MedTech internship, but this was very different...

To out things simply, I had another toxic day in one of the most toxic hospitals this side of the Pasig river... Now I have to sleep andsave my strength for the next day...

More to follow. Stay tuned...

And so it begins...

The LRU is open again.

And thus, here I am.

It's Clerkship Orientation day at UST, and I've just had a satisfying lunch at the carpark with the guys. Clerkship groupings and assignments were handed out earlier today during the general orientation, and here we are waiting for the OB-GYN Orientation which will be held at the Delivery Room later at 1pm.

Our first rotation says "Gynecology/Fabella".. Damn... Sa paanakan agad kami sasabak.. But at least it'll be better to have it done and over with early on rather than be toxic during the latter part.. (I hope..)

I left a pretty big gap between entries due to practical reasons. Internet access is an important commodity at home during these summer months (especially for my brother) and I've decided that my mundane blogging bisn't worth the additional expense. And besides, I'm usually tired at the end of the day, just when I've thought of something to write..

Last Thursday (it's currently Tuesday), I went to school early to enroll so that I could get home and change 'coz we were going to Tagaytay in the afternoon. There were 12 of us who went there: Me, Justin, Rhyan (yes, that's how his folks spelled his name), Alex Pisig, Al, Aldwin, Cocoy, Gina, and Cocoy's Angels (Nice, Ami, Cher, and Rochelle). The trip was basically uneventful, and the stay wasn't really that remarkable either. I find it too taxing to put every little detail here so I'll just give the ones that I consider my highlights (in chhronological order):

Saw a shooting star - Yup, I actually saw one while I was out with Justin looking for the girls who had inadvertentlu wandered off (the sudivision was kinda dark and their sudden disappearance left us kinda worried). Anyway, we both saw it and were giving each other high-fives and congratulating each other for witnessing such a rare event that we forgot that you were supposed to wish.. =P

Enjoyed the COOL night air - Brr! Tagaytay is COLD at night, even during summer.. but not like when we went there during sem break though.. now THAT was COLD!!!

Had dinner outdoors under the night sky - yeah, I know this may seem a little ordinary, but that day it was a lot of fun! Chef Peco made great sinigang and the Titan boys did a good job with the roasted chops. Yum!

Took a morning walk at sunrise - Now this felt great! I was justwalking around the subdivision at random, taking in the cool fresh air and relaxing my mind in general.. It was really a great getaway from the city heat and all the hustle and bustle of city life.

Had a fantastic game/practice - man, shooting the basketball never felt so good!!! In short, I think I was ON FIRE!!!! I was making jumper after jumper, even shot a buncha threes to cap things off (this was during practice ha? I settled for long twos during the game =D)

The road trip home - due to lack of transportation, the guys were forced to take the bus going home. We rode the bus from Tagaytay to Baclaran, and felt like we were trapped foreven in Cavite! Man, that province is HUGE!! Or so it seemed 'coz antagal namin dun. =P Finally, after getting to Baclaran, we rode the old LRT to UN Avenue. Good Lord! Ang INIT!!! =( After a brief refreshments break at a nearby McDonald's, we finally made it back to UST to try and get our classcards, pero wala pala eh.. =P I'm just glad I made it home in one piece without passing out from exhaustion..

Well, I guess that's it for now. Gotta go to the ward.

Clerkship?.. BRING IT ON!!!! =D

What a relief...

Went to school yesterday desperate for some news about the Medicine grades. It was a real nail-biter, as the Med department hasn't posted their list of "remediables" and "irremediables".

FYI:
Remediable - you failed the subject but got a grade of 70-74 and thus are eligible to take a remedial examination as a last-ditch effort to pass (removal exams sa ibang schools)
Irremediable - you failed the subject outright, garnerning a grade below 70. You're not qualified to take the remedials, and must take the subject again next year. =(

After a long and agonizing wait (with lotsa comedy and soul searching in between), Ma'am Jessica and Dra. Ruiz finally emerged from the Med office with the list of those who will take the remedials. (fortunately, nobody was irremediable in Med II. Go united2007!! =D) Lo and behold, MY NAME WAS NOT ON THAT LIST!!!

