A Few Minutes with Cheryl Brooks!

I was really surprised and excited when the lead publicist of Ms. Cheryl Brooks e-mailed me and told me that Ms. Brooks invited me for an interview with her. And what did I reply? Of course I'd say yes to such an awesome opportunity!

Ms. Brooks is a new paranormal romance author who by the way is also a night Critical Care Nurse. So she's a romance author by Day and then she's a Critical Care Nurse by night! How on earth could she balance her time, not to mention her energy?! She's really amazing. She has already written many unpublished novels but her debut novel that is very notable is SLAVE: The Cat Star Chronicles published by Sourcebooks Casablanca. And guess what she has five more upcoming novels in this series so we will definitely be seeing more of Ms. Cheryl Brooks.

I haven't read her novel yet (her publicist said she'll mail me a sample copy - yipee!) but I bet that it will really be interesting. They said that one should never judge a book by it's cover but I'm looking at the cover now and I think the cover speaks for itself how "Hot, Dangerous, and Sexy" this novel is.

Talk about being a superwoman. I really wonder how she could survive such a hectic schedule? Why not read this special interview I had with her to learn more of her:

*A Few Minutes with Cheryl Brooks*

~ Romance author by day, Critical Care Nurse by Night ~
www.cherylbrooksonline.com

Critical Care Nursing and Romance Writing seem like polar opposites. Was romance writing always a passion of yours?
I'm not sure that romance writing was always my passion, but I'm always fantasizing, and have been ever since I was a kid. Whenever I had to do something mundane or boring I'd come up with a storyline in my head and play it back just to have something better to think about. Eventually, I began writing them down.

Back in nursing school, what were some of your favorite romance novels to read? Did any of them inspire you to start writing your own?
I have always enjoyed the romantic suspense novels of Mary Stewart, as well as her Merlin trilogy. Her style has influenced me probably more than anyone's, but I'm also a big Georgette Heyer fan. I loved her humor most of all, but her heroes were very different from those I found in other books. Heyer's men were usually wealthy, but were also very human and sometimes a bit bumbling in their ways. They seemed so much more real to me than the stoic “Marlboro Man” type that I encountered in what a friend of mine used to call “Lust in the Dust” books. So often those men were too rough or arrogant for me—and had no sense of humor whatsoever! I like to laugh, and though I like a tough, sexy man as much as the next reader, many “heroes” I've read about are men I wouldn't even want to meet, let alone fall in love with, and my reaction to that was to make up my own heroes!

Do you think your writing has served as a way to “escape” the often hectic life of a nurse?
Any book can take you away from your current setting, but when you read, while you can use your own imagination up to a point, you are still at the mercy of the writer and you have to go where that person takes you. But writing a book can allow you to travel to any exotic locale you wish, do anything you've ever wanted to do, let you meet anyone you like, and fall in love with the most fabulous men you can dream up. Oh, of course! Reading.

Nurses can be put in extremely high stress situations and as a result, form close bonds and life-long friendships. Have any of your real-life relationships inspired those in your books?
The problem with branching out into a writing career has been that my best friends are all hospital workers, and though I'd love to be able to devote myself to writing full-time, leaving my nursing job would take me away from the best support network in the world! I work in a relatively small hospital, and I've met so many loving, caring people there! We're more like a family, and we know most of what is going on in each other's lives—and those who know that I write will often tell me things just so they might show up in a book someday! I've used many of my friends as characters in my novels, as well as their experiences, and they love it! Unfortunately, when it comes to their experiences with men, I've mostly used their bad ones! For example, a long-time friend and co-worker was lamenting one night that she'd give her right arm for a decent, honest, moral man, and I used that as a basis for the predicament that my heroine in the fourth book in The Cat Star Chronicles series finds herself in. Of course, the best part of being in a hospital setting is that, just when you think you've seen or heard it all, someone will prove you wrong!

