It’s almost rainy season in the Philippines and it already rained frequently, with sudden change of weather and temperature many people got sick, most of our neighbors has colds and cough. My father is also sick with colds and cough, I already bought two bottles of medicine and a mentholated topical cream for my father, then he is also taking vitamins C and drinking luke warm calamansi juice but but he didn’t get well yet.

[Photo courtesy of Mizianitka/pixabay.com]

So, next month I am planning to have my father do a medical check-up since pulmonary and lung disease is common in a third world country like ours. I hope I could save more money so I could bring my parents to optometrist as well since they’ve been using $1 reading glasses from the street, according to health news in television it doesn’t do any good but make worst of an eye problem even more.  Maybe if I didn’t bought a mobile phone I am able to have this plans materialized right away, I have bought a phone with a high resolution camera so I have a camera to use  on blogging, my DSLR is not getting any better. I have already gave my old phone to my sister but aside from the wifi button being broken, it doesn’t read sim card anymore. She already brought it to a shop that fixed mobiles but she was told they can’t fix it, so my sister just uses it as a camera for her selfies.

Had a very bad day yesterday after I accidentally cut myself early in the morning when my family woke me up just to make an instant coffee for my father. I was a bit unhappy since it wasn’t six o’clock in the morning yet when they woke me up. Anyway, since too much caffeine make me sick and nervous without a reason I decided to prepare luke warm calamansi for myself and while cutting them I have included my fingers, I have forgotten  that the knife was newly sharpened last night when my father used it in slicing and cutting meat at a neighbors house who’ll be celebrating his 50th birthday. Well, I immediately wash my hand with water and soap in the bathroom and put iodine but the cuts didn’t stop bleeding making me anxious, I tried to sip it but then I stopped and tried to looked for cottons but can’t find any so I rushed to the moringa tree in our backyard, took some young leaves, chewed it and put them on my cuts, it tasted bitter and it hurts but it is very effective the bleeding stops, I have learned the tricked from my aunt’s husband. When I went back inside our house, found out that I left droplets of blood in our floor, and what comes to my mind is my blood type, what type of blood do I have. LOL

Moringa is one of the most powerful health-enhancing plants, eating it has a lot of benefits since it was very nutritious and  very rich in healthy antioxidants and bioactive plant compounds.

Anyway, late afternoon we are invited to a 50th and 3rd birthday party in our neighborhood,  it’s a father and son’s birthday. My sister was requested to take photos of the celebration but since she isn’t feeling well, she doesn’t want to do it and I don’t wanna do it as well since I have cut my fingers and it is hard to move the lens back and forth when taking photos, and then I am also ashamed taking photos of the who’s and who, the birthday celebrant is school supervisor so I believed most of his visitors are well known people and professionals.

The Aratilis or Saresa is part of my childhood, I climbed this tree many times like how many times I climbed a guava or mango tree growing up. The aratiles or Muntingia Calabura is a flowering plant that grows in a few parts of the world including Mexico and Philippines, it was commonly called Jamaica cherry,  Panama Berry, Bajelly tree and other alternative names.

The Aratilis is the most favorite wild fruit by kids in the Philippines since they just grow anywhere without someone planting them. When I was still a kid I always go to the house across my grandmother’s house because they have an aratilis tree in their yard then I think my late grandfather observes my liking to the fruit that he replanted aratilis tree in our backyard but sad to say I wasn’t able to climb it since we went home and live to my father’s hometown where I found an aratilis tree to climb.

Today, my cousin’s kids and their playmates were also like me who loves to climb the aratilis tree that surprisingly grow along the path in the field. The other day while letting our dog wander in the field I asked my sister to pick aratilis but she left ahead of me since she has work to do, I was amazed that there was a lot of ripe aratilis in the tree which is not normal because most of the time the tree has no red fruit since the kids love to pick them as well. While jumping and trying to reach the ripe aratilis my older cousin’s toddler daughter came and extend her right arm and says “be” she was asking for the fruit I’ve picked. I was shocked the way she asked for the fruit, she didn’t even asked if she can have some she just want to took it from me like she asked me to picked them for her so I told her to climb and get her own fruit but I have changed my mind thinking she’ll going to cry so I handed the aratilis I have in my hand and by looking up in the tree I found more up top so I decided to climb the tree and while at top I have asked her to pin point the red ones for me and informed her that I will not give the fruits right away because I have to take photos of them first and she willingly agreed.

