No Minor Patients

Been reading blog updates from Dr. David Lauter, a surgeon on his first MSF assignment (Doctors Without Borders). After his first week he recounted about the 25 operations he has done. 18 of these were considered minor/medium operations in the US (13 cases of incision and drainage of abscesses, 2 groin hernia repairs, 2 skin grafting and 1 orthopedic manipulation under GA). He recounted that these are operations that a young surgeon doesn't dream of doing particularly because these aren't glamorous or challenging (at least he didn't when he was young, and I must admit nor did I). Then he went on writing about those "minor" surgeries. To read more about Dr. Lauter's update please check it out here. He ended his update with these words:

"That sums up my 13 minor operations for the week. When a surgeon is disinterested or nonchalant about doing a “minor” operation, he/she should think of the famous quote by Stanislavsky “Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors” as a metaphor for our trade. Although not terribly glamorous, the good that will come from these operations to our 13 patients and their families is major. Maybe the saying for surgery could go “Remember: there are minor operations but there are no minor patients”.

Lagoon

Meet Lagoon. He's the newest member of my little family (of felines, yes, I might one day become one of those weird cat ladies). He's 2 months old now, almost 3. We named him after the place we got him from, the Magic Lagoon. He was one of the stray kittens loitering around the place. When we found him (or was it him that found us?) he was so scrawny and dirty. He had a cigarette burn near his bum and his whiskers were badly burned. He kept on climbing our laps, alternating between me and Nollen, rubbing his face on us, almost like beseeching us to take care of him. He blatantly refused any food we offered him and instead kept on making that pitiful sound and kept on climbing back our laps even after we put him down. It was as if he was saying that he prefers love over food. Well, he was running a fever then. He didn't have much of an appetite. Needless to say he won my heart. We brought him home and took care of him. The first 3 days he barely ate at all. He would just lay beside me, curl up and sleep. I honestly thought that he just wanted to be brought home to die. I thank the Lord that he didn't. Eventually he got better and he proved to be a very sweet kitten, ready to indulge my need to hold him for long periods. :)

Memory Commitment

Drawing helps me to commit stuff (i.e. gastric blood supply) into memory. When I was in my first year during medical school I drew a lot in Anatomy class. Now, at a time where a lot of apps make it easy to study, visualize and memorize medical stuff, I still find myself drawing - the old school way.

Bethesda Spinal Care Center Turns 15 This Month!

Praise God for His enduring love and faithfulness to Bethesda Spinal Care Center. Thank You, Lord for constantly using Dr. Rolly Refuerzo and Dra. Alicia Tagulinao Refuerzo to be of help and blessing to friends who have become patients and patients who have become friends. :) Lord, we long to serve you more. ♥

Woesome Wednesday: Somebody That I Used To Know (Gotye)

Wheels of Fancy

Moons and junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel...

As every fairy tale comes real; I've looked at love that way.

But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go...

And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

Both Sides Now ~ Joni Mitchell

Magic Mike

No, I'm not going to write a review on the movie, not even on Channing Tatum's dance moves. I'm just posting a collage from this night's movie night out. :)

Dusk

"...dusk is the time when men whisper of matters about which they remain silent in the full light of the sun."
~Simon Raven

God Writes the Best Love Stories

Love: The way my grandfather looks at my grandmother declares for all to see that he has everything he ever wanted right there beside him. ♥ ♥ ♥


I read somewhere about a couple who has been married for 65 years and was asked about their secret for keeping the marriage that long. The wife replied that they where born in an age where they were taught to fix things that are broken, not throw them away. :)

In Love with Zapd

I now have 2 Zaps where I'd be posting photos I took with my iPhone. What is a Zap? A Zap is a website that is easily put up and maintained for busy people (like doctors). It is from a free app called Zapd. Zapd helps you create beautiful, free websites to share your experiences. When u make a Zap, the experience is automatically tailored to the device you are using. PC. Phone. Tablet. It is for bloggers who are always on the go (like doctors!). I love this so much. :) my Zaps are noiretblanc.zapd.net (where I'll be putting up my black and white photos) and cravings.zapd.us (where i will be posting my love for food in pictures).

