Ocean Adventure

It is fun to watch dolphins jumping and swimming beside a moving ship. How much more if you can watch them perform in a show and you can even command, touch and play with them afterwards.

     Again, another bonding trip with my family. This time it is a part of my birthday celebration. After a 3 hour ride from Manila, we finally arrived at Ocean Adventure, nestled in Subic Bay within the Subic Bay Free Port Zone in Zambales    ( a former American Naval Base). As we parked our vehicle, I noticed that the area is marked by forested mountains in the background with a sign "do not feed the monkeys". I eagerly looked for one monkey but there was none that day.  We were late for the Sea Lion Show and we can hear the delighted applause and laughing of the audience. We settled for the Dolphin Show and as we waited we can see the picturesque horizon of the bay together with the dolphin holding area and the trainers. Once in a while few dolphins are bobbing and swimming around the pens. A bigger fish is swimming with the dolphins and introduced later as a false killer whale. (Please read the entire post at domingobuen.blogspot.com).

Why is Labor So Cheap in the Philippines

All of us want to improve our quality of life. It is our right to utilize our resources to achieve this. But what can we do if these resources are controlled by an influential few?

      My daughter who came home recently from a bridging program in Australia told me that she was asked by a female Australian nurse on why do Filipino professionals go to foreign countries to work. Her answer was straight and simple: “Our salary in our country is low compared to your country. A nurse in the Philippines earns only P9,000.00 to P10,000.00 or around $200.00 per month”.  Maybe you immediately got the idea that there are already too many registered nurses in the Philippines that is why their salaries are cheap. Please read the entire article at domingobuen.blogspot.com.

Political Will

     I laud the effort of the government and the private sector to clean up the “esteros” or waterways of Metro Manila including the Pasig River. This is not an easy task considering the manpower and logistics requirement of the project. But the most important part of this clean up drive is the relocation of squatters along the waterways. It is the squatters along these waterways who throw their garbage and dirt such that any clean up drive would be futile if they are allowed to stay. I know there are laws about the construction of residential structures near the waterways to ensure accessibility, flood control, sanitation and safety of the people residing in the area. Please read the whole article at domingobuen.blogspot.com.

Do's and Don'ts of Dialysis Patients

     The first thing that a dialysis patient should not do is to drink too much water especially when his/her urine output is low or very low because this could cause edema (swelling) of the legs and other body parts. The worst that a dialysis patient can get from drinking too much water is pulmonary edema wherein water could enter the lung cavity resulting to difficulty in breathing and high blood pressure. If the situation becomes serious the lung could not anymore function properly and the last resort for the doctor is intubation (putting a tube in the trachea of the patient to facilitate breathing with the help of a manual/mechanical pump). Read the whole post at domingobuen.blogspot.com.

Hope with All your heart and Soul

Hope With All your Heart And Soul

    I once came across a shared line in Facebook which read like this: "Hope but don't expect". At first I found it hard to fully comprehend the meaning of this because how can you hope for something without expecting it to come true. Even others say that when you pray for something, you should consider it done. A 100 percent expectation. (Please read the entire article at domingobuen.blogspot.com)

Hundred Islands Memoirs

 It is good to reminisce the past when there was a time when we all had free time to enjoy the sun and the beach on one of our road trips. Temporary but quality moments that money can't buy.

     

     It is summer time once again and time for vacation and fun. This brings memories of our summer outings with my family many years back when we had a chance to visit our relatives in my father’s hometown (Please read the entire post at domingobuen.blogspot.com)

Part 1: The Life of a Hemo-Dialysis Patient (by Buen T. Domingo)

The Beginning:       