Browsing online I have found that aratilis aren’t not just merely a wild fruit that grew anywhere because it has medicinal usage, in traditional medicine, its leaves can be used as an antiseptic or antipruritic and to treat abdominal cramps while another study claimed that aratilis leaves possess antinociceptive (reducing sensitivity to pain), anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and antipruritic properties, justifying the folkloric medicinal use.

Today was a sad day in our clan and neighborhood. It was early in the morning when we’ve heard our relatives, shouting and running towards our other relative’s house. Our second elder aunt who was confined in the hospital because of high sugar level a few weeks ago needs to be immediately rush in the hospital since she unexpectedly vomited blood in the comfort room. It was told that two of our cousin visited in their house since our older cousin came home from the city and while they are talking happily she went to pee and then it happened.

We didn’t run to their house since there were already a lot of people who went there, we are not going to be a big help too and will only occupy space and then seeing blood make us nervous and we might lose consciousness before the patient.

[Photo courtesy of Pixabay/pexels.com]

Within less than thirty minutes a news came that our aunt passed away in the hospital, they tried to revive her but she was already responsive. The doctors says the lump on her lungs exploded, an older cousin also says that the lump on her back neck exploded as well.  A different doctor gave a diagnosis a week ago that there’s water in her lungs and one of her lungs was already half in measure, as I look online  I found out that a condition in which the lungs fill with fluid is called Pulmonary Edema and when this occurs, the body struggles to get enough oxygen.

The rumors circulating our aunt has lung cancer but I don’t think it was really lung cancer since she  doesn’t smoke or drink liquor and she was not properly diagnosed yet, before she died they were set to go to the city to have her check-up and CT scan but it didn’t happened anymore because she had an attacked suddenly that lead to her death.

[Photo courtesy of Pixabay/pexels.com]

Anyway, according to mayoclinic.org in most cases, heart problems cause pulmonary edema. But fluid can accumulate for other reasons, including pneumonia, exposure to certain toxins and medications, trauma to the chest wall, and exercising or living at high elevations but based on my research my aunt maybe has acute pneumonia because according to American Lung Association when the germs that cause pneumonia reach your lungs, the lungs’ air sacs (alveoli) become inflamed and fill up with fluid and pus, maybe that’s the lump that they saw on her x-ray results. This causes the symptoms of pneumonia, such as a cough, fever, chills, and trouble breathing. When you have pneumonia, oxygen has trouble reaching your blood.

I wasn’t feeling well last night so I sleep as early as six o’clock in the evening without eating dinner, I had a severe headache with vomiting and I have pain from my period. I really feel so crappy last night that’s why when I was left alone when my family went to town I cried so hard, I don’t know if it is because of my physical pain or the recurrent pain that I can’t overcome. Lights are killing me so I have to turn off the lights in our living room where we sleep, I was also sensitive to sound and voices but our house is near the street so it is killing me every time I hear noises, then my  mother watched a drama series I was glad that she didn’t turn the volume up but since the television is too bright I sleep with handkerchief on my eyes and with a lot of ointment in my head pulse.

[Image source: oriflame-id.com]

A cousin had told me that maybe I have to get a new eyeglasses because maybe my eye grade went up. Maybe she is right but I can’t afford it right now so I just wish my eyes won’t bother me that much. I also hope it isn’t something serious like brain aneurysm or some sort, when I was a little kid I was hit by a tricycle and my head was also injured but God let me live and gave me a second life but reading through some stories symptoms and accident result sometimes came after so many years.  I watched too many movies and I overthink too much again, isn’t it?

When a new itchy bump grew up in my left arm I treat it with a new method what I did is tape a part of crushed garlic in it and I did the same thing in my face, it was very relieving but a bit painful. It was very stupid of me not knowing it will leave garlic burns so when the skin turn red and darker in my face, I treated it with coconut oil or coconut oil with turmeric.

Garlic is effective in treating fungal infection as well as killing a pimple but definitely should not be left on longer than a minute or so, but I let the garlic in my face longer than two hours. With a thought that the garlic burns might leave a noticeable scar in my face I search for alternative method and I have found out that vitamin E oil is one of the well-known home remedies for healing skin garlic burns.

To do so, you have to cut the vitamin E capsules in half and rub the oil onto the burn, healing won’t happen overnight so you have to do it for a longer period until it heals fully.   Vitamin E has also antibiotic properties that can be helpful in preventing infection.

It was been three days since I am treating the garlic burn in my face and arm with Vitamin E, I have noticed that the inflammation have already subsided but it is still reddish in color.

