Recovery

It’s been almost a year now since my last post, and it’s also almost a year ago when I fell sick. Yeah, the simple tonsillitis on my last year’s post wasn’t just simply that – it was actually INFECTIVE ENDOCARDITIS. Yep, a heart condition has led me to that. I have been sick all of my life and have been diagnosed with Aortic Valvular Stenosis after birth.

I’m glad I’ve recovered from that now. For those who didn’t know – I’ve spent a week in the hospital, have been on Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy for 2 months, been bedridden for almost 4 months, and have developed even more complications during the 8-month recovery period. I’m glad that it’s over. I’m fine now but the Doctor advised to still take necessary precautions. I have also been advised to undergo Aortic Valve Replacement Surgery in the near future but that can wait. I shouldn’t exert too much effort the doctor said, and that I’m not allowed to carry heavy things.

So, here I’m back, posting again on my blog. Thanks to all the people who’ve given me support in my time of crisis. It feels very reassuring that you are there for me. I hope I can count on your continuous support.

Happy New Year to All! (for me as well?)

Hey, it’s 2011 and it’s been a while since I made a new post. Well, first of all, I would like to greet everybody a happy new year! My new year wasn’t as happy as the previous ones, because I spent most of it, if not all of it, in bed!

Just days before vacation had started I began to chill, had fever, became nauseous, and heavily fatigued. This lasted for 3 weeks! I couldn’t attend any dawn masses, Christmas Eve mass, and even new year’s midnight mass! How lame is that?! I went to the doctor before vacation had started and he mistook it for a simple tonsillitis. He prescribed some antibiotics and then he sent me home. It just got worse! I continued to have chills and fever and I thought, this could already be AGN. My mom said otherwise as this could have already been malaria. So we went to the laboratory and had my blood checked for malarial pests. The test turned out negative. So we went for another check up but not to the same doctor, and I had my urine checked, and there it was, all in the urinalysis, and my predictions were right! I had AGN. Well, acute glumerolunephritis usually arises from tonsillar infection from B-hemolytic streptococci. So, the doctor gave me a high dose of antibiotics fighting the bacteria present in my kidneys.

Up to this day I’m still taking medications and am still a little bit fatigued from everything but I hope everything will turn out for the best.

Zeldascorn, signing off!

How Technology Affects the Medical Fields

Technology nowadays plays a vital role in field of medicine. Me, as a medical student, use technology for studying, and on top of that, it takes my skills sometimes to its highest potentials. Basic knowledge on the use of a computer is already a “necessity”, and should be implemented in all basic curriculums, especially in Elementary.

Perhaps the single greatest influence in medicine is Technology. The advent of technology and its byproducts have allowed us to enter an era when medicine has greatly evolved to what it is today. The discoveries of many illnesses, diseases and conditions, as well as the advancement of today’s medicines and equipment we use today are product of technology.

I have watched an episode of a series which I don’t know on television, about 5 years ago, showing a surgeon who lives or works in another state in the U.S., performing a surgery on another state through robotic arms, and having a control center at his work of place where he stays. The only downside of this system is when power shortages happen, or internet traffic is high. See the advent of technology on medical practice, making remote surgery possible.

The use of medical equipment like the XRAY, CT Scans and MRI make it possible to detect of the many pathological and non-pathological conditions there are nowadays. The use of ECG machines recording the electrical activity of the heart, which is impossible to do without these machines. All of them, technology, as we know it.

With the advancement in computer technology, physicians and other healthcare personnel will be able to give orders and carry out orders remotely, through the use of the computer and/or PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistants). One that I would mention would be the automated system where a nurse would just type the name of the drug the doctor has ordered into his'/her computer and the drug would automatically be ordered in the pharmacy, ready to be picked up and to be given to the patient. That would lessen much paperwork and the order and usage of the drug would already be added to the patient’s hospital bill, through networking in the hospital. Everything would be automated just by a single click.

Imagine a world where doctors are fully literate about computers, Internet services, and the latest software, tools that enable them to expedite the delivery of vital medicine without bureaucratic delays or unnecessary paperwork. This will enable them to efficiently use their time and maximize their capabilities at work.

The only difficulties arising would be that we are still using the traditional methods of doing things. These advances in technology have already been introduced to the medical field, but still some doctors prefer to use the old methods known to them. Of course, we must encourage them to embrace the era where technology plays already a vital role in the field – as an integral part of their professional lives. Learning a new language, as that of computing, electronic communication and software development should not be feared, but embraced, as this should set a new stepping stone and further advancements in technology.

