Ballroom dancing docs

These are Dr. Ann Bernadas (OB-Gyne) and Dr. Benjo Villaplaza (Post -Graduate Intern) dancing their winning entry during the December 2007 SUMC Christmas Party at the SU Gym. Their music: "Cheng, cheng, cheng", "Let's stop and talk a while" and "Candy man." Surgical Resident Dr. Christian Casamayor took the video using his Sony Ericsson cellphone.

Anaesthetists Hymn

Today we take a break from the Generics Act Bill and take a look at other topics in the medical profession.

For example, a lot of people know what surgeons do. But not a lot of people know exactly what it is that anesthesiologists or anaesthetists do. Like most of my colleagues, I take my job very, very seriously so it was to my great delight (and merriment !) that I came across this YouTube video, a lighthearted take on what is normally an intensely serious occupation.

I am having a little difficulty though because I am writing this post from the YouTube page and I do not know how to make a link or edit from there.

Anyway, this video is so true (hehe). I just hope my mentor during my fellowship, Dr. Ambrosio, will not see this clip because I remember she would not allow us to read newspapers or magazines while we were giving anesthesia. We were not even allowed to sit during the entire surgical procedure! (Oh, except for craniectomies and other such super lengthy operations...)

White balloons

Negros Oriental doctors, after a motorcade to increase public awareness about the dangers of the amendment to the Generics Act Bill, release white balloons up unto the skies at the Provincial Capitol grounds.

I don't know if the public knew what the motorcade of cars and motorcycles with white balloons was all about. [Incidentally, that's one of the things that's :-( about Dumaguete. There are so many parades that cause traffic.) But I know that the motorcade and the program which followed, made the doctors understand better the issues involved in this amendment.

.

Surgeon Dr. Bong was not able to join the motorcade but he joins the fray by writing about his own experience with a patient...

.

[to be continued]

Today

is still unfolding...

Off to war...

through

a

motorcade?

Let's

see...

In

the

meantime,

it's

still

all

about

the

Generics

Act

Bill.

Brrr....rrrrmm!

Brrrrrmmmm!

the battle rages...

The past two days I've been posting about the response of the Dumaguete and Negros Oriental doctors to the proposed amendment of the Generics Act Bill. What follows below is a continuation of the Official Position Paper of the collective bodies of the Negros Oriental medical community. Yesterday's post elicited a comment from someone who calls himself/herself Purdoy, raising some issues which I believe have merit for discussion.

I just realized that some of my readers are not very familiar with how a weblog works. Here's a little lesson: when you see some words or texts that have a different color from the rest of the text (meaning the color black or gray) then please click on the colored texts and that will link you/bring you to another page where there is more data/information relevant to what is being discussed. It's actually much simpler than it sounds. Try it.

Happy navigating and reading!

(This is the last part of the Official Position Paper of the Negros Oriental Medical Societies.)

________________________________


DRUGS OF THE SAME GENERIC NAME DIFFER IN TERMS OF ITS THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS AND SAFETY


SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS AND EXPERIENCES OF GOVERNMENT PHYSICIANS

The advent of the Generics Act spawned the proliferation of drug companies, many of which have questionable origin, carrying fake, sub-standard and violative products, obviously considered to be detrimental to our patients (see attached Sub-standard Alert of the Department of Health Region VII, and other pertinent documents pertaining thereto and its eventual effects on our people).

Only medical doctors have the scientific knowledge, expertise, and experiences to recognize proven clinical responses of success treatments, failures, and idiosyncratic manifestation of drugs, drug interactions, contraindications, adverse reactions, and other effects of drugs on their patients.

Only medical doctors have the competence to determine which drugs have the most beneficial effects on their patients. Hence, the physicians should not be denied of their preference for medicines that have long track records of proven quality and efficacy that would result to early recovery, shorten hospital stay, good quality of life, and thereby, making it more economical, cost-effective, and cost-beneficial to their patients.

Only the medical doctors are morally, ethically, and legally accountable and subject to legal actions should any untoward effects happen to his/her patients. Available data show that not all drugstores are manned by or under the direct operational supervision and control by a licensed pharmacist.

Delegating the power to the salesperson with no or limited knowledge of drugs or medicines and their interactions poses great threat to public safety. Observations have shown that most salespersons change the medicines prescribed by the physicians with other generic product of unknown quality.

Some government hospitals are often made the dumping ground of generic products because of its low cost, some of which are expiring or near expiry. However, many government physicians have observed that these generic products are of poor quality, have less or no therapeutic effects, and even prolong the hospital stay of patients. Hence, government physicians often resort to the combination of medicines to treat an illness rather than giving the drug of choice.

Generic drug companies also change their prices at whim to increase their profits several folds, which is clearly disadvantageous to the patient and to our government. Medical doctors are held hostage in this situation because they cannot do anything with the bureaucracy, which has created a big obstacle in achieving an efficient health care delivery to the needy.


OUR ISSUES WITH THE BUREAU OF FOOD AND DRUGS (BFAD)

Is BFAD capable of assuring strict compliance with the standards of efficacy and quality of pharmaceutical products?

Does BFAD have enough resources to monitor drug companies and outlets?

Can BFAD cope with random sampling of questionable generic drugs?

Has DOH instituted the necessary sanctions on drug companies carrying sub-standard, violative, and fake drugs? (What happened to the Sub-standard Medicine Alert of DOH Region VII released on January 17, 2001 concerning PHILIPPINE PHARMAWEALTH, Inc. products?).


PUBLIC SAFETY IS A PUBLIC TRUST AND SHALL BE NON-NEGOTIABLE

Direct patient care is the primary responsibility of doctors and hospitals and nobody else is held accountable for the welfare of the patient, in its preventive and curative aspects in our Health Care Delivery System. Only the medical doctors are subjected to legal sanctions and must bear the consequences thereof if any untoward effects in the treatment of patients occur.

Curtailing medical doctors from pursuing high level of performance, which is expected of them in the choice of the best possible drugs or medicines for their patients, is an act of disenfranchisement of the human spirit, and would lead to diminishing their rights to practice the Art of Healing, which is God given.

Hence, we need to redirect our efforts to the improvement and strengthening of existing and flawed laws (What happened to the recommendations made by the government and private hospitals and practitioners to the Oversight Committee in 1988, re: Generic Act of 1988) and we should not allow these flawed laws to remain forever and become part of the archives of history.


RECOMMENDATIONS

Price Monitoring Index for all drugs and medicines, both generic and branded.

Acquisition of drugs or medicines through bulk procurement

Procurement of drugs or medicines through Parallel Drug Importation (selective)

The government must strengthen the capability of BFAD to assure strict compliance with the standards of efficacy, safety, and overall quality of pharmaceutical products.