You specifically write fantasy/science fiction romance. Has anything you’ve seen at work influenced some of the aliens, new species and environments you’ve created?
Actually, most of the sci-fi stuff comes out of my head, or from other books and films, but if you look closely, there's something “medical” in all of them. I've also written several novels (as yet unpublished) that aren't in the same genre as Slave, and many of them are about nurses. I have also written one novel for a respiratory therapist friend who loves cowboys. She wanted me to write a book about her, so I made her my heroine and gave her a whole bunk-house full of cowboys to choose from! I think that one is still her favorite.

Are there any similarities between critical care nursing and romance writing that you found surprising?
The stress! I thought I'd lower my stress level by being a writer instead of a nurse, but though the stress of being an author isn't life and death (and I have to remind myself of that on a regular basis!), I still carry it with me. A lot of what I do at the hospital I can leave behind when I clock out, but the writing thing follows me wherever I go, and I've probably lost more sleep because of my writing than I ever have as a nurse! However, when I've got an especially crazy patient driving me up the wall, or when the powers that be come up with some ridiculous new rule, writing for a living starts to look really, really good!

Good Bye Missy-Pooh

This may be one of the saddest posts that I could ever make in this blog. It's the post where I am going to share my good byes to my beloved Missy.

Here is a picture of the first day that we got our beloved angel. Isn't she so cute? She's very small and quite shy. I was a bit afraid that she would be sickly because she looks so weak and vulnerable. She was a bit car sick at this point because my mom took her from the city from a friend of hers (the original owner of Missy and her mom and brother).

But with love and care our cute Missy has blossomed into a full grown lady doggie. She has always been playful and she loves to jump a lot and she runs around the house whenever she's bores. She always dashes outside the gate whenever she finds it open and we always worry that she'll get bitten by stray dogs and hit by a car but we always find relief when she comes back from her adventure outside the house.

These last few days are going to be my last moments with my Missy as we're going to return her to her family because we can't bring her with us when we leave for Canada this June. If only we could bring her with us then I would have no second thoughts and take her.

One neighbor asked us if she could have Missy so that there would be someone could watch their house when they're away but my first reaction was NO! I know that they won't take care of Missy the way we do care for her and love her. To other Filipinos their dogs are just belongings who they could just neglect but for me Missy is part of my family.

That is why we opt to return her to her original family with her mom and brother (even if they live far away) because I know that my mom's friend would take care of Missy and won't hesitate to spend for her needs. You see Missy is quite choosy with food. She won't eat anything unless it's chicken or some food that is tasty. She doesn't like bland food.

Tomorrow I am going to say good bye to someone who has been very special to my heart and will always be special to me. It's quite hard to let go of the one you have hold dear to your heart. I will really miss those big brown eyes of Missy that tells me her personality. She's quite shy and a very kind dog. She does bark at other people but never has she attempted to bite anyone.

I would miss the times that I would prepare her water for her bath (she likes her water warm) and I would miss it whenever she greets me when I come home...

She has been a part of me and it's hard to let her go. These last few days a song came into my mind whenever I play with her or pet her. The best song that could really express how I feel is this:

David Archuleta - Think of Me
Think of me
Think of me fondly when we've said goodbye
Remember me
Once in a while, please promise me you'll try
When you find that once again
you long to take your heart back and be free

If you ever find a moment
Spare a thought for me yeah

Think of all the things we've shared and seen
Don't think about the things which might have been
Think of me
Think of me
Imagine me trying too hard to put you from my mind

Think of the things we never knew
There will never be a day when I won't think of you.

Good bye my Missy... I will miss you... You have been one of the greatest things that happened in my life.

UPDATE: A New DSM-IV Classification!

I have been reading some online journals related to Mental Health when I have found this very interesting update in psychology. A new DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) classification has been formulated by scientists at the Archuleta Fans Institute and this is the very contagious O.D.D. or more commonly known as the Obsessive David Disorder!

I have to warn you guys to stay away from me because I have already been infected with this disorder, in fact you may have noticed the David Archuleta songs playing in the background!