As a medical student, I would say that technology is an integral part of my learning, and this would help me to better understand what medicine is, and what I can do about it, helping people in need with regards optimum level of functioning, or in simpler terms – HEALTH.

Dan Emmanuel R. Ventura, R.N.

Allods Online: PH first thoughts

It's been a while since I made a blog post. This time around, I'll be talking about Allods Online: PH, which was ported by levelupgames to the Philippines. It's been an international MMORPG for quiet a while now, and it's my first time playing since the open beta came out.

I've tried and played several online games by level up, RF online, Rohan, and many others, and it's quiet exciting to play something new once in a while. With RF's omicron server now up, I've decided to leave my ever dearest character sleeping in the accretian HQ and explore the world of Allods.

The game design is actually pretty amazing. In the character selection screen, you get to choose between two factions: and guess which faction i've chosen - LEAGUE. I don't know why but remembering star wars with the EMPIRE and everything, it feels to me like the empire are the bad people. Just kidding. :)
So I've created my character and started playing. The tutorial in the beginning was great. It is really different from other games i've played, where the NPC's really move around with you. So, playing the game for a few levels gave me a good overview of the game and makes it more exciting to reach higher levels in order to unlock more skills and spells.

The only downside i've seen is the unbearable lag in-game. When you try to attack a monster, your attacks are delayed and you don't notice that your HP is already at half when fighting with a monster. Sometimes you'll just be dead in an instant. I hope this will be fixed soon. And there are a lot of bugs. I also hope this will be fixed soon in the upcoming patches.

One thing more, the graphics aren't that stunning, but I'm playing on a 9800GT, but the graphics are still that demanding. Sometimes it just drops down to 10-15 FPS even in areas with no people. NOTE: settings are already on low and i still lag.

I've also read that a GeForce FX5200 can still support and run this game. But, when you try to run it, even with the latest drivers installed, it always says: PLEASE INSTALL LATEST DRIVERS. Note: I've installed the latest drivers from the nvidia website.

These are the only cons i've seen so far, but nevertheless, it doesn't keep me from playing Allods Online Philippines. See you on the Battlefield!

Giving Ping.fm a try...

My #@$%#$%&^%#%@ Driving Experience

So, I’ve been driving a car, an old Toyota Corolla 1.6 GLi, for the past 3 weeks and I can say that, it had cost me a lot of trouble and almost my Life!!!

Here it goes, my parents bought me a car, ‘cause I’ve decided to go into med school. Yes, I’m taking up medicine where classes have started just last month. So, my fully tuned up car, as i may describe it, has been driven here at the city where I am taking med by my father, and has been left under my care. I had enough experience driving a car and was trained by a professional driver before. I was driving an Isuzu ELF, yeah, a truck, which is a lot bigger than a usual car. I didn’t have any difficulty adjusting to it.

First week was awesome, knowing that I’ll be driving my own car, to places like school, malls, and every where else i wanna go to. It was during the first week when I had my first accident. It was on my way home; I had a friend sitting on the passenger’s seat. On a crossing,  it is just but normal for a car to slow down to check if there are other cars wanting to cross or bend in on a curve. I was slowing down and I noticed that a single motor was on my tail. There were two people on the motorcycle, not anyone of them wearing a helmet. So, an acceptable norm, I was slowing down, for there was a tricycle waiting on the crossing to make a U-turn, i think, and this motorcycle behind me was so close on my car’s back, that it didn’t have any allowance to turn the steering stick (IDK the term) away in case i would bring the car to a full stop. And in addition, I had a big sticker on my car’s back that says: KEEP DISTANCE. So, while approaching the crossing, I was slowing down, just like any other defensive driver would do. Then in a split of a second, the motorcycle bumped into my car’s back and the two persons on the bike fell of the motorcycle. I immediately stopped and parked the car on the side to check the severity of the accident. I’m a nurse and I really was into emergency nursing when I was still in college, so first aid shouldn’t be a problem for me. So, i went out and checked on the two. None of them were hurt seriously, just the driver of the bike, who had sustained a minor cut on his foot. I asked them if they were allright and they responded that everything is fine. They voluntarily admitted that it’s their fault and they shouldn’t be angry about anything of it. The bike’s wheel on the front sustained damage and it wasn’t any of my business anymore. I asked them if they needed help but they refused to accept any. This is where it all started.

As for my first experience, I’m glad that i’ve been taught how defensive driving works. It’s like paying courtesy at all times – in a more specific term – ROAD COURTESY.

