Hope this Ends Soon

It's been almost a week lately since I've been with my firstborn.. Unfortunately, it had to be a week of good times hearing my children's laughter as they play together as well as few bad ones.. My son is sick for almost a week and it has been making me a lot worried as caused quite a number of consecutive sleepless night.s

He had peri-anal abscess that some doctors suspect would be a fistula when we had him checked back in the province.. Initially, operation was suggested but upon seeking various opinions by other doctors here in the metro, they felt that recommendation for an operation should be put on hold until such time that his abscess might not respond to antibiotics given. Good thing with only about 2 days of being on antibiotic, the swelling subsided. We are praying that the abscess did not develop into a fistula and that operation is no longer needed.

Mid-week, my son experienced on-off fever for about 2 days. Given his very high body temperature, we sought the reliable doctor's opinion again on what might be the probable cause of his fever. Initially we suspected it might be the infection from his abscess but upon further probing doctor wanted to rule out dengue as based on tourniquet test given, infection is positive. Upon hearing dengue, I became alarmed and prayed to dear God that results for dengue condition for my son would turn negative. Good thing God was indeed good. My son has been tested negative on dengue based on his latest CBC results. Doctor advised us to give cough and colds medicines for my son as he suspected these are bound to occur. True enough though the fever went away, his cough and cold started to become bothersome tonight especially on his sleep. He finds it hard to breath and when he coughs, you would hear phlegm traveling to and from my little boy's respiratory system. I still continue to pray hard for God to give my son a better health and protect him against all harm especially of illnesses/sickness and infections.

All in One Cooking Magic!

I am not a good cook compared to my loving husband. What I am proud of is introducing him to an all-in-one cooking ingredient filled with magic that is true to its name - Maggi's Magic Sarap! In tradition cooking, we normally have salt, spices for seasoning, we also have soy sauce and the like as well as bouollons for soup, certain soup base for sinigang, fried mixes for crumbs and marinating and so forth! Little did I know that what i gave him as a Magic Sarap sample to improve the taste of Chop Suey could easily substitute for all of these hoopla cooking mixes!

Nowadays, we don't store many types of bouillons as well as other frying mixes. We only add to our meat and dishes a few granules of Magic Sarap and off we savor such a delectable dish! I was quite surprised to enjoy such a tastier fried rice when it was sprinkled with a few Magic Sarap!

Hospital Experience: PGH and NKI

Our son had a high fever last night that's why we decided to have him checked for the day. I took an emergency leave from work to attend his needs. Good thing his fever subsided a bit in the morning. We went to PGH to have him tested for Nitrol blue tetrazolium. NBT was only done in few hospitals as I was told by my son's pediatrician and PGH was one of them. It was my second time to go to PGH. The first time I went in this 100 year old hospital was about 10 years ago. I can't even recall where we passed as we went there hurriedly to visit a sick friend.

We got lost for about 15 minutes looking for the Immunology Laboratory. We inquired with some nurses but most of them seemed pissed off when we ask directions while a few were accommodating. We passed by what seems like a maze smelling a bit of mold dews and medicines and a few body odor of passersby. I even saw a cockroach crawling along the hallway and I almost stepped on it since I jumped to my surprise upon seeing it! We were supposed to meet an old friend who works as an intern in the said hospital but since we were told that PGH only do NBT test mostly on Mondays or by appointment, we had no choice but to leave the hospital soon.

Good thing the attendant nurse in the Immunology Laboratory told us that National Kidney Institute does NBT test as well - the two of them being the hospitals offering this type of test. She gave us the number of NKI, we called up and inquired and received good news that NBT test are normally done on Wednesdays. We requested if we can still be accommodated for the day as my son is scheduled to go back to Davao on Sunday. We were given about 30 minutes to go to NKI from PGH.

We travelled from Manila to QC in about 30 minutes and when we arrived at the NKI, we were impressed by the efficiency and hospitality of people working in the hospital. NKI boasts of quality services and we definitely got a service of more than what we expected.