Signs and symptoms of Obsessive David Disorder consist of the following (one or more):

• last song syndrome of any of David's song
• downloading David's songs on iTunes and giving them away as gifts for friends
• watching every American Idol episode to watch his performances
• joining online David Archuleta fan clubs
• watching David's videos on YouTube and giving him a 5 star plus positive comments
• writing about him on your blogs
• voting for him online at these polls:
  AOL POll
  OPRAH Poll
  MSNBC Poll
  ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Poll
  TV GUIDE Poll
  E!ONLINE Poll
  VOTEFAIR Poll
  DAYTONDAILY Poll
  IDOLBLOG Poll
  ZABASEARCH Poll
  COMCAST
  VOTE#1 Poll

Geez! I may have really caught this new mental disorder that is contagious...

There is only one cure:

VOTE FOR DAVID ARCHULETA ON AMERICAN IDOL!

Warning Blogging Is Dangerous to Your Health

Oh here's a new comic from Blogcomics.net that I thought that I would share. Although it's highly impossible for a person to get a tumor from too much blogging it is funny to take note though that the patient is more concerned of his blog than his own health. Well, I may also be guilty of this being a blog-a-holic myself.

I sometimes get a distended bladder because I have to finish posting first or blog hopping and all that bloggy stuff. I'm so hooked to blogging that I don't seem to notice time fly. How I hate it when there's so many things to blog and there's so little time.

Stupid organic body that needs to eat and sleep! hehehe... :)

But I was thinking if blogging was declared as dangerous to my health I wonder if I would stop? Well maybe I will but if not then let the addiction and fun continue hehehe.

CPR: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Lately what I feared the most had happened. I was sitting in front of my computer happily blogging when all of the sudden I thought, "How do you do CPR again?" And that's when it hits me, my being out of the clinical area for one month has weakened my thinking ability and I now forgot how to do Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. And to think I even had a Basic Life Support training that I had from Red Cross.

But there's no need in crying over spilled milk, I have to review and reacquire that skill which I believed I was already good at. So how do you perform CPR? Here is a graphic illustration of the steps in CPR which I guess summarizes everything I need to remember:
Here are some facts and tips that I have remembered:

• the brain is damaged after 3 minutes of no air and dies after 4-5 minutes without oxygen
• always add "1000" after every number when counting from 1 to 30. Adding a "1000" word will make the pace of chest compressions regular and mimic the normal beat of the heart.
• If you are in a scene of an accident always look around and check if the scene is safe, you do not want to become one of the victims
• Always remember the ABC... Airway (check for obstruction and tilt head and chin back to open airway), Breathing (check if the person is breathing), Circulation (check for a pulse).
• Do not bend your elbows when doing chest compressions, doing so will deliver a weak and ineffective chest compression

For more information on CPR you might want to visit health.howstuffworks.com.

On Wanting Green Eyes

I had always wanted to wear contact lenses because I want to change the color of my eyes. And what color do I want? Green! Yup some people may find this weird but I would love it if my eyes were green because I find it unique and interesting. And if you're wondering my eyes (as well as the ridiculous) here are just Photoshop edited, Lol!

I just want to share what happened that changed my mind about having contact lenses. I went with my mom to get her glasses that she had ordered and we had to wait because the glasses weren't done yet. I was looking around when I realized that I wanted to get some contacts. A sales girl was approaching me and asked me what I wanted. Normally I would get irritated with sales girls who keeps on hovering above me as if I'm going to steal something. But somehow this sales girl was quite nice and I was in a good mood so I asked her about contact lenses. The sales girl was very accommodating and showed me the different lenses and their solutions and stuff.

I was quite amazed that she knew a lot about contacts. Sure she may have worked there already for so long but she was able to point out different eye conditions where contacts were preferred than eye glasses. I was quite ashamed because I forgot all the things I have learned in anatomy & physiology like astigmatism, myopia, and stuff.

In the end, I decided that contacts for the sake of fashion is not worth it because:

1. It's quite expensive, the cheapest pair comes at Php 2,000 or $48.
   
2. Contact lenses are only good for a year and then you have to change it
3. Wearing contacts only increases your chance of scratching the cornea of your eye and presenting an opportunity for infection

I since that visit I was really uplifted and became more interested in health... if only I was motivated a little more to have good study habits hehehe...

