Lechon of my life!

Before i start my ode to my favorite food, let me apologize for not sending entries to the past 2 or 3 TBR's. I would have ranted on the unfit and cheating TO on the "Mentors, Tormentors" and would have written on my Lolo who shouldered my medical school bill with an iron hand on "The Doctor's Family".

The thing is the whole Colgate Family (yes, colgate! kay kada pislit sirit) went to the Surfing Kingdom in Siargao, were my entire GI system was wrecked. I puked most of the time due to the gigantic waves that rocked the small Cokaliong ship from Cebu to Surigao, then Surigao to Cebu, Surigao to Siargao and Siargao to Surigao.

I cried for the delicious Surigao BBQ, the lobster and king prawns and yes, the LECHON, that has to forcefully leave my stomach.

Congressman Lalo, welcoming us!

Surfing on dry land.


On the shores of Naked Island.

And now back to LECHON....

Lechon is synonymous to celebration in every Pinoy's mind.

But for this Pinay, CEBU LECHON is it.

I have to admit that there is no better lechon than a CEBU LECHON. You can argue or quarrel with me but I will stick to my Cebu Lechon. I can eat it any time of the day. It can be leftover adobong lechon with the crispy skin or the lechon paksiw with vinegar (my mouth is watering), sarap!

Years ago, my friend and I craved for a lechon. So, we went to SM Fairview (i reviewed for med licensure exam at Tating's Boarding house in Fairview) to look for one. There was a big signage in the food court "Lechon Cebu". We were so excited, we bought one kilo right away. Yes, virginia, one kilo for the two of us. With the first excited bite, we grimaced because it was not as we expected it to taste , it was hard, dry and bland. We have to drown it with the sad gravy they gave us, just to swallow it. We were cursing all the time we ate it. Well, we have to ate it kay sayang, mahal ang kilo. And we vowed never again to eat Lechon in Manila.

During residency, whenever the interns or the PGI's behaved or made a good job, I sometimes bring with them to my Lechon-eating-binges. During my "leche days", only the good ole Lechon can change the scowl to a smile.

Happy Lechon Day!

bawal mag-laway!

PS.

Dr. Ness, thank you for missing me! Touch ayo ko adto ha!

Do I Practice What I Preach?

posing jud ni manang ay!
VS 48-38-48

pagka-tiki!
VS 34-24-34

ayawg na lang pangutana kung unsa ning anyoha.
(don't asked what year is this)
darfur is farthest from my mind.

you be the judge!
now, do I !?

Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur

I never thought that i can visit the place of my ancestors, the illustrious Villaluz Clan of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. My Lolo always talked about the place. I always imagined it as something mystical and their Kamayo dialect a music to hear, when relatives come visiting, with no 'rrrr's" and replaced with the 'yyyy's'. Like all small towns, everybody is a relative many times over and everybody knows everyone.
We took the 1:30 am Bachelor bus out of Butuan City and rode the dawn away, with the bumps and the invisible dusts making our hair straight stiff. We arrived at 5:30 am and people were already up and about in the streets. There was a pan-de-sal man with his 'put-put' and the 'labasera' with her fresh catch of fish from the bountiful sea of Hinatuan. The place is known for their biggest crabs, as they have fattening farms, fresh shrimps, prawns and fresh fish.

My uncle bebong served us the biggest grilled tuna belly i have ever seen. Pwerteng lami-a! We ate it in the banks of the the Enchanted River, Hinatuan's secret pride. The brackish water was very cool and clear, you can see your feet under water.

the lonely terminal

the slides with many sides

the streets of home

dutch inspired church

the clearest water ever of the Enchanted River

i can see my feet in the water

floating Uncle

Kid's Meme

Copy here:

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?

i would be everything, because i hate to be perfect. i would get greedy sometimes then makonsensya ako, so magiging fair ruler na naman ako. Siyempre tao lang ako, so i can get mean and angry to those who hurt me, after i taught them a lesson, magiging good ulit ako.

thanks to doc joey!

TBR 7: My Precious

i *heart* the Philippines because........

somebody will do the laundry for me.

someone will wash the dishes.

i can eat "buwad" on a whim.

i can sleep whenever i wanted to and how i wanted to.

since the rat race is not for me,

this is where i want to belong, in my precious island.



it is here in the Pearl of the Orient Seas that i can all do this,



so, i can never leave on a jet plane.
i stayed because i loved to.

The Rectal Playground: Mga mirisi!

what is that snellen's chart doing there ?

The perfume spray fiasco is only a glimpse of what perverts can do to their ass holes. Admittedly, there are people who find joy in this anal eroticism, for whatever sick pleasure they get from it.

