Red Mango Fridays with a Fashion Design Student & a Tired Nurse Posted on Sunday, July 25, 2010 | 2 comments

"Red Mango Greenbelt"

I was surprised to receive a text message from Dursky - a friend from Dumaguete who is here in Manila to study at the School of Fashion and Arts (SoFA). He was in Greenbelt waiting for me. I did not know we had plans of meeting up. Well, he mentioned that in the past but I was just caught off-guard. I was on-duty but I was not really doing anything anymore because there were no more patients. They have all flown because its a Friday.

I panicked because I thought that Dursky was alone at Greenbelt. I never liked being alone. So I thought, I don't want him to be alone there too.

"Dursky"

Took the FX from MakatiMed to Greenbelt and went directly to Powerbooks because he was there waiting. Then we went around Greenbelt in my white nursing uniform because I did not come prepared while he was in preppy clothes with a Vuitton at hand. I realized that I did not want Coffee Bean because I was there last week so I decided to bring Dursky at Red Mango. He got some frozen yogurt while I got my Cafe Americano which was so bitter that I had to ask the lady to bring two sachets of sugar and creamer. She was so nice to give me what I wanted. And so Dursky and I started catching-up.

All the while I thought he just arrived from Dumaguete but the truth was, he has been here in Manila for two months. He received a scholarship from SoFa for a year of their diploma degree. I have always believed that he has the potentials in becoming the next big fashion designer in the Philippines. I have seen his sketches in college and I saw his creations and they were good- very innovative and artistic. His talents are boundless and that will take him to greater heights.

"Terj"

Terj, the tired nurse came grumbling about his job and I did not know what to do with him anymore. He is my designated "melodramatic" friend but for the past weeks he has been very sparkling and sunny except for today where he has with him his payslip.

The fashion-design student, the tired nurse, and I had dinner and coffee. After realizing that its already nine thirty in the evening, we hurriedly went home and walked to our designated jump-off points.

It was a happy night and you can find all the synonyms of the word to describe how we were that night.

Photo Credits: Red Mango by Call Center Confidential

A Date with Lhei Ann Posted on Sunday, July 18, 2010 | 0 comments

As soon as the clocked ticked digitally at 4:00 PM, I hurriedly changed clothes from all white to all Noynoy - that is all yellow and jaundiced. Lhei Ann and I are meeting up for a little bit of catching-up over coffee at Coffee Bean Trinoma because the last time I saw her was January of last year before she left for Doha, Qatar which means that a lot of things have happened while she was away. I don't know how it happened but we got too hooked on work or the lack of it that's why we decided to stop communicating but the friendship never did.

I met her in my IELTS review class at California English, right in front of the Philippine General Hospital. We were both friendly, so we became friends. Laughs.

Anyway, she loves Doha because with the money she's earning she gets to buy the things she wants. Blackberries and iPhones are all over the place - she has an LG phone to be unique. Their malls are quiet compared to Trinoma and it has a hotel-feel. I cannot help but ask about the beaches there and she told me that you can go nude as long as you are in the hotel.

Sadly, our nice conversation was cut-short because we both need to go home. And we forgot to take pictures of the meet-up because we were too engrossed with our White Chocolate Ice Blended Coffee and our in-depth conversations. That means, I need to wait for another year before I see her and have a picture with her.

Exploring New Horizons With A Grateful Heart Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 | 0 comments

It was a rainy Monday afternoon and I was going through my usual Twitter and Facebook routines when my phone rang. The next thing I knew? I was panicky seeing Mr. Kayam's name blinking with the lights on my phone display. He's the guy from HR, as in Human Resources Department of Makati Medical Center (MMC). So I hurriedly went out of the house to take the call thinking that if I'd take the call inside, some extraterrestrial life will intercept my phone's network signal.

"Hi Sir!" the tone of my voice was very confident. I knew it, they'd call me.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Euraoba. We are happy to inform you that this coming Monday will be your first day at the Nuclear Medicine Department of Makati Medical Center."