BFAD must be provided with enough resources to ensure that its operations are at par with International Standards.

BFAD must perform with equal regularity random quality checks on Drug Companies and their products.

There must be BFAD laboratories in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao or if possible per region
BFAD must exercise its functions of monitoring supervision, and regulation of drug outlets

Revisit the Generic Act and its implementation by the oversight committee
Consultation with people, specially the concerned sector (Health Sector), before any amendments are passed.

Lastly, consult your doctor for the best medicine for you.


The prescription made my physicians for their patients is a sacred document between the Doctor and the Patient. The Rx stands for the command “Take thou”, so please do not bastardize our prescription and, most importantly, protect our people who are the beneficiaries or recipients of health care.



(SIGNED)


KENNETH T. COO, M.D.
President, Negros Oriental Medical Society


JONATHAN C. AMANTE, M.D.
President, PCP – NegOr Chapter


JOHNNY B. YEE, M.D.
President, PAFP – NegOr Chapter


VERNA T. REYES, M.D.
President, PMWA – NegOr Chapter


ELY V. VILLAPANDO, M.D.,
M.P.H. Consultant


DANTE G. DOMINGO, M.D.
IPHO – Negros Oriental PHO II, NOPH


FELIX A. SY, M.D.
Chief of Clinics, NOPH


QUINTIN C. BASCOS, M.D.
COH, Bindoy District Hospital


EDGARDO P. PIALAGO, M.D.
COH, Gov. William Villegas Memorial Hospital


CLEMENTE S. HIPE IV, M.D.
COH, Siaton District Hospital


GERVACIO S. SALATANDRE, JR., M.D.
COH, Bais District Hospital


HENRISSA M. CALUMPANG, M.D.
COH-OIC, Bayawan District Hospital


TRIFONY D. LUCHANA, M.D.
COH-OIC, Canlaon District Hospital

Docs up in arms

...in protest of the amendment to the Generics Act Bill.

There’s been an uproar lately, among doctors throughout the country. It’s about the new amendment to the Generics Act Bill.

What’s the Generics Act Bill?

Simply put, it behooves doctors, dentists and veterinarians to prescribe drugs using generic names instead of brand names.

Why?

So that the patient can choose which brand he or she will buy.

Why is there a need for this?

Well, in the market, there is a wide range of prices for any particular drug. For example, the antibiotic cephalexin can be as expensive as 30 pesos per 500 mg capsule for a branded version, whereas the unbranded/generic version would sell for only 16 pesos.

Why is it like that?

(Ahmmm… why don’t we ask the pharmaceutical companies??)

Is this a new bill?

Actually this has been implemented in 1988 yet. That’s like 20 years ago.

And so what’s the fracas all about today?

It’s the amendment to the bill. Which says it will now be a criminal act if doctors WRITE the brand name of the drug instead of just letting the generic name stand for itself.

Uhh… whats’ the problem with that? Can’t the generic name indeed stand for itself?

Well, yes and no. Technically, the generic name should be able to stand for itself. Cephalexin 500 mg should be cephalexin 500 mg no matter what it’s brand name may be. But that is technically and theoretically. The reality is: not all cephalexins are created equal. Hello! That is the sad truth.

Hmm… would you care to elaborate on that?

See, there’s this thing called QC. Not Quezon City where I spent 15 years of my life in, but Quality Control. The reality is big pharmaceutical companies, who have a name and reputation to protect, have GOOD quality control measures to ensure that all the drugs that come out of their factories are able to pass muster. Meaning if it says on the label 500 mg of active ingredient then each tablet or capsule really contains 500 mg of active ingredient. AND there is the matter of the inactive ingredients. The inactive ingredients could spell the difference between an allergic reaction, shelf life and bioavailabity.

On the other hand, the smaller pharmaceutical companies also have smaller budgets for quality control. Therefore, there is a greater chance that the drugs that come out of their factories are not at par with the drugs that come out of the big, established pharmaceutical companies.

It sounds logical but umm… have there been studies to prove this?

Studies? Yeah… I don’t know. All I know is that most if not all the doctors here in Dumaguete will tell you that they have a bad experience with generic drugs. Their patients don’t get well!! Their patients get worse. And so after several days of putting the patient on generic drugs, they eventually insist on the branded drugs and that is when the patients start to get well. If you were the patient, would you rather go through the generic trial period or would you rather go directly to the point?

Okay, at this point forward, I’m going to stop giving my own personal opinion on the subject matter and point you to the Official Position Paper of the Negros Oriental Medical Society, the Negros Oriental Chapters of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians, the Philippine College of Physicians, the Philippine Medical Women’s Association as well as the Negros Oriental Hospital Hospital Systems. It’s a combination of medical jargon and legalese so it might not be so easy to read. But for those interested, I think it’s a necessary read.

Incidentally, this past week, the proponents of the above Position Paper have been holding meetings, rallys, motorcades and press conferences to publicly declare what we perceive as an atrocity, an insult, a desecration, a travesty of the practice of medicine in the country. All the conferences and rallys were well attended, seldom do we get such a solid gathering of doctors from both the government and private sectors alike. And this coming Sunday, there’s going to be a motorcade beginning at the Silliman Medical Center to increase public awareness of the doctors’ protest against the amendment to the Cheaper Medicine Bill.

My only lament: there was no debate at all. Everyone was on one side. I would have wanted to hear (and boo) the arguments of the people who authored the bill. Which, may I just add, one of whom, Ferjero Biron himself, owns a generic pharmaceutical firm. O_O

And here are some interesting discussions about the amendment to the Cheaper Medicine Bill:

Prudence, MD

Ang sa wari ko...

Surviento

And from Biron's Alma Mater, the West Visayas State University.



.

Position Paper

of the

Negros Oriental Medical Society,

the

Negros Oriental Chapters of the

Philippine Academy of Family Physicians

Philippine College of Physicians

Philippine Medical Women's Association

and the

Negros Oriental Hospital Systems

on the

.

CHEAPER MEDICINE BILL (HB 2844)

Chapter 5, Section 33, Section 6b

of the Repubic Act No. 6675

.

(Generic Act of 1988)

.

This position paper is in response to the newly amended Cheaper Medicine Bill (HB 2844) passed by congress that prohibits medical, dental and veterinary doctors from prescribing the brand name of their medicine of choice in addition to the generic name in every patient encounter.

.

The Cheaper Medicine Bill (HB2844), Chapter 5 Section 33, Section 65 of he Republic Act No. 6675, otherwise known as the Generic Act of 1988, is hereby amended to read as follows:

.