Having a car isn’t easy on the pocket. I thought it would lessen me to spend my allowance on traveling fares, but my allowance has been cut down because of the gasoline, and damn, gasoline here in the phils are extremely expensive! How i wish my car would run on DIESEL. Well, anyway, it does allow me to go any where I want at any given time. If i want to go to the Mercury drug store or any 24 hour store past 10pm, I can do so. Sometimes there are advantages of having a car, but sometimes disadvantages may also arise.

After the first week, I experienced another problem. The school is located i think 5-6km from my place. I was on my way home from class when suddenly the engine died, on the middle of the road. I was still able to place it aside, but the brakes didn’t work. So, i had to use the hand brakes to bring the car to a full stop. I went home by a tricycle and called for my uncle who knows a mechanic near our place. So we went back to the car who has let him check what was wrong with it. He said: THERE’S NO MORE WATER IN YOUR RADIATOR AND THE BREAK FLUID IS A VERY LOW LEVEL. YOUR CAR JUST OVERHEATED. I checked the radiator temperature levels and it was way too hot. They poured water into the radiator and it was running again. They brought the car to the shop and replaced some engine parts. I think it was a cylinder that was replaced and an engine oil seal, as well as all of the break pads. Then the mechanic said, always check the water levels and fluids of your car. “WHAT THE HELL DO I KNOW ABOUT CARS???!!! I just know how to drive them. I’m a registered nurse, a medical student, fixing cars is not on my list!!!! From then on, it’s part of my daily routine to check everything before i go to school. Only problem is that my allowance is cut into half because of the maintenance of the car and cost for gasoline. I WANT MY ALLOWANCE BACK!!! T_T

So after the second week, here comes this week: The current week, which I am writing this post now. I had class from 7:30am to 5pm. We had some practices in the school for the upcoming acquaintance party on july 10.I had some friends with me on my way home. It was a near death (masyadong O.A. ang term. hehehe) experience at the same crossing i was talking about in the beginning of this post. This time it was an owner (small jeep IDK), ready to bend into the curve. I was approaching again at about 60kph and as far as I know, he was clearly seeing me approaching into the crossing. Vehicles on the hi-way have more priority than those who are trying to go into the hi-way. Basic principle i learned from driving school. So i was about to reach the crossing when that stup*d driver of that vehicle, still tries to turn left. Owners don’t have windows and his view is like you can see the niagara falls from your home. So half way turning left into the crossing, I was pushing on the horn so many times so that everybody would get my attention. It’s a good thing that i was able to avoid crashing into the vehicle. PRESENCE of MIND, DAN, PRESENCE of MIND  that’s what my father always has been telling me. And another good thing that the people on the right side, jumped away from the almost-accident site. There was I, praying for forgiveness from God, for they (reckless drivers) do not know what they are doing. LESSON LEARNED: EVEN THOUGH HOW MUCH CAREFUL YOU ARE IN DRIVING, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DRIVERS RECKLESS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU EXPERIENCE AN ACCIDENT.

Driving may be fun, at the same time it may be disastrous. If you have a car, be a DEFENSIVE DRIVER. Maintain ROAD COURTESY at all times. Get in to a driving school for Christ’s sake, not just somebody who gets a license from the LTO without even taking up a practical examination.

That’s my driving experience. I hope that we’ll always be safe on the road.

Zeldascorn, R.N.

Preparing for Med School: What RIG to build

I know that this has little to do with medicine, but who cares - I need a computer, and my laptop can't handle all of the things I'll be doing. From gaming to editing, a mid-end computer should do.

With the variety of hardware available here at home (I'm not planning to spend thousands of pesos to build a new one, so I have to be resourceful), I am placing some of the old parts I have here to build the rig I'll be using throughout my med schooling.

Here are the specs: (I am not really into gaming this time, maybe some Warcraft and PangYa)

Processor: AMD Athlon X2 64 5200+ 2.7ghz

Motherboard: EMAXX AMD780G Pro+ MoBo

RAM: 2x Kingston 2gb DDR800 Ram (4gb Total)

GPU: Palit GeForce 9800GT 512mb DDR3 256bit

HDD: 1x Seagate Barracuda 80GB (OS), 2x Seagate Barracuda 320gb SATA (Storage)

Monitors: 2x 19" Viewsonic LCD Monitors (Nothing's better than a Dual Screen Setup for a single video card)

Hope this should do. Am just going to upgrade later if my pocket allows me to. Med Books are damn expensive. Like the price of a 4870 or so.