It's the fourth day of my father's injury. He and Mama wanted to get a second opinion, and decided to consult a Chinese doctor in Quezon City. By Chinese doctor, I'm referring to a physician schooled in the alternative/Eastern Chinese medicinal sciences. Personally, I do not believe in Chinese medicines and I prefer to trust Western medical sciences. But my parents brought me along, to get help them decide what to do with my dad's broken bone.
We drove to the doctor's house and showed him Dad's x-ray. Like most practitioners of Chinese medicine, the doctor was from the Mainland. He looked at Dad's x-ray and said that he cannot do anything about the bone. It was broken. No amount of pressure point massage and herbs can fix that. That probably scared my parents (who were still relying on Chinese medicine). I'm grateful that the doctor convinced my parents to go have Papa checked in the hospital -- the sooner the better.
Out of options, I suggested that we have Papa examined in the Philippine Orthopedic Center. We drove to the hospital and brought my dad to the emergency room.
This was my first visit to the hospital. It reminded me of PGH -- how the building and facilities looked old. Compared to other private hospitals that were built to resemble five-star hotels, the Philippine Orthopedic Center looked more like a sleazy motel.
We went to the ER and there were a lot of people inside. I was a bit shocked to see injured patients lined up, waiting for their turn at the clinic. There were kids with broken fingers, arms, and bruised eyes. Several other patients had severe injuries that they had to be placed in the bed while they waited.
I brought Papa to a doctor and showed him his x-ray. He studied it for a couple of minutes and told us that the bone could be re-set and allowed to heal. This was the best solution for Papa's case. Surgery would result to unforeseen complications (due to my father's age).
We waited for another hour to have a nurse come and help us re-set Papa's bone and apply a new set of bandages and cement on his shoulders. While waiting, I stumbled upon another ER patient -- a young woman who's head a bruised and blood pouring out of her neck. Her companions were making fun of her while the nurses try to clean her injuries, they made fun of her and even took pictures of her (much to the disapproval of the nurses).
When our turn finally came, the nurse and the doctor applied some bandages to Papa and we applied pressure on different parts of his shoulder. Papa endured the pain as we re-set the bone. A few minutes later, Papa was all wrapped up in new bandages and was headed to the x-ray room for another look at his bone.
Looking at the new x-ray, the doctor said that the bone was now set properly. It will take the bone a couple of months to mend. He prescribed a couple of pain-suppressant pills to be taken as needed.
We are all grateful that Papa is on his way to recovery. I'm sure parents are also relieved. All the while we were expecting him to have surgery. I am truly thankful to the nurses and doctors at the Orthopedic Center -- they are heroes in doing what they do.
Playing doctor doctor
Dad broke his shoulder bone yesterday. He was helping out the workers when he slipped and fell. They all thought he just sprained a muscle and quickly brought a masahista over. Jenny called me from the office, asking if what kind of medcine can help in this situation.
I told her to apply cold compress on the area and have Papa drink some Alaxan FR. I also said that Papa should have an x-ray examination, just to make sure everything is okay. Unfortunately he and mama refuse to go to the hospital.
That night, my dad requested that I rub some massage oil to ease the pain on his shoulder and arms. I said no, saying that I don't want to touch the area unless I know there is nothing broken. He and mama kept nagging about it, and so in the end I gave in.
Eventually the two of them listened and went to the nearby hospital to have papa's shoulder examined. There is a broken bone. The local doctor gave Papa the sermon of his life, saying that he should have gone to the clinic as soon as the accident happened, and not have a masahista work on the wounded area.
The doctor placed a shoulder cast on my dad, telling him to come back next week and have another x-ray. If the bone does not mend on its own (an unlikely possibility, but we are still hoping on it), Papa might have to go under the knife.
I told her to apply cold compress on the area and have Papa drink some Alaxan FR. I also said that Papa should have an x-ray examination, just to make sure everything is okay. Unfortunately he and mama refuse to go to the hospital.
That night, my dad requested that I rub some massage oil to ease the pain on his shoulder and arms. I said no, saying that I don't want to touch the area unless I know there is nothing broken. He and mama kept nagging about it, and so in the end I gave in.
Eventually the two of them listened and went to the nearby hospital to have papa's shoulder examined. There is a broken bone. The local doctor gave Papa the sermon of his life, saying that he should have gone to the clinic as soon as the accident happened, and not have a masahista work on the wounded area.
The doctor placed a shoulder cast on my dad, telling him to come back next week and have another x-ray. If the bone does not mend on its own (an unlikely possibility, but we are still hoping on it), Papa might have to go under the knife.
Budgetting for Books and Other Stuff
I finally bought the last Dragonlance Lost Chronicles novel. This book features Raistlin and the story of his conversion to the black robes.
I'm saving up some money to buy the first and second books of the Kingpriest trilogy. Unfortunately, these books are out of print and the only place I can get them is through Amazon dot com.
Another good news is that Jackie Cassada's Immortal Eyes trilogy is now available in pdf format. The story is set in White Wolf's old World of Darkness, featuring a motley of changelings from the city of San Francisco.
I'm still saving money for the upcoming 2010 Manila International Book Fair. Unfortunately there are other things that need to be paid first -- like maintenance for the car, Nika's medicine, and our monthly expenses. Spending money on books seem like a luxury for me nowadays.
I'm saving up some money to buy the first and second books of the Kingpriest trilogy. Unfortunately, these books are out of print and the only place I can get them is through Amazon dot com.
Another good news is that Jackie Cassada's Immortal Eyes trilogy is now available in pdf format. The story is set in White Wolf's old World of Darkness, featuring a motley of changelings from the city of San Francisco.
I'm still saving money for the upcoming 2010 Manila International Book Fair. Unfortunately there are other things that need to be paid first -- like maintenance for the car, Nika's medicine, and our monthly expenses. Spending money on books seem like a luxury for me nowadays.
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