Student Nurse to Doctor Relationships

Before you think that this is some post about a love interest between a student nurse and a doctor I might just as well inform you beforehand that this is not what you're thinking. Besides the student nurse me and the doctor is a guy so definitely no. this is an experience that I would want to share with you guys.

I always get jittery whenever doctors are around, but being on duty at the operating room even made things worst and I was very jumpy. The doctors in the operating room were very nice and I was a bit at ease but I was also nervous because it was my first time to scrub-in in an actual operation. The surgical procedure was only a minor case, just an excision of a fibroadenoma at the left breast. A fibroadenoma is a non-cancerous benign lump that is found in breast tissue. When felt under the skin, the lump may feel rubbery and easily moveable within the breast tissue. Fibroadenomas are commonly found in young women during their reproductive years (New York Times). It's caused by normal estrogenic fluctuations (Wikipedia) and it could be removed with out any worries.

The tumor looked like this when removed. The surgeon was very skillful! Even with lacking instruments (the operation wasn't held in the main hospital mind) he was able to make use of his fingers and got that tumor our perfectly! What even made this doctor, Dr. Perez, even more amazing is that he took nursing as his pre-med course! Wow that is really amazing! I even learned a lot from him and he was so nice and showed me a cosmetic style of suturing so that scarring could be put to a minimum. What did I tell you? Amazing!

Well I was very lucky that I was around very understanding doctors because I was stuttering (oh I hate myself) and I was being jumpy! Imagine? I called the doctor Ma'am! And the doctor was a guy! Oh oh... good thing the conversation was about a female clinical instructor at Xavier University. Ooh I am so dead!

Thinking of the things I did that they makes me want to kill myself. The doctor was talking to my colleague and I interrupted their conversation because I needed more suture (I was the scrub nurse so I was sterile). Oops, sorry doc! I did not notice that you guys had a conversation (why didn't I ask my other colleagues instead?).

Ooh I am such a mess! But at least the operation was a success and it was all thanks to Dr. Perez! hehehe.

But a thought comes into my mind. Why do doctors want to be called Doctor and not sir? Isn't sir a sign of respect? But maybe it's because the word "sir" is equated to nurses and patients. Oh now I get it hehehe. ^_^

Air Bubbles are NOT Cute

Do you know what takes most of my time when I’m duty at the hospital? It’s regulating and checking the IV flow rate. Yup I’m so obsessed with getting the number of drops perfectly that if I have nothing to do I check the drop rate over and over again. It’s supposed to be checked by the hour but I guess I over do it and check it every 5 minutes or so. What can I say? I’m afraid that the patient might get under-infused or worst over-infused and this could lead to hypervolemic shock or heart failure if the patient has a serious heart problem. Plus I don’t want to be get an extension (it’s equivalent for detention for student nurses).

But regulating IV flow rate is not that a big deal. The big problem would be air bubbles! Yup you heard me. Air bubbles may seem harmless but once 5mL of air bubbles is injected into your blood stream this could lead to pulmonary embolism. Another worst possible situation is when the air bubbles flows to your brain or heart and impedes blood flow. The medical term for air bubbles getting into the body ladies and gentlemen is air embolism.

I also had an experience once when I was in the hospital (this time as a patient), a nurse from a rival school (I’m not telling which school hehehe) came in to inject cefuroxime (an antibiotic for my tonsillitis) through my IV line and when he left I noticed air bubbles! Lots of air bubbles! I stopped the IV infusing and pressed the button calling for any nurse. When the nurse came I told her about the air bubbles and she then removed the air bubbles using a syringe at the connector for “piggybacking” other IV fluids. And then a few hours later I realized that the nurse that almost got me killed with air bubbles was the brother of my brother’s girlfriend. No wonder he’s trying to kill me, I’ll kill myself too if that’s the reason (Lol).

As a student nurse I really hate air bubbles. Sure I can try tapping them so that they could go back to the drip chamber or roll the IV tube with my pen so that the bubbles would disappear into the drip chamber but most of the time it’s easier said than done. And the only way to get rid of them is by aspirating them into a syringe… and this is quite a hassle because as mandated by the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 (R.A. 9173) IV lines are off-limits to students! So I have to run to my clinical instructor and disturb her with her work (hehehe).

