The Taxi Driver
* A dream I had during my afternoon nap today. Hmmm…maybe I’m a little bit stressed that’s why I’m having dreams like these again.
Cruising down a familiar local road, I’m inside a taxi, seated behind the driver and beside me, a woman, her face hidden in the shadows. I could hear the brisk coughing of the driver. In time, though, the coughing came in fits and I could feel he’s already having trouble driving and dealing with his coughing fits at the same time.
He turned to a smaller road and told the woman beside me that he couldn’t take her to her destination anymore. The woman, in haste, stepped out of the taxi and slammed the door close.
The driver continued to have more terrible coughing fits. He was already bent over the wheel. I got out and looked at him.
“Are you all right?” I asked him.
He continued coughing and I noticed that there were already specks of blood on the wheel and the dashboard. He gave another wretch and he spewed a glob of clotted blood the size of a small frog.
Forgetting to Breathe: Ondine’s Curse
Remember those jokes about people who died because they “forgot to breathe”? It seemed funny because who need to be reminded about breathing? Isn’t it automatic? If only perhaps to force ourselves to breathe in slowly or deeply, yes, it could be controlled but not to forget to initiating it. But “forgetting to breathe” does happen. That is, if you have Ondine’s curse. It is a very rare disease and affects about 300 children worldwide (though it can happen in adults too, especially those who are victims of automobile accidents).
Today I came across a blog which tells of a baby who could be the first case of Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS) or, also known as Ondine’s curse, in the Philippines*.
Janis wrote about baby Hannah, daughter of her friend and former colleague. When Hannah was born via cesarean section, she was diagnosed to have pneumonia and doctors also thought she may have a congenital heart disease. However, Hannah still had difficulty breathing even after the pneumonia was treated. She has to be kept on mechanical ventilator all the time. Tests were done, congenital heart disease ruled out, and she was diagnosed to have CCHS. The baby needs some help right now, as treating CCHS is quite expensive, being that Hannah needs to be on ventilator all the time. If you are willing to help, just go to Janis’ blog for the contact info and other details.
What is CCHS?
Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome is a failure of the autonomic control of breathing.
The syndrome is attributed to dysregulation of Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which controls, among other things, breathing, temperature regulation, sweating, blood pressure regulation, and even motility of esophagus. These are bodily functions of which we do not have voluntary control of, which means patients with CCHS do not actually “forget” to breathe. Rather, patients do not have the rebreathing ventilatory response to changes in the amount of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body. Patients fail to have the appropriate response in states of hypercapnia (excess of carbon dioxide in the blood) and hypoxia (deficiency of oxygen in the body tissues), which is to breathe. Patients who can maintain spontaneous breathing when awake probably rely on residual peripheral chemoreceptor function.
Most patients breathe normally when awake but hypoventilate during sleep. If the disease is severe, the infant has difficulty breathing in both wakeful and sleep states.
The Brave One
The Brave One
tells the story of Erica Bain, New York’s Streetwalker, who becomes a victim of a street crime and later takes matters into her own hands.
As usual, two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster acts up a storm. I feel however that the actor has become a victim of typecasting. Her roles often show her as a tough, no nonsense person. I want her to show her versatility. A comedy perhaps? A romantic one at that? Meryll Streep can easily shift from one genre to the other and so does Julia Roberts who proved in Erin Brockovich that she can do much much more beyond Pretty Woman. I think Jodie Foster should try to go beyond the familiar.
Read more HERE.
New Blogger.com Feature: Blogger Play
Blogger play is a page that features a real-time slide-show of pics automatically taken from blogspot blogs.
Blogger Play will show you a never-ending stream of images that were just uploaded to public Blogger blogs. You can click the image to be taken directly to the blog post it was uploaded to, or click “show info” to see an overlay with the post title, a snippet.
Huwad na Kapatiran
Kamakailan lang isa na naman buhay ang nasayang nang dahil sa walang kwentang initiation rites ng mga fraternity. Nabalita ito sa buong Pilipinas. Pinag-uusapan ng lahat. Hanggang sa ginawan pa ng segment sa isang programa sa telebisyon na kung saan ipinakita kung paano isinasagawa ng mga huwad na kapatirang ito ang hazing. Babae ang ipinapakita dito. Matapos ang hazing, kitang-kita mo kung ano ang nangyari. Halo buong katawan niya ay may pasa.
Mula nang mapanood ko ito wala na akong ibang naramdaman kundi galit. Galit sa walang kwentang paraan ng pagpapakita ng iyong katapatan at pagmamahal sa samahan. Hindi matanggap ng aking konsensiya ang aking mga nakita. Noon pang tinanong ang babae kung paano kung namatay siya sa ginawa nila sa kanya, ang sagot niya, nagtitiwala naman siya sa kanila na hindi nila gagawin ito.
Nilalason ng mga kapatirang ito ang utak ng mga sumasali sa kanila. Ginagawang dahilan ang magandang trabaho at koneksyon sa gobyerno at pribadong sektor upang bigyang katwiran ang pagpapahirap na kanilang ibibigay sa mga neophytes.
Impunity
Like global warming, the word impunity was esoteric or unknown to most Filipinos a few years ago. But thanks to political groups which favor the use of the word impunity to describe the state of lawlessness, violence and government wrongdoings in the country, many Filipinos are now familiar with the term.
Read more at Mongster’s Nest
Bunny Man Hunt #18
While Empress Maruja is busy-busyhan, here’s another round of Bunny Man Hunt just for you!
Yes, my amigas, it’s that time once again to find that hot guy in a bunny costume. He has hopped in another random post in my blog and it’s up to you to find him. The first to spot the Bunny Man would get to have a special link at my blog’s sidebar.
The rules are simple:
1) Find the Bunny Man hiding in an old blog entry using the clues provided.
2) You can use the search and archive functions if necessary.
3) Once you have found the Bunny Man, comment on that particular post.
4) First person to spot the Bunny Man wins!
Everybody is encouraged to join. Winners, however, cannot play for three weeks.
Here are the clues that will lead you to the Bunny Man:
Thoughts on the Plunder Conviction of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada
The Beginning of the End of Graft and Corruption in the Philippines
Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain — and since labor is pain in itself — it follows that man will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it.
- 19th century French philosopher-economist Claude-Frederic Bastiat, Liberty’s Greatest Advocate
If we were to compare the development of democracy in the Philippines to that of a person’s development, we could say that we are in the late stages of our adolescence, almost ready to become a young adult. Our nation is maturing, especially in the area of fiscal responsibility. More and more people are checking on how well our public officers are managing the people’s money. We are taking action against public officers who are involved in graft and corruption. I believe that former President Joseph Estrada Ejercito’s plunder conviction is a big statement in our country’s stand against graft and corruption. It sends out a strong message to all our public officers – anyone who works for the government by appointment, election, or work contract – that graft and corruption will no longer be tolerated in the Philippines. Continue reading…
a website review on Wikipinas
Read the WikiPinas website review –> http://www.jeromesurfs.ph.gd/wikipinas
The Passing of Light – Photo Exhibit by Emmanuel Santos
The Passing of Light
photo exhibit by
Emmanuel Santos
September 6 – October 2, 2007
Silverlens Gallery
More info on The Passing of Light – Photo Exhibit by Emmanuel Santos at Shutter Box Philippines.
