Tummy Aches and Vomiting WhenYou're 5

Sunday morning around 6 , i woke up to Maggie crying in pain.  She also vomited in bed.  After about 4 vomits later and persistent cry of pain in her stomach, i brought her to the emergency department of Makati Medical Center.  She was injected with Plasil and then about 45 minutes later Benadryl for the vomiting.   Around lunch time we were told to go home without any diagnostic procedures done apparently because, it won't show in the results because it would still be very early.  She was prescribed with Pedialite and hydrite after, e-zinc.  Sometimes, the tummy aches disappear and then comes back but what was consistent was that she would throw up even with just a sip of the hydrite or pedialite.

Since we were told to follow up with her pedia, i had her checked again monday morning with a cocolife accredited pediatrician Dr. Rita Dolendo who specializes in Neonatology.  Had i insisted to have Maggie checked by Dr. Avancena, i would have to shell out for the medical expenses because she's not accredited by cocolife.  Anyway, Dr. Dolendo wanted her admitted because she was weak which was probably due to dehydration. And so here she is ...,

 

She was visited later in the day by her 2 elder sisters and as expected it was noisy for a time.

Until it was time to go, and it was quite and she misses them.  I miss not seeing Amir who still breastfeeds.  Maggie is a little bit her normal self now and i pray we can go home already.

Men like it hot!

I don't get this. We raise our daughters to be modest and yet men prefer the sexy ones, those that show off more skin than what is modest by filipino standards and label them hot.  Apparently, our bachelor president is the same.  No offense meant to all sexy ladies ha, i do think that every woman wants to be sexy.  I just don't get it perhaps because I am not a man.

 Is this Barbie Palagos who was supposedly the President's date?

While it maybe true that he has the pick of the litter since he is still single, he should have been more considerate towards the feelings of her former girlfriend and her family.  As it is right now, to be seen in public to dating supposedly one Barbie Palagos is such a public renunciation of her relationship with the beautiful  and smart Shalani Soledad.  He could just invite Barbie Palagos for dinner at malacanang, then maybe after a period of time when everybody has accepted her break up with Shalani then that will be the time that he can parade his new conquest in public.  If Noynoy is used to the scandals caused by his sister Kris Aquino, then he should have spared Shalani's who seems to be a very nice and private person.  I can just imagine what Shalani goes through during council meetings.  Everybody will be whispering, giving her pitying looks.  It is such an unkind act for President Noy and for once, i regretted having endorsed him.  Not that my single vote would matter.  But there may be others who are feeling the same way that i do. Truly.  I figured if you can't spare your ex-girlfriend with kindness, you would probably be not my kind of president. I think he will have a backlash of public opinion especially coming from the women population.

He is an old bachelor who does not seem able to hold on to a relationship although there were many women linked to him in the past like korina sanchez, bernadette sembrano, diana zubiri, barbara milano.  Even now certain names have risen linking him to Patricia Ann Roque and Liz Uy who is said to be personally liked by Kris Aquino. But some of these are just conjectures.  Really,  I guess without Cory Aquino telling him, he probably was just excited to date once again and discarded Shalani.  Me thinks, he no longer had feelings for Shalani even before the election but it would not help him win if he breaks up with Shalani who seemed to be favored and loved by the public.

Oh well, to each his own.

MMC Medical Records

With all the advances makati medical center made in terms of investments in state-of-the-art equipment and training of its medical staff, you'd think that there's little room for improvement now. Actually, there is still an area in makati med that needs improvement and i am referring to the services of the Medical Records department as well as the Admissions department which is responsible for the release of the certificate of live birth.

When i gave birth last April 9, 2010 ,i actually expected to get the certificate of live birth anytime before the discharge as what happened with my previous childbirth experience with other hospitals in the province or at least a week after discharge. Instead, we were given a certificate of live birth claim slip that says that we have to call mmc after a month for confirmation if a temporary copy of the birth certificate is already available. A month after and it's not even sure we can get the copy of a TEMPORARY birth certificate! When i called them up 8888-999 loc 3002 i was told it would take that long because the draft certificate of live birth we submitted will have to be typed and then signed by the attending obgyne. Also, they will have it registered first. But really, a month? For such a hospital like MMC who prides itself in providing first class service? Uggh...