So fellow student nurses: if you see air bubbles don’t think it’s cute… it could kill your patient so watch out!

Losing Sight After Drinking Water

(Click Picture to Read Article)

As the very old cliche goes, "Too much of something is bad for you". And this includes substances that are supposed to be good for the health, but when these substances are abused then these become bad for the body; toxic even.

This article is really extraordinary. Imagine drinking 7 liters of water everyday, one would really bloat. Chronic water intoxication leads to hyponatremia as the sodium found in the blood is diluted. As sodium is diluted there is less pressure that retains the water in the blood vessel. If we recall, water will always follow sodium. But since there is no more sodium in the blood vessel then the water seeps into the interstitial tissues and outside the blood vessel.

It's ironic too that the woman drank water to lower her blood pressure not realizing that hypervolemia (an increase in body fluids) would lead to hypertension. And it is this hypertension plus the swelling of the brain cells from all the water lead to occipital bleeding that also lead to the woman being blind.

This is a classic example of a tragic story of health conscious people overdoing their so called health regimens that aren't approved by most health practitioners. Remember people that the recommended water intake per day is only 8-10 glasses per day and not 7 liters per day.

***
I got this e-mail from my mom. She always has interesting health related e-mails that she sends me.

Some Tips on Tube Feeding

I admit that I am no expert on Nasogastric Tube Feedings (NGT Feedings) but I just want to share some nursing tips on how to make feeding easier and of course safely. Here they are:

• Position the person so that he or she is sitting up, or at least so the upper-body is above the level of the stomach.

• Practice good sanitation. Wash your hands before handling the feeding equipment. Wash feeding bags with water. Do not use soap, as it will stick to the inside of the bag and get into the formula. This can cause diarrhea and other unpleasant consequences.

• Feedings should be given at room temperature to minimize risk of cramping and/or diarrhea. Open cans of formula could be kept in the refrigerator, and discarded if not used within 24 hours. They should be taken out 15-20 minutes before a feeding and allowed to warm up to room temperature.

• Always flush the feeding tube with water after a feeding. This will help to prevent the patient from getting dehydrated. It will also prevent the food from getting clogged.

• If medications are to be run down the feeding tube, always be sure they are finely crushed. Flush the tube with water to wash them down.

• If the tube seems to be clogged and a small flush of water isn't effective, a flush of about 100cc of cola may do the trick. You can also try dissolving a quarter teaspoon of meat tenderizer in a teaspoon of water and placing it into the tube. Wait five minutes before flushing again. If none of these strategies work, contact your health care provider(s) for advice.

Everyone: Smile! ^_^

You just have to love the creativity of people these days. You can't help but just be amused and admire the unexpected talents of people. Just like the picture above. If you're wondering, that's actually his real teeth decayed from eating too much chocolates and other sweets. He's using the new Colgate Fresh Confidence toothpaste to bring back the shine and whiteness of his teeth.

No I'm just fooling around. This isn't actually his real teeth. That's just some toy dentures made to look like real rotten teeth. Realistic isn't it? And the model's expression fits the whole picture perfectly.

But this should serve as an important reminder to children of all ages out there that they should never neglect proper oral hygiene because they might soon get the same teeth like the ones shown above, and this time it won't be just a toy dentures.

So kids, if you don't want rotten teeth brush at least three times a day with any toothpaste that is rich in flouride to protect your teeth from cavities and tooth decay.

***Image Notes: The image shown above is the property of Jazzper Samson and is originally found at http://profiles.friendster.com/jazzazzkickr. Please take note that the image has been modified to be funny. ^_^

The Attack of Missy the Doggie

This is one of my best writing so far that I have done in my blogging life that is related to health. ^_^ Just thought that I would share it again with everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a cute doggie called Missy and she's very hyperactive! But there are times that she's calm and just lays around sleeping. Sometimes I think that she might have Bipolar I disorder but again how would I know? A Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) for dogs doesn't exist... yet hahaha!


