19 May 2008

There is Hope in Battling Cancer

If you were diagnosed with cancer, what will you do? How would you feel? DABDA. The five stages of dying… Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You will undergo these five stages.

Then in between these stages comes different treatments. Like radiation and chemotherapy that in some ways are proven to be effective. But beyond these effective treatments are also a number of side-effects. There is nausea, vomiting, alopecia, fatigue and other ample side-effects that could lower down the immune system. In other words, chemotherapy is not for everyone.

So if chemotherapy is not suited for you? What now?

You search for an option. Like an alternative cancer treatments that can help lessen or help you not to feel the stressful side-effects a conventional chemotherapy caused you. So that you can be functional again.

The answer is a lower dose of chemotherapy or called as Metronomic dosing found in an alternative cancer center.

Metronomic chemotherapy does not deplete the immune system and does not directly target the tumor cells or the dividing cancer cells. Instead it targets the endothelial cells that are feeding the tumor. So, there is little or no side-effect at all.

Traditional chemotherapy further destroys the other normal dividing cells like the mucous membrane, hair cells and intestinal cells which explain the harsh side-effects it provides.

Now, you feel that there is new hope… you can battle cancer while living a normal life. Smile. This is what an alternative cancer treatment can give you.

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10 Things About Richelle

  1. I am fluent in Visayan language but my parents are not. They are born and raised in Luzon, particularly in Nueva Ecija. I am born and raise in Davao. ( We only have less than 5 relatives in Davao. It's a long story why we landed in Mindanao)
  2. I have an older brother who is a mechanical engineer and a board top notcher. Also, a younger sister who is an electronics and communications engineer working in the largest telecommunication company in the Philippines. Yeah, they are smart. (They were both married under the age of 23)
  3. In addition to number 3, I am the middle child, 31, and single.
  4. In connection to number 4, I am off the market, have a boyfriend who is an IT working in Japan as an English teacher! (good job description huh!)
  5. Whenever I go buy personal things, I always buy 5 different conditioners and shampoo and use it alternately everyday. (lately, i got 7 tubes of conditioner in the bathroom and 3 bottles of shampoo)
  6. I love daisies more than roses. Dark chocolates more than white.
  7. I love pink. UCB inferno. Vintage shirts. flip flops. French tip manicure.
  8. I am geographically idiot. (soooo turn off!)
  9. I do not have much patience with children. I worked 2 years in KSA as Pediatric Nurse and I am the good one. (Isn't it ironic? Don't you think? hahaha)
  10. Lastly, I wanted to take AB Journalism in college but ended up nursing. (influenced by so many nurses around me)
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16 May 2008

Dreaming of Having a Perfect Nose?

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Cosmetic surgery is one fast growing industries around the world. In fact, some of the countries like Thailand and Philippines convert it into a tourism industry. And because of the popularity of plastic surgery, there are also many doctors who specialized reconstructive or plastic surgery.

Rhinoplasty or “nose lift” as we commonly called it, is the most common reconstructive surgery performed around the world. We have heard so many stories about disgruntled patients, unexpected outcomes or unsuccessful nose jobs. Finding the best, qualified and expert doctor should be the first concern a client should take before going with the procedure. Furthermore, a client should know that there are several risks in taking this kind of operation. But if in the first place, a client has selected the best surgeon to perform the procedure, then there is nothing to worry about and at the same time, revision rhinoplasty would be avoided in the future.

So if you are considering having rhinoplasty surgery, do not jump over immediately to what a friend recommends to you, or on what you heard from your favorite actress when she thanked her ‘sponsors’. Do your research. Check the surgeon’s background, qualification and experience to assure you of a reliable nose job you ever wanted.

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08 May 2008

Medical Staff Should Set a Good Example: A reaction to the VSMMC surgery scandal

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I have seen the video at youtube of that surgery scandal at VSMMC weeks ago and I never posted it here because it’s a shame for us who are in the medical field. But when I saw in the news that the government of Cebu is doing an action for the involved doctors, staff and clinical instructors, I became glad that we are still giving importance for the rights of the patients.