Onie, the attending nurse willingly accommodated us and while we were waiting for our charging number to be called for payment, she already escorted me and my son for blood extraction. My son was terrified when he saw the needle and singing ABCs as loud and happily as I could to take of his fear seemed to help a bit. What helped him most cope during the painful extraction was his video caught on camera phone with his little sister running around the house.

I never thought a hospital like NKI existed here in the country. Results can even be emailed to the attending physician or can be retrieved about 3 days after. Hospital was neat and orderly. I hope that most hospitals will be taken to new heights like what NKI is now today to offer quality and better service to patients.

Wanted House Help!

Our house is now a certified mess! Good thing our daughter's yaya is such a neat freak that she tries to put everything in order as it was before! Our firstborn paid us a visit and is staying with us for a week. His yaya is supposed to go with him here in Manila but due to some personal reasons, yaya opted to go back to their province to take care of her sick mom instead. Thus daughter's yaya ends up taking care of 2 little tots in her own hands for a few days!

My mom who is taking care of our son for the meantime back in the province down South is in dire need of a yaya for our son. In fact, she needs an all around house help who knows how the works - cooking, cleaning and most important of all taking care of our first-born when my mom is busy and knows how to feed a child.

Our first born is a challenge - he only eats yoghurt, chicharon (crispy pork skin), Rice Krispies, Goldiluck's Zero Trans Fat bread, Tita Mira's Sinigang and McDo or Jollibee's crispy fried chicken. The last being his favorite, we mostly succumb to his delight as we would rather have him eat the same thing that see him eat nothing at all!

What's worse is he is now into antibiotics - a very strong one in fact - Augmentin that the main qualification for this is not to take on an empty or light stomach!

What a challenging week it is! We hope that everything will fall into place soon- My son will now eat quality food or at least eat a lot of rice for him to take his medicines, and we fervently wish to find a good yaya/househelp patient enough to take good care of our son and knows how to feed him!

On Today's Pedia Visit

its been a while since we went to the pediatrician as an entire family. Its basically me and my daughter, me and my son or my husband, my daughter and I. Our son is temporarily based in the province in the care of my mom. He is here in Manila for a week to spend quality time with us. Unfortunately, he had a boil in his butt cheek wherein doctors suspect it to be a fistula and wants it to be operated right away. We had to incorporate as part of his agenda visit a trip to his pediatrician here in Manila.

I've always been the conservative type especially when it comes to medical treatment for my kids. Seeing that my son is still barely 3 years old and cannot speak quite yet, I would prefer not to have him operated at his age. He is quite sickly and I feel that there is something wrong with his immune system.

During our visit earlier to the pedia for another opinion on my son's "fistula" condition and our daughter's MMR vaccine shot, we relayed most of our concern to our children's ongoing development. It was basically a well-baby check up checking on their height, weight and overall condition. As I relayed my son's condition to our doctor, he is also a bit worried as well and asked us to undergo a test called nitrol blue tetrazolium test to check on my son's condition and to rule out chronic granulomatous disease. I have still yet to continue my doctorate in Google and will try to google as much as I can about this test and this condition.

I hope and pray that whatever my son is going through, that he may surpass and overcome this with flying colors and live truly to what his name meant - a true conqueror! I would definitely want to see him grow, graduate in elementary, high school and college. Take up whatever course or degree to his liking! See him mature, be with his girlfriend, see him marry and have kids and be truly successful in life!

The Picture Company Experience

Yesterday, we went to Powerplant to have our first family studio pictorial! It was timely as our first born paid a visit to us for a week here in Manila. We booked for an appointment few weeks before as they had a promo for a free photo session and in case you don't like the outcome of the photos, you may opt not to purchase anything from them.

Off we went and wore everything green on top! My daughter wore a floral accented blouse in green and blue color, my son wore a green and blue plaid polo, hubby wore a neon green polo shirt while I wore an olive green cardigan blouse. We sat there for an hour trying to get the best smile out of everyone. After, we had Noah and Bea for their shot together and solo photos!