This is what happens when a foreign body is not retrieved per rectum, it has to be taken abdominally.

A comprehensive review of scientific papers has been done to document this embarrassing phenomenon.

A list has been made of the favorite toys of this imbalanced individuals.

Some radiographic images of what these sickies inserts up their ass when they wanted to play.

message in a bottle


tube inside


shaving cream can inside

ass drinking coke

shot glass on the wrong end

eggs!

Mga mirisi!

My Fab Five

I love you, Carson!

the movie is sooo over familiar, you've seen it at least thrice in a year,
in another production
be it local or foreign.
no new plot, stagnant script writing.
ten minutes into the movie, i knew the ending without second thoughts.
even the much hyped cinematography,
no new offering.

creative people
save your pride, do much more than this
or else
we are still 10,000 BC behind.

Meron ba tayo nyan? cheeseburger!

The Philippine Healthcare System is a big joke! Philippine ray tinuod ani, kay wa man tay HEALTHCARE, labaw pang wa tay SYSTEM! (Translation: Philippine is the only true thing in the statement, we have no HEALTHCARE to speak of, much more SYSTEM!)

Dr. Merricherri is encouraging us to have a no holds barred post. This topic had already made a deep and ugly cut, close to gangrene, among medical practitioners, so she doesn't even have to encouraged us. We are already seething with frustration and vexations.

In particular, I will rant (rant daw oh!, cheeseburger!) on the present brouhaha over the social insurance of our beloved republic and cataract surgeries. A hot topic for every eye doctor who cares.

It is so unfair for all of us eyemd's to be dumped into one basket with the rotten eggs. I felt that we were being persecuted, judged and being bludgeoned, even if we have not make a violation of their circulars. Us, the new graduates have felt the mega shocks of the rotten egg's actions, the collateral damage of greed and avarice.

Is it our fault that we can easily do many surgeries in a day? Is it our sin that cataract surgical steps have been overly simplified ? and that advances in technology has been good to us ?

Are we being unethical if we do cataracts without co-pay?

Patients talk and they have their own language.

Our group practice doesn't cater to the above average economic strata, the big eye centers in the neighboring city had already captured that niche. We are left with their crumbs and our clinic mostly received the minimum wage earner patients; the middle class, seldom strays in our door. These type of patients have bet all their hopes in their social insurance benefits. Arangan man sad kung dili nimo operahan kung dili ka c0-pay, bisag kinahanglan na jud sila nga operahan, ka dakung sala niana sa Diyos. (in english: Its a great sin against the Lord if you will not operate on this patients just because they cannot co-pay,even if they really need the surgery.english yan, cheeseburger ulit!) Whatever skills you have right now, you owe it to the Lord. Pay the Lord forward. People wanted to see the colors of God's creation again. Ug kinsa ka man nga mu-pugong?. (trans: and who are you to stop this?) We'd rather keep our conscience.

Let me clarify, we don't do any recruitments, missions or paying social insurance memberships for patients. We don't hire any cataract seekers in any form. We don't even have a panaflex sign outside the hospital. We only have our commitment to serve and the goal to earn an honest living for our family. You may raised eyebrows here, but it doesn't matter, we know ourselves better. Or yet, were still wet in the ears and is ignorant of the ways of the world.

We, at the eye clinic are all newbies, we graduated the same year and we all live in the same city. So instead of having separate clinics , we decided to unite our resources in establishing a fairly presentable and the only EYE CLINIC in the only decent hospital in the city. Mind you, we come from the different training centers in the island, but during our training we never felt any animosity towards each other even if our own training centers are in stiff competition.

And now, eye mds are being limited on the number of pxs we can claim citing that the volume of our surgeries can deplete their resources. For those fraudulent claims, there is no question that it should be denied outright and even reprimanded but what about us, who consciously follow the rules?

For every 10 insured members, only 2 will claim for their sickness for that year, that's how insurance works, right? To put it simply, you are counting on those members who are not sick to pay for those who got sick and difference is your profit. And membership is mandated, so wala kang lusot. And not everyone will get sick at the same time.

Even for those Family Card they are giving, the politicians paid millions for the membership fees advanced for 1 year. A politician friend made a non official survey of the cards that they distributed, he found out that not even 20% was used by his constituents. And almost all politicians in the archipelago have distributed this family card, motives considered.

But as one executive said, they are only giving us the privilege to be accredited to their insurance company. Short of saying, if you don't like us, the door is open.

And this sucks, bigtime!

Philippine Healthcare System. Meron ba tayo nyan?