It all started when I was about 20 years old when I had my urine examined due to a suspected urinary tract infection. Not only I had an infection but the result showed that my kidneys are leaking proteins which means that something is wrong with my kidneys. The doctor diagnosed it to be a chronic kidney infection and will recur every now and then. My reaction is fear followed by a calming or re-assuring thought that maybe the doctor is not accurate in her diagnosis and all will be well again after I finished taking my medicines. So years have passed by and I did not concentrate on the condition of my kidneys. I continued to live normally except for the occasional bouts of colds and flu with sore throat and frequent stomach discomfort which I associated with hyper-acidity. So I took constant dose of anti-acid medication which I realize now that it had aggravated my kidney disease and the stomach discomfort that troubled me is due to my failing kidneys because I have read that indigestion is one of the symptoms of renal failure. I graduated from college, worked in a government agency and even started my masters degree, then I started to feel pain at the back of my neck with accompanying nausea (feeling or urge to vomit). I felt more of these symptoms after I ate a salty meal. I decided to go to the hospital and had a check-up. My result showed that I have high blood pressure and so the doctor gave me a maintenance drug to control my BP. I was about 25 years old then and again I realize now that the damage to my kidneys at that time is increasing.

The Development of the Disease:

       I continued with my life as usual, ate whatever food that I want and drunk alcohol occasionally but I continued to take my maintenance medicines on a regular basis. I still experienced symptoms of high blood pressure especially when I over ate or drunk too much alcohol. I did not put much attention to my disease until I had a medical check-up again. I am doing field work for a private bank at that time and I constantly felt body aches and discomfort. This is when my doctor said that my heart was affected by my uncontrolled high BP. I am more sick because of my un-treated kidney disease which is still not pronounced then because the creatinine(indicates kidney function) level in my blood is in the upper normal. My doctor said that I should eat less fat and more on fish and vegetables. This is the start of my DIE with a T (diet) which I did not follow religiously. One time I felt ill and I was hospitalized in Tagbilaran City. I did not feel well even after I checked out of the hospital so I decided to have a medical check-up at Cebu Doctors Hospital and the Nephrologist advised that I should undergo a "workout" (a series of physical and laboratory check-ups). We have to cross the sea to get to Cebu and we don't have a house where we can stay so I decided to be admitted to the hospital while waiting for the results. I thought my stay will only take for a week, but weeks have passed and my nephrologist prescribed me a medicine for high BP that unfortunately gave me an adverse reaction. My BP shoot up to 200/110 and three doctors stood by my bedside since I was also suffering from schemic(lack of oxygen) heart disease then. I was lucky, it was not my time to die yet. I got out of the hospital after a month, spending my Christmas and New Year's eve in a hospital room. The hospital bills? Our office paid the expense since it was part of my benefits. I religiously took my medicines, followed my diet and had regular check-ups at Cebu Doctors. However, it did not took long after I was hospitalized and I was back in Cebu Doctors Hospital again due to the effect of my steroid medication which affected the beating of my heart. I was also admitted in St. Lukes and Capitol Medical Center in Manila. When I was in the hospital in Cebu, the doctor said that there will come a time that I will undergo dialysis and I prayed to God if he could give me just six years without dialysis. I monitored my creatinine once in a while and it was stable at 2.5 to 2.8 and as the years passed by, I thought my kidneys are good and forgot about the medical check-ups. I ate what I want and indulge with alcohol. One day I went out for brisk walking and I had to walk through a steep road, I was not expecting that I would have difficulty in catching my breath but it happened that I almost passed out catching my breath. I am getting old I told myself and didn't took it seriously but as the months passed by it is not only difficulty in breathing that I felt, I also felt nauseous and vomited as if I could spill out my stomach. One night, my mouth was very dry and I am very thirsty. I thought that my blood sugar is high so I decided to have my blood sugar level and creatinine checked in the laboratory. The result shocked me because my blood sugar level is normal but my creatinine is 13 which is very high compared to the high normal of 1.7 to 2.0. I immediately contacted a Nephrologist and she advised me to have a complete blood count (CBC). The result showed that my hemoglobin (helps in distributing oxygen to the cells) is only 6.0 while the normal is 12-14 and I am anemic (low red blood cells count). I realized that my difficulty in catching my breath is due to my anemic condition and my vomiting is due to my failing kidneys. My Nephro advised me to be admitted as soon as possible. At the hospital where I was admitted, they transfused me with 4 bags of blood and operated on me for my emergency access for dialysis. I prayed for six years without dialysis since I was admitted at Cebu Doctors Hospital, that was twenty years ago! God gave me 20 years instead of six years. Praise the Lord almighty! (to be continued; watch out for Part 2).