You might be asking, "what's the big deal? Eh di'ba may chance pa naman pag magremedials?" Yeah, that's true, but I don't wanna risk it. Going back to that dreadful time last year where I was faced with the giant evil monster called PHARMACOLOGY. I barely passed with the skin of my teeth. I mean, if you're gonna look at my average for the 4 quarters (which is just 80% of the grade), I just barely made it. But I failed in the grand finals (20% of the final grade).. BADLY, and thus I was on the firing line. Good thing they decided to curve and I got the +1 from the compre last year. I really dread taking the remedials 'coz I feel that I'd surely fail..

But all that is behind me now, and I can safely say that I an now a MEDICAL CLERK. =D

By the way, I got my +1 from this year's compre . =D May corrections kasi eh.. Either that or they only considered the part 1 of the compre (which I passed outright)

My prayers go out to my other batchmates who are taking their remedials next week. Good luck guys! Kaya niyo yan!

And my heart bleeds for those who didn't make it... Basta para sa amin, you're still a part of the batch no matter what!!

Long cold shower

*NOTE: Was supposed to post this yesterday but something went wrong with either Blogger or my computer, though I reall think it was the former... I'll post something current later on..

MARCH 27, 2006
6:50 PM

It's over...

Took the Compre today.. bagsak.. 88/140... needed 91 to pass (we use base 65 at UST Med) sigh... 3 freakin' points... =(

For the non-UST Med people, the Compre is basically a yearly examination which encompasses EVERYTHING you've taken up for the past year. And it wasn't easier for us incoming clerks, since they even threw us questions from 1st and second year!!! Not that I'm complaining of course.. Those basic questions pulled my score up somewhat, and besides, we should've know those things already!! =P

The Compre has no bearing on the grades whatsoever if you fail. However, those that pass the Compre (at least 65%), get a +1 to their final grade in EVERY subject. If you're really bionic and manage to score at least 85%, you get a big +2!!!

It's really freakin' hot here, one of the hottest summers I have ever experienced.. and with that in mind, I decided to take a long cold shower, one I haven't had in a LONG time. It was refreshing to just stand there and turn the heater off and let the cold water run down... No hurry to study or get dressed for school, no thoughts of the homework you have to do, no worries about any forthcoming reports or exams, nothing... My mind has never felt so empty or relaxed in such a long while... =)

Now what the hell do I do tomorrow? =P

Benign at last!!!

I'm celebrating my 1st day of freedom in a looooooong time.. =P Ang sarap!!!

That being the case, I thought I'd be a great time to indulge in a little solitary malling.. It may seem a little weird or lonely to you, but I really enjoy my solo flights. =) Nobody to pressure you, tell you where to go or what to do, no one to argue with your choice of food, etc.. I enjoy the total freedom of being able to do what I want, when I want, without any time pressure. =) Had lunch at the fastfood area where I ate Double porkchops at Sizzling Zone. Yum! =)

As expected, spent most of my time in the bookstores prowling around for a good buy. Eventually, I was able to find the second Republic Commando book! Astig! =D With morale running high after that prize catch, I swept the entire mall floor by floor. My bro texted me and reminded me of something else that I was planning to do at the mall, and that was to buy a pair of beach shorts for the C5ers outing on Tuesday!! Man, I had a really tough time deciding what to buy. Many thanks to the staff at Bench Shangri-La for patiently putting up with my fickle-mindedness. =)

At the end of the long day, I planned on grabbing cup of joe at either Figaro or Starbucks. But the places were packed, and I guess I'd seem kinda pathetic drinking my coffee alone in the midst of the crowd. Besides, someone had to go home and cook the rice before everyone got back.. ;)

And speaking of which, here they are! =P