Joey M.D.

This week’s TBR hosted by JA is very timely for me.

I’m currently having my Master’s in UP Open University and we have a subject wherein we’re supposed to go to PGH for 5 days. This was the reason why the roundup for TBR10 was delayed.

Anyway, my groupmates agree that the highlight of our summer class was not the subject itself, but the lunch breaks! I was blessed with groupmates who love foodtripping as much as I do, so in those 5 days, we checked out 5 different restos in Robinson’s Place Manila beside UP Manila. It was fun! I’m so glad my groupmates were game. I haven’t had the time to do food tripping in quite a while, so school was actually a good excuse to do so!

Monday: Filipino — Bacolod Chicken Inasal

I ordered the chicken wings and they’re as good as I remembered. My husband loved this place so I always associate it with the time that we were still dating. It’s much tastier than the usual chicken barbecue.

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I will have to apologize to everyone. I was not expecting to be busy this week hence I accepted hosting this round. Unfortunately, my MHA professor rescheduled a whole week of classes to this week. I’ll be doing the roundup as soon as I get the time. Hopefully later this evening.

In the meantime, it’s the chance for those who haven’t submitted their entries yet to still make habol :).

I was maybe 3 or 4 when I started those “I want to be a _____” when I grow up. My choices then were “teacher” or “nurse”. It was the early 1970s, you see, and the women who aren’t stay at home moms and wives limited themselves to only a few choices. My mom helps my dad out in his business, but that’s basically it. Being Chinese immigrants, most of my families, on both sides, were involved in some business or another. So, you see, my choices were actually “businesswoman”, “housewife” and the few women professionals I see, which, as you guessed are the teachers and the nurses.

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Hi, everyone! It’s gonna be the 10th edition of The Blog Rounds by next week. I’m excited to be asked to host this one.

After deliberating on the subject matter, I’ve decided to tackle the Family. From some of my previous posts, you’d probably guess that my family is very important to me (hey, I even started the Pinoy Parenting Blog Carnival in my other blog!) and I believe that it’s one of the major influences in everything we do in our medical practice and otherwise.

By family, it means BOTH the family from which your originated (your parents and siblings, as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles etc.) and the family which you started with your spouse.

Some guide questions as follows. Remember, you are not limited to the guide questions. These are just questions for you to ponder on. But I’m sure you have your own creative way of expressing your thoughts!

• What was your family’s role in your decision to become a doctor? Did they encourage you? Did they discourage you?
• Was there a doctor in your family that influenced you to take the same path?
• How did your family show their support during the time that you are still pursuing your training? Did that support continue after the training and when you started your practice (knowing how little a starting doctor earns)?
• For those who have shifted gears and turned to another profession, how large was the family’s influence on that decision?
• If you are single, do you think that this is because of your pursuing medical studies and training?
• If you are married, at what age did you get married? Did you marry a fellow doctor? Or somebody in another profession? At what stage of medicine — in school, clerkship/internship, residency/fellowship or when you were already practicing? Did medicine enhance or hinder your relationship with your spouse and children?
• What family decisions have been altered because of your obligations to Medicine?
• What career decisions have been altered because of your family’s needs?
• What is your current priority?

Deadline of submissions is on May 19, 2008, 11:59PM.

Please submit via posting a your link on this comments section, or by sending me your link via email at ethanmama[at]gmail[dot]com.

If you’re new to the Blog Rounds, or have already forgotten the guidelines, here they are.

Hoping to hear from you soon!

Throughout my medical education, I had people who were my teachers, and there were people who tormented me. When the subject of Mentor-Tormentor came up, there was only one person I can think of. One person I would be eternally grateful to, because I believe it was under him that I learned the most and became the ophthalmologist that I would like myself to be. Even if training under him was very difficult.

To quote an old Chinese saying: “A teacher for a day is a father for life.” It just happened that my father is a strict one, but he is still a father to me, and I would forever be grateful for the lessons I’ve learned. And I would continue to think the world of him.

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I’ve been quite busy the past few days with my other blog and this is the reason: The birth of the Pinoy Parenting Blog Carnival (PPBC)!

All Pinoy parents who blog are encouraged to join! More details and guidelines are here.

The Call for Articles for the First Edition is here.

What is a Pinoy parent? If you have to ask, you’re not a Pinoy parent! Seriously, Pinoy is short for “Pilipino”, so if you live in the Philippines, or have Filipino parents, you are Pinoy! And, of course, you have to have a child or children in order to qualify being a parent.

Parenting is such a broad topic and there are so many issues up for discussion. And being Pinoy adds a little, shall we say, cultural dimension to it. Because although parenting is universal, being a Pinoy gives a little twist to being parents.

I’ll see you all there!

I found this helpful quiz.  Since diabetes is so common here in the Philippines, I hope that this would help people to become more aware of the eye complications of this disease.

If you’re interested, click on the following link:

Diabetic Eye Disease:  How much do you know? 

I made this quiz for the things I usually tell my patients. I wonder how I would do in it.