We loved the outcome that we got a membership from the Picture Company for a year. We also ordered about 3 sheets and planning to order a huge one to frame and display in our house! Our very first great family photo together!

Recalling My Nursery Rhymes

I am spending a long weekend with my 2 toddlers. They are such a bundle of joy! I don't mind fixing their room all over again even if alphabet rubber mats, toys and books are scattered all over the place. Currently, we are playing some nursery rhymes. Some I can still recall, some are quite new to me. I often wonder, am I singing the right lyrics? I hope so as sometimes they might pick the right/wrong ones from me.

Search for a New Family Car

My car loan will end next month and we are looking for a replacement car. We are planning to sell Phoenix - a Toyota Altis 2003 mid-range model soon which is very much still in good condition and with less kilometer run than most cars. We are planning to replace Phoenix with a Toyota Innova J. It is bigger than our current car as one of our qualification for our next family car is for it to seat at least 7 in total to accommodate visiting relatives and friends.

We are still torn if we are going to get the silver one or the red one but we are planning to add a few basic accessories such as bumper guards, side mouldings, side visor, back up sensor with LED, luggage tray, step guard, power lock with alarm, tint to name a few. Our main qualification is to add as minimal as possible to my allowable car loan limit. Good thing our nearest Toyota branch comes handy and is very accommodating in our needs and requirements.

I am excited to drive and ride our new family car. I still don't know what to name her yet! Probably Blessing or maybe Isabelle? The car is a blessing and I hope it will bring lots of blessings in the future. For Isabelle - I've always liked to name my kid isabelle but my husband forbade me to do so then for my daughter as he said it was the name planned by her sister for her baby as told to him (without me knowing it yet then! you see we got pregnant almost at the same time.. so being the underdog I gave in.) Perhaps now is the time to name a few of our things Isabelle. If not for our kid, at least for one of our precious things!

Phoenix - our current car was named as such since during those times that I purchased him - I encountered a lot of bigger and bolder changes in my life! =)

Worried For The Moment

I'm worried for my son... He is just turning 3 and when he had his recent check up with the pedia, it was found that he has fistula near his butt cheeks. This has been a recurring incident - when he was still 2 months, then a year and 2 months and then now that he is turning 3. I hope that the fistula recurrence would stop and be put to an end. I was told that operation is the only solution. Is there no other way? Can operation be delayed until he is older and can tolerate and understand the pain of going through an operation?

I would definitely seek second, third perhaps up to 5th opinion on his condition on whether to go or not go with operation so soon. For now I continue to pray for a better health condition for my little boy.

My First Gym Experience

I still remember the first time I went to the gym to do individual exercise! I've been to previous gyms before for group classes but nothing beats going to the gym to exercise at your own pace. I went to the 16th floor with my colleagues as we have a gym in our office. There is also a trainor who does personal training ( at the employee's own expense) as well as guide first-timers like me on how to use gym equipments properly.

Since it was my first time, I only tried the treadmill and stepper. I walked in the treadmill for 10 minutes. Surprisingly I got tired and I rested for a bit and went to the next machine. I would like to call it a stepper/walker/glider as I forgot what it was properly called. I spent 5 minutes in the machine and funny that what you did won't register if you act slow! I was trying hard to push it and walk on it! Luckily I did and when I already got the hang of it, the trainor told me that it is time to stop and that I should not force myself much since it was my first time in the gym given my sedentary lifestyle.

Experience with an Astrologer

Had my first encounter with an astrologer if that's how they call it. She is not a fortune teller.. She will just describe you and read your astrology chart what you were and what's in-store for you based on your birthdate, name, time and place of birth. Although we've only met for the first time, it seems that she knew me way before.

She describes my personality right on the dot. Even to the extent of what I was feeling! What she told me was quite true and I will follow her suggestions albeit difficult to reinforce. I wonder how I would be in a year and a half time as she said currently I am undergoing a transition period and doing my karma payment.

Missing the Cinema!

I missed watching movies... Friday night used to be a movie date night for me and my husband. Lately, we've been skipping watching movies and end up either having dinner or going straight home instead. This has been a tactical move by us in order to save a few bucks and add up to our monthly fund pot.