Anyway, a day after discharge i needed to return to MMC for newborn screening. Since my philhealth benefit was not yet deducted from my bill, i was told by philhealth to get a delivery report as support for my updated mdr and filing of my claim for reimbursement. I decided to go the the medical records to request for such copy, i actually thought i will be able to bring home one upon request but i was told that i have to wait for 3 more weeks to follow up. During that time, i witness a client who was obviously very angry and not caring that she's scolding the staff for such lousy service. Apparently, she also requested a medical report and she already did follow ups(i dont know how many) but nothing came of it. She asked for the name of the doctor who made a surgery on her coz she wanted to talked to the doctor herself, and according to her, she didn't even know that a surgery was made on her. She told the staff at the counter that if she missed her flight, would mmc shoulder her plane fare?

It didn't help that the attitude of the MMC employee was like, he didn't know the status of the request. He can't even placate the irate client. When it's my turn to file a request, he asked for my name, asked for the date of delivery, consulted with a colleague after which he returned to me and just gave me a piece of paper containing a number with which to contact for follow ups. Maybe he is a new employee, or hungry because its nearing 1 o'clock and he has not had lunch yet, or maybe he just doesn't care.

Even if records management is not your flagship service, still it is important to us your client.

An update: This morning i had my follow up consultation with my obgyne and i proceeded to the medical records just to check if the requested delivery report was ready for release even though i was told the first time i filed that i have to follow it up after 3 weeks. I was pleasantly surprised when the report is ready and there was no hassle at all just after 10 days of my giving birth. It's a considerable improvement considering i was actually expecting to get it a month after. I'm conceding therefor that i may have been too hasty in my opinion and maybe that woman who i chanced upon loudly complaining at the medical records may have had a different problem with mine and perhaps it is an isolated incident. Also, when i went to Admissions a duplicate copy of the birth certificate stamped registered was ready when they said that it will also be available after a month. I would therefor conclude that i am now satisfied with the MMC's medical records and admissionn department but then again, they could still improve it perhaps a week after request of the reports? There's always room for improvement, right?

Mommy for the 3rd time around..

The first day of my last menstrual period was July 15, i think. So the estimated birth of my baby will be on or before April 23 of 2010. I planned to start my maternity leave April 16, so that i will still be receiving a salary for the first half of April but by April 6, i was just too lazy perhaps because my discomfort in boarding a jeep is becoming unbearable lately. It would have been nice if a taxi is readily available but it is so difficult to get a taxi near our place.

Anyway, the latest appointment I had with my obgyne was April 5 and she said that i'm already 4 cm dilated. I also noticed that my mucus discharge has increased considerably. I have been expecting actually that my water bag will burst anytime soon but i was mistaken. Friday came and later in the afternoon i already found spots of blood with my mucus discharges. After taking a bath and making sure that i have everything i needed, we(hubby,my mama, and michelle) went to Makati Med. I checked in at the delivery room immediately at about thirty minutes past five pm.

Upon check-in, a nurse gave me a gown with which to change and a plastic with which to put my dress and underwear. I was strapped to a fetal monitor and some other equipment. The doctors and nurses were very nice and accomodating and careful as well as mindful of my inhibitions. Even after having been through personal vaginal examinations, and other tests, one really never gets used to having yourself exposed. Not unless you are Maria Ozawa, but that's another topic.

Anyway, My obgyne is Dr. Nora Figueroa-Santos and during one of my pre-natal consultations with her, i already stated my preference for the Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery package of MMC which costs 47,500 inclusive of a private room with tv, as well as an epidural anesthesia but expects some other items added into your bill because of other medications that will be administered while yet in the delivery room. The package calls for a 50% downpayment upon check in and the other balance payable upon check-out. In my 2 previous successful pregnancy and delivery, i never had an epidural. It was natural delivery all the way. In an epidural anesthesia, a local anesthetic was administered to me so that when the "real" anesthesia is inserted in between my spine it would not be as painful. The pain i felt was more than a prick but it really was bearable. I no longer felt any sensation in my legs and even my lower back, there was no pain except that i had uncontrollable chill which made me very tired as i tried to control my muscles especially my shoulders. I vomited 3 times, my bp shoot to 150/90, i had pain in the nape of my neck and i had negative thoughts which i refused to entertained. My normal bp even during pregnancy is only at 90/60. I remember i just kept on repeating praying the Lord's Prayer. Sometime during the night the effect of the anesthesia lessened and i felt the need to defecate which in an indication that i was near giving birth, finally.