"Sec. 6 Who Shall Use Generic Terminology: "(b) All medical, dental and veterinary practitioners, including private practitioners, shall write prescriptions using the GENERIC NAME OF THE DRUG OR MEDICINE ONLY AND ITS BRAND NAME SHALL NOT APPEAR ON ANY PART OF THE PRESCRIPTION."

.

Having studied and thoroughly discussed the meaning and implications of this Bill, we, the physicians fo the Negros Oriental Medical Society (NOMS), the Negros Oriental Chapters of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians, the Philippine College of Physicians, the Philippine Medical Women's Association as well as the Negros Oriental Hospital Systems have arrived at a consensus to collectively support this Cheaper Medicine Bill since lowering the cost of medicines would make it more affordable to the general public.

.

However, we strongly object and protest against the specific provision of the said Bill found in Chapter 5, Section 33, Section 6b of RA 6675 for the following reasons:

.

Whereas, Section 4 of the Philippine Bill of Rights states that "no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances." In the context of this provision, we claim that, since we doctors are ultimately responsible for the well-being of our patients, we should, at the very least, have the right to express what we believe will be beneficial to our patients.

.

Whereas, writing the brand name in addition to the generic name is an exercise of our right to choose. It does not in any way prevent the right of the patient to choose other drugs with the same generic name. However, preventing doctors to write the brand name in addition to the generic name is a violation of their freedom of expression and therefore, unconstitutional. This amendment removes the physician's right and prerogative and discretion as to the choice of the best possible brand of drugs or medicines for the treatment of their patients.

.

Whereas, depriving the physician of the option to write the brand name would mean transferring such option to the pharmacists, who will be dispensing these drugs but do not have a complete knowledge of the health status of the patient. It is the doctor's prescription name and license that are placed on the line, hence, it is appropriate that it should be the prescribing physician who should have the option to choose the best drug for his/her patient, whether generic or branded. Relegating this responsibility to pharmacies could endanger the safety of our patients and questions our competencies as practicing physicians. If a dispensed drug would cause adverse reactions with fatal consequences, it is the prescribing physician who is accountable to his/her patient and not the pharmacies.

.

Whereas, it is our professional and moral obligation to give the best treatment to our patients, it is proper to maintain our right to choose what is deemed most beneficial for our patients. Hence, we protest any Bill that would deprive us from exercising our right to protect our patients with our intelligent choice of medicines, which is primarily based on our clinical assessment of the overall health condition of our patients.

.

Whereas, we physicians believe that not all drugs are equal in terms of efficacy and safety, we are not convinced that the government has adequate resources and efficiency to monitor the bioavailability and bioequivalence of generic drugs, which would ensure a superior quality of commercially available drugs. If the goal of the bill is to make cheaper medicines available to the greater majority of Filipinos, prohibiting physicians from writing the brand name will not achieve such purpose.

.

Whereas, since the Generic Law has been around for sometime, it has become an existing practice that if the patient cannot afford the branded medicines prescibed by the physicians, he/she has the option to ask for the cheaper brand. However, this provision merely opens the field to unscrupulous businessmen who are hungry to market drugs with questionable efficacy and safety.

.

Whereas, we physicians are trained in evidence-based decision making, hence, prescribing our personal drug of choice is mainly on efficacy, safety, suitability and cost (in such order of importance). Choosing a drug should be based first on efficacy followed by safety and suitability, then lastly the cost.

.

Much as we want to prescribe the most affordable medicine for our patients, cost is never the primary reason for choosing the right drug. It should always be the efficacy and safety of the drug that should be considered first. The cost is an added important consideration but should not be the sole basis for prescribing medicines. Establishing the good quality of a generic drug necessitates bioavailability and bioequivalence studies to determine its effectivity, suitability and safety.

.

Until we are convinced that the government and our political leaders have fully understood the ideal concepts and principles of pharmacotherapy and have an unbiased implementation of the Generic Law, as far as efficiency in drug monitoring and quality control measures, we, physicians, continue to protest and be vigilant in guarding our professional rights and, foremost, the safety and trust of our patients.

.

Weblogging doctors

I'm glad to discover that there are other doctors in the Philippines who weblog!

Now I don't feel so weird anymore. :-)


This is the Silliman Medical Center, one of the hospitals where I work at.

Post-Op

This is a continuation of my posting about my mother's hip fracture and her hip surgery.

______________________________

Jovitt holding a basket of flowers from cousin Ivy. Daddy and Anton, loyal watchers of Lola Consing. This was before the surgery. Notice that Lola's left leg is in traction.


This email to relatives was sent the day after her operation.
________________________________

hello everyone,

about lola consing's surgery, thanks to God and to all your prayers, the surgery went very nicely.

the original plan to do a compression hip screw fixation was aborted because mommy's hip bone was rather thin unya ni-action ug shatter when it was manipulated (one of the most fearsome things that can happen in orthopedic surgery). so dr katada opted to do an open reduction angle plating fixation instead. surgery lasted less than three hours. by God's grace, mommy was able to tolerate the surgery very well. i knew she was very scared and tense before the surgery kay isog na man sa helper (she kept harping at the helper) where before she had been a very good patient. but in the OR, when we told her the surgery was almost finished, she started talking and talking and kept telling me to give snacks to everybody in the OR and thank you thank you to all.

when we reached her room (she did not pass thru the recovery room kay naa man cya private nurses, si michael and girlfriend lalaine) auntie azon and two other women were there and si mommy kept talking and talking. She was so happy, the much feared operation was finished. and she had no pain as the spinal anesthesia has not worn of f yet.

bye for now ...
______________________________________


Hope you will not find the picture below as too gross... ;-) For a doctor working in the operating room, scenes like this are beautiful to see. It signifies that a job, a task, has been accomplished, hopefully for the betterment of the patient. The wound is about a foot long. And the depth is...well, tagos sa buto!

Often I would hear people ask "So, how many sutures do you have?" referring to the skin sutures visible to anybody who dares to take a look. Actually, the sutures or stitches on the skin are just a few of the many more sutures and stitches deep inside the muscle layers, that are not visible from the outside. And in the case of my mother, she had regular sutures for inside her leg/hip but for her skin, staples were used. Yes, staples as in metal "staplers"to staple the two edges of the skin together.

BoscOlympics

.

It's the founder's week of St. Louis School-Don Bosco and they have a week long celebration called BoscOlympics where they have all kinds of games and competitions from sports to literary-musical to academics and the like. Guests from the other Don Bosco schools all over the Philippines are also here in Dumaguete to grace the occasion.

That is Carlo and classmate after the judges read the verdict: Cheerdance competition champion: Juniors! Sophies: fourth place. Seniors: best in choreography. Freshmen: got third place overall. Go-Freshmen-Go-Freshmen-Go! Many more events in the coming days.