I was a clinical instructor for four years handling students in the operating room. In my four years of teaching, never I neglect every patient’s right to privacy. Taking videos and pictures is a big NO for me. Using cellular phones inside the operating room in the first place is not allowed by our school itself. I was so sorry for the clinical instructor who did not handle the situation well because the students will bear that in their minds for the rest of their lives...(con't) The biggest responsibility I took when I chose to become a clinical instructor is to protect my students and their patients. If I was the clinical instructor involved in the situation, I would take all the blame and I would never involved my students.

Documenting a procedure is not restricted for educational purposes but it should be with the permission of the patient. Of course, for a teaching hospital documentation is sometimes necessary for learning. Hospitals who are accepting student affiliation should make a good standard for the future nurses. As much as possible, they should implement what is the “ideal” set up and practice because that is the responsibility they have to take if they wanted to become a teaching hospital.

Doctors, nurses and other medical staff on the other hand, must also set a good example for the students. They do not know but students look up to them. They respect and idolized them because these doctors and nurses are what the students want to be in the future. I know this because I handled hundreds of nursing students inside and outside the operating theatres.

I hope we could learn something from this situation.

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‘Surgery scandal’ victim wants VSMMC medical team suspended

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GMA NEWS - CEBU CITY, Philippines - To give a strong message and stern warning that the behavior shown by medical practitioners during the rectal procedure of a florist was not good, the camp of "Jan-jan" wants preventive suspension imposed on those who deserve the sanction.

Jan-jan’s legal counsel Guiller Ceniza said they will study thoroughly the participation of each medical practitioner and identify those who deserve to be suspended.

This, before they will consider the possibility of filing a motion urging the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to enforce preventive suspension.

Criminal case

They will also include the names in the filing of a criminal case in the Office of the City Prosecutor.

Jan-jan is the 39-year-old homosexual patient who is asking for P6 million in damages from the medical team and from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) for "violating his rights to privacy, confidentiality, and dignity as a human being."

This was after a video of his Jan. 3 operation was uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube, showing a medical team either laughing, jeering, or cheering...(con't) "The administrative case investigated by the VSMMC cannot be trusted even when the Department of Health (DOH) is part of the investigating process. But the problem with DOH is that they channel the investigation through the administrators of the hospital and depend on its recommendations," Ceniza said in a radio dyLA interview.

"Based on the recommendations released by the VSMMC’s fact-finding committee, we can see that their recommendations cannot be trusted because they want to cover up the whitewash committed to repair them for the next case they will have to face," he added.

Ceniza also said that while the DOH will continue their investigation, they will actively participate in the investigation of the anti-graft.

14 names

The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas released Monday its final evaluation report (FER), recommending 14 people placed under formal criminal investigation; 12 will also be facing an administrative case.

To be placed under criminal investigation are Dr. Phillips Leo D. Arias, surgeon-in-charge; Dr. Marlowe Parreno, consultant, Department of Surgery; Dr. Angelo Linawagan, assistant surgeon; Dr. Joseph Alfred de Leon, who was assigned in the documentation; Dr. Joanne Mae Merilles, resident anesthesiologist; Dr. Serapio Salazar, consultant, Department of Anesthesiology; and Dr. Max Joseph Montecillo of the Department of Surgery.

Also included are Isabelita Remulta, operating room nurse supervisor; Carmenia Sapio, circulating nurse; Consuelo Tecling, operating room nurse supervisor; Ida Sumayang, nurse-on-call; and Rosemarie Villareal, nursing attendant.

They are directly connected with the VSMMC and are also being investigated administratively for grave misconduct.

The clinical instructors also facing administrative case are A. Oplado for University of Southern Philippines and Ramon Penly “Monching" Pandaan for Southwestern University.

Ceniza said that Jan-jan’s camp is happy with this new development.

The VSMMC, though, still has to receive a copy of the FER so that its administration can discuss it. - Sun.Star

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