The Bora Adventure

Lawyering in the beach

It's the time of year again, that we have to withdraw our vacation fund for a perfect family get-away.
In a spur of the moment decision, Boracay is it!

The travel expenses alone is already a call center employee's two months salary.
But we didn't expect was the many fees that we have to endure before hitting the powdery sand, while the boat ride is only P19.50, the port terminal fee P50, the jetty terminal and the environment fee P50 !
(why do men collect payment, when God gave it us for free).
I only hope that this payments will go to were it's intended for.
And the locals have mastered the art of padding everything, for a P5 tricycle ride in Caticlan, they will charge you P40 aside from the tricycle terminal fee of P50. That's already 3 terminal fees you have to pay. For a P10 tricycle fee in the island, they charged P20. huwah!
In the island, almost all people are 'commissioners', they get a percentage of all the 'whatevers' from the tourists, local and more on the foreigners. And the food is so expensive !

But I admit, Bora is the ultimate beach vacation. But its no place for penny pinchers!

The best tasting ice cream in the whole world!

The Shadows on Paraw!

Resting our feet in the sands

Swimming in the sand

Having a night fun with Reggae music

Sprawling on the beach at night

Building sand castles

To all Pinoy Md's who wants to join the 4th Filipino Blog Rounds, please send your posts to dokhey@yahoo.com.ph.

The 4th Blog Rounds of Filipino MD's : The Doctor as a Patient, a personal journey in the world of the sick.

This is it! Ni-abot na jud ang baby ni BoneDoc!

Pinoy Doctor Bloggers, welcome to my little payag! Pasensya na walang breakfast o snacks man lang, wala daw budget yung med rep natin. BBYOB lang tayo muna (bitbit your own baon!)

Mukhang wala nang panic attack ang lola nyo kasi ang happy niya na ang daming nagpadala ng entries para sa rounds na ito. Halos sanlibong website ang binisita nya para lang mag-plug o kaya'y nag-maka-awa na sumali na intawn sa 4th TBR, baka kasi lalangawin, nakaka-hiya naman kina doc remo, doc clairebear at my tokayo, doc termulo. Buti naman at may na-awa sa lola nyo.

Walang exempted sa sakit! Heto na ang ating mga kaibigang pinoy MD's mula sa kanilang mga sari-saring kaharian at pinaunlakan tayo sa kanilang mga personal na paglakbay sa mundo ng may-sakit.

Ang kaibigan natin na may pinaka-malakas na bulong sa buong sanlibutan ay nagkulong sa Room 717, ano kayang ginagawa nya doon? May naka-pagsabi sa akin, pang- morning endorsement talaga daw ang kaso. Dami daw bumisita na mga taga-showbiz sa kanya. Bumisita kaya si Papa Piolo? Maki-balita nga kaya ako sa kanya.

Si Kumareng MerryCherry ay kasama na ngayon nila Boy Abunda at Christy Fermin sa (sabay tayo) THE Buzz! . At alamin natin kung bakit bugbug sarado yung telepono niya sa ka katatawag sa mga ORL's.

Ang ating pabolusong pinoy doctor na nandoon ngayon sa bansa nila Nicole Kidman at Heath Ledger ay may payo sa atin. Pareho pala kaming takot sa karayom. Ang hirap pala yung dinaanan nya nong pediatric resident pa siya dito sa Pinas. Basahin nyo yung ICU experience niya.

Mula sa karagatan ng Visayan Sea, ang bagong dating sa lupain ng mga Haciendero na si dr shark ay may buong tiwala sa kanyang attending pag-nagkasakit siya. Mas maalagaan ka daw ng ibang doctor kung hindi mo ito ini-inis ng mga kilometrong tanong. Basahin natin kung bakit sa tingin ko siya ang perfect na model sa ating paksang, the doctor as a patient.

At si , dr. gigi ay may kaibigan na nagsabi na "a barber should not cut his own hair", just imagine him doing it, he might end up like Mr T. I share with dr. gigi, that please don't remind us of our own mortality. Life is so good if you're still alive!

While all of us were feeling the apprehensions and fear, our anesthesia lady, had tears that says "I felt so cared for and that was why I was crying.". To think that she was still having cases hours before her OR schedule. Amazing woman!

Truly the essence of a woman, is when she gives her power of life to her child. Let's hold dr. joey's hand as she relive the day that she unleashed this power.

BoneMd as the recipient of her mother's power of life was placed in an emotional roller coaster and had to endure the biggest task as the doctor of the family. His post had me dyspneic! A son's love to a mother is the greatest love of all. Press here para madami na tayong mag-dyspnea.