The red hood controversy

One of my favorite stories when I was a child was the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Nobody read bedtime stories to me then, so I read all the stories myself. Over and over I would read them until the characters came alive in my mind and I could picture very clearly the little girl's outfit, the leaves that she trod upon as she went to her lola's cottage in the woods, and finally the showdown with the story's villain, the big bad wolf.

When I became an adult I realized that there are several variations to my esteemed picture book version. Here's one that I found to be quite interesting:

_______________________________


Little Red Riding Hood Revisited

by Russell Baker:

In In an effort to make the classics accessible to contemporary readers, I am translating them into the modern American language. Here is the translation of the Little Red Riding Hood:

Once upon a point in time, a small person named Little Red Riding Hood initiated plans for the preparation, delivery, and transportation of foodstuffs to her grandmother, a senior citizen residing at a place of residence in a wooded area of indeterminate dimension.

In the process of implementing this program, her incursion into the area was in mid-transportation process when it attained interface with an alleged perpetrator. This individual, a wolf, made inquiry as to the whereabouts of Little Red Riding Hood’s goal, as well as inferring that he was desirous of ascertaining the contents of Little Red Riding Hood’s foodstuffs basket, and all that.

“It would be inappropriate to lie to me,” the wolf said, displaying his huge jaw capability. Sensing that he was a mass of repressed hostility intertwined with acute alienation, she indicated.

“I see you indicating,” the wolf said, “but what I don’t see is whatever it is you’re indicating at, you dig?”

Little Red Riding Hood indicated more fully, making one thing perfectly clear – to wit, that it was to her grandmother’s residence and with a consignment of foodstuffs that her mission consisted of taking her to and with.

At this point in time the wolf moderated his rhetoric and proceeded to grandmother’s residence. The elderly person was then subjected to the disadvantages of total consumption and transferred to residence in the perpetrator’s stomach.

“That will raise the old woman’s consciousness,” the wolf said to himself. He was not a bad wolf, but only the victim of an oppressive society, a society that not only denied wolf’s rights, but actually boasted of its capacity for keeping the wolf from the door. An interior malaise made itself manifest inside the wolf.

“Is that the national malaise I sense within my digestive tract?” wondered the wolf. “Or is it the old person seeking to retaliate for her consumption by telling wolf jokes to my duodenum?” It was time to make a judgment. The time was now, the hour had struck, the body lupine cried out for decision. The wolf was up to the challenge. He took two stomach powders right away and got into bed.

The wolf had adopted the abdominal distress recovery posture when Little Red Riding Hood achieved his presence.

“Grandmother,” she said, “your ocular implements are of an extraordinary order of magnitude.”

“The purpose of this enlarged viewing capability,” said the wolf, “is to enable your image to register a more precise impression upon my sight systems.”

“In reference to your ears,” said Little Red Riding Hood, “it is noted with the deepest respect that far from being underprivileged, their elongation and enlargement appear to qualify you for unparalleled distinction.”

“I hear you loud and clear, kid,” said the wolf, “but what about these new choppers?”

“If it’s not inappropriate,” said Little Red Riding Hood, it might be observed that with your new miracle masticating products you may even be able to chew taffy again.”

This observation was followed by the adoption of an aggressive posture on the part of the wolf and the assertion that it was also possible for him, due to the high efficiency ratio of his jaw, to consume little persons, plus, as he stated, his firm determination to do so at once without delay and with all due process and propriety, not withstanding the fact that the ingestion of one entire grandmother had already provided twice his daily recommended cholesterol intake.

There ensued flight by Little Red Riding Hood accompanied by pursuit in respect to the wolf and a subsequent intervention on the part of a third party, heretofore unnoted in the record.

Due to the firmness of the intervention, the wolf’s stomach underwent ax-assisted aperture with the result that Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother was enabled to be removed with only minor discomfort.

The wolf’s indigestion was immediately alleviated with such effectiveness that he signed a contract with the intervening third party to perform with grandmother in a television commercial demonstrating the swiftness of this dramatic relief for stomach discontent.

“I’m going to be on television,” cried grandmother.

And they all joined her happily in crying, “What a phenomena!”


_________________________

Isn't it funny how we, adults, sometimes say simple things in a roundabout way?

Well, to balance things out, I think we should hear all sides in the issue.

Let us therefore read the wolf's version.






.

Lotsa things

Oh, yeah.

Lotsa things happening today.

1. Cousin Janry-Abegail Wedding - seeing all those long lost relatives made me cry. My nephews and nieces are mga ulitawo and dalaga na! What does that make me? Yeah, right. ;p

Janry-Abigail and the luscious wedding cake.

2. SUHS Batch '78 Manila Group - meeting at Erlyn's house and calling me: such a ruckus! They wanted to know what the Dumaguete group is expecting from them. I said how about a dance number? They said, "Dance number only?!" I said, "No, that's just the introduction to the evening dinner that you, the Manila Group, will sponsor." Them, "Ah, how about a dance number and a song number na lang? With emcee included?" Me, "Ah, pagsabot na lang usa mo diha, uy. Kung mosponsor mo ug dinner, malipay mi. If dance number ra, modawat ra pud mi." :-)

Later they called again. Nakapapicture na daw sila to be sent to me for posting here. And they've decided to sponsor the t-shirt design and printing. Thanks! And the dance and song number too. :-)

3. Doctors in Touch planning for the Summer National Convention of Medical Students here in Dgte.

4. Planning for the February family reunion (like Very Special People coming home!! ohmygosh) My mother and father have this little notebook that they carry around. Guess what's in it?! What's the most important thing for Mommy? Haha! If you know my mother, you will know that the topic that she wants to talk about is: THE MENU! Hahahaha! Yes, the menu for each day that her pinaka-buotan na anak will be here this February! Heheheh. Daddy also has his own entries in this little notebook. His agenda: the where and the when, when will we go here and there, how many days will we stay here/there, activities here/there, stuff like that.

5. Tito Arnold, sick and admitted in the hospital. Always keeping his cellphone and watch nearby. Waiting for the time when his children and relatives would call, as promised. He looks forward so much to these calls and visits.

**Bottom line: It's all about connecting. And reconnecting. With family. And friends. That's what we all long for. And need.

________________________________

The wedding guests:

Uncle Onor, Daddy, Uncle Loloy, Manila based cousin Albert and wife Linlin.

Uncle Nickarter, daughter Maya, Auntie Lourd (walking now after the stroke) and cousin Chinggay, migrating to America soon, as in next week.

Deanne and Mom Zsazsa

Architectural designer cousin Tata, now based in Baltimore, and whom I haven't seen in more than ten years!