1. Diet - 2 points for each “yes”. 1 point for each “sometimes I indulge”. 0 points for each “no”. Maximum 12 points.
   • Less sugar
   • Less fat and oils
   • Less salt
   • Less monosodium glutamate
   • Less processed foods
   • More fruit and veggies
2. Exercise. — Maximum 4 points. Refer below
   • Sedentary = 0 points
   • Low Active = 1 point
   • Active = 3 points
   • Very Active = 4 points
3. Do not smoke. = Maximum 5 points. Refer below
   • Non smoker = 5 points
   • 1-2 sticks/day = 3 points
   • 1 pack a day = 1 point
   • 2 or more packs a day = 0 point
4. Alcohol in moderation. - Maximum 5 points.
   1. No alcohol at all = 5 points
   2. Drinks 1 glass of red wine nightly, for health reasons. = 4 points
   3. Drinks only during social occasions, but only 1 serving of alcohol = 4 points
   4. Drinks only during social occasions, but gets tipsy = 2 points
   5. Drinks only during social occasions, but gets drunk = 1 point
   6. Weekly drinking sprees = 0 points
5. Practice hygiene.
   • Frequent handwashing = 3 points if “yes, I always bring soap around”, 2 points if “yes, if I’m home, but I bring alcohol/wipes/alcogel when I’m out”, 1 if “yes, but only with water, soap is too drying” and 0 if “no, I don’t bother”
   • Daily baths/showers = 2 points if “yes”, 0 if “no”
6. Take enough fluids. = 2 points if “yes, I take 8 glasses of water/fluids a day, on average”, 1 point if “I only drink when I’m thirsty”
7. Do not self medicate. = 2 points if “I only take medicine upon doctor’s prescription”, 1 point for “I only self medicate with over-the-counter medications, I consult the doctor if that doesn’t work” and 0 point for “why bother seeing a doctor? I’ll can cure myself”

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Since most patients view doctor visits as an additional expense, a lot of them usually opt to just go to the nearest drugstore to buy medicine.

The problem is that sometimes they take self medication too far.

For example, here in the Philippines,  antibiotics can still be bought over the counter in some drugstores, even if it’s supposed to be by prescription only.  Some people will just buy 2 pcs of Amoxicillin for their cough.  They refer to Amoxicillin as “pang-ubo” (for cough) and they stop when they feel better.  Which is not a rational use for this medication. Thus the proliferation of Amoxicillin resistant bugs.  Sometimes, that’s not what they need in the first place.

Steroid eyedrops,  are referred to “pang sore eyes” (for conjunctivitis).  They don’t know that eye redness may be caused by lot of factors and steroid eyedrops don’t address all of it.  In fact, some of those conditions may not require an eyedrop at all.  Or the condition may require another eyedrop altogether.

Pinoys are also fond of keeping leftover medicines and taking them when a similar symptom presents months later.  That would be fine for some over the counter medications, but even OTCs need to be given in the right dosage and the right timing, which they don’t always know about.   Check, check, check what the right dosage would be.

Oh, and do not combine medications with the same components.  For example, people with fever and body pain do not need to take BOTH a paracetamol tablet and another paracetamol-ibuprofen combination tablet.  The latter would do fine.  And if you’re already taking a medication which combines phenylpropanolamine with paracetamol for your colds symptoms, you don’t have to take paracetamol for your headache since your medication already contains it.  That’s overkill.

The rule is — if it’s an over the counter medication, it should be fine for a few days, if taken rationally.  But like the commercial says, if symptoms persist, consult your doctor.

Despite my previous post about how bad things are with health care here in the Philippines, I’m still staying put.

The Philippines is home. It is home to my family, to my friends, to my child.

My grandfathers both came over, in the post war era, to seek better opportunities here. My then-16 year old paternal grandfather, the second of three sons was tasked to “find money” to support the family. He came over with nothing but the clothes on his back and not knowing a word of either English or Tagalog. There was already a community of Chinese settlers by then, and with a little help from his countrymen, he was eventually able to build a business and better his life. He eventually went back to China to marry my grandmother. He left her in China while preparing to bring his family over. He was eventually able to bring his wife and 2 sons over. The rest of their children were already born here.

The history of my maternal grandfather is a little more vague for me since he already passed away before I was born. But from what I learned, he had a hardware store in Iloilo and sent all his earnings to his wife (my grandmother) who settled in Hong Kong.

After my maternal grandfather passed away, my grandmother and my mother came to the Philippines to sell off his business. While here, my mother was introduced to my father. The rest is history. They got married and had kids, the oldest being me.

We are born and raised here, we had our schooling here, most of our family and our friends are here. Our roots have grown deep in this former “land of opportunity”, as seen by the older generation Chinese. I also met and married my husband here, and we now have a small family of three.

Despite the fact that the Philippines has since lagged behind its neighbors in terms of progress, it is still home in a way no other place is.

As long as we can earn enough for our needs — the basics of food (3 meals a day for our family), clothing and shelter (our own place), get my son a good quality education and the best health care for all of us, as well as prospects for a good retirement…we’re still staying. Will that be too much to ask for?