Our Pinay Megamom is telling us that we, doctors are indeed terrible patients, short of asking us to live what we are preaching to our patients (her dad is a good convert). And not be like the endocrine specialist who met a fate that is not uncommon with the rate we're going. This post had me dyspneic too.

"We cannot give what we don't have". Dr. Noel's essay on famous doctors who became patients themselves and had the opportunity to put all their experiences in writing sums this up nicely. And i didn't know that John Keats was a physician, i thought he was a romantic poet only! Discover more, here.

The huggable dr. clairebear is now a text book! Joke-joke-joke! She's just undergoing a text book case of a disease and its making her the worst patient ever!

Dr. Emer is craving for his favorite pancit, but i doubt it if he will still be thinking of his beloved noodle after it had wrought havoc on his digestive system. But once a pancit lover will always be a pancit lover, palabok included!

As an ender to this rounds, let us ponder on what dr. martin wrote on his entry, "Our illness is our inability to fully appreciate the exceptional blessing bestowed to us of being able to leave this world a better place."

Taymsa! Pahabol! the heatwave is in the building! yahoo was going gaga last night, i was not able to open my email. now lo and behold, there was simmering presence in the inbox from the man himself, doc harry. Get carried away with his rant !


Paumanhin po sa Tagalog ko, hindi naman halata na medyo baluktot, hehehe. Feel ko lang mag-Tagalog ngayon, kathang pormal sa high school pa yata ako last nakapag-sulat ng mahaba-habang saysay sa Tagalog. Pero, di ko kinaya. I'm so sorry for my poor attempt.

Thank you so much to all the participating Pinoy Md Bloggers!
Mabuhay tayong lahat (na walang sakit)!

For further information on the Pinoy Md's Blog Rounds, please click here.
If you want more of this rounds, click here for the schedules.
See you At Random Ness for the next rounds.

The Filipino Md Blog Rounds: The Doctor as a Patient

(I decided to post this early so that other participants of the Blog Rounds would have ample time to compose their entry. Since, I know that these are busy people doing great service to humanity and beyond. And, I will be going on a week long trip and I might not be able to get an internet connection. Please email your entry at dokhey@yahoo.com.ph Deadline for the 4th round of the TBR will be on April 8, 2008. I will be waiting. For further info, you may visit doc remo's site here. )

I was having panic attacks on what my topic would be for the TBR, then I remember the CBC I had last week, and boy, was I afraid of the needle!

As tears were running down my face, my son was laughing that mommy was crying while having CBC, when he doesn't even flinched when he had one last month. And my husband's hand had nail marks on it, it would have been teethmarks ! It was that painful. And the waiting for the result was most agonizing, Im afraid to see the platelet count. Dengue Fever is having a party here in our island. Walang sina-santo, bata ug tiguwang!

Yes! I will admit it now, I'm afraid of needles..... medical needles in particular. There's something on the IV needle that makes may stomach curl and the syringe needle, ugh! i hate the pointed menacing look.

I've had my share of sticking needles to other patients, and it doesn't bother me. I even stick it in the eye and Im steady as a stick. But how come when it's your turn to be prick, hell just breaks loose.

Doctors, are you afraid of the needles?

Doctors can get sick too. We are not exempted from aches, fevers,cold, you can include cancer, tumors, and TB too.

And I thought, this could be a nice topic for the TBR.

Are we afraid to be sick? Are we afraid to treat our family?
Are we afraid to treat our fellow MD's?

Why do we always advice other MD's not treat friends and relatives, it's better if we refer it to somebody? Are we afraid to treat them?

Ok, angkunon na lang nako. I'm afraid to treat them. I'm afraid to make mistakes, you see for every treatment choice for them, you have to think a million times of the various side effects and complications before you actually order it. You have to be cerebral about it. But we're sometimes ruled by our emotions. On the other hand, if the modalities you ordered came out undesirable, you will be blamed to death by those you loved. You will lose friends and referrals. They will not listen to your argument of the difference between complications and side-effects. To them, you simply failed. Ugghh!

On the other hand, whenever my son (katong baby pa siya) had fever, i always panic and over-react. I most often grab the highest generation of antibiotics. Then, after a day, fever subsided and his pedia would often tell me, simple hydration would have done the job. Looking back on this, again, I'm afraid that I would be blamed that I haven't done my best as a doctor-mother.

Or I am the only one feeling this way?

Hosting

Guys, i'll be hosting the The Filipino Md Blog Rounds 2 weeks from now, and i'm panicking.
I don't have a topic yet! and the pressure is building up, knowing that there are more than 30 MD bloggers roaming ,lurking and sniffing.
Pressure! Pressure!
Nganong ni-enter!??