(we)B Log

Why do I blog?

Because I like to document my life. I have this crazy dream that someday, I might be a little famous or die in a really 'heroic' way, that is worth covering on TV, then people will start reading about me. What a better way to chronicle everything than a journal right?

Or even if I don't become famous, I like to record the events in my life or bottle up my feelings and thoughts through writing.

But I couldn't successfully keep a conventional journal for the following reasons: my handwriting is bad, I mean, really bad; my fingers couldn't keep up with my thoughts, meaning, I usually lose my train of thought because I write so slow; and I hate hand writing.

Luckily, I type fast and accurately too (had typing lessons in High School). That's why I have been keeping my journals in the computer for a long time. So when my friend Melissa introduced me to Blogging, I was ecstatic. Finally! I can keep my journal without having to save, print and lose them!

Web Log

I remember that I learned about the word blog in med school. After convincing most of my classmates to make their Friendster account, I was convincing them to blog next. Then my classmate M.I. asked, 'Do you know where the word blog came from?'

'No.' And I thought I was the techie one here.

'Web Log. They shortened it to Blog.'

'Uhmm, nice trivia.'

Then I became addicted. It started out as an easier way, for me at least, to chronicle my life. Now, it is a habit.

What do I blog about?

I used to blog about my personal thoughts, my travel, unofficial review of movies, books or food. Now, I blog to share my more socially relevant experiences as a Doctor to the Barrios. When I stray to personal experiences, it is to update my family and friends whom I don't get to see often. It's usually an icing on the cake when a total stranger pass along and picks a few lessons or tips from this blog.

My blog was never meant to be a medical blog. I am just too much of a doctor most of the day that I want this blog to be my respite from that world.

Restrictions? I don't (or couldn't) write about the most personal thoughts or events of my life. I could only do that in my 'conventional' journal, meant for my eyes only. I am still not comfortable with the idea of strangers reading about my 'private' life, well, that is if there are strangers reading my blog. Are there?

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This is my contribution to the 13th (Lucky 13!) ed. of The Blog Rounds being hosted by the Man of TBR, Bone MD.

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Isolated... Not

How would you feel if you were a small fish in a river thrown out into the sea, alone?

Whatever it is that came into your mind, that is how I felt 16 months ago, when I was deployed in this barrio. Name it – fear, isolation, excitement, apprehension, I felt it. But the scariest part, as a physician, was being isolated from your seniors or colleagues, whom you can turn to, if you were in the city, anytime you have doubts in your mind.

Thanks to the Internet, because despite the lack of land line and fax in this remote area, the fear of isolation was instantly gone when I realized that I can actually use my phone to connect to the Internet. Yahoo! Or should I say, Yehey?

Professionally, the Internet saved my neck a lot of times in this remote upland municipality in Ilocos Sur.

I remember that time when I was giving a seminar to BHWs (barangay health workers) and I totally forgot the exact meaning of health according to the World Health Organization. I don’t want to be accused of giving false information so with just a click of the mouse, I got the exact meaning, word by word. Or that time when I couldn't remember if MMR (maternal mortality rate) is maternal deaths per 1,000 or 100,000. WHO and CDC sites are great websites for knowing these public health information. Let's not forget our very own DOH (Department of Health), or my boss will kill me.

I had a case once of a 48 year old woman with bilateral lower limb paralysis, who has seen several doctors in Baguio, Benguet and La Union. I wanted to tell her that how in the world can I help her, me, a starting GP, when she has already seen several specialist and nothing happened? But the look of faith in the woman’s eye pushed me to find ways to help her. Thanks to UP’s National TeleHealth Center, headed by Dr. Eloy Marcelo and their BuddyWorks Team, I was able to refer this patient, through email. In two days, they helped me diagnose this patient.

Isn’t that amazing? I didn’t have to go out of this barrio, I probably only spent about 10 pesos for the Internet connection, and the patient didn’t even have to go out of her house to be diagnosed. That is something priceless for the people in remote areas like this because going to a hospital is costly. The nearest primary hospital is 11 kms away and tertiary hospital is about 50 kms away. Did I say nearest? :)

These are only 2 of the many stories I have on how Internet saved my life, or other people's lives, for that matter. There are more.

As a newbie physician deployed in place where I don't know a single soul and don’t even speak the dialect, I was worried that I might go insane with just a few days of being here. Luckily, it didn't go that far because of Yahoo Messenger, Chikka and those community sites like Friendster, Facebook, Multiply, etc. These connected me to my family and friends and even to strangers. I can go online, buzz someone, refer, chat or just simply vent out my frustrations either through forums (Pinoy MD) or blogging.

I cannot overemphasize how being connected with people helped me get through my rough and lonely times here. In fact, just knowing that I can buzz anyone anytime or that someone is reading my experiences here gives me confidence to cure and save lives. That alone makes me a better person, if not a better clinician.

Has Internet saved lives for me? Definitely. Has it made my life easier as a doctor to the barrio? No doubt. I am still just a small fish swimming in this wide ocean. Thanks to the World Wide Web though, I have learned to navigate through it and come out alive and clicking, err, kicking.

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