As I was saying, Missy has these manic times and it's quite alarming! She runs back and forth and then she jumps on you! Good thing she's not that big. One thing that is quite alarming is she loves to bite as her sign of affection. Ouch that's a painful way to say you like someone.

It's a good thing though that we have already vaccinated Missy with Anti-Rabies. Rabies (Latin: rabies, "madness, rage, fury") by the way is a viral zoonotic neuroinvasive disease that causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in mammals (Wikipedia).

The first symptoms of rabies may be nonspecific flu-like signs — malaise, fever, or headache, which may last for days. There may be discomfort or paresthesia at the site of exposure (bite), progressing within days to symptoms of cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, agitation, progressing to delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, and insomnia. The acute period of disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days (6). Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive (CDC).

The virus is spread through the saliva so if your pet is infected and your pet licks you and you have breaks in your skin, you could be infected! You don't have to be bitten to be infected! It could also be spread through aerosol (or saliva droplets when your dog barks) or when you touch contaminated items.



Anti-rabies vaccines are always available at health centers for free so if you are bitten by any animal always consider that animal rabid! Wash the wound, apply antiseptics, and rush to the nearest health center or hospital. Don't wait until the symptoms progress and it's too late!

And also, be responsible pet owners! Have your pets vaccinated and don't allow them to stray outside (they can get rabies from stray dogs).

Remembering that I am a Student Nurse

After being stuck at home doing nothing but blog (not bad at all, Lol) I kind of wanted to remember my life as a student nurse. And my life as a student nurse started on June 23, 2007 and this was my Cap & Badge Investiture & Candle Light Ceremony. This symbolized my being a student-nurse and eventually becoming a Registered Nurse. As my clinical instructors have said, we have no where else to go but up. Hearing these words somehow made me think and I am struck by fear of the great unknown. Will I really be able to face the challenge that my profession has for me?

I thought that being in third year would be easier than second year because of the lesser number of units and subjects, but boy was I wrong. Being in third year is the most difficult stage and this could either mean staying in heaven or going to hell (staying at XU or transferring to Liceo/CU, no offense). I have always been proud of being a consistent dean's lister since 1st year and have received QPI's of 3 and above. But all of that is worth nothing as I struggle to even pass my very demanding and challenging nursing subjects. The fear of failure is my greatest fear today and this fear has made me more humble. There are days that I arrive at my boarding house at 9 pm and the first thing I do is sleep as fatigue, hopelessness, and as I said fear overwhelms me. As everyone thinks, nursing is not just memorization. It also entails problem solving, analysis, and common sense. And these are the characteristics that I am trying so hard to enhance.

But being able to go on duty at Northern Mindanao Medical Center and being able to wear the nursing uniform is consolidating enough for me. I won't give up. The finals are still far away and I will put my heart and soul in order for me to reach my dreams. I have gone this far to go back or go astray from my destiny. I can't seem to picture myself in any other profession aside from nursing (and perhaps medicine).

My experiences as a student-nurse only made my respect and admiration for the Nursing profession grow. Nursing is not just a tool to go abroad for it is a service-oriented profession and it's professionals are not only smart but have empathy and TLC.

I am proud to be a nursing-student, and I will try even harder to be a nurse with knowledge, skills, and attitude!

This is my challenge...

The Death of My Patient

I actually didn't know how to feel when my patient died. It was a sort of mixed emotions that were so strong that I wanted to run away somewhere far. I was so helpless as I watched my patient die. Like I know that sooner or later he was going to die. He had the classic clinical signs of shock like cold clammy skin, he was diaphoretic, his pupils were dilated, and he had consistently low blood pressure. Imagine, I had to re-check if I had the right BP taking because his BP was 40/20 mmHg and this was the first time I've ever encountered this low BP. I was at first excited and happy even that I was experiencing so many new procedures that a normal student nurse could encounter in a medical ward. I was able to assist in inserting a catheter, a nasogastric tube, and I was able to insert an IV fluid as a side-drip. On that same day I was able to observe the insertion of an endotracheal tube and I was able to compress an ambu bag (bag-valve-mask). I have also observed suctioning procedures and even nasogastric tube feeding. My patient was transferred from the medical ward into an (intensive care unit) ICU and of course my partner and I had to go with him. If I didn't have a partner at that time I wonder if I would have survived. we monitored his vital signs every hour, we monitored his O2 Saturation, his ECG, his infusion pump, and he even had a ventilation machine since he was already in coma.