How I wished I've seen this movies: Kung Fu Panda, Made of Honor, Dark Knight, A Very Special Love, Wall-E, Zohan among others. I might end up watching this in DVD instead.

Crunch Time!

Third Quarter is a crunch period for us.. No bonus pays to be expected during the quarter.. Need to tighten our belts and be stricter in terms of financial measures in the household. I think companies are also in a tightening mode when it comes to expenses and costs.

Prices continue to increase, gas price in particular went berserk.. For the first time, my salary increase is less than the inflation rate! We can't stop working (even if we want to) as we have kids to feed and take care of, bills to pay, house and car on loan and life to live with.

Everything can be taken as a challenge! It is up to us to rise above the challenge! Every experience in financial situations whether good or bad will help strengthen one's character.

Can't wait for our new car!

Ice Cream Fun Facts!

I've always loved eating ice cream since I was a kid.. I used to remember every Sunday, my mom would always include in her grocery purchase a half gallon of ice cream for us. I've always loved Nestle's version of Rocky Road as well as all ice cream brands of plain chocolate, ube and double dutch.

I encountered some nice ice cream trivia worth sharing thanks to Nestle's Choose Wellness handout..

Did you know..
- Scientist have observed that ice cream makes a person happy (a similar effect takes on me during or after eating it!)
- Ice cream activates an area of the brain that enable us to feel happy and it only takes a spoonful to create this effect!
- During World War Ii, ice cream has already been a morale booster as the first "ice cream parlor" was built for sailors in the Pacific in 1945.
- Ice cream was served during America's World War II celebration victory
- Waffle cone came into the picture in 1904 when Ernest Hamwi - a Syrian concessionaire first came up with a waffle cone. An ice cream vendor ran out of dishes thus Mr Hamwi rolled his wafer like waffle into a cone! When it cooled, the ice cream vendor put ice cream on it. The customers liked it and the rest is history! (This might have been an inspiration to put ice cream on bread buns as well! )

Tracking Finances

What a tough month it is! Financially (I mean).... I am the designated budget manager in the household and I would like to think I did a fairly good job managing the household's financial budget. I finally admitted that I need to track our expenses thus I assigned one of my previous diaries to be my financial notebook. I am trying to jot down monthly Telephone bills, Mobile Phone, Electricity, Water, Cable, Condo Association Dues, Condo Monthly Mortgage, drinking water allowance, grocery, credit card bills, gas, food expense, time share fees, tuition fees, OT, language stimulation fees and health check ups.. I think I don't have amount allocated for personal/miscellaneous use for the month.

I look forward to September as our "money-making month" when I can finally sell my car for 5 years and loan a new car! Money from the sold car will eventually be our emergency fund and savings fund.

Hope everything will turn out well in our family - financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Post Lunch Dip

Had our lunch at Mc Donald's and I love the new set up of their Rockwell branch. After lunch, we checked out the "sale" in various stores in Powerplant. We did not find anything that we fancy thus we proceeded back to our office to continue working.

After a while, I noticed that I experienced a post-lunch dip from an all time high of eating lunch and window shopping. They say that post lunch dip can be minimized if we just eat a smaller meal. Good thing I ordered only a piece of chicken instead of 2.

Another alternative to reduce post lunch dip is to increase one's alertness by listening to soothing music, doing exercise (hope that the strolling in the mall would count!) and drinking caffeinated drinks such as coffee.

I'm glad there are free cups of Nescafe being offered at work as caffeine in coffee helps restore levels of alertness and improves one's performance and mood through the day!

Wanted: Reconnection

My cousins living in NY flew in a few days ago and I suddenly felt the need to reconnect with them and bond with relatives I've long been in touch with. I was always busy at work sometimes sacrificing my personal gain and happiness. When they got into an accident, I took it as a sign to take a break from work and take care of them while in the hospital for a few hours. Sometimes work needs to take a backseat as it is not worth giving your best without gaining anything.

