Stinking MAD!!

I was going through my stuff from work when I saw this incident report along my next month's schedule and as I was reading the report my blood pressure was soaring higher and higher!! I am so mad that the RN they were referring to was not me!! Yes, she was my patient but it was a case of mistaken identity!! .Heck I was so busy that night that I even missed my lunch! What makes me so mad is that the report didn't put the RN's name to be justly identified making it look like it was me. The phlebotomist ASSUMED that the RN she was talking to was that pt's RN! DUH!! Well, this phlebotomist is so stupid that as per the report she wrote- "RN instructed her to break laboratory policy "-and she went ahead and do it??? And as an end result of all of these it made my night busier because the result came out ABNORMAL and I had to treat the patient for it and call the doctor and notify her about it!! And on top of that I had to call the lab and INVESTIGATE how in the world did the result come out so freakin high when all her previous levels were within the normal range!! And lo and behold that's when I found out it was drawn above the IV line!!
Ang nakakainis pa busy na nga ko sa pasyente na to dahil sa puso nya, dinagdagan pa ang trabaho ko, tapos makakakuha pako ng incident report at love note na di ko daw chinart ang mga abnormal na results!! Okay lang yung love note matatake ko, kasi kahit diko chinart sa gusto nilang paraan, ginawa ko naman. Ang kasabihan nila dito eh, pag hindi mo sinulat, di mo ginawa! Bwiset ako kasi , sumusunod ako sa mga policies at perfectionist ako sa trabaho ko, tapos eto??!!!
Nakakainis gusto ko sakalin yung leeg nung nars na kinausap at nung kumuha ng dugo!! Pareho silang engot!! Marami ang bagong nars sa departamento namin at kulang sila sa experience, ang inis ko lang bakit di nya sinabi sa kin na kinausap sya nung taga lab at kinuhanan ng dugo yung pasyente ko!! At kasi naman etong pasyente na to hindi pwedeng kuhanan ng dugo sa kanang kamay dahil bawal kaya lahat ng turok sa kaliwang kamay! Para patunay na engot yung kumuha ng dugo, bakit di sya nag- isip na bakit tumatawag nung nurse sa lab at tinatanong kung saan parte kinuha yung dugo, eh sabi sa kanya oks lang kahit saan wag lang sa parehong ugat? Bakit, di sya nag- isip na hmmmm, sino yung nakausap ko nung kinuhanan ko ng dugo yung pasyente? Di vah??
Hay naku, dito muna ako magrelease ng galit kasi off nung supervisor ko kaya di ako makapagdakdak ng sama ng loob kaagad! Bwiset ako at di ko to napansin last week pagkagaling ko ng trabaho! Kakainiiiiissss!!!

Trip to the boondocks

Finally, I was able to find a travel agent and a flight schedule that fits with travelling with a year old! And this agent was all the way from Phoenix!! All the travel agents here gave me such outrageous quotations!! Mama mia!! Pilipinas, here I come this May!!
Now my worry is travelling with a year old. I bought her a ticket and we'll be lugging her car seat all the way from our local airport to Minneapolis then to Narita and finally Manila! Good thing we were able to get a direct flight going back! I've searched the internet on tips on what to bring and how to entertain your kid on a long flight but my worry is still there. Here are some of what the moms advised:
~bring lots of toys, preferably, small toys and those that she hasn't seen yet. (hay, mukhang isang bag puno ng toys ah!)
~pack snacks in ziploc bags. (sana hindi sya magsawa)
~pack a change of clothes for the baby and an extra shirt for mommy/daddy. (oo nga naman, akala ni baby minsan lahat bib nya!)
~pack some books as well. (nakupo, mukhang isang bag na naman to!)
Pero eto di nila sinabi- don't forget to pack a bottle of Benadryl! O ha! E pano pag lahat ng above choices, di umubra?
Anybody, has a better advise?

Ang nakaraan..