Here's a song for the newlyweds from my son Mike and girlfriend, Lalaine.

My mother broke her hip

Well, actually, the breaking happened several months ago (before I discovered weblogging). So what follows are emails to relatives sent previously, with more details added today…posted here for posterity.

My siblings and I call her Mommy but with all the apos being born, and so many aunties and cousins becoming mommys too, we now call her Lola Consing to lessen the confusion especially during our big family reunions.

Black text – original email
Gray text – new addition
Links – definitely new addition
____________________________

Augus 29, 2007

Subject: lola consing fractured hip

hello everyone,

lola consing is scheduled for compresion hip screw fixation of her left intertrochanteric fracture tomorrow august 30 at 2 pm here at the silliman medical center. (Technically, the bone that is fractured here is the femur but since it is the part of the femur that is intimately related to the pelvic bone, it is commonly called a hip fracture, the hip being actually a joint of femur and pelvic bone.)

ang story is:

august 26 sunday evening: arrive sila (daddy, mommy, jovitt) from sta. catalina

august 27 afternoon: watch Parada Sillimaniana sila. didto sila sa bank ni jean, landbank. kauban sila daddy, jovitt, jean, edgar, nanet, onin, bhea and ellyn (my helper).

may nag throw ug candies to the people watching the parade and lola consing niapil ug ilog sa candies. twice pa. the first time, ok ra. the second time she slipped and fell on her side and broke her left hip. ang iya purpose daw was to get some candies and give them to anton who was also in the parade. drummer boy man si anton so they (daddy and mommy) were planning to unwrap the candy and put it in anton's mouth when he passed by. onin said, "gi-help man mi ni lola to get candies."

ang ga throw sa candies kay ang women's auxillary of the medical center kay SUMC contingent man ang ga-pass by sa land bank at that time. when they saw mommy fall they thought daw nakuyapan ang old woman kay init man. but when she got up they saw that one leg was shorter than the other and that she couldn't walk na, gi-akay siya ni elyn, they immediately knew that it was a a surgical case. gitapukan dayon si mommy sa mga doctors sa medical center who joined the parade and timing pud ang ambulancia was also in the parade, so gipasakay dayon si mommy sa ambulance. silang nanet thought sprain ra and they said mag pick up ra sila. but the SUMC people knew na dili lang to sprain because of the leg shortening so they insisted na ambulance gyud. daddy and nanet joined her in the ambulance.

ang nahitabo, wala sila kakita kang anton. si anton gasunod na hinuon sa ambulance. ang end sa parade kay sa grandstand man just across the medical center. while all this was happening, kami ni patrick ga parade pud (med tech si patrick, ako sa medical school) apan layo ra mi.

(nanet kept texting me these terse messages but since they were non-medical terms, I couldn’t get a clear picture of what was going on. I had to wait for the resident to relay the initial findings.)

wala na lang pud ko ni run to sumc kay wala man pedicab, streets were closed to traffic ug wala pud koy mahimo sa emergency room, x-rayhan pa man so nihuman lang usa ko sa parade. her doctor, dr. manny katada was also with me sa parade.

we were past the capitol area, quite near sumc, already when the surgical resident texted dr. katada and me simultaneously. Left Intertrochanteric fracture. we always try to be calm and clinical about these things. all the more when it involves our close relatives. our dialogue was simple and brief. “is this your…?” “my mother” “intertroch” “yeah. let’s schedule her soon.” i contacted mommy’s internist to start tests for medical clearance and went back to manny and told him about mommy’s surgery for a urinary bladder stone back in 1991. since then her calcium intake has been limited because she was a stone former. meaning, her bones are not strong on account of the limited calcium intake.

so now, dr. katada had to study her case very well coz her fracture is not a simple one, it's comminuted. plus the fact that mommy's bones are kind of brittle... remember she had surgery for urinary stones back in 1991? so since then her calcium intake was limited kasi stone former cya so her bones are not that strong.

mommy's internist already gave her cardio-pulmonary clearance for the surgery. she is in skeletal traction now, gibitay iyang left leg. she has a trapeze bar in her bed but she does not want to move much. i took some pictures with my celfone but i can't figure out yet how to get the pics into this computer so i can email them to you. i'm having a techie person look into it pa.

this is all for now. let's all pray for a smooth and successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

salamat kaayo.


_________________


to be continued...



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My mother

...broke her hip.

What to write about today...

LOL

Labor of _______. That's what he calls it.

Let's check out what Kuya Clyde has been doing the past few days. (Warning: ala-Blairwitch)

Ok, ok. Take two.

This is a special kind of power tool called a pneumatic Nailer. It hammers a special kind of floor nail onto the tongue and groove wooden planks.

And since power tools need power, here’s the compressor, which he filched from his sister’s place for a couple of days.

And here's Clyde in action:

Yesterday he laid down the joists...

And today he's nailing down the Matimco floorboards.


Notice the plastic (handcarried from Korea) between the cement floor and the wooden boards. That’s to keep the cold down and the wood warm.

After four days of mighty toiling, voila! The whole room is fully wood-floored.

And Clyde goes off to his “other life.” Ask him what his job is and he’ll say, “Drayber lang po.” Yeah, right. But his garage is a hangar, yo!

Clyde with relatives in California. Yes, that's a Boeing triple 7.

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Happy Birthday, Raphael!

Siya … Ako

- by Raphael


Sa isang bintana, aking nakita
Isang lalaking mapagmahal sa kapwa
Siya’y nakakapagbigay ligaya
Sa kanyang mga kaibigan o sa hindi niya kilala

Hindi siya kasing tangkad ni Yao Ming
Hindi siya kasing gwapo ni Brad Pitt
Pero sa aking namamasdan, ako’y napra-praning
Dahil siya ay kasing bait ng anghel na galing sa langit

Siya’y hindi marunong maglaro ng baseball
Lalong lalo na sa larong basketball
Pero siya’y magaling sa pagpapatawa
Ang kanyang mga biro ay hindi nakakasawa

Sa aking tinatanaw ako’y napatawa
Yun pala’y salamin, hindi bintana
Ako’y nagmukhang nasiraan ng ulo
Ako ay napangiti dahil siya pala ay ako.






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myomas

This is a picture of a huge myoma being removed surgically. This one took several years to reach this size. It is amazing how many women in the Philippines wait until their illnesses get worse before they go to a hospital for check-up and management. .

The picture above shows a huge myoma in Dr. C's patient. The myoma is even bigger than a full term baby.

In the picture below the hand of the surgeon, Dr. V, is in the scene to give us an idea of how big the myoma is. This is from another patient, by the way.

Dr. V inspects the myoma. Any "unusual" findings?

