Inasmuch as I want to make a more decent entry, I can’t rack up my brain to come up with one. It’s one of those hellish days when I feel like there’s some construction going on inside my head and there’s some endless pounding taking place. Yesterday, my allergies acted up again and I spent the whole day sneezing my brains out. I was even tempted to put some tissue up in my nose to keep mucus from dripping down my reviewers. (I know, this is some icky and nasty stuff that shouldn’t be shared at all. Hehe) What I didn’t expect though was that some genius out there actually thought of making one.

Genius huh?

I wonder if they allow sickly people like me to take an insurance like NC health insurance, though.

I’m watching a new show I discovered at TV 5, it’s called Rakista and stars Carlo Aquino, Denise Laurel and Charles Christianson among others. It’s been showing on air since August 14 every Thursday nights with reruns on Sunday afternoons. It’s been a while since I watched shows from other networks since I’ve always been glued to ABS-CBN (whether I like it or not.) Anyway, I’m off to review. My reviewers are waiting for me.

I haven’t started with the six papers I’m due to submit next week. I had spent the whole day yesterday on a date with Bee with my intention of finishing at least one paper when I get home. Of course, I failed. I ended up sleeping at around 12 am, only to wake up quite a few times throughout the night.

We already started seeing patients as soon as we finished the exams and got back to business. There’s no time for us to relax a bit and unwind. Our exam finished on a Tuesday and right the next day we were scheduled to see a patient for Gynecology. I was wrong for having concluded that we weren’t going to see any patient for that sensitive subject. Just because the subject involved a lot vaginal exposures and examinations, a whole lot of privacy to be breached and awkwardness to deal with didn’t mean that we were exempt from getting our hands dirty. In fact, I had my hands fingers devirginized that same day by I performing the first IE of my career on a 44-year old patient complaining of reddish vaginal discharge. The feeling was… weird… and that funny search term that ended up in my other blog suddenly crossed my mind. Probably that person who had the nerve to search for that “fingering” term in Google was just curious to know how it felt like to the one doing the act. LOL.

The funny part of the experience, however, ends there. I don’t see any reason why we should be happier when our patient, as we would later on conclude, only has a few more months to live. She has cancer of the cervix - a lesion that was left undiscovered and untreated earlier because she never went to see a gynecologist and have a pap smear taken.

A lot of women die of cervical cancer because the disease is discovered only when it is already in its late stages - when things are already messier and harder to treat. However, this can be prevented by having a pap smear taken regularly especially for women who are considered high risk. These are women with positive family history of cancer, women who started having sex at an early age and women who has had multiple sexual partners. Exposure to the human papilloma virus (HPV) also increases the risk of a woman from developing cervical cancer much like how exposure to asbestos predisposes an individual from having mesothelioma later in life.

This patient of ours never had her pap smear taken. I know this is not exactly the most comfortable thing to have inside you in the world, but ladies, what’s a few minutes of discomfort if it meant our life?

I was doing my online window shopping routine when I chanced on this multiply account selling stuff. it caught my attention precisely because they were selling colored contact lenses for a price that is much much less than in optical stores. A fan of colored (but graded) Freshlook contact lenses myself, I couldn’t help but be enticed by the ad. Then it caught my eye: one prospective buyer asked if the contact lenses could be used for up to a year. The seller said yes. Que horror! From the point of view of a medical student, that’s calling for trouble.

Contact lenses, especially the soft ones come in different lengths of time that one can wear them safely. Back in the days when I still have to discover the huge difference a colored contact lens can make to one’s looks, I used to buy the extended ones - a pair that can last for a year or two. That was a huge mistake because they weren’t only more expensive, but they also didn’t prove to last me that long since I always end up tearing them apart. Since I realized what a silly investment it was, I started buying the ones that are common today: those that come in a box which are good for one month each pair. The thing is, you have to change contact lenses after using them for 30 days. The colored ones I’m using can be worn for 3 months max. Whatever type you’re wearing, colored or not, the premise is this: use them only until the box says it’s good to do so. Don’t use them longer than prescribed. A lot of people have this notion that if it’s not being used as frequently, then the lenses can last for up to a year. It’s a big no-no and as I said, you’re calling for trouble.

You see, contact lenses in the long run can harbor bacteria which may cause conjunctivitis. In worse case scenarios, you not only get bacterial conjunctivitis, but develop fungal keratitis - a condition whose symptoms usually manifests after a few months have passed. Fungal keratitis is a lot harder to treat than bacterial keratitis and it may even cause the patient a lot of eye and visual discomfort. Usually, patients with fungal keratitis develop photophobia or light sensitivity, aside from having this weird (usually) whitish and furry-looking thing growing on the conjunctiva of your eye. Fungal keratitis are also contracted when the conjunctiva of the eye is scratched by an object that has had contact with the soil. In a tropical country like the Philippines, getting an object contaminated with fungus is a no-brainer. Fungi bask and grow in the warmth of the climate. Although fungal keratitis can be treated and is not really life-threatening, treatment can take from months to years before finally eradicating the offending fungi - quite troublesome really.

So the next time you think of being a scrooge and storing that contact lens in your dresser for a year, think of all the expense and all the time you have to consume treating that fungal growth on your eyes. Probably saving up a few hundred bucks is good for now, but in the long run, would you really rather spend more for treatments? Keep in mind the age-old adage: Prevention is better than cure.

Don’t risk your eyesight.

This is Ellen Adarna. Friendster, Myspace and Multiply afficionados surely recognize her since her photos are scattered, not only in the sites mentioned but all over the internet, sadly used (and abused) by posers and fakers who wished they were her. (Edit: Oh and I recently learned how she was Uno Magazine’s cover for March 2008. Poor me. I am sooooo outdated. Hehe. Anyway, here’s a link to Jepoy’s blog about her Uno appearance) When I first encountered her pictures, I cannot help but be amazed by how good her skin is (assuming they weren’t enhanced by photoshop). I’ve seen girls like her - all blessed with good genes for a blemish-free skin and I would be a total hypocrite if I say that I am not envious of them. » Continue Reading