Nagtake effect na ang daylight savings time dito nung last Sunday. Nasa work ako nun kaya okay lang at makakauwi ng maaga, yun nga lang kulang bayad ng isang oras, pero ayos lang. Tumaas na din ang temperatura (salamat po, Lord!) at halos nagmelt na ang snow sa paligid. Ang ganda nga ng klima lalo nung last weekend kaso, di ko na- enjoy dahil sleeping beauty ako at may trabaho sa gabi.
Pagkatapos na naglagare ng apat na gabi busy ang kabuhayan pa rin. Pumunta kami sa store para mamili ng mga epektos sa bahay at mega gulat ako na nakashorts and tshirt mostly ang mga kabataan!! Yikes!! Ganun sila katapang sa lamig ha!! At akala ko, acclimated na ko sa weather dito! Di pa pala!
May nahanap na din akong yaya para sa aking chikiting, actually 2 pa nga! Si S, 6 to 11 pm sya pwede, tapos may daycare center pa sya at the same time at may workers din. Si D, 7 to 5 lang sya, mukhang mabait, mas mura ang offer, may 3 alaga na parttime din na magkakapatid na mga chikiting, ok na sana kaso di sya pwede sa weekends at holidays, so kay D kami nagdecide pumunta. Sa Monday namin start ang chikiting namin. Medyo nininerbiyos ako, kasi first time ever ng baby ko na malayo sa amin at sa mga taong di kaano- ano mapunta! Sana okay ang magiging resulta. Ang worry ko lang eh yung nap time nya kasi kelangan may katabi sya bago sya makatulog, tapos iba ang sked ng nap time nya sa nap time ng daycare. So kanina, inistart ko na sya na 1 nap lang.
Nagsnow pala kagabi pero nung tanghali, tunaw ang snow. Yehey!! sana tuluy- tuloy na to at totoong spring na!!
Paos pa rin ang aking boses pero at least hindi na ako masyado bumubulong kaso inuubo pa rin na parang may tb. Hay naku, pangalawang beses na to na ako'y inubo sa taong ito! Sana last na to!
Yan lang muna at mag aalas dose na dito ng gabi! (Pero sa totoo, mag aalas onse palang!)Goodnight!

Winter woe

It's already March but winter is very much still here. Hay, kakainis!! Tama na, sobra na!! Paawat na, kulubot na ang balat koh, pwede na human leather!Harharhar! Hate ko ang winter, arghhh!!! Nakakaloka na ang snow in da morning, snow in da pm lalo na't kasama ang nakamamatay na lameeeg!! Pero, teka, winter and snow used to be fun ha. Makapagbalik-tanaw (tama ba tagalog ko?) nga...
When I was a kid, I used to look at my Mom's collection of christmas cards and thought that winter must be fun. Winter to me then was synonymous with snow. Nakakainggit, those kids in the cards all bundled up seemed to be happy playing in the snow. I even wished na sana kahit one day lang magsnow sa Baguio para alam ko ang feeling. Everytime that there is hail, I would drop what I'm doing and run outside the house, baka nga magsnow!!hehehehe..
So when I came to the States, I was excited and looking forward to seeing snow. Phoenix, didn't have snow so I was so excited when I took a vacation to go see my aunt New Year of 04 kaso di nagsnow sa New York during that time. Then later I went to see my ex-boyfriend in Colorado (oy wag madumi isip, asawa ko na sya!hehehe) and when I saw patches of snow on the ground while going up the Rocky Mountain National Park I was so happy and excited, so of course we got out of the car and took pictures. When we got to the Park, there were more snow to see. Buti na lang di ako nagtatatakbo sabay kanta ng " dashing thru the snow, in a one horse open's sleigh, hey!!! Hehehe, kasi madulas lalo pa at mali suot ko sapatot. Natapilok nga ako eh, kasama si fafa falling down sa snow kasi mega-tight holding hands kami. So, yun ang aking first encounter sa snow. Then sabi ni fafa, teach daw nya ako mag-ski, di say ko naman sure! Aba, isip ko, sosi yun ha! Sa tv ko lang nakikita nun yun! Buti, andun pa sis nya noon sa Denver at borrow ko, ski clothes nya. So the day before, turo ni fafa pano ang stance while on skis, mukhang engot pero sige, follow naman ako. So up to the ski resort we went. Clumsy pero walang takot, I hopped unto the lift. Hirap maglakad with skis on your feet ha! Then when we reached the top, ayun, lumabas na takot ko. Pero dati akong military girl so prove ko astig ako! Harharhar!! And down the hill I went..falling down like crazy!! Hah!Hirap pala magbalance ng sarili. Subsub sa snow palagi. So I try to get back on my feet, aba, kahirap tumayo!!! Bigay ko lahat ng energy ko, kulang na lang mautot ako, wala pa rin! Bunny hill lang yun pero it took us 2 hours to get down!! I spent more time on my butt than skiing that time. Kasi, whenever I gain speed, I panic and fall down. Buti na lang may naawa na ski instructor at tinuro nya pano magslow down and magstop! Eh, yun ang di tinuro ni fafa, ang pinaka- importante na part!! So, while on my 3rd round up the ski lift, sa pagod at galit ko, sabi ko, di na lang sana ako pumunta dun!! Muntik na kami maging history ni fafa nun!hehehe..
Anyway, I became better, practice lang ang katapat, panic pa rin pag mabilis pero laki ng improvement. Syempre proud si fafa to say na fast learner ako. After fafa and I got married, we looked forward to winter and going skiing. The mountain blanketed in white is just so beautiful to see. Ang tahimik at peaceful ang feeling baga. So, yan dati di ako galit sa winter!
When fafa said let's move to Wisconsin, I said yes pero isip ko, "asan yun?". So move we did of August 2005. By October, I was wearing thermal pants!! Fall pa lang yun ha!! Then December came and the snow came down and the temperature just kept dropping. And the view was just bleak and dreary, the trees just looked so dead and ghostly and the white snow became black and dirty and to top it all, I am going to drive on it!! Nakakaloka!! Glorified ang winter sa Colorado mountains pala, this is winter reality!! My stress level is just way high whenever, the weather forecast says it going to snow the following day. The first time it snowed, I took a cab because I was so scared to drive the car home. But there was no avoiding it one time, the roads were covered with ice and snow. We only had one vehicle then, nasa work si fafa and he needed the car to go home. Prego and sweating I slowly drove myself to work that time. Hay, buti na lang di ako nakunan nun! Now, we have a 4WD and everytime it snows, dadramahan ko na si fafa para drive nya ako to work. Buti na lang cooperative ang aking mga tearducts!! hakhakhak.. Shhhh, wag, maingay! Good thing also, I'm spared from shoveling the driveway and the sidewalk whenever there's a snowfall. Bait ng asawa ko! Pero, next winter, baka di nako spared sa pagpapala, kasi nagcocomplain na si bossing eh!
Lord, pwede next winter wag na magsnow? Ay, imposible ata to...o sya-kahit magsnow wag lang sa mga araw na pupunta ako work at pauwi....at pwede kahit magsnow nasa 40's ang temp? (Ay, pwera po batok...)...nababaliw na ata ako...ayayayay...kelan ba mag-spring kase?!!

