Too Sly to be Too Late

For the third time this year, my dream has yielded another disappointing ending to my upcoming board examination. The first two dreams happened last March, when I was still in college, which were about me not finding my name in the list of board passers. Last night was different. I don’t know if it is worse or not but it was really different… even the mood is somewhat unusual.

Yeah, so my dream started with me waking up lying in a prone position on the floor. I realized that I was holding a bundle of photocopied review materials which I used as a pillow. I was still groggy in my dream when I realized that it was already November 29. So I freaked out. I scampered to my father and told him that examinees are expected to be in the examination room at 6Am. I didn’t see any clock but deep inside I know it was already 10:30 in the morning.

My father calmed me down and said that we’ll just ask the PRC for a special exam. He even suggested “Sasabihin natin nadisgrasya tayo sa daan,” (We’ll tell them we had an accident on our way). Then he smiled calmly and went on with his work.

I panicked and thought for a proof so I told my father that we have to forge a medical certificate if we want the scheme to be successful. Then in a split second my father and I caught each others eye and sniggered, on that split second I felt my father praising my subtle idea and something inside tells me that I am just the number 1 Genius in the history of history. Super, I woke up in the real world smirking (literally).

Jinxed

It was funny, when I came in the bleeding area this morning Maam Gay, one of the three resident medical technologists, instantly pretended to be annoyed and said that I’ll be jinxing the blood bank again.

I am always absent. I don’t know if it is just by coincidence or by fate, but whenever I feel like attending a duty chance is it is Maam Gay’s scheduled duty. And apparently, on these days we also get the most number of donors… meaning a hectic work for everyone. So when I came in the blood bank this morning, Maam Gay told everyone to get ready for a heavy traffic of donors.

I usually get an average of 12-16 donors in my shift, but I saw the list of donors I realized that we only had 6 donors from 7AM to 2PM, I told this to my Maam Gay and she was like, “Sa buong araw na duty ko kahapon, isa lang ang donor ko… dumating pa nung 5:30 na ng hapon.” (On my 24-hour shift yesterday, I only had one donor… and he came in when it was already 5:30 PM.)

PS I was 2 and a half hours late this morning.

WANTED: Sex Education for the Filipino Kids

It was lunch time already and Rachelle and I were just planning to bleed the last man inside the bleeding area when an old woman came in asking if she can get blood for her daughter. We told her to just wait until we had our lunch since we haven’t eaten yet. She insisted that this was actually an emergency so we followed her request. As a standard operating procedure in the blood bank, the number of bags received by a particular client should be replaced by the same number of donors. She left her grandson and his two classmates with us.

Rachelle interviewed the two guys and I interviewed the grandson. I noticed that the boys were too young for the age they were saying and minors are not allowed to donate blood without their guardians’ consent. So I asked, “Anong course nyo?” (What course are you guys taking in college?). The boys shook their heads and said that they are just high school seniors… meaning they are only 16 years old. I argued with them but they insisted that they are already 18, “huminto lang kami ng 2 taon nung nasa elementary>” (We just stopped our schooling for two years in elementary.)

It is very unlikely that it was a coincidence that the three have the same fate in school. I never believed them- not when their whiskers are fewer that the number of pimples that have just recently sprouted on their faces. But since it was the grandmother who left them there, I considered their lies and pretended to myself that the mere grandmother’s presence ten minutes ago was the kids’ parental consent. Besides their weight passed the 120 pounds mark.

When I conduct the interview, I always end it by asking or rather saying this line, “Aware ka ba na sa pagdodonate mo ng dugo, pwede mong maihawa ang AIDS o STD mo sa ibang tao?” (Are you aware that you can infect other people with AIDS or STD by the blood products that you have donated?) One of the kids might have overheard me [and since Rachelle is a girl] he went from her window to my window and asked, “Paano po kung nagkatulo ako nung February?” (What if I had Gonorrhea last February?)