None. (Good!)

Climbing Mount Fuji

My dear, dear high school barkada, Bonnie, after much cajoling and beseeching, allowed me to post his story about his climb to the top of Mt. Fuji in Japan.

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There is an old Japanese saying- “He who climbs Mt. Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool.” I am not really into mountain climbing, in fact, I have never climbed a mountain. Not even Mt. Makiling, which was just right above the campus grounds of my Alma Mater. But when asked if I would want to climb Mt. Fuji, straight away, I said yes. It would be foolish to turn down a free trip to Japan.

I work for Dentsu Philippines. We are an advertising agency and not makers of industrial air conditioners. I was the fourth person Dentsu hired when they opened shop at The Enterprise along Ayala Avenue in 2001. Our mothership Dentsu Inc. is in Tokyo and was founded in1901. And as we always say as part of our credentials every time we make a new business pitch- Dentsu is older than the Philippine Republic.

Every month of July, since 1928, Dentsu would require new hires (freshmen, as they call them) to trek and climb the top of Mt. Fuji for the sunrise. A baptism of fire of some sort for Mt. Fuji is 12,388 feet above the ground. For several weeks and in numerous occasions before my trip, our Japanese Director, Abe-san would tell me, “Ah Bonnie-san very, very difficult neh climbing Mt. Fuji noh.” Nakano-san, a frequent visitor from the mothership thought I was crazy to even think about climbing Mt. Fuji. Another frequent visitor, Fugawa-san, said he had difficulty in breathing during the ascent and suffered a temporary hearing impairment after the climb. He swore never to climb Mt. Fuji again.

With all the apocalyptic warnings from the Japanese themselves, images of my glorious paid vacation to the Land of the Rising Sun began to change. I started worrying about atmospheric pressure, the freezing temperature, altitude sickness, breathing difficulties, my physical condition, and my lack of exercise. On top of my worry list was the big “what if.” What if I don’t make it to the top of Mt. Fuji?

The night before the climb, I had dinner with a good friend and fellow Creative Director, Fukada-san. Over sake, red wine, and beer, he marveled about the time he climbed Mt. Fuji as a freshman, some 20 years ago.

“It’s an incredible neh, spiritual, life-changing neh experience Bonnie-san! Fuji-san ahh made me a better man ahh,” he enthusiastically declared. This must be the wisdom behind the time-honored Dentsu tradition. I hope the climb will have the same effect on me, I mumbled to myself.

“Kampai! Bonnie-san. To your spiritual journey neh.” Fukada-san said while raising his sake glass.

“Kampai!” I uttered back, “Journey tomorrow, spiritual nourishment tonight.” And we continued to drink.

The following afternoon, after an elaborate ceremony in a Shinto Shrine, my journey to the mythical Mt.Fuji officially began. I was climber No. 299 of 386 freshmen from Dentsu. I was one of the three non-Japanese freshmen and one of the oldest too. The initial hike through the flowery meadows was a breeze. Until I got to the forest trail that zigzagged its way up to the volcanic landscape made of sharp and jagged red rocks in varying sizes, and the climb simply got steeper and steeper.

By nightfall, I was still climbing. “Itaas ang banderang Pilipinas!” was my rah-rah cheer to myself as I struggled my way up to fulfill my destiny. My legs were sore, my knees and ankles were aching. I could feel the bruises on my back from the strap of my backpack. My heart felt like it was beating itself out of my chest.

Four young ladies from Dentsu caught up with me and passed by me. One of them turned around, she looked at me and pointed to the sky and she said, “If you’re tired, look above, it’s so pretty!”

I nodded and smiled at her and I continued walking, really slow this time. When I saw that the girls were already far away from me, I stopped and looked up. Wow! The night sky appeared like shimmering black crystal intricately adorned with thousands and thousands of pure light from the distant stars. Absolutely amazing!

Minutes before sunrise, I finally got to the top. There were many people on the mountain by then and amidst the sea of climbers, I jostled and elbowed my way and found a spot to sit down. From my vantage point, I knew I was going to get a perfect view of the spectacle about to unfold.

In awe, I saw the first sliver of light cutting through the Cimmerian darkness of the horizon, dramatically splitting it into two, altering its color to orange as the rising sun bursts through the clouds, majestically heralding the start of a new day. For a moment there was a collective hush in the crowd, followed by a succession of clicks of many camera shutters. Many Japanese made calls on their mobile phones to tell of the event. Envious, I took out my cellphone, and yes, full bar! Immediately I made a call and roused my wife in Manila and told her of the un-realness of what I have just seen and that her husband was literally standing on ground above the clouds.

“Okay, good.” She said and asked if she could go back to sleep.

“Okay,” I replied and got off the phone. Then I realized that though it was freezing cold, I felt really wonderful. It was a great feeling. It has been years now since I climbed Mt. Fuji and I am still not into mountain climbing. Did I become a better person, wiser, after setting foot at the summit of the sacred Fuji-san? I don’t know but I can certainly say, I am a fool, for I will climb Mt. Fuji again…soon.

The block

Collected by my friend Lindazu (who finally recalled the name and password of her blogspot!!!! harheehar!!! Welcome back to blogworld)


CENTRAL BLOCK/MENTAL BLOCK

At the Philippine General Hospital, there is this place called the Central Block where the Radiology Department is located. X-rays, Ultrasound, CT Scan and Radiotherapy are done there. There I observed the evolution of Pinoy medical terms. Patients or “bantays” (patient watchers) would wander around and ask for directions.


** Versions of the CT Scan:

1. "Doc, where is the Siete Scan?"

2. "Doc, where can I have a CT Skull"

3. "Doc, where can I have a CT Scalp"

4. "Doc, can you tell me where the CT Scam is?"


** Many times I have been asked for directions going to the Cobalt Room.

“Doc, where is the Cobal Room?” Yes, no T. A lot of people use the term Cobal without a T. Wonder where the T went? Well, a lot of patients also ask, “Doc, where can we have an X-Tray?” So there you go. The T from cobalt when to the X-Tray.


** 8:00 am. A fellow doctor gave instructions to the patient: “Mister, you go to the Central Block and have an x-ray scheduled.”

3:00 pm. Patient just returned. Doctor is mad. “

Doctor: Mister, what took you so long? I told you to just get an x-ray schedule from Central Block and it takes you seven hours to do that?”

Patient: “Sorry, po, Doc, I waited for a long time at the gate of the Central Bank until the guard told me that they are closed today as it is Saturday.


** I rotated at the Pediatrics department of the PGH and I could see that the mothers really cared for their children. They tried their best to remember the names of their kids’ medicines and illnesses.

Doctor: Mrs., what’s the name of the medicine your daughter is taking?