If you saw how I reacted on such happy news? You'd smile on the deep emotion caused by the sight of something extraordinary. I screamed and laughed my heart out. Linda, my cousin's Personal Assistant, was shocked. She wanted to put masking tape on my mouth. I was acting that way for almost two hours and I got dressed in my I-don't-care-what-other-people-think-about-me-because-I'm-just-friggin-happy-today attitude.

The moment my euphoria subsided, I was back in the arms of this loving world and it brought me to a dreamy state again. I wanted to poke myself but I never dared burst my own bubble until anxiety seeped in.

Why should I be anxious anyway? WHY? The fact that it is an unfamiliar area and I have never worked in that part of the hospital is making me anxious. Indeed I was anxious but there was this strong feeling that I am so gonna conquer this area and like the first man on the moon - I brought my flag with my name in it and I am going to nail it on the job description.

The moment I announced that I was going to become the FIRST and ONLY Nuclear Medicine Nurse of Makati Medical Center, a lot of my friends expressed their happiness and delight by posting well-wishes on the shout-out that I wrote on Facebook. I was ecstatic again and I felt blissful but the feeling of being in the "unknown" kept coming back.

Now, I have a big question written on my forehead and it says, "What are the roles of a nuclear medicine nurse?"

Good thing Google has it all!!! Pooof!!! And allow me to warn you, it can be very complex.

According to ISPUB The Internet Journal of Nuclear Medicine, the responsibilities of the nurses in nuclear medicine are highly variable, ranging from administering intravenous radioisotopes to non radioactive medications.

It is also the responsibility of the nuclear medicine nurse to monitor the patients for any adverse reactions during or immediately after the administration of radioactive and non radioactive materials to the patients. Nurses can answer the patient's questions regarding the medications. The nurses can also assist the technologists to asses the mental and physical status of the patients before the administration of the radiopharmaceutical.

Nurses with proper radiation safety training can also counsel patients, staff members and families with children regarding radiation effects on pregnancy and breast feeding.

Nurses are essential during daily nuclear medicine procedures. Not only do they help in multiple tasks, they are critical in taking care especially of oncology, pediatric, cardiac and neurology patients. Nurses with experience in oncological problems can better explain the new technological advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of patients including PET scanning and Radio immunotherapy and help patients to make the proper decisions. Nurses who deal with children make them more comfortable to undergo difficult nuclear medicine procedures without the need for sedation in most cases. During the complicated ictal Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of the Seizure patients, nurses contribute enormously to prevent the patient from hurting himself and at the same time help to have a good quality images without motion occurring during imaging. Knowledge of various nuclear medicine procedures including Dual- energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan can help the nurses to aid the patients with osteoporosis to undergo the procedure smoothly.

During PET/CT imaging, the tasks of nurses include monitoring blood glucose and adverse reactions to iodine contrast.

See? Who said being a Nuclear Medicine Nurse is an easy job. I know it takes quite some time before I become too familiar with my new role. Dale Carnegie, an American writer and lecturer, once said, "Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves."

I will forever be thankful to God for being such a gracious provider. He has given me endless opportunities albeit all the other chances that I blew. I may not have prayed hard but God wrote his gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars and even on opportunities.

And thus, I'm grateful - a grateful first and only Nuclear Medicine Nurse of Makati Medical Center.



♥--> I was laughing at myself while writing this post. Thanks to everyone who congratulated me. I am so excited. Wohoooo!!! <--♥

Until When Posted on Friday, June 25, 2010 | 0 comments

McVee was too bored at home and he needed a dose of McSt. So he sent a message to McSt that says, "I don't know if it is still a good idea to see you but I think there are still a lot of things that we need to discuss."

McSt replied and said, "I think so too and I have to make bawi for the emotional turmoil I caused you."

"I'm free tomorrow. We can talk about us over coffee." McVee was smiling while texting.

The next day McVee was very excited. Looking at his face, he was all smiles from ear to ear. He hurriedly went out of the house and told everybody at home that he's going to do something about his license at PRC. But we all know the truth, he is going to meet up with McSt at Starbucks.

