Warning: Graphic Content

Just a few hours after I went to sleep, I was awaken by droplets of rain entering from the window near my bed. As I would normally do, I closed the windows.

But before I could get back to my sleep, I felt something weird inside my mouth. It was blood with some "chewable" mass, which I thought was clotted blood. And there was at least a tablespoon full of it. o_O

After cleaning my mouth, I went back to sleep. A few minutes later, I woke up again and realized that the bleeding never stopped, and I was back to seeing thick, sticky, radiant red liquid coming out of my mouth.

At the time, I realized that there was something wrong...

It has been 4 days since I had the surgery (impacted wisdom tooth removal) but I never encountered any severe bleeding after the surgery. I may have tore the wound while brushing or during my sleep.

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Anyhow, I tried my best to stay calm, because I know that panicking would just increase my heart rate and aggravate the bleeding. How would you stay calm after seeing lots of blood coming out of your mouth? (see picture at the bottom) >:P

I took a 500mg capsule of Hemostan to help stabilize the bleeding. But since it needed an hour or so to take effect, I had to find a way to control the bleeding, otherwise, I might pass out. I took a cotton ball and stuffed it on the operated gum area.

The bleeding continued as I replaced the cotton balls. Either I wasn't hitting the right area or I was bleeding in several areas. At that point I was starting to get worried, my dentist appointment is at 8:30AM and I still have more than 3 hours to wait and probably bleed more. :S

My mom panicked after I told her that the bleeding won't stop. She gave me an ice pack and it somehow managed to minimized the bleeding. I also managed to get an hour of sleep with cotton inside my mouth. :P

I got up around 7AM just to find out that it began to bleed again. I removed that blood coated cotton ball from mouth and replaced it again. Then started to prepare for my visit to the dentist.

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I was accompanied by my sister and our dad was the one who took us to the dentist. The dentist was surprised to learn about the bleeding. I told her what happened that morning and she told me that putting the cotton balls was a bad idea. :))

She then started checking and cleaning the wounds. She revealed to me that one of the stitches was tore open. I had 2 stitches from the surgery. Somehow, one of them tore open the wound and started the bleeding.

After the effects of the anesthesia kicked in, she removed the new formed tissues that was torn. Then she put some powdered medicine on the wounds.

Unfortunately, there's one specific area that the bleeding won't stop. She had to use a stronger medicine and a new stitch to finally control that area. I actually felt the needle punching through my gum because the effects of the anesthesia was starting to wear off.

We left the clinic almost 11AM, she assured me that she won't let me go home until the bleeding stops, and she did. Whew!

I'm lucky enough that it happened this morning. My dentist was scheduled to go to Canada this evening for a 1-month vacation. God still loves me. :D Hopefully, I don't have to go through something like this again. O:) I'm estimating that I've lost at least a half glass of blood. o_O

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For those who are curious, here's a picture of my blood. It appears to be a lot, but it's just diluted with water in the chamber pot. The solid looking objects are the cotton balls that I've used.


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Before I went to sleep last night, I was watching these final segments of Bubble Gang. I'm not sure if my excessive laughing have contributed to the bleeding. Ha ha ha...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn3JayerHoI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgewH18IDLE

The moral of the story... never watch comedy shows after surgery... he he he...

Yeah... People Hate Change

If you're a frequent MRT passenger, you probably have come across the following announcement or something similar, scattered across different locations in all MRT stations recently.


I deliberately cropped it for blogging purposes. If you're interested in the full version, you can download it from here.

Surprisingly enough, the supposed "measure to ease overcrowding" resulted in this...


It took me a while to get inside and tried my best to avoid or minimize body contact. I could still remember some people commenting that the new system sucks and that they (MRT) should never have implemented it. Some even started cursing the security personnel who was trying to organize the crowd.

You don't have to be an expert in crowd control in order to realize that their "plan" was not carefully "planned" at all.

And because I don't want to criticize without sharing some constructive suggestions, here are some of my ideas...

1. Remove security checks on all entrances. Obviously, the bottlenecks are the security personnels. The rate of their "bag poking" is far lower than the rate of passengers arriving. >:)
   
2. Put walk-in metal detectors on all entrances. They DON'T have to work. They just have to look convincingly real, and beep randomly. This way we could achieve the same "sense of security" like what we currently have, minus the cost and the effort. >:)
   

And for the fun part, here are some suggestions to instill some discipline among passengers...

1. Deploy stanchions (posts), but instead of using the usual metal chains or nylon ropes, "rusted barbed wires" SHOULD be used. This way, passengers would not attempt to overtake one another or create new lines. >:)
   
2. Attach "rusted blades" or "broken glass shards" at the sides of the train doors. This way, passengers would not attempt to stop the doors from closing. >:)
   
3. An alternative for option 2 is to use "electric doors", similar to electric fences. Same effect, minus the bloody mess. >:)
   
4. Finally, hire bouncers. The can be deployed inside the trains or in the platforms. To help weak passengers in getting in and off the train. >:)

Till next time... ride safely... :)

Really Sad News

Friday afternoon, I received an SMS message from Dominic, informing me that his dad had passed away (Morning of May 30). I was shocked to hear the bad news, and for a while, could not think of a proper way to respond.

Wilfredo Dandan, 50, fell asleep while on his way to San Juan Municipal Hall and never woke up. The taxi driver rushed him to a nearby hospital, where they attempted to revive him. However, it was already too late, and he was announced dead-on-arrival.

Dominic is a good friend from college. Our houses are just few blocks apart. He was my jeepney buddy for 4 years. By his request, I contacted CJ and Carlo, our college buddies, and arranged a meeting so I could bring them to the funeral house on Saturday or Sunday.

On my way home, I went his father's wake in Lorenzo Funeral Homes, just a block away from our house. I stayed there until 12AM, before heading home. I also had a chance to talk to Dominic, Marilen and also Dominic's aunt. Dominic told me what happened earlier that day, while his aunt shared her experiences in her courageous battle and triumph over cancer.

The following morning (Saturday), I met Carlo and CJ at UST and accompanied them to Lorenzo. We had lunch there and stayed for until 1PM. We shared a couple stories on some recent updates on our lives. The last time we had a chance to this was way back in college.

It was nice to see them again after a long time, but as Dominic would put it, it could have been a lot nicer if the circumstances were not sorrowful.

My deepest condolences to the Dandan family for their lost.

To Mr. Wilfredo Dandan, may you rest in peace.