They stayed in our place for a couple of days and I tried to bond with them to the best of my ability.. We went to our relatives few miles away from our place and had dinner with them.. I never had a personal connection with them and I suddenly had this feeling of regret on why I did not bond with them before.. I now vowed to myself that I should try my best to reconnect.. In the end they are part of the family .. I might need to improve on how I connect with others and treat them as family or friends as well.

I hope they will give me a second chance to get to know them better.

Show me the money!

I just had my mid-year performance evaluation at work. I came to realize that I've chosen to grow old with the company I currently belong to. I trust my skills as well as my superior's capabilities to help me improve in terms of career and financial growth. With the current state I'm into.. it seems that I am not yet financially free.. I have house loans to pay coupled with car loans, utilities, salaries, food expense, miscellaneous and some investments for the future.

I don't have much current savings. My earnings coupled with our expenses almost evens out. We hope to change the trend and come up with better savings once we have earnings when we sell our car in the near future. For savings, I am thinking of not placing my money in bank accounts but rather in investments funds. Mutual funds as they most call it. I currently have some in PAMI and I hope to increase my investments as time goes by. What I am eyeing for is to invest in their AIG Global Bond Fund. Hope that I could embark on it in the near future and have wise financial decisions when in comes to investment and savings!

Choose Wellness Mid-Evaluation

Today, I just had my mid-evaluation for my participation in our company's I Choose Wellness Program. I Choose Wellness is a year long campaign for better nutrition as well as health and wellness. It is the employees prerogative if he wants to be into this program. I joined hundreds of colleagues who took part in this endeavor. I take pride of working for the company I'm currently with as non-monetary benefits such as this motivates the employee to do better in their personal life which in a way has a positive effect in their job performance.

In this program, we have nutritionist who will see us monthly and conducts one on one nutrition counseling based on our eating habits, our physical activity, weight and height. Given this information, she will help us plan a health regimen that meets our own fitness goals. Most of the programs are achievable depends on how much discipline an employee puts into it.

There are daily wellness activities in the company and we can choose which activities we would like to attend to. Group class choices would be yoga, body combat, latin groove among others. I only knew of these 3 as they were the only ones I've been to. If one is not into these types, there is always the gym and almost an entire floor in the office is dedicated for it. If one opts to have a personal trainor, he may do so at his own additional expense.

I've never been fond of the gym before. What I've only tried were the various group classes. Unfortunately, it helped a little in improving my physical performance during our evaluation earlier. I've decided to try out the gym within the week and hopefully would achieve better results.

Apart from these programs, we also have a "nutrition quotient" training where we learn facts about nutrition in a fun way. This would also teach us how to eat healthy. Problem is the application bit as it is easier said than done that "moderation, variety and balance is key in choosing which foods to eat".

What's good about this program is that progress (or regress) is being monitored and evaluated. Pre, mid and post evaluation are being done (all the works! - measuring fat, flexibility, endurance, height and weight etc.) The team (nutritionists, doctors, trainors and employees) are helping each other out to commit to a better and healthy lifestyle. I do hope that other companies would offer these types of initiatives for a better work-life balance amongst their employees.

Lovely Prayers

As I was cleaning up my receipts for liquidation in the closet, I managed to recover a piece of paper with 2 lovely prayers - Prayer to Take Authority and Cleansing Prayer. The sheet was previously handed to me when I attended a "caring circle" for the first time 2 years ago. Unfortunately, the author of these prayers were not listed in the sheet for recognition but given the beauty of these prayers, I would like to share these prayers to the blogging community:

Prayer to Take Authority:
In the name of Jesus, I take authority and I bind all powers and forces in the air, in the ground, in the water, in the underground, in the netherworld, in nature and in fire. You are Lord over the entire universe and I give You the Glory for Your creation. In Your Name, I bind all demonic forces that have come against us and our families and I seal all of us in the protection of Your Precious Blood that was shed for us on the Cross. Mary our Mother, we seek your protection and intercession with the Sacred Heart of Jesus for us and our families and surround us with your mantle of love to discourage the enemy. St Michael and our Guardian Angels, come defend us and our families against all evil ones that roam the earth. In the Name of Jesus, I bind and command all the powers and forces of evil to depart right now and away from us, our homes and our lands. ANd we thank You Lord Jesus for You are a faithful and compassionate God. Amen