Ispokening Inglis

In my job, I always meet different people everytime I report to work. There's not a lot of Filipino nurses in this area, so my origin is a curiosity to some patients. So here's how our conversation usually goes-
He/She: "Where are you from?" (Now, some are polite, thinking that I'm going to be offended so they would say- " I hope you don't mind me asking where your'e from?"
Me: Proudly, I say- "I'm from the Philippines!!" I always say it like the way the badings say it in a beauty contest back home sans the open arms gesture. Harharhar...
Now, if "He" was in the service years and years ago and he was deployed to the Philippines, chances are he would tell me his stories / experiences, so politely I listen to their story keeping my fingers crossed that I wouldn't be hearing the same story next time I go check on them. Actually, two patients did, that I dreaded going to their room. Hehehe... In other case, if "He/She" has/had a Filipino neighbor/acquaintance they would ask if I know so and so, which of course I don't! They think that because the Philippines is a small country everybody knew each other! They have no idea that it is overpopulated! So, anway, here's the continuation of my "interview"-
He/She: " Did you go to school here?"
Me: "No. I went to school back home." Now, sometimes this is often met with a look of surprise- you know, the eyes getting big, you get the picture?
He/She: "So how long have you been here?"
Me: " Four years." (Now that answer depends on what time of year I'm asked).
He/She: " Really?! Wow! You speak good English!!
Me- Mouth: "Thank you." Me- Brain: "Hay naku yan ang akala mo!"
Well, when I moved to this country I had to re-learn English the American way. Back home, they teach English the formal way, in other words, the Pinoy way. For example I was taught that, when someone says "Thank you", the normal response is " You're welcome!", but here the answer varies from "no problem!" to "you bet(cha)!" English is spoken colloquially. Also in Pinoy pronounciation, we put the stress on the some syllables that to them, it's pronounced slower or faster. Take for instance the word hippopotamus, Pinoys would say hee-poo-poo-ta-mus!! Now, the right way of saying it is hePOWPOW-tahmus. So, class repeat after me, hePOWPOW-tahmus. hekhekhek!!
Now if in the Pinas, if someone said, " She is such a peach!", the smart alecks are either going to say "Di naman sya mukhang prutas ah!" or " Ay, ganun? Mukha syang peach?!" LOL!
I remember when I was new in my job,I pronounced Amox-CEECEELLIN (amoxicillin) and the nurse listening gave me a quizzical look so I had to re-learn to pronounce it to Amox- CY-C-LLIN. Then in another instance, while I was giving report over the phone, I said the patient is allergic to Codeine pronouncing it as codayne and the nurse just keeps saying "what?" , so I keep repeating the word and finally she asked me to spell it and finally she said, "Oh, Codeine (pronouncing it as coH-din). Well!! Hay naku! Arte, arte!! But when it comes for them to pronounce trueblue Filipino surnames, it's a tongue twister to them and they either say, "whatever" or spell it. hehehe..
I always wonder why they referred to peeing as #1 and poop as #2. Is it because when you pee it goes straight down like a 1? And when you poop, it sometimes curls ergo, like a #2? Ewww..
I've never had a major boo boo but a couple former Pinay coworkers had some funny stories. Here's Pinay RN1 story-
She had an octogenarian patient and lolo keeps saying "I have to go", and everytime lolo says that, she says "no, you need to stay in bed", thinking that lolo is confused. But lolo is persistent, so finally she asked "go where?", and so lolo finally answered "I have to go pee!!" hehehe, wawang matanda, akala confused, gusto lang pala umihi!
Now, Pinay RN2 story is hilarious.
Patient: " I want Dr. Pepper."
PRN2: "Okay", then proceeds to the nurse's station. She looks at the directory for Dr. Pepper. Hmmm, can't find Dr. Pepper. Calls the paging system, not found. Sino ba tong Dr. Pepper na to at pinapahirapan sya!!Esep. esep sya. Hmmm, who's the attending? Ah, neurosurgery. Now, take note that on top of this , she also has other patients to attend to and she's stuck searching for this Dr. So, finally she decides to go to the patient's room.
PRN2: "I can't find Dr. Pepper, is it okay if I page Neurosurgery on call instead?"
Patient: " Ok, whatever! Give me a Coke!" hekhekhek!! Dr. Pepper is a soda pala and not a real Doctor!!
Way back in Pinas, I was always correcting how others say things and now, I think its karma. My hubby likes to make fun of my sentence construction and how I pronounce things. Like most Pinoys, I don't emphasize my "th" and pronounce it more as a "d", di ba we say mader instead of moTHer?! When we were newly married he liked to make fun of my constant use of "d" and so he would say, "What? Your mother, father and brother have udders? Are you related to a cow? So, finally I got pissed off and retrained myself to say th instead of d. To the point that I overdid it sometimes that I get confused how to say tree from three!LOL!! He likes to tease me, saying that the way I say things are so cute me but it makes me self- conscious and gets on my nerves especially if we're not on the same wavelength. And he wonders why I laugh and giggle when talking on the phone in my dialect!! Hah!! Go figure!