Mrs 1: Doc, phenobarbiedoll po.

Doktor: Ah, maybe you mean Phenobarbital...

Doctor: Mrs., what antibiotic is your son taking?

Mrs 2: Doc, MetroManilaZole po.

Doktor: Ah, maybe you mean metronidazole.



The Recovery Room at the PGH is called the PACU (Post- Anesthesia Care Unit).

Doctor: Mrs., the surgery of your daughter is finished. You can visit her at the PACU.

Mrs 3: Eh, Doc, where in Paco? Near the church or the public market?

Doctor: Mrs. What did the previous doctor of your baby say about your child’s
condition?

Mrs 4: Eh, Doc, he said Tragedy of Fallot, po.

Doktor: Ah perhaps you mean Tetralogy of Fallot (congenital heart disease)


Mother in hysterics:

Mrs. 5: Scissors! Scissors! Nag-sciscissors ang anak ko, Doc!

Doktor: Nurse, diazepam please, patient is having a seizure.


Doctor: (To parturient in labor) Mrs. pumutok na po ba ang panubigan mo?" (Did your
bag of water burst already?)

Mrs 7: Eh Doc, wala naman po akong narinig na pagsabog. (Doc, I didn’t hear any
explosion.)




ACTUAL SENTENCES FOUND IN PATIENT'S MEDICAL CHARTS

(To my students, please don’t let me see these in YOUR charts!)

1. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

2. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.

3. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed
last night.

4. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

5. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

6. Discharge status: Alive but without permission.

7. The patient refused autopsy.

8. The patient has no previous history of suicides.

9. She is numb from her toes down.

10. While in ER, she was examined, X-rated and sent home.

11. The skin was moist and dry.

12. Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches.

13. Patient was alert and unresponsive.

14. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.

15. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

16. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

17. The patient was to have a bowel resection. However, he took a job as a stockbroker
instead.

18. Skin: somewhat pale but present.

19. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.








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Silliman University High School 1978

Boyz: Miss all that hair!

Gurls: Oh, to be sixteen again...

Oooopps...

.

Something happened here...

Just go to other Batch '78 links:

1. our itinerary for August 2008

2. poem for reunioning batches

3. checking possible venues

4. where we went last reunion

5. our faces 30 years ago :-)

5. our very own website!

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Being there/The Sandbar

In the middle of the Tanon Strait, between the islands of Cebu and Negros, three cottages "float" in the ocean. The light blue colored water is knee deep, or waist deep, depending on one's height. The dark blue water at the right side of the picture and at the horizon indicate a sudden dip ocean depth.




It was "high tide" when we arrived, the water reaching up to the cement platform where the stairs leading up to the cottage begin.



In the afternoon, it becomes "low tide" and the light blue water recede to reveal THE SANDBAR.

View from atop the cottage: kid and adult play in the crystal clear water, catching tiny little fishes darting along.

Barnacles and other sea creatures cling to the cement posts that hold the cottage up.

After lunch (Or was it before? Hard to tell. In the middle of the ocean, time for eating, swimming and playing sort of got jumbled up) we took a ride in the red and blue bangka away from our cottage home base...

... and went farther into the sea to look for dolphins. Our bangkero was an expert. He knew exactly where to look for the dolphins. Or so he thought. For on this day the dolphins went ahiding. We called out to them, clapped for them, strained our eyes for them, but, alas, they were nowhere to be found. We were hot and thirsty and hungry (so maybe it was before lunch afterall!) and disgruntled and Ivy was getting seasick already and so we started to head back to our oceanic home base.

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When suddenly, perhaps sensing our dismay, a school of dolphins came with alacrity and danced, swam, jumped into the air, dove deep into the depths, dazzling us with their magnificent display of speed, agility and power. Yes, that was what came to my mind. These sleek huge mammals were powerful. They had superb control of their bodies and they could move really fast despite their size. If they had a mind to, maybe they could have even overturned our bangka. Such was the "bigness" of the show they put up for us.

Well, thank goodness they didn't. Overturn our bangka that is. I must say those dolphins were kind of domesticated. I mean they were not afraid of people and in fact I think they reveled in our applause and cheers. They were showoffs! :-)

And so we returned to our cottage. Happy and fulfilled. Glad to have been recipients of an amazing nature treat. A dolphin dance. And a day in the sand in the middle of the ocean.

P.S. Thanks to Arvie for the pictures!

Going there/In shades of blue

It was April 2006 and our family was going on a journey.

This was the starting point.

A rickety wooden walkway, in a secluded inlet bay along the shores of Manjuyod.

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All aboard the blue and red bangka, we sailed off into the deep blue southern sea.

Thirty minutes later, our bangkero wordlessly calls our attention to something extraordinary in the middle of the ocean.



Target in sight. Final approach.



To be continued...

RSVP

It's been a toxic hectic day. Dashing here and dashing there.

The main event: the RSVP dinner sponsored by Doctors in Touch and United Laboratories. I thought in Dumaguete no one bothers to reply to RSVPs but this time they did! One day I am going to elaborate more on this.

For today:

1. Doctors turned actors Ann Bernadas and Gam Garcia had their stage debut when they did a sketch on how doctors live at home. It was a delight to direct them.

2. A promise: to post the captions to yesterday's pictures sometime soon

Going somewhere?

Today I give you, my readers, a break from my *#@!*# photography and treat you with some pro pics taken by my multi-talented cousin-in-law, Arvie.

Captions to follow as I'm very zzzzzleeeepppyyyy na....

Apos aplenty

Grandkids in a huddle. Raphy, Paolo, Paula.



Grandkids big and small. JC, Carlo, Anton, Paula, Paolo, Raphy, Phoebe, Onin, Bhea. Lalaine and Mike at the center.


The Lord God made them all.

50 years ago today

...my parents were wed!

Happy anniversary, Mommy and Daddy!

Our (big) family likes to gather and eat together at the slightest excuse. But today was a mighty big one - a 50th wedding anniversary, no less. Our youngest sibling, Nanet, worked the hardest, planning everything and calling everybody, including cousins from my father's side. Which was really good because I got to update my incomplete father-side-family tree.

::sigh:: I thought after the New Year I would have no more excuse for overeating. But looks like things will not let up. Check this out:

1. tomorrow, Lolo Felix and Lola Paro are arriving from Dubai

2. next week, baptismal of cousin Ruel and Estela's baby boy

3. next next week, cousin Janry is getting married

4. midJanuary, Raphael's birthday

5. February, more relatives and birthdays coming up.

All these mean just one thing. Can you guess what it is?