Zapped with Zapd

I've recently (October of last year is still recent for me) put up a website and added it as a page here on my blog, a page about food! One of my favorite things! My figure attests to it :).

And I just love Zapd. Their tagline says that they help you create a website in 60 seconds from your iPhone, and they do. They really hold up to what they claim. And "when you make a Zap, the experience is automatically tailored to the device you are using. PC. Phone. Tablet." So it's not just for iPhone/iDevice  users. Coolness. This makes blogging simpler and faster in a lot of hundred ways. This is for people and residents like me who are often busy and always on the go.

And now I am happy to announce (announce: a big word, like I receive a lot of traffic) that I've added a new page, Noir et Blanc, where I'd be putting up my black and white photos taken with my iPhone.

Hope Lives!

O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?

1 Corinthians 15:55

3 days ago, we admitted a patient who fell from the second floor of a building. Amazingly enough, after thorough examination and work-up, his injuries were only broken bones on his left forefoot.

This is the antero-posterior and oblique x-ray views of his left forefoot showing fractures of the 2nd , 3rd and 4th  distal metatarsals, plus a dislocation of the 5th metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint. Ouch.

This is the x-ray after I did close reduction of the MTP dislocation at the ED. 

Jump Shots

Breaks are important, they give an escape from routine work. So it isn't really a surprise to find out that doctors have hobbies and past times that are very much human. Some of my colleagues are very good musicians, some are writers, some are athletes, and others have culinary skills that are very promising. I love mobile photography. And I love to spend time with my family whenever I can. Time with them keeps me grounded. I train in a place where it is 180km (112 miles) away from home. Being on call makes it so hard to come home. So whenever I can I really make sure that I come home, even if it's just for a few hours. I already mentioned here how long my travel time is. :)

Mama, poised for the jump.

The jump. :)

The landing :) I totally love this shot. My mama goofing around despite her vertigo. Priceless.

Wired That Way

I love the arts.

I love music so much I have to listen to it everyday. I know and love the oldies but goodies, and I know and love fresh and modern vibes. I win in games of Name That Tune. I adore Broadway musicals. But I can't sing well. I can't hit the right notes all the time. I can play the piano and guitar but I can't play by ear. 

I can't dance. I have two left feet.

I love paintings but I can't paint. I love watercolors, but I don't know how to make one. I love to draw, and I can draw pretty, but I have to copy something.

I love poetry, sonnets, haiku... But I lack the eloquence in speech. I'm poor at rhymes. My vocabulary is limited.

But with photography it is different. I can love it, do it, and make it. All the frustrations I have in the arts are swept away. Happiness is kindled. I take pleasure in creating something beautiful. I realize that it is such a joy to me because I share this attribute with my Father. I take pleasure in what I do and create well because I am wired that way. My Father wired me that way. Because He created me in His image. 

As He did you. :)

I love portraits. Here are pictures of a baby we had at the nursery. Unfortunately he was sick, and he had a fracture of the proximal third of his left femur. He was referred to our service for treatment. We applied a hip spica, and his fracture has healed well since. 

                         

Home is Where the Laughter Begins

I had so much fun last weekend. It was my weekend off and the Lord was so good to allow me to have time to visit my family in La Trinidad and La Union. And although my travel time was longer than the time I spent with them (16 hours from Olongapo to Baguio and back, plus 4 hours travel time from Baguio to Santo Tomas, La Union and back to Baguio again, have I lost you already?), it was still so worth it. I was inspired to make an AVP for them - just pictures of the family with music. It was fun, we enjoyed it a lot. :)

Here are some of the photos included in the slides. For the collage I used Smilebox. :)

No Greater Love

Malapit na ang Valentine's Day... I'm truly blessed to be loved so much.

A Liter of Light - Solar Powered Bottles

A Liter of Light - Solar Powered Bottles

The first time I saw this campaign last year, I was awestruck. Now that it is coming to Olongapo, I am excited. :D