Wanted: Yaya

Matt and I have been very good at taking care of Jadyn for a year now. We both work nights which is good for our routine, we work opposite days that way, one will always be at home with our baby. The tough part is the "in between shift", wherein if I worked the night before, I will nap half of the day and at noon time, have to wake up and takeover for hubby to take a nap before going to work or vice versa. My co- workers wonder how we do it. (read: crazy) Determination that our baby will have less chances of being sick the first year of her life and watching her grow and achieve her milestones in our presence motivated us. Maybe were just paranoid that she will get sick exposed to other kids who are sick. Like one time, we attended a church service and kids have to be put in their daycare, Jadyn really did fine, she never cried when I left her in the care of a stranger but what bothered us was that there was a sick kid with snot running from his nose as well. When we left the church, we were worried that she has gotten the bug, but we kept a positive attitude that she is healthy and will not get sick, and she didn't!!
The months (before nine months old) when she was sitting up was among the easy months to watch her. We had a routine, feed, sit, play and read a book then nap these we did both in the morning and afternoon. She was like a robot that the moment she's put in her crib, she goes to nap! And we liked that because that gave us the time to nap as well! But when she was in between 9-10 months old, her developmental milestones just went full blast, she was crawling and pulling herself up and perfected to climb up and down one ledge in the house! And with all these new stuff that she learned she became hard to be put to nap and sleep! Everytime she's laid down in her crib, she immediately wiggles out from her covers and quickly reaches for the rail and stands up. It was a challenge to put her to bed, and it's still is until now. Feeding time turned from a 15 minute to an hour long activity as well.
Now that she's a year old, she is more mobile and verbal too! She would just be babbling and screeching at the top of her voice, testing the different inflections she can make. She really sounds so cute but with me being a light sleeper, it makes sleeping harder. Also our house has an open floor plan that one can hear what is going on in the other room and everytime I try to get some snooze, my ears just turn into radar mode! My hubby also doesn't want to limit her exploration. Our house is semi- babyproofed. Our stairway is not gated so everytime she wants to go up the stairs, I have to drop what I'm doing and watch her closely.
So finally, hubby and I decided it's time to put her in daycare during the "in between" days. We wanted only part time care. Yesterday, I started calling for child care providers that I got from the internet and the phonebook. I thought that finding one would be the easy part and choosing which one to put my child would be the tough decision, but to my surprise, I was wrong! Most of these places have no openings! I've called all the numbers from the referral list I got and all the answers are either "we're full" or "we can put you on the waiting list." One even said that the next opening available is this coming fall!! I still got some numbers to call but I feel that they will give me the same answer. If hubby gets accepted for the job that he applied, then we're screwed. It's going to mess up our routine as he will need to be on a day schedule for orientation.
So, anyone willing to be a yaya?