Lola Agre

Today is Lola Agre's 6th death anniversary. We had a potluck dinner at Jovitt's house to commemorate the event but I wasn't able to go because of work and stuff.
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This was when Lola was younger and stronger. During my elementary days, when Lola was even younger than in the above picture, she would carry me piggy-back upstairs in the Meciano house every night before we went to bed as I could not sleep if she was not with me. When I was two years old I was "adopted" by my aunties, Tita Mary and Tita Paro who were then single and living with Lolo and Lola. It was that way because my mother who was assigned as a teacher in a barrio (with a name that begged for poetry, Caranoche!) was sick and couldn't take care of little me and my older brother, Carlito, all at the same time. When my mother got well, my aunties and grandparents wouldn't return me to the barrio life so I grew up in Dumaguete. When my aunties got married, Lola Agre became my surrogate mother until I went to college in Manila. So all in all, I had four mothers when I was growing up: Tita Mary, Tita Paro, Lola Agre and Mommy Consing.

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A year before she passed away at 94 years of age.

Her last days

It was at the end of October 2001 when Lola was diagnosed to have aplastic anemia. Her bone marrow just plain gave up, stopped working, retired. No new blood cells were forthcoming so every week or so she would be admitted for blood and/or platelet transfusions.

With a very low platelet count she would bleed and have hematomas all over her body. One time her entire left arm was black and blue for a week after a blood extraction. With no more white blood cells being formed, she was unable to fight off infection and her body was racked with fungal sores on her mouth the size of ten centavo coins. She could not eat because of the pain. She was too weak to swallow even the teaspoonfuls of milk or soup we would feed her. A nasogastric tube was suggested but I said no, no more please.

And so on that morning of January 3, 2002, Lola Agre's children and I huddled at the foot of her hospital bed and decided that we would not have anymore medical intervention for Lola aside from a dextrose bottle and an oxygen cannula. At three that afternoon she breathed her last. Thankfully, perhaps, I was at the other hospital giving anesthesia when the moment came. Hours later when I arrived at her room, it was strange and not strange to see her still body not rasping in ragged breath anymore.

We had a long wake for Lola, waiting for relatives to arrive. I remember my cousin, Albert, who like me grew up in Lola's house. Already a grown man in 2002, he was bawling like a baby when he arrived from Texas. "Wala na si Lola, 'Day. Wala na si Lola, 'Day." He kept repeating and repeating to me (Inday). Of course, we knew that. But we needed to say it, to hear it, so we could believe it.

.

Father's side

This is our family tree on my father's side.

TIBURCIO (+) and MARIA (+)

Children/Grandchildren/Greatgrandchildren

1. Glicerio (+) and Iluminada - San Francisco
a. Toto and Tess - SFO
Jill
Tote

b. Mariles and Joel (+) - Sta. Catalina
Anna May (Em-em )
Ailou Rose (Ai-ai) (+)
Joel Nino (Gong-gong)
Andrea (Dea)
Marilee (Maril)

c. Bebong and Sonny - London
Glorianne (Glo-glo)

d. Andrew (B-Al) and Maryann - SFO
Allysa (Aling-ling)

e. Glina May (Mimi, Mikay) - SFO

f. Glicerio Jr. (Ontoy) - SFO

g. Alberto and Melinda - Quezon City
Louise Ann
Caryl
Eldrick Vijay

h. Francis (Bingbing) and Alan - SFO

g. Sheila Maris (La-lay) - SFO


2. Jovito and Consuelo

3. Amado and Anding - Alangilan

a. Shelly - Dubai

b. Genalyn - Manila
Hazel

c. Enrique Neil
Neil Austin

4. Lucresia and Raphael - TX

a. Arlene - TX
Kara
Nikki

b. Maribeth (Libeth) and Jim - TX
Jonathan Daniel

c. Lenibelle (Chinggay) - Davao

d. Noel (Dondon) - Davao

e. Lonkoy - TX

f. Maria Fe - TX

g. Ruel - Estela - ocean/Dumaguete
Luke Daniel

h. Mark Anthony - TX


5. Menelio and Milagros - Sta. Catalina

a. Hernanie (Nonoy) and Stephanie (ZsaZsa) - Sta. Catalina
Deanne Lois

b. Cecilia (BB Cel) and Donald (Nanat)- Sta. Catalina
Raynan (Tabingcoy)
Celdon (Don-don)

c. Hermenio (Boyet) and Sheila - Sta. Catalina
Natasha Abagail (Tasha)
Aisha (Ai-ai)
Neil Nathaniel (Neil2x)

d. Raelyn Grace - TX

e. Henry (Bobong) and Anna Lilymay (Limay) - Sta. Catalina
Liana Grace
Menelio II (Gong-gong)
Alexander (Baby Kong)


6. Cleofe and Frank (+) - TX
a. Leah and Hugh
Elizabeth

b. Janice


7. Isaac (+) and Venus - Davao

a. Paul Israel - Baltimore

b. Leandro and Rachel - New York/Davao
Leonard John
Linus Jomeo
Maki Lew
Maria Ysabela Drew

c. Noreen (Ganggang) - Davao


8. Jose and Monseratt (+) - Sta. Catalina

a. Paul - London

b. Janry - Manila


9. Asela (+) and Pidong - Sta. Catalina

a. Alice Marie (Pia) - Sta. Catalina

b. Marissil (Diane) - Davao

c. Alfredo Jr. (Ging-ging) and Jane - ocean/Dumaguete
Cedric

10. Lourdes and Nickarter - Sta. Catalina

a. Grace Mae - Sta. Catalina

b. Nickarter Jr. - ocean

c. Jules Cesar and Glenda - ocean/Manila
Jules Cesar II (Burdot)
Leah Mae (Burdat)


Oh my goodness. This is harder than I thought. I used to know all my cousins' names but now I just can't remember all. Add to this the fact that for some of my cousins, I only know their nicknames and Filipinos have a funny way with nicknames. I have cousins/nephews/nieces who are Ganggang, Gingging, Gonggong, Bingbing, Bubong, Bingbong, Bebing, Baby, Bebe, Bebong, Baby Cel, Baby Al, Tata, Toto, Tote, Sheila and Shelly. Are you still wondering why I get confused? ;-)

Plus there are cousins who work on ships, spending more time on the sea than on the shore. So where do I put their whereabouts? Ocean?

Plus there are cousins who will be migrating to America this January so I'm not sure where I should put their location to be.

For sure, this family "tree" is incomplete. Hopefully my cousins will send me their updated data (real name!, correct spelling and sequence of names of kids/siblings) so I can complete it.

First eve

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On this first eve of the new year
we pause for a moment of reflection
to thank God for all He has seen fit
to give, to withhold, to unfold.


at manger's feet
a genuflexion.








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