Apparently, the little man had the infection last February, he tried self-medicating with Penicillin and Rifampicin [Rifampicin is an antibiotic for Tuberculosis]. I was alarmed. Misused of antibiotics may develop to resistance to the drug of the microorganism. He said that he thinks he already cured himself without consulting any doctor. So I said that he has to see the doctor soon since;

1.) He cannot be sure if it was indeed “tulo” or gonorrhea,

2.) The disease process might have just progressed into a latency period featured by the absence signs and symptoms, like in syphilis; the infection is still there but has just progressed to a new stage- a worse stage.

3.) He might have developed a tolerance to the drug or conversely, the microorganism has developed a resistance.

I persuaded him by saying that many develop “orchitis” or inflammation of the testes. I graphically described that when this happens, his balls will swell four times it size and in the end he’ll developed sterility, and I said “pagkatapos pagkinapa mo yung bayag mo parang sponge na lang sya.” (and then when you palpate your balls you’ll feel that it has turned spongy already.) That kept him thinking for awhile. So I said, “wag kang mahihiyang pumunta sa doctor. Tulad naming ni Rachelle Nurses kami kaya mapagkakatiwalaan mong hindi naming ikakalat ang name o situation mo.” (Don’t be shy to consult a doctor. Just like us, Rachelle and I are Nurses, you can expect that we will never divulge your name or your situation.)

He was thankful. Rachelle added some teachings about safe sex and condom use. He looked really relieved by the information that we gave him. He must have learned many things that he could not have gotten from his own home, his own friends or sadly not even form his own school… not with the persistent lobbying by the Catholic Church to dissuade the Government in creating laws regarding the issue of sex education and family planning in the Philippines.

NOTE: All of my co-volunteers have already completed the necessary 100 hours of service, some left already to pursue their respective careers. I, on the otherhand, as of today, have just spent 44 hours in the blood bank. And I was two hours late this morning.

Because her father is a police officer and they live in a subdivision inside a Police Camp.

Because I am not going to attend any review in any review center on October up to the dates of my board exam on November 29 and 30, I welcomed my college friend’s suggestion to review with her. We divided the Medical-Surgical Nursing book according to organ systems, we review our respective parts alone then we see each other once a week to give a discussion on what we have reviewed. Each session feels like a defense of our bimonthly case studies back in college- there are many questions and answers and more abusive comments.

We were scheduled to see each other today at 9AM, I was at her house at 10:00. She was at the shower; their maid beckoned me to the kitchen and told me that my friend’s college sister left a note asking me to finish her assignment. It was okay since the assignment was pretty easy. I was halfway through with the assignment when she finished bathing and talked to me. She said she was going to run away. I thought she was joking but when I heard her talked with the maid and cried and went back to her room just to come back with a really big traveling bag I realized that she was serious.

I persuaded her not to go but she was persistent, she cried and I hate it when people cry on me. I checked if she’ll have a place to stay, she said she’ll stay at another friend’s apartment. When everything was settled I said we should go immediately, I was afraid that her father might see us going and he might interpret the whole thing as “two lovers running away”. Her father is a police officer; they live in a subdivision inside a Police Camp. I told her this and she said it is okay, “ang alam naman ni Papa boyfriend kita eh. Kaya lagi kang nandito.” (My father thinks you are boyfriend that’s why you are always here.) I panicked upon hearing that.

It rained. She cried. I was apprehensive for any onlooker. I was carrying her bag and she had her arms entwined to mine and it was raining… the perfect setting for a film with such theme as running away. And she was crying. I thought of using therapeutic communication for the psychologically disturbed but I feared that she might wail if I do so. So I tactlessly said, “Wag kang iiyak maraming tao.” (Don’t cry there are many onlookers.)

In the bus terminal she became listless and apprehensive. Her friend stopped replying to her text messages. So I said, “Who are your other options?” She was again about to cry so I have to shut her up. I recalled her clicks in college… but her friends’ families are too conservative and they wouldn’t approve of her behavior. I asked her if she has money. GOD she only have 100 plus in her wallet and she didn’t bring the important stuff. She didn’t bring her ID, her Transcript of Records, her diploma, her birth certificate, everything. I was like, “How do you expect to find a job?” I, myself planned to runaway last summer, but everything was planned and besides Musang was a really great Devil’s Advocate to me that I thought of abandoning the idea in the end.

