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Before that, I want to share a realization with you: It ain't easy being a nurse, especially if you work during the graveyard shift. To all the douchebags who speak ill of nurses, I hope y'all realize that without nurses, your chances of getting better after getting rushed to the hospital would be near to none. So appreciate, not badmouth, them.
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December 27, 2010
11:00am
Me, my mom and my aunt left our house together with two donors for my aunt's blood transfusion.
12:00 noon
We arrived at the doctor's clinic.
12:30pm
Since the doctor wasn't in her clinic yet, we decided to have lunch. After roaming around the city, we decided to eat at Mang Inasal. But since the Robinson's branch was jampacked with people, we decided to take out our meal instead.
2:30pm
We finally arrived at the hospital. The transaction brouhaha took about 3 hours. The doctors had to do checkups and some other medical stuff my short attention span failed to grasp. While all that happened, me and the driver waited in the parking lot, looking after our stuff.
5:00pm
The checkups finally were over. We were led to our room. I must say, our room was quite spacious compared to the other rooms that I have visited before. If the room rate wasn't costly, I know I'd want to live there on a permanent basis.
5:30pm
After getting settled, I went to McDonald's to buy dinner. Good thing there's a McDonalds at the mouth of Mission Road. Yes, we lived in Iloilo Mission Hospital for three days. I know the entire area by heart because this is where I spend 8 hours of my day every weekdays. Mission Hospital is located beside Waste, err West Visayas State University, my school. So it's really a no-brainer why I was the one buying stuff.
5:45pm
Went back to the room after purchasing food. And of course, we ate the food.
7:00pm
There was really nothing much to do so we watched TV. Good thing we brought a laptop, so I could play with the Game Boy Advance Emulator in muh laptop. Unfortunately, the hospital's pediatric ward's WiFi was password protected meaning no Facebook, no Twitter. But, fortunately, my aunt informed me she brought a Globe Tattoo internet stick. I'm not a fan of internet sticks, but hey, I'll take what I can get. Much to my chagrin, though, that crappy internet stick did not live up to my standards when it comes to internet speed.
8:00pm
A nurse came in to perform an ENEMA. For those who don't know what an enema is, it is a very painful way of cleaning your stomach. They stick this tube into your gut (through your anus) and pump water to clean your intestines. It's not pretty. Believe me. (For a complete and more scientific definition of what an enema is, click here)
10:00pm
The torture that is an enema is over. After 2 painful hours. Hey, I don't have to experience an enema to know how painful it is. Just the mere thought of how it is performed makes my body hair stand.
10:00pm - 12:00am
During this time period, a lot of nurses and doctors come barging in to conduct checkups on my aunt. Me and my mom tried to sleep, but our efforts were in vain. Mission Hospital takes pride in its friendly staff, but I guess the doctors and nurses who compose the "staff" don't know how to close a door SLOWLY.
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December 28, 2010
4:00am
A second enema was performed. All the details were hazy as I was still very sleepy. It's 4 in the morning for crying out loud!!!
6:30am
Woke up for real. Went to Iloilo Supermart at The Atrium (my favorite mall ever) to buy breakfast at Chowking. I stopped by McDonald's Atrium (not the same McDonald's where I bought dinner yesterday) to buy coffee because I so love cheap McDonald's coffee, not Coffee Break crap.
6:50am
Bought fruits on my way back to the hospital. Man, those apples were huge.
6:55am
Got back to the hospital and ate breakfast.
8:00am
Some members of my family arrived at the hospital. My lola, brother aunts and uncles were there. Just chatted two hours before the surgery. Then the anesthesiologist, about late thirties to early forties and rather hot, went in the room to say something.
10:00am
My aunt was brought to the operating room. My mom went to buy needed stuff. I was left to watch over the room. The surgery lasted up to 1:00. This is the first time I ate the complimentary meal the hospital provides. I had to, because I couldn't leave the room to buy food.
1:30pm
My lolo and his assistant arrived to visit, but my aunt wasn't brought back from the recovery room yet. So, lolo waited.
3:45pm
Just as my lolo was about to go home, nursing aides brought my aunt in a stretcher back to our room. She was barely conscious, still feeling the effects of the anesthesia.
4:45pm
Bought dinner, this time at Mang Inasal. It's near Mission Road, so I got there faster than you can say Happy New Year. Seriously, because I'm The Flash.
The Entire Night
The entire night was spent watching TV, playing with the Game Boy Advance Emulator on muh laptop, welcoming the nurses, nursing students, nursing aides and doctors who occasionally enter the room to check up on my aunt. This night, I slept really well. I didn't even feel there were nurses a few feet beside me. I was REMing (REM is Rapid Eye Movement, or dreaming) too.
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December 29, 2010
7:00am
My mom was the won who bought breakfast at McDonald's because it was really a struggle for me to wake up.
7:15am
My other aunt and lola's helper arrived to fill in for mom in helping me watch over my aunt, because mom had to go home to attend a homecoming for her elementary school batch. She was already conscious at this time, though she was still in bed. Didn't have much to do but watch TV. I was beginning to get homesick at about this time. Still, I have no plans of going home, as I have a secondary purpose in staying here, in this cold hospital room, and that is to experience something new. As I've said before, this is the first I have ever tended to a hospital patient.
11:00am
Went to Chowking at Gaisano Mall (this Chowking was nearer compared to the one at Atrium... the reason I had to go to the Atrium branch yesterday because it opens earlier than other Chowking branches).
12:00noon
Traffic made the jeep ride from the hospital to Chowking and vice versa an hour long affair.
The Rest of the Day
Like yesterday, the rest of the day was spent watching TV, playing video games and tending to the needs of my aunt.
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December 30, 2010
8:00am
This is the latest time I woke up during our hospital stay. Received good news that we can go home at around 2pm.
10:00am
My dad arrived to visit. He'd been pretty busy with office work the previous days.
11:30am
Bought lunch at McDonald's. This would be our last hospital stay-meal.
1:00pm
Mom transacted at the business office of the hospital to pay all the fees. I, on the other hand, continued what I was brought along in the first place: run errands. From buying correction fluid, to having the receipts photocopied, to carry bags to the car. Yes, I did 'em all. My lola and an uncle arrived to pick us up, by the way.
2:00pm
After all the transactions were done, and after we finished packing all our stuff, we were ready to go. We waited in the room for an aide to come with a wheel chair. And off we went.
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That 3-day hospital stay will stay in my memory for as long as I could remember. That was one lousy sentence, wasn't it? Well, I hope you get what I mean. Anyways, there were a lot of eye openers during my hospital stay. Here are a few:
- Being a nurse is one job worthy to be shown on Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe on the Discovery Channel.
- Aiding a hospital patient is not an easy job, but it is very satisfying. It provides you a new experience which you will treasure with you for as long as your heart beats.
- Having an enema is terrible. Pray that you don't have to undergo one.
- Facilitating an enema is as terrible as having one.
- Hospital food is yummy.
-Kenny
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