McSt was already sipping his Caramel Frapuccino when McVee arrived. McSt's eyes looked tired since he was on the night shift while McVee looked dashing because he slept with a happy heart after receiving the confirmation that both of them are meeting up the next day.

"Hi! You're late, as always." said McSt.

Mcvee smiled and said, "GOSH!!! Traffic was bad and I had to cross the street because the overpass was too far and I did not feel the urge to follow pedestrian rules."

After a series of conversations about other people, McVee tried his luck on opening his issues with McSt. Of course, McVee was very hesitant but he did not see the point of not talking about their own issues.

"I see you're very happy with your new love. But I just wanna know what happened to us. You caught me off-guard by bringing your new love to the party." Mcvee was smiling while flipping his phone pretending that what he just said did not affect him.

"McVee, I realized that I was too patient with you and because of that you took me for granted. I am happy now with my new love and he makes me feel that I am important to him. He makes me feel that I can also be a priority and not just an option."

"I know you are happy and I can see that. I'm sorry. I was just too confident that you love me so much, you wouldn't look for someone new. Well, at least I know now and everything seems clear to me." McVee was teary-eyed but he never felt more at ease with McSt.

"This time, I want to make the right decision of loving someone who loves me more than I love him. I may not love him as much as I love you but I can always give this one a chance. I think I deserve to feel that I am special and I did not feel that with you. I know though that you did not deserve what I did last Saturday and I would like to apologize for that."

At the back of McVee's mind, he was sure that McSt was determined to standby on this decision. Mcvee was just regretful that he took McSt for granted but he took this as a lesson very well learned.

We should not be too confident when someone tells us that he loves us. The real question is "until when?" because frankly, just like seasons, people change so do feelings.

Just when McVee thought it was all over, the moment McVee arrived home, McSt sent a message that said, "I miss you and I don't know if I made the right decision."

*Thanks to Erika Pilangga for the second to the last paragraph. While writing this post, she sent me that message which I thought was very appropriate as a parting paragraph.

Staying away from potentially sticky situations.... Posted on Thursday, June 24, 2010 | 0 comments

I don't know what crossed my mind when I panicked after seeing his comment on one of our friends pictures. It was not something worth panicking. But yah... I still panicked. It was the urge that I wanted to talk to him that made me send a message on Facebook and on Yahoo Messenger. I wanted to talk to McA because I wanted to catch up on what is happening with his life. However, he did not reply to any of my messages. My initial reaction was to browse and choose among my 1,000++ friends on Facebook and pick the best-person-to-talk-to-in-times-of-distress.

Then I picked Angie. I picked her because I knew she'd reply right away knowing her reputation as a certified netizen even at the workplace. I wanted to talk to her because the whole situtation was new to her which eliminates all sources of bias. Her suggestion was to let McA know that I miss him so much and if that sounds very uncomfortable then I can tell it to him in Cebuano. (Which by the way was more dyahe!). I cannot imagine myself telling McA, "Gimingaw kaayo ko nimo Bay." Hence, I wanted to hear another opinion.

I finally clicked on JM's name after not talking to her for the longest time. After narrating to her everything that I'm going through at the moment, she said "Noooooo don't fall! hehehe hold on! Stay away from potentially sticky situations.. kanang mga walay klaro, walay angay. Yeah.. and if it's too hard, sometimes distance helps.. not forever, but for a while.. until you can be his friend, just his friend.."

Basically, I got over it. I was over the idea that McA and me will ever be boyfriends again. We were meant to be friends and we function well when we stay in that circle. I was just surprised at how easily I got over the idea. Prior to that realization, I thought I'm gonna be in deep shit. But then, I felt better and I totally understood JM's point.

I then talked to Darcy with a happy heart. Since she has her own issues too, I allowed her to do the talking and I felt a lot better knowing that amidst my own drama, I can still afford to listen to other people's problems.

Indeed, some moments require friends insights because there are things that you don't see because you are just too blinded. In some cases, we refuse to see.