I had a gut feeling that he would die. I just knew it. He had 3 consecutive cardiac arrests and the ward would constantly have to call a cold blue. It was just like in the movies where nurses would inject epinephrine or atropine so that his heart would start beating again. But I just wondered why they never used the defibrilator to revive the patient, they just used the standard CPR. On the third arrest the doctor finally announced the patient dead. I was still deflating and inflating the ambu bag valve mask like crazy because I didn't know whether to continue or just stop. The family of the patient already started crying and their mother called her other children saying that their father had died.

It was weird, I was at first doing procedures to save his life... and then a few hours later I had to remove the tubes and connections that where keeping him alive...

But somehow I don't feel pity for him. Death may be scary and all but he saw it coming. My patient was an alcoholic, drinking too much everyday. I can already imagine him going home late at night drunk and very violent. When you're drunk you become to do stupid things and this has been proven by so many people already. He drun k himslelf to death. That is all that I can say. He had drank so much alcohol that the veins in his liver grew larger until they finally bursted. He had an upper GI bleeding and he literally vomited blood (hematemesis). He went into coma and I guess he died from the bleeding.

Here is a lesson to all alcoholics out there. You just don't kill yourself from drinking. You destroy your family and you become a menace to society when alcohol reaches your brain and you start being stupid. Domestic violence and some crimes happen when people are drunk. Stop drinking!

I don't know why people love to kill themselves. I also had another patient who said that he will stop smoking for a while because he has difficulty breathing and he has blood tinged phlegm. Stop for a while? Why not stop totally? He has been smoking for 30 years (started at age 12) and he hasn't learned that it does nothing good? He's not only killing himself too. His family and the people around him are the ones who are twice affected by his smoking.

Bad vices gets you no where. They may at least make you feel good (as some people say - I wonder how and why) but the outcomes aren't that good. My point? Nothing is gained from smoking and drinking. So too our dragons and drunkards out there have pity on your loved ones. They suffer more than you do.

What Causes Liver Damage?

I received this e-mail from my mom. She always sends me e-mails about anything that relates to good health.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The main causes of liver damage are:

1. Sleeping too late and waking up too late are main cause.
2. Not urinating in the morning.
3. Too much eating.
4. Skipping breakfast.
5. Consuming too much medication.
6. Consuming too much preservatives, additives, food coloring, and artificial sweetener.
7. Consuming unhealthy cooking oil. As much as possible reduce cooking oil use when frying, which includes even the best cooking oils like olive oil. Do not consume fried foods when you are tired, except if the body is very fit.
8. Consuming raw (overly done) foods also add to the burden of liver. Veggies should be eaten raw or cooked 3-5 parts. Fried veggies should be finished in one sitting, do not store.

We should prevent this without necessarily spending more. We just have to adopt a good daily lifestyle and eating habits. Maintaining good eating habits and time condition are very important for our bodies to absorb and get rid of unnecessary chemicals according to "schedule."

Because:

Evening at 9 - 11 pm: is the time for eliminating unnecessary/toxic chemicals (detoxification) from the antibody system (lymph nodes).This time duration should be spent by relaxing or listening to music. If during this time a housewife is still in an unrelaxed state such as washing the dishes or monitoring children doing their homework, this will have a negative impact on health.

Evening at 11pm - 1 am: is the detoxification process in the liver, and ideally should be done in a deep sleep state.

Early morning 1 - 3 am: detoxification process in the gall, also ideally done in a deep sleep state.

Early morning 3 - 5 am: detoxification in the lungs. Therefore there will sometimes be a severe cough for cough sufferers during this time. Since the detoxification process had reached the respiratory tract, there is no need to take cough medicine so as not to interfere with toxin removal process.