So I thought of all the people that can help her and I thought of the owner of the review center where she enrolled last summer. She brightened up. She gave me the woman’s number and I texted her. I made sure that the lines are really pitiful.

“Ate S, pinalayas ako sa bahay. Hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko, naiiyak na nga ako eh. Dala dala ko na ang lahat sa bag ko andito na ako sa terminal.” (Miss S, I was told to leave the house. I am really confused right now, I feel like crying already. I have all my things packed up in my traveling bag, I am here at the bus terminal.)

Thank goodness, Miss S was really concerned, she told my friend to see her at the review center. We hurriedly went there. I noticed that Miss S was already starting the counseling when we finally met her. I was amazed by her fluency in counseling and therapeutic communication. She told her to come with her in private so they can really talk; I was surprised when Miss S was also asking me to come.

In the room the real counseling started. Boy, Miss S was awesome in counseling. I felt uneasy when my friend started to cry again. I thought that she might find it hard to verbalize her sentiments with me sitting beside her especially now that the question was quite personal already- Did anything happened in the past that might have triggered your father to say those words?. I left the room.

After about twenty minutes, my friend came out looking okay and she asked me to accompany her home. I was still anxious about her father so I said, “I’ll just drop you in at the doorstep.” And I did.

Forget my Attendance. I’m Dependable.

When I passed my resume to volunteer for the non-profit organization that runs the blood bank 1.) I never thought that I would be placed in the blood bank, I thought I was signing up to volunteer for rescue missions and outreach programs and 2.) I didn’t know that they are actually going to give us certifications if we finish at least 100 hours of duties AND they will check our attendance so they can be sure that we deserve the certificates. When I learned about this I was like, “oooooooooooooooookay.”

Many of my co-volunteers, doubtlessly, were just into the the certificates so they made a carreer showing up even on days that they weren’t scheduled to come. In no time I find them bragging about their 100 hours time spent, while I scratch on a 30 plus on the record. I live in the farthest address.  My father do not know that I volunteered. And I am not exactly the most punctual person in the planet. I am always absent and if ever I attend a duty I make sure that I am one and a half hours late.

Yesterday, I wasn’t in the mood to attend the duty but before the last minute I decided to come. I was in the blood bank at 9:30 AM. I was surprised that I didn’t see anyone when I knocked, it is customary for me to greet everyone Good Morning. The front door was locked so I used the back door. I knocked at the medtech’s quarter and I found out that most of my co-volunteers have already stopped coming since they have already completed the required time for the certificates and the guy who shares my scheduled had an emergency so he has to go back home. I was alone.

So I said, “So you mean I’ll do everything here by myself?” She didn’t have to answer, 8 men were already knocking at the window and I have to step forward and say my “good morning”.

It was incredible. I couldn’t explain but it seemed like the interviews were taking us forever with me doing everything all at the same time. I have to interview them while typing the blood simultaneously. I even have to assist them at the weighing scale. And many do not know how to follow instructions. At the bleeding room, I have to leave them watch the TV while I do some of the paperworks back at the window. Gladly, the medtech was there to help. More and more people are coming batch after another. There were also some people asking if they can get the blood for free, people asking for examinations done in other laboratory (T3, T4, TSH exams and Widal exam).

Nevertheless, everything ran smoothly at the bleeding area, the medtech was really helpful. she did every paperworks while I only mind the blood extraction. It was a great experience. I had all the needles inserted successfully. YEY! (**taps on my shoulders**)

PS While the Medtech and I were eating our lunch, I told her about the whiner last Monday, she was like, “Pag ako yun, pinagdarasal ko na sana di pumasok para bubutasan ko sya uli dun sa kabilang arm.” (if that happened to me, I’ll pray that I’d fail with the insertion, so I have to reinsert the needle at the other arm). She is the coollest.