Cleansing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by the power of the Precious Blood of Your Son, come upon us right now. Purify us and wash us clean with the blood of Jesus from the crown of our head to the soles of our feet. Let this Blood penetrate up to the very marrow of our bones to cleanse us from any entanglement, from whatever spirit we may have come in contact with during the course of our intercession. Anoint us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and refresh our body, soul, and spirit. May the sign of Your Holy Cross drive away all evil spirits from us. In the name of the Father+ and of the Son+ and of the Holy Spirit+. Amen.

My Milo Marathon Story

For about 2 years now, my husband has been trying to convince me to join the Milo Marathon. I am not an athlete nor am I a health buff as I am the opposite. Last year, we signed up for the marathon but was not able to go since it was raining hard. This year, we decided that we participate in the Marathon whatever the weather may be. It was both our first time to join the Marathon but it was not my first time to witness one. My first Milo Marathon experience which was about 6 years ago was almost a forgettable one as I woke up late then and when I got to the event location, all the runners were in the different race paths.

I've managed to have a better Milo Marathon story since then. At around 5 o clock in the morning, we got up, got dressed and tried to reach the race area by car. There was a re-routing for vehicles on these times as runners were trying to assemble in the starting line. It took us about 30 minutes to reach Km 0 and the race just got started.

I was mesmerized by what I saw, I used to think that only ants can gather in such a number! There were a lot of participants all having their own Milo Marathon story to tell regardless of age, gender and socio-economic class. Rain poured heavily and a lot of participants did not mind the weather at all. We managed to walk first in the starting line as it was quite hard to run given the volume of race participants.

We managed to finish the 5Km race and was amazed to see that the participant of 42K already was about to go to the finish line with almost the same time as ours. My husband and I vowed to ourselves that we will make it a yearly ritual to participate in at least one Milo Marathon. If weather permits, we would bring our kids for them to experience such a glorious event while they are still young.

Walking Experience

Last Thursday, my husband informed me that Makati was traffic in its most unusual way. We have lived in this city for more than 5 years and it was his first time to encounter such traffic. Rain poured heavily the entire afternoon leaving most of the roads hardly passable due to floods and a few cars bogged down in the flooded streets.

Since I need to wake up early the following day, I was dying to go home early but was strongly advised against doing so. My husband who was supposed to drop some things at home first before picking me up took almost 2 hours to go home from the usual 10-15 minutes drive from a nearby hotel (where he had a seminar for the day) to our place. Unfortunately, all alternative roads were jammed with cars as well. I was advised to have dinner in the office and wait for the traffic to subside for him to pick me up. I offered to take the taxi home but he was hesitant about it as first. He said for me to take my dinner first while waiting for the traffic to subside. We've decided that we update each other whichever comes first - me taking the taxi or him picking me up.

Instead of having dinner, I went to the mall to hail a cab. I saw the waiting line longer than ordinary days. I tried to hail a cab in various areas in the mall to no avail. I decided to go window shopping instead. My husband updated me on the traffic condition. Unfortunately traffic going to and leaving our place worsened compared to few hours ago.

I was desperately wanting to go home and felt an initial pang of hunger as well. I don't know if it was out of hunger or out of desperation that I decided to take a walk back home as my office is just about 15 minutes drive from home. I bought a sandwich and water to go for my walking trip back home. Upon passing by the taxi waiting line, I noticed that it was short now and only 5 people were ahead of me. I decided to take the taxi instead and ate my sandwich while waiting for my taxi turn. Good thing my taxi driver was pleasant - a wonderful surprise given the traffic condition. The ride was quite smooth and fast. Only when we were a few blocks away from our place, traffic was jammed and our cab was not moving for more than 5 minutes. I knew then that this was the area where it starts to get super traffic. Remembering the traffic updates of my husband few minutes ago. I told the driver that I've decided to get down from the cab and walk towards home by foot so as not to involve him in the horrendous traffic situation. It took me less than 10 minutes to arrive at my place from the area where I got out of the cab.

