Health Lessons from my dad

This post documents in detail what happened to my dad(he passed away) and the lessons to be learned from our experience:

• At the age of 60 and above, anything that is unusual or does not feel normal should be cause for alarm. Get immediate medical help if any body part is painful 
• Any sign of discoloration merits an immediate trip to the hospital. When a limb turns grayish to purple, it could mean blocked blood flow which could result to cell or tissue death(necrosis)
• Blood flow should be restored immediately and in my dad's case, it was done with an emergency embolectomy where they had to surgically remove the blockage
• Once blood flow is restored, the damaged to the tissues must be assessed ASAP. If tissue or cell death has occurred then the patient must be convinced and prepared to undergo amputation. My dad did not want to undergo amputation
• If amputation is not done, the cells undergoing necrosis release harmful chemicals and toxins to the surrounding cells. This could trigger a chain reaction of further cell death.
• In my dad's case, the toxins released by the cells undergoing necrosis triggered renal(kidney) failure. When kidneys fail to filter properly, waste accumulates in the blood and the body. My dad's kidneys were already weak to begin with so he had to undergo dialysis twice.
• My dad also suffered from pneumonia which was most probably a complication from the failed kidneys and the toxins from his left foot

Please share this post with others as it really could save lives. Thanks.

My father passed away

My father passed away at the age of 69 on the eve of my 33rd birthday.

It happened in Heart Center where he was confined from July 6 2010.

He was initially admitted because of blocked bloodflow to his left foot. Blood flow was restored by an operation but the foot did not recover. The doctors recommended immediate amputation but my father wouldn't have it. Gangrene set on, his kidneys failed and he went into cardiac arrest.

This is the first time that something like this happened to our family. I hope that others can take what happened to us as a very important lesson.

How your favorite super hero can help with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill?

In a lengthy discussion over lunch, a group of seasoned developers discussed what their favorite super heroes could do to help with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.

Gorge: Green Lantern can create a machine that cleans up oil.

Jess: Ironman will probably burn all the oil with some fancy lasers coupled with flashy explosions while taking a pose for the cameras.

Joven: Superman could use his breath to freeze the water then lift it up and throw it into space, plants and other sea life included.

If you have other ideas, feel free to comment and join in.

My issues with the AES 2010

As the Philippine Election 2010 looms a few days from now, I wish to make public my view about the Automated Election System(AES) which will run this major election. You can check out the mind map above which I quickly wrote to capture visually what I think are the major issues that are still unresolved in the system.

As a long time IT practitioner with some background with security and Public key infrastructure, I believe I have an above average understanding of the implications of these issues.

Please feel free to comment or suggest major issues which I may have missed. I'll update this post with explanations in a bit.

Funny Iron Man Anecdote

Jess: Do you want to come with us to watch Iron Man 2 today?
Gorge: Pass muna ako, magiging Iron Man naman ako mamaya after ko maging Laundry Man.
Jess: ROFL

iPhone experience week#1

I just got my iPhone last Saturday from Globe. Here are some things to note:

- When the sales rep tells you that your sim will be activated in 24 hours, she actually meant that you should restart your iPhone after 24 hours. I almost went back to Globe to complain about the cellular service not being available after more than 48 hours. You just need to restart your iPhone.

- make sure you understand how to configure it so that you don't get charged 75,000 pesos in your next bill. If you are like me with a limited data plan, make sure you turn push settings off and disable 3G by default. You also need to change your APN to effectively disable mobile internet when you don't need it. If you have unlimited data in your plan then you don't have to go thru these steps

-installing applications from the appstore requires an itunes account. you can create one from your iPhone. Once you've created an account, a verification email will be sent to you. You can not use your iPhone to verify your email successfully, an error stating that the country is not supported will appear on your iPhone. You have to use a computer or a mac to log-in to your email and do the verification.

A week-long vacation in Makati Med

Feb 1, 2010 Monday - It started the night before. The inner thigh area near my right groin felt like it was swollen. I thought it was due to me playing basketball that morning but the pain was of a different type. It wasn't muscle pain and I didn't feel any mass . When I woke up, I was already in pain from both the left and the right inner thigh area. We went to Makati Med where I consulted with my rheumatologist who referred me to an infectious disease specialist. When she saw me, she recommended that I be admitted so they can observe my condition and do some more tests. The rooms in Makati Med were all taken so we proceeded to the emergency room where they gave us a small room and bed. An IV was attached to my arms and a pain reliever was passed thru it. I was also given another pain reliever orally. The pain subsided somewhat as we waited for a room to become available. I wish I were somewhere else other than waiting inside the ER. Several vials of blood were taken from me so that they can do some tests: CBC and ESR.

Feb 2, 2010 - It was already 2:00am when we got to the room assigned to me. The doctor ordered a urinalysis

Feb 3, 2010 - The doctor ordered an ultrasound on my kidneys, urinary bladders and bilateral inner thighs

Feb 4, 2010 - No significant activity today except that the doctor did not visit me during the normal day. She did visit me after we complained about it to one of the nurse

Feb 5, 2010 - The doctor ordered CBC and a muscle enzyme test

Diagnosis: The condition is Cellulitis. What caused the condition is still a mystery even now.