Since i won't be able to feel the contraction when they will give me another dose of the anesthesia, they told me to listen to them because it will be them who will give me the signal on when to take a deep breath, hold it for about 10 counts and pushed. True enough, when they whirled me into the OR, i only gave me just enough time to set up the equipments and get ready for the birthing. In my second set of pushing baby maggie is already out. And i am just really thankful that me and my baby are ok and that God heard our prayers and the Novenas to Our Mother of Perpetual Help came through. I think Dr. Nora Santos did some repair stitches on me, and i have to say that she was really very nice to me during the whole birthing process, and also the anesthesiologist, the nurses and even the non-medical staff who helped me during the administration of the epidural. At first impression, i thought Dr. Nora was a bit stand offish and looks down on lesser mortals but apparently, I was wrong.

I stayed a little bit more at the recovery room after which they changed my gown in preparation for the transfer to my room. Hubby waited for me at the lobby of the 6th floor together with mama. I told him to just go home so that he could rest properly but he left only morning of the next day. Baby Maggie was roomed in with me. And i am just so happy seeing her. The kind of happiness which is warm, and content and calm. And i thought of AJ and Abby, and my joy just trippled. At that moment, all the sting of my other problems just seem like hazy thing of the past. And i dont have to think about them.

Praise God.

Uppity people

Last week i have been referred to a dermatologist in makati med by my ob-gyn because i have some red and itchy spots in my tummy near my belly button and on my legs. I am writing about the experience not because she is a bad doctor but rather on how i was treated. She was actually very thorough in taking my medical history etc..and reprimanded me on why it has taking me so long to consult about my condition and how it was not safe to self-medicate due to my pregnancy, which i did appreciate.

She was not really a warm person, the type where they make you feel at ease. When i greeted her as i was ushered into her office she did reply without a smile. Maybe she was tired after doing her rounds and hungry.

She asked me to show her my spots and i actually went to stand by her side and proceeded to lift my blouse and exposed my tummy. She was not contented and asked me to take off my blouse while her assistant is standing by the door. Maybe it's the way that she talked with me or her demeanor or her voice but i felt like i was some dirty, contagious, dumb freeloader.

I am a paying patient and i am entitled to a little courtesy if not a warm reception. I will not mention her name just yet because i will be going back to her for a follow-up on friday(she insisted on the day because she said she has so many patients on saturday). Again, she acted like she's the only dermatologist around. Very uppity indeed and high-handed. I'll see if she's really like that or she was just tired. Until then...

Lesson for us all...

Yesterday, we were going to go to Binangonan, Rizal because hubby was invited by a colleague to become godfather to his child's baptismal. We were really in high spirits because we have not yet been there. On our way, we went to Sta. Ana to fetch an officemate. We were going through makati since hubby decided it is faster that way. There was this road in which one side was under construction which at the end has a traffic light, i think it is sta cruz. When the light went green hubby stepped a bit hard on the gas pedal, just when a crv came out of the left gate of bgy. bel air towards the right gate. There is no way that hubby could step on the brake hard without slamming the kids onto the dashboard,and he couldn't go towards the left because a motorcycle was trying to overtake him. It would have meant the bike rider would go under because he would surely be hit. So instead, we hit the back portion of the 2009 edition crv and the right side of our vehicle was damaged.The kids were still slammed on the dashboard. I tried vainly to hold on to them but it was just too fast, aj hit her face and abby her chest.

We went to makati med emergency room to have the kids checked and spent a total of 5,064 for all the xrays,etc. There's a lesson for me there: no kids in the front seat anymore. And i will buy car seat for the kids. As for hubby, I'm not sure what his lesson was but i did say to him that "walay kumo sa maghinay". A lesson also in humility, probably. The owner of the crv was rich of course since he was a resident of barangay bel-air. It was actually his driver who drove the crv without looking to his right if there are oncoming cars. Just after the incident abby asked her daddy if he doesn't know how to drive. We just looked at each other and i smiled when he said yes.ha ha ha a lesson in humility, indeed. Let me just say, that even though hubby drives fast he is always careful and focused

I am just thankful to God that all of us got out of the accident ok. Well, there are bills to pay and we may have to dig deep into our pockets but it could have been worse.

Breast Clinic

Last wednesday, i had an appointment at makati medical center's Breast Clinic for a repeat sonomammogram. I have been doing it for every 6 months since may 2007 due to the presence of cysts in both of my breast. Back in my college days, I have been operated on my right breast.
Back in october of last year, the breast clinic of makati med was yet on the 5/f of the old building. The interior was decorated with flowery wallpapers in pink. Now it's on the 2nd floor of the new annex building. All of the staff were polite and generally makes you feel comfortable. Extra effort is always needed to make one comfortable if one is to bare one's breast for various medical examinations. Breast clinic provides that kind of service.
They also have the latest equipment in breast care and the professionals to complement it. Their services includes: