Fourth Year, Fourth Day

The fourth day of my last year as UP College of Nursing undergrad had just ended.

And at this early point, our batch, batch 2009 is already toxic as hell. Gawd! Our schedule is so jam packed! You see, we just have four days of lecture then we immediately go to our clinical duties.

Half of our batch even has a final exam on Monday already! I repeat, FINAL EXAM! With just about four days of lecture on Psychiatric Nursing, they already have to take the FINALS for it. Imagine cramming all those psych concepts in less than a week's time! Waaaaahhhh!!! So toxic!

I am just a bit fortunate that I am assigned to the section which will take the Critical Care Nursing part, first. This means that our section will take our Psychiatric Nursing on the second half of the semester.

Critical Care Nursing, is just a little-less toxic than Psychiatric Nursing because our finals for Critical Care will be after the 6 week clinical rotations. This means that we have more time to adjust with the toxicity of our senior college life!

I've intended to make a blog entry last tuesday, the first day of classes, but I got tied up with all the assignments that were given to us. Also, I had been quite busy with my NSC Finance Officer responsibilities so I had no choice but to postpone such plan.

We'll be having the first ever duty of our senior year on Monday. Our group, Group B, is assigned at the Post Anesthesia Care Unit of the Philippine General Hospital. This area will be the first of our Critical Care Nursing, Nursing 109.1, clinical rotations.

Good luck to Batch 2009! Go Group B! Go batchmates! We can do this!!! Wooooohhooooooo!!!!

I was sort of in a trance this morning.

Early in the morning, our yaya wakes us up to get ready for school. I am the one she usually wakes first because among us three (Me, Yong and Yeng), I am the least easy to awaken. Add to it the fact that I am the slowest person in our house during this time of the day.

So this morning I can remember that she was trying to wake me up.

Yaya: Eian, gising na! *This is accompanied with vigorous wobbling actions on my shoulders"

Eian: ..........

Yaya: Hoy! Anu ba! Gising na! *She was still shaking my shoulders"

Subconscious voice: *talking to Eian* Do not wake-up just yet. Continue sleeping. You need that.

Eian: *to subconsious voice* No! I might get late for school.

Subconscious voice: Sleep. Just sleep. Do not worry about anything. Your body needs it.

Eian: Zzzzzzz.... *Such an obedient boy!*

Yaya: *Agitated* Hay nako! Bumaba ka na dun ah, malalate ka na.


After some moments of solitude, my Mom then tried her luck on waking me up. I was still on my state of trance.


Mommy: *With her gentle voice* Yang, wake up na.

Eian: *Obtunded* Hmmmm..

Subconscious voice: Continue sleeping.

Mommy: What time is your class?

Subconscious voice: Do not worry about your class, remember sleep is more important.

Eian: *Still obtunded* Opo..

Mommy: I shall go. Wake up na, Ok?

Eian: Zzzzzz....


After some more moments of solitude, it was my Dad's turn to awaken me.


Daddy: Eian, wake-up, wake-up!

Eian: *Opens eyes then closes it back*

Daddy: Hoy! Anung oras ka papasok? Anong oras ba klase mo?

Eian: *Opens eyes then closes it back again*

Daddy: Anu ba yan?!? Alas-7 pasok mo diba? Alas-8 na ah! Bangon na dyan!

Subconscious voice: Do not worry about your duty anymore. It has been taken care off.

Eian: Opo... Later... Zzzzzzzz.... *Nice answer huh!*


After a lot of momentssssss of solitude, Eian tried to wake Eian up *Waaahh! Schizo!*


Eian: *Opens eyes then looks at clock* Waaaahhh!!! 12 na! Waaahhh! Late na ako! Sheet! Absent na pala ako sa OR! Waaaahhh! Sheet malalate na ako sa N123 namin! We have a report today! Noooo!!! *Eian is now fully awake*


I was really panicking because it was already 12 in the afternoon, I had a class at 1pm and I had not taken a bath yet. I was outraged because we have a report for that class and I cannot afford to get late. But I was still after all in Paranaque, it would be a miracle if I would arrive in school on time. Waaahhhh!

So, I got my phone to inform my groupmates that I might be late for our report. When I looked at my phone it indicated that I had 5 new messages. When I opened it, it was from my groupmates. I was alarmed because, I knew that they were looking for me.

1st Message: San duty natin?

2nd Message: San ka na?

3rd Message: Eian, san ka na?

4th Message: Eian, di ka ba papasok?

5th Message: To All UPM Students: From Chancellor: Classes at all levels suspended today in view of the transport strike. For your info and guidance. Please pass. Thanks. JRRG.

The fifth message was from our group leader. I did not know and did not care who JRRG was. All I knew was that, the timing was so perfect!

It was a good thing that I was a lazy an obedient boy. Else, I would have wasted my time going on duty when the classes were in fact suspended. Worse, I would have been stranded on the road because of the lack of public transportation vehicles.

In fairness to that subconsious voice in my head, he was telling the truth. And he cared about my welfare! Hahahah! Such great rationale this is! Hahaha!

I just realized, maybe JRRG is the subconscious voice in my head.... Hmmmm...

Liham is a message relayed to a friend or some other person through a written medium. In short, liham is a letter slash mail. Haha!