It's been a few years already since I've walked "that far". I am a sedentary person and that walking experience made me realize to get into frequent walking trips these days to be physically fit and eventually lose some pounds. The walking experience made me appreciate things I normally took for granted such as my health, the accessibility and convenience of our place.

Accidental Experience

Last Wednesday morning, after my meeting with a colleague, I received a call from my aunt in Davao and told me my cousins got into an accident!

My cousins based in NY (whose mom is my dad's sister) are in their teenage years and together with their other cousin from NY decided to take a few weeks' adventure in our country all by themselves. It was their first time to travel without their parents. They stayed in their other relatives place many miles away in the metro. On the way to the airport to take a flight to our provincial hometown, they got into a vehicular accident.

I froze for a moment upon hearing the news. I was near the hospital where they were rushed. I got my bag, asked permission from my boss and told him of what happened. I told him that I might not be able to make it in succeeding meetings scheduled during the day as I would like to ensure first that my cousins are okay.

On the way to the hospital, I asked our medical coordinator to check out on my cousins in the emergency room and see what tests needs to be conducted to further evaluate their condition. Few minutes after, I got a call from her and she told me that they had a relative in the same hospital and that she might not be able to convince the ER team to do some further tests.

As I went to the ER, I noticed one of their cousin sitting in the waiting area holding Anne's bags. I asked him where my cousins were and he told me that they were ushered somewhere else. I asked for the resident doctor on their condition and also inquired if their relative working in the hospital was around. I was told that their relative was out of the country and that my cousins were sent to the Radiology area. He mentioned that Andrew had a cut in his nose while Anne had some bruises and traumatized lips.

I rushed to the radiology area and saw my cousins on wheelchairs patiently waiting for their turn. I asked them how they are feeling. They said they feel okay but upon judging on their initial looks, they were a bit traumatized. I asked them if they knew what type of xrays will be done for them and they said no. I asked those assisting in the radiology area of what tests are to be conducted. They mentioned that the boy was for nasal xray while the girl was for dental xray. I asked if there are any xrays to be done for skull as well as their backs and the nurse said none. I requested if they could take additional xrays and was advised to go back to ER to tell the resident my concerns for him to give orders on additional xrays.

I went as told. Good thing the doctor was cooperative when I relayed my concern. I requested their cousin in the waiting area be checked as well for basic xray. As we wait for the results and saw my cousins condition, I asked if they can be referred to neurologists and EENT specialist as well. I was told to wait for the skull xray result and if abnormalities occur, they will refer it to a neuro and EENT.

After the initial xray result, I was strongly advised that a neurologist is not needed since skull xray showed normal results. Our request for EENT however was granted. It was decided that Andrew needs some sutures in his nose. Their mom (my father's sister) called me up overseas and asked on how her kids were. I told her they were doing fine waiting for other tests. I omitted other details that might cause them to worry. I also asked her to get some sleep and that I will watch over her kids in the hospital. We waited for the EENT doctor we've requested for second opinion and true enough he found something from Anne that needs to be sutured as well.

While waiting for the various tests, second opinion consultation and other minor suturing procedure done with my cousins, I offered to their relatives in their dad's side that my cousins can stay in our place as it is accessible and convenient for them in case they decide to just stay home for the next day to rest. They immediately agreed and we also changed their flights to Davao for Friday.

As we went home from the hospital, I mentioned to them, that despite what happened, good thing they are still ok, was not confined to the hospital and that the incident will be counted as one of their Philippine adventure. We always see accidents in TVs but never had we imagined that we can be part of one.

I continue to pray that their bruises and wounds would heal immediately as well as take out the whatever trauma the accident brought them. I also hope that this incident will not happen especially to those visiting our country for the first time as it can be traumatizing, costly as well as lessen their time to explore our wonderful country.