The Manila Times reports on an issue that has affected The Crusty Old Expat along with thousands, if not millions, of Filipinos over the years. “Anti-hospital Law Upheld by PH Supreme Court.” While a private hospital association attempted to nullify the existing law, the Philippine Supreme Court dismissed the hospital group’s petition. The Scrooge-like healthcare syndicate was challenging the validity of the regulation.
kidney stones
Latest Ultrasound Reveals No More Kidney Stones
Since retiring to the Philippines over five years ago, I’ve had three major kidney stone attacks. The archipelago’s tropical climate puts a person at greater risk for kidney stone formation due to the way our bodies manage water in a tropical setting. Perspiration becomes the customary way of how the body excretes water in tropical climates. Urination may slightly decrease due to urine being stored longer in the urinary tract. I wasn’t keeping myself hydrated enough before my attacks but now drink 2-3 liters of water daily. My latest ultrasound in the Philippines now reveals no more kidney stones and, as an added bonus, a healthy liver. I had been previously diagnosed with fatty liver disease back in July.
My Two Dollar Emergency Room Visit to the Hospital
My recent two dollar emergency room visit to the Guimaras provincial hospital the Saturday I was to leave for America to visit my Dad in Las Vegas was prompted by another kidney stone attack. Back in July, I had been forced to go the local healthcare facility on a Sunday night where a subsequent ultrasound revealed I had seven stones. A follow up ultrasound done last August, revealed three kidney stones, .4 centimeters in diameter, still remained.
STATLAB in Iloilo City Got the Job Done. New Ultrasound Results
After an extremely frustrating visit for an ultrasound at the Centri Clinical Laboratory in San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras, my asawa and I took a banca boat to nearby Panay Island. Thanks to a tip from British expat Keith, who also lives on our island province, I resolved to check out a new healthcare clinic. I am delighted to proclaim that Statlab in Iloilo City got the job done. I was able to receive new ultrasound results for a recent kidney stone attack.
My asawa waiting at the Statlab Counter in Iloilo City
The Great Guimaras Ultrasound Gaffe: The Kano Loses His Cool
If this were a website where more colorful language was allowed, the title for this post would certainly not have read “The Great Guimaras Ultrasound Gaffe.” But you can bet there were some phrases I uttered this past Saturday at a local laboratory that cannot be repeated on this site or in front of any nuns or preachers of the Gospel. Merchant marines? Yeah, no problem.
The Kano’s Prognosis? Fatty Liver Disease
The Kano’s prognosis? Fatty liver disease. Two weeks when the doctor over at the Centri Clinical Laboratory in Guimaras went over my abdominal ultrasound, which I had taken as a result of a recent kidney stone attack, I was clueless on what “fatty liver” meant aside from guessing I had fat in my liver. At the time. I was more focused on the doctor’s information about my kidney stones.
Outpatient Visit at Guimaras Provincial Hospital
Kidney stones. I would rather have all my teeth pulled without Novocaine than go through another kidney stone attack like the one I recently endured. My wife and I were on our way for our outpatient visit at Guimaras provincial hospital. We didn’t arrive until 9 am since I was extremely groggy from a sleeping pill I “borrowed” from my father-in-law to help me sleep through the severe pain on my right side, a common kidney stone side effect. Lolo, my father-in-law, has severe dementia and needs medication to help him sleep. (Thanks to Murray the Kiwi for supplying my father-in-law with a year’s supply of medications.)
The helpful nursing staff at the outpatient department included a foreigner from Ohio
A Return Trip to the Emergency Room in Guimaras, the Philippines: Part Two
I was sitting in the emergency room at our provincial hospital in Guimaras, where my asawa had accompanied me on a return trip to determine the severe pain I was experiencing. From past experience, I had no doubt that it was another kidney stone attack, as I had suffered one four years ago. Many people that have kidney stones have a recurrence of them within seven years unless they take preventive actions. I didn’t. A lack of drinking water every day and excessive sweating, which I do a lot of in this tropical climate in the Philippines, surely contributed to this recent attack.