Actually, this post has nothing to do with a liham/letter/mail. It is just that I am teaching *Read: terrorizing* my youngest brother the different parts of a letter and its types. I'm writing this as he scans his note before I ask him about the things his teacher will ask on his quiz tomorrow.

Grrr! I really do not have the patience in teaching kids of this age. I lose my patience so easily! It is really different when you're playing with them, because such thing is a fun thing to do. Schoolwork with gradeschool children with me as the teacher is a big no-no!

God! Please grant me patience for this kind of undertaking. Please!

****************

Tomorrow will be the start of our Cancer Institute duty. It will start tomorrow because our clinical instructor was not available the past couple of days. So, the duty will be from Wednesday to Saturday. The Saturday duty will last for 8 hours straight which will be from 6am to 2:30pm. This duty hours is equivalent to one whole shift of registered nurses working on a hospital.

Waaaahhh!

Such duty schedule will be a first for me and my groupmates. And such duty hour will be the earliest one I shall attend upon. Waaaahhh! I should not be late on this clinical rotation of ours because the clinical instructor is one of the strictest professors in our college!

Multiple waaaahhhs for me!!

It is also my physical examination procedure practical test tomorrow which this clinical instructor shall facilitate.

More waaahhhs for me!

And I have not reviewed for it yet!

Even more waaaaaahhhhss!!!

I'll just be very optimistic about this thing!

I can do this!

Final Waaaaaahhhhh!!!

I guess I'll deviate from my "blabberful" posts for some time. School work is consuming the majority of my time, so I'll have limited time to talk about the stuff I am currently doing if I will be talking so much. But then, I'll try to squeeze blogging to my tight schedule, as much as possible. This is to keep track of what I am currently doing as a reference for my future self; and, at the same time sharing my experiences to the world (as if people all around the globe reads my posts! Asa!)

So here is the pilot run for blog posts on the run:

(this is totally random)

• Attended first day of duty (Ward5) of the year... on time!
• Got late on the second duty day of the year
• Was on time for the rest of the duty days. Yey!
• Made papers for Ward 5 duty
• Had a patient with a spinal chord compression with Pott's disease
• Had  four 10 mins breaks after every 2 mins everyday of duty
• Used the 10 mins to follow Ma'am Paguio (our Clinical Instructor) around as a pseudo C.I.
• Performed suctioning through an endotracheal tube
• Performed  straight catherterization on a patient
• Made more papers
• Had a quiz on Earthly and Heavenly cities
• Had microsleeps while listening on a report
• Made even more papers
• Removed a foley catheter (the catheter that has a urine drainage bag connected on the end) on a patient
  
• Slept on a shuttle ride going to school
  
• OC-OCed on a particular paper
• Sold our old car
• Cleaned a dead man's body
• Bought a new car
• Removed an endotracheal tube from a patient
• Removed a bloody nasogastric tube from a patient
• Did enless chartings
• Thanked our CI for being a great mentor for us
• Ate Dairy Queen ice cream....hmmmm... twice!!!
• Played with our dog
• Finished the 3rd season of Grey's Anatomy
• Rode our new car as a passenger
• Wondered when I will drive such car
• Continued sulking on my haircut
• Placed a reserve order for the UP centennial planner
• Went to Kanlungan sa ERMA (I forgot what ERMA means)
• Walked a thousand miles (Yes, I am exaggerating. But it felt like such.) in an area in San Andres, Bukid, Manila
  
• Ate at World Chicken
• Ate Krispy creme doughnuts
• Was not able to attend the kick-off celebration of the centennial year of UP because of stupid papers!
• Woke-up 1 min prior to an alarm ring
• OC-OCed our CD stack in the house

Woooh! Finished! I did not realize I did so many things in just less than a week! Remember: the things listed there are completely random! The order of such list is only based on the things that came onto my mind as I was writing this entry!

Details will be given if requested!

The duty days are about to come.

With less than 24 hours to prepare for such, what should I do before it's arrival?

Hmmmm....

**************

Waaaaahhhh!!!!

I was in a state of panic earlier because I realized that the we will be starting our duty tomorrow (Monday) for our N107 subject.

The first thing that came to my mind: "Sheet! I need to have a haircut!"

So, I had one.

But, in a regular barbershop near our house because it was quite late in the afternoon when such thought occurred to me. I did not have enough time to go to the place I usually have my hair done, so I had to settle with such place.

I was desperate. I did not want to be scolded upon on the first duty day of the year!

However, the barber made my hair run down to lengths I have not wished it to be for a very very very long time.

It was extremely short!

Waaaahhh!

I was not at all comfortable with the way my hair turned out to be.

I sulked in front of the mirror in the barbershop. It was all, I can do. At that time, I thought to myself, I guess if I sulk hard enough my hair would all return to its previous state. So I continued sulking until the razor part of the haircutting process was finished.

Alas! My hair did not return. My sulking session did not work!

I paid the bill. And then, right after I left the barber shop a realization dawned on me!

OUR GROUP'S DUTY WILL START ON TUESDAY!

Weeee! Another great move from, Eian! Yey!


My hair is now short, very very very very very short. I'll have to endure several uncomforatable and excruciating days in front of the mirror because of this.