Another Blessing

Another decorating job was again given to us by a friend, whose brother's wife gave birth to a baby boy yesterday, the 13th of January. This was our third time to do this kind of "job" all from the same family, the last time was just 2 or 3 months ago. We were kind of nervous every time we decorate hospital room doors because our knowledge and skills are very limited, but we made it through. Thank you Lord Jesus for helping us and for this blessing. Halleluiah!

Joel's Broken Humerus & My Broken Funny Bone?

The other day, my friend and I visited our common friend Joel, who was rushed to the hospital because of an accident in his jobsite. He fell down on an aluminum ladder and broke his upper right arm (humerus). Initially, I thought that he fell from the 1st floor of a mall and that his condition was far more serious than just a broken arm. I'm not saying that what happened to him was not serious, but I thought it's life threatening. Thank God that when we first visited him in the hospital, he was all smiling and well enough to explain to us what really happened.

Joel and I worked in the same company before as a visual merchandiser for different stores here in Jeddah. I first met him in Riyadh, but he was eventually transferred here in Jeddah in 2002 (I think) and that's when we became friends. He's a nice, kind and friendly person, the kind that we all look for in a friend and that's why upon learning that he had an accident, I immediately rushed to the hospital to see him.

I understand what he's going through. Most of us OFW's (Overseas Filipino Workers) especially those who are here in the middle east, we often get lonely because we don't have our families, or even  those friends we grew up with here with us. It's doubly hard because of the culture this country has, which is very different from what we've grown accustomed to back home. Although most of us here have medical insurance, getting sick or figuring in an accident is a big NO. Imagine yourself, a foreigner inside a hospital, in a foreign land with no loved ones there by your side to comfort you, I feel like crying just thinking about it.

But the good thing is that, we created some good friendships here, who are not just there in times of fun and parties, but also in times of troubles, a shoulder to cry on when we're on our lows. I don't want to be poetic here for the sake of this blog, but that's the truth. Sometimes we just have to do what's right, we should always be there for those who need our company, most especially for a friend. Now what kind of friend are you, knowing that your friend is in the hospital and then making excuses that you couldn't go there because you have a badminton game to attend to? Or that you're invited to a party and already promised that you will attend, yet on the next day you still didn't visit him, not even a phone call. Isn't that horrible? It sounded so much like someone I know. I'm angry right now! I need somebody to tickle my funny bone. Quick!

Joel had an Open Reduction & Internal Fixation (ORIF) operation on his broken humerus and is now recuperating at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, bldg. 2, in room # 4111 (for those who still want to visit). His doctor said this afternoon that maybe he could go home tomorrow if things go well. About the title, I'm not sure if it  makes sense (especially the 'broken funny bone' part), or if it really mirrored the article, but one thing is for sure, it makes the readers curious about it. *The photo above is the actual x-ray result of Joel's broken 'humerus' bone.

A Glimpse Of My OJT

I really enjoyed our OJT in the hospital. We've seen first hand how things really work inside the hospital by assisting and observing the proper nursing procedures. Each one of us was assigned to different patients in the hospital with different medical conditions ranging from simple fever, to severe heart conditions and a coma patient due to cerebral hemorrhage.

We also get to use what we've learned in school, especially the clinical skills, like getting the vital signs (e.g. blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate and temperature) of the patient, bed bath, bed making, using  body mechanics, transferring of the patient, ROM (Range Of Motion) and a lot more. We were also taught the admission and discharge procedures.

I was first assigned to a patient suspected of having a dengue fever, but after some test, it turned out negative and was discharged after a few days. My second patient have a condition called a bilateral central peribronchial pneumonia, he is still in the hospital as I'm writing this post.

Aside from our own assigned patients, we're also allowed to assist and observe our fellow students with their patient, especially when their patient needs a bed bath, NGT feeding (to a coma patient), toileting i.e.. We have a check list of things that we have to accomplish by the end of our OJT, and should be signed by our clinical instructors and the nurse on duty.

To Ms. Silna Faniega (who's always been with us for the first 2 days of our OJT),  we just learned so much from you Ma'am, you just don't know how excellent of a teacher you are. Thank you, you are so amazing!

I Passed The BLS Examination, I'm CPR Certified!

It was a tiring day for me and I guess for my 5 other classmates as well after that bone-breaking CPR training, and not to mention that nerve-wracking BLS examination at the King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital last Wednesday. But it was all worth it. After more than a week of studying and training at our training center in TCI, the effort has paid off. All 6 of us, which is only the first batch from our class to take the examination, are now BLS (Basic Life Support) certified.

Before we had our examination, we were formally trained for about 4 hours on how to perform CPR on an adult, child and infant using dummies, and how to use the AED correctly. They also trained us on how to rescue an adult and an  infant victim when choking occurs. Using the dummies was the fun part although I never realized that giving 5 cycles of CPR  (which is 5 times 30 compressions with 2 breaths) is so tiring, what more in a real life situation?

After the training, we took the examination at the other room. It was a multiple choice test and we just have to encircle the letter that corresponds to the correct answer. I can't say it was easy, but it was not that hard also, probably the only thing that scared me that time was the thought that I might fail and I have to do it all over again. Failing the test was not an option, and thank God I made it! It took me about 20 minutes to answer all the questions.

They told us right away the result of the examination almost instantly after we submitted our test papers. I've got a 100% score! A few more minutes we received our certificates, but we have to give it back to the TCI management, they said that we will get it back on our graduation after 6 months. Passing BCLS was an amazing experience for me, as I remember it right, I haven't finished anything in my life prior to this and now I'm CPR certified. WOW!

I was also given a Saudi Heart Association BLS provider's ID which is good for 2 years and it says,  This certifies that the above named has successfully completed the national cognitive and skills performance examination in accordance with the standards and guidelines of the Saudi / American Heart Association for the basic Cardiac Life Support Program.

My sincerest thanks to our mentor Ms. Glenda Musico for helping us out get over our fears with her precious time shared with us by conducting online review and immersed us with the knowledge of CPR techniques that obviously came out in the exams. And  likewise, with Mr.Tom Lim who painstakingly challenged us with his encouraging words to hurdle any obstacles that may come our way, and also for his dilligence in teaching us so that we would be able to achieve  our goals.

A Tour With Mr. Tom Lim

After the hype was over, we went to the canteen for lunch, and while eating,  Mr. Tom Lim, our instructor/ founder of TCI, who works as a head nurse in the hospital, told us if we would like to see the place where he works, so we said yes. We went to the Cathertisation laboratory and Angiogram room. I was so amazed with the apparatus there, I don't even know what they are for. I saw a lot of monitors and a huge apparatus that resembles a machine from the movie 'Stargate'. No matter how Mr. Lim explained to us how things work in there and what those apparatuses are for, his explanations seemed to just enter to my ear and exit on the other. All in all, the experience was a total fun, Thank you Mr. Tom Lim!

My classmate's story about our BCLS examination, ¡SOY NEGRENSE! -  'Now We Are CPR Certified!'