Morning 5 - 7 am: detoxification in the colon, you should empty your bowel.

Morning 7 - 9 am: absorption of nutrients in the small intestine, you should be having breakfast at this time. Breakfast should be earlier, before 6:30am, for those who are sick. Breakfast before 7:30am is very beneficial to those wanting to stay fit. Those who always skip breakfast, they should change their habits, and it is still better to eat breakfast late until 9 - 10am rather than no meal at all.

Sleeping so late and waking up too late will disrupt the process of removing unnecessary chemicals. Aside from that, midnight to 4:00 am is the time when the bone marrow produces blood. Therefore, have a good sleep and don't sleep late.

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My Thoughts: I'm guilty of sleeping late and waking up late! I better do something about this if I don't want my liver to be damaged.

The Kid's Question Tag

Got this tag from my Top 1 Favorite Blogger (who is also my Most Frequent Hopper), Juliana aka Mrs. Arm-Pit-Bull. Thanks Juliana! ^_^ This tag was actually for my Grim Angel blog but because I'm mean and greedy I want my way to be done hahaha!

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Kid's Question Tag!



1. Answer the Kid’s Question by Gregory Stock, PH.D. Remember: Don’t respond as you think others want you to. Respond the way you actually feel!
2. Add your name (linked to your blog)
3. Tag everybody else!

Kid’s Question #1
If you were the ruler of the world and you could have anything you wanted as well as have people do anything you wanted, do you think you would get greedy and mean or would you be a good and fair ruler?

My Answer:

Of course I'd be a good and fair ruler. But this is only because I want my people to be happy and content so that I could get what I want from them hahaha! I want them to think that I was a goody-goody so that they would love me and so that I could have the power I need with out the fear of revolts and uprisings.

I am a natural greedy and mean ruler but to keep society in check I have to say I'm good. But in the strange ways of the universe, being greedy and mean brings out improvement and even good? How? Take a look at businessmen for example. Their main objective is not for the benefit of the people rather it's for income and more money. If they didn't want to earn, their products will never improve because they wouldn't waste time, effort, and money on enticing buyers to buy their products.

Jhong, Alpha, Women Xplore, Em, Something Purple, Our Journey to Life, My Planet Purple, Princess Bela, Princess Vien, cookie jar of entertainment, allinkorea, kim, idealpinkrose, korean food, Jackie's Everyday Life, Jackie Simply Pinay, A Whole New World, Tasteful Voyage, A Mom's note, There's no place like home, The Girlicious side of a woman, My Online Journal, Thoughts Of Me, Precious Words, In My Kitchen, Em, Something Purple, Bigeyedgal, Chronic Shopper, A Simple Life, Hailey's Beats and Bits, ,Hailey's Domain, PinayWAHM, Teacher's Corner, Angel in the Sickroom, Grim Angel, Your Link Here

And I tag everyone (hahaha did I take it literally?)! Yup everyone who reads this post. If you want to take this tag then go ahead and be my guest. ^_^

On Blogrolls and Exchanging Links

Wooh! I guess I have to go to sleep now. It's already 1:08 AM in the morning and I'm only half way through my adding of links process. I'm informing my present blogging buddies that I have a new blog (this one ^_^) and that I'm going to stop updating my other blog, My Nurses Notes, and allow it to die a natural death before I completely delete it. I'm still going to retain my Grim Angel blog though since I can't delete my original baby, my first blog since June 17, 2005!

So to my blogging friends please update your links and change http://mynursesnotes.blogspot.com to http://blog.edgarvincentbautista.com. You may ask me why I didn't just redirect my My Nurses Notes to my own domain. The answer would be I want to create a new blog from scratch. Sure that would be time consuming and tiring but it sure does feel good to see your newly created blog grow and slowly get traffic and meet people who appreciate you and your work.

And to all those people who wants to link me, I welcome you with open arms and open legs (Lol!). But please do patient if I don't reply to you right away since I might still be updating my links from my old blogging friends.

To all bloggers in the Blogosphere: Happy Blogging to all of Us! ^_^

Operating Room Experience