On Blogrolls and Exchanging Links

Wooh! I guess I have to go to sleep now. It's already 1:08 AM in the morning and I'm only half way through my adding of links process. I'm informing my present blogging buddies that I have a new blog (this one ^_^) and that I'm going to stop updating my other blog, My Nurses Notes, and allow it to die a natural death before I completely delete it. I'm still going to retain my Grim Angel blog though since I can't delete my original baby, my first blog since June 17, 2005!

So to my blogging friends please update your links and change http://mynursesnotes.blogspot.com to http://blog.edgarvincentbautista.com. You may ask me why I didn't just redirect my My Nurses Notes to my own domain. The answer would be I want to create a new blog from scratch. Sure that would be time consuming and tiring but it sure does feel good to see your newly created blog grow and slowly get traffic and meet people who appreciate you and your work.

And to all those people who wants to link me, I welcome you with open arms and open legs (Lol!). But please do patient if I don't reply to you right away since I might still be updating my links from my old blogging friends.

To all bloggers in the Blogosphere: Happy Blogging to all of Us! ^_^

Operating Room Experience

The Operating Room (OR) rotation at Xavier University Community Health Care Center (or more commonly known as German Doctors Hospital) was very fun and memorable. It was unfortunate thought that we weren't able to get inside the OR during the first week of duty because there were Australians who were on a sort of medical mission surgically repairing cleft palates, hare lips, and etc. It was cruel but they only allowed two student to scrub in and it was unfortunate that I wasn't one of the two. So what was I doing during the first week? We had to be in the Interplast Ward and gave preoperative care to the patients waiting to be called in the OR. In short, we just stood there and took vital signs every four hours or so.

But I was lucky enough to get a minor surgical case. An excision of a fibroadenoma at the left breast. It was a pretty quick operation, around 15 minutes, and every moment was really amazing. The surgeon took up nursing as his pre-med course and he was very skillful and nice. It was a shame but I broke my sterility but the nurse and surgeon were very understanding that this was my first time and all. But after my first assist in a surgical operation everything seemed ok although I have to admit that I still have a lot to learn especially making nurse's notes (hahaha).

I also had the opportunity to be a circulating nurse for one of those cataract-removing-lens-replacing surgeries (which is PECLE, in medical terms, or Planned ExtraCapsular Lens Extraction). It was really amazing how the doctor used microscopic instruments to do the procedure. At first I thought he was just playing with his hands but then I remembered that he was using a suture that was very fine and could only be seen with the use of a microscope.

It was unfortunate that my group mates and I only had a few cases but it wasn't totally that bad because we were able to use that extra time to bond and improve our team work and such.

The OR rotation may be one of my favorite rotations so far, aside from the delivery room rotation, and the pediatric rotation where I was all of the sudden assigned to a patient in the intensive care unit.

Note: We were allowed to bring our cameras and cellphone inside the operating room to document the procedures. No patient confidentiality was breached in these pictures.

Additional Note: There was no patient in the operating room when the student nurses were happily taking pictures of themselves.

Overpopulation. Be a Solution.

I sternly believe that overpopulation is the cause of poverty. In the Philippines, the country where I grew up in, the population of the poor outnumbers the rich and the working class. Filipinos have this old belief that the more children they have, the more number of people will be able to work to take them out for poverty. Well I say that this notion is outrageous! Children are not there to make your life better, it is actually the other way around. It is actually the parents who should work hard so that they can support the child's needs and provide him/her with a bright future.

But how could parents who can barely provide for themselves be able to support a child and send him/her to college? If they can't support one child, how on earth could they support a dozen children? And so the vicious cycle of poverty occurs and poverty is never solved.

I do not feel pity for families who are very large in number and are suffering. Having a family is a vocation and it needs planning and one's full time attention. Why choose to have a large family when you can't even support yourself? Don't tell me that they can't afford contraceptives because the government offers free contraceptives and even ligation and vasectomy at public hospitals and some health centers. But the poor people are just uneducated and do not think of their children's future.

What I hate about these poor people is that they are the one's who always makes a scene at roads and tries to destroy the economy with their protests and outcries of desperation. In the first place what have they contributed to society and the government when they don't even pay tax and they expect that the government should be responsible for feeding them. If the Philippine government is corrupt and unable to provide the citizens their needs, then this should be an excellent reason not to have a dozen babies.

I commend the efforts of China in implementing the one child policy. Before the Chinese could not afford to buy meat because it is very expensive, but now they are able to enjoy that because they can now afford to buy their needs because they only have one child to support.

If only Filipinos had the sense of responsibility they would have the sense enough to follow in China's footsteps. If you can't afford to have a child then don't. Parents who have children and who can't provide their children their needs should be punished by law for negligence and child abuse. A child should be given only the best as they are the future leaders of our country. That is why there is a correlation between poverty and crime because children are forced to steal and use drugs because of the hardship that they undergo.

The Philippines will not develop unless the root cause of poverty is destroyed and that is overpopulation. With overpopulation there is a shortage not only with resources such as food but a shortage in jobs as well. That is why many Filipinos who have the right qualifications and skills often chooses to migrate abroad because this is the most practical thing to do than stay in the Philippines where conditions are becoming worst.

I will not be amazed if the Philippines become completely brain and skill drained and the people left would die out of hunger or worst uprisings and the never ending EDSA revolutions saying that the government has done nothing for them. But before we blame poverty on politics and the government, why not look at ourselves if we are not the cause for our own poverty.

I am proud to say that I came from a poor family. My dad's family was poor and so was my mom's. But because my parents were smart enough to have only two children they were able to send us to prestigious private schools and provide us with our needs. Because of hard work and family planning we are able to enjoy the life of a middle class right now where we can afford to buy anything we need and want.

Solving poverty does not need a political scientist or an economist, it just needs common sense. Think of your children's future... think of your selves... DON'T HAVE A CHILD IF YOU CAN'T SECURE HIS/HER GOOD FUTURE.

Wear The Right Pants

My brother loves wearing BDU pants and I mean love! He wears it every day and I even wonder if he even washes them. For those who have no idea what BDU pants are these are pants used by the military and the police hence the name Battle Dress Uniform (BDU).

But I don't blame my brother for wearing them. It's really comfortable as it is made of cotton and it's very durable. They may seem to be hot but they're actually very cool to wear and what's best about some BDU pants is that they are stain resistant so even if you play in the mud and spill food on them the stain and grime comes of easily with just water since the pants are sprayed with Teflon (kind of wish there were BDU pants for kids huh?).