Last night I have asked my sister to buy chicken head barbecue in the street, I have followed her when I heard commotion outside. It turns out, our second degree younger cousin Paolo was confined in the hospital and in need of operation but there’s isn’t a doctor, they can’t find a doctor that will perform the operation so they have been discussing of bringing the patient to Manila and then ask for help to well-known politicians to facilitate the hospital transfer in Manila to avoid hassle of hospital shopping.

Well, with my mother’s idea we went to the provincial hospital to visit Paolo, since he is her godchild, when we arrived at the hospital we don’t know which building and room to go, so we decided to check the patient’s chart but before we able to see it we’ve seen his mother and his older sister in-law waiting for a doctor. His mother brought us to the public ward where two of his older brothers, cousin and friend are looking after him.

[Photo taken from window reflection]

We are told that Paolo was confined since few days ago because of severe pain in his lower abdomen, he was been confined in a private hospital in the neighboring city where he temporarily resides with his older sister but it was said that the doctor didn’t find anything while his health is deteriorating, that’s when her older sister send him home in our hometown where he was confined again and when his laboratory test came out the findings was he has ruptured appendicitis which has pus already. Upon hearing it, I felt scared with my cousin’s life because as what I know once the appendicitis ruptured it is a matter of life and death and without a doctor who will operate on him, he is doomed. Looking at him in the hospital he is severe pain, I can’t count how many times he agonized in pain. We waited a later longer because his mother talked with a doctor and when he comes back, she was crying endlessly. There isn’t a doctor around, there’s one doctor who can operate him but he isn’t around and he was not picking up the call and they were told to wait until the doctor showed up since he was not in duty. It wasn’t a good idea, it is our cousin’s life on the line so we told them not to wait anymore until the doctor showed up for his duty in the hospital or not to think of the operation cost because life is more important, they can find the money but they cannot return a life so if they can do something right away they should do it because every minute counts, that’s when his sister in-law says they could try to go to the doctor’s house which is just around the hospital neighborhood, they would be lucky if he is around or he was out of town like what they are thinking since he isn’t picking up a call. We went out with them, us going home and them going to the doctor’s house.

Well, early this morning we are told by relatives he is going to be operated by that doctor, probably they were able to see him last night. One young politician would like to send him to Manila because she said it is maybe not appendicitis because once it was ruptured you only have 24 hours to live since it is very dangerous once the poison scattered in his body but it was late already since he is already under the table and being operated. So far, we have no news yet how the operation went. We hope it was successful.

These past few months I have been scratching my skin, it is really disturbing but I can’t stop it. I’ve suspected this tiny bumps where cause by tiny ants brought by the wet season, but it is not frequently raining anymore and I am still scratching from left to right. I don’t want to think worst but maybe my problem is not insect bites anymore, maybe it is already psychologically (lol). I can’t stop myself scratching especially when I have nothing else to do or while I am thinking something; I already cut my fingernails so the scratch won’t be infected.

Anyway, that is kind of worst thinking but I am not the only one being affected at home, so I still believed the itchy tiny red hard bumps in my skin were brought by insects from the rice fields since the grains are being harvested, having mentioned of being harvested there is a possibility too that they were from the dust of grains being winnowed, or maybe from birds that always lingering in our roof top or maybe from our cats who frequently stay inside our home and even sit in my lap or sleep beside me but the thing is I bath these cats from time to time. The more I look at my skin, it looks like hives but I don’t know where am I allergic, maybe to our shampoo, laundry soap,  food I ate or maybe it is really from the dust of the grains from the field.

The other night, I can’t take it anymore so I have asked my mother and sister to drive me to town so I could buy ointment for itching and insect bites. Since I have no more extra money next time so I bought two sachets right away for ₱36.00 each ($0.94). The cream wasn’t good at my skin itch but with ant bites it works fine, I have to apply many times before the itchiness subsides. Maybe the insect bite cream I have bought from Europe will be more effective but too bad it wasn’t available here.  Together with the Calmoseptine cream I also use coconut oil to treat my skin itch.

Well, having an itchy skin is really an irritating and uncontrollable sensation that makes me want to scratch to relieve the feeling and I know it wasn’t good at all to scratch my skin because it may  result to infected wound and leave marks to my skin but it is hard to stop.

It is already rainy season in the Philippines and in regards with this, mosquitoes and ants are getting out of hand.  We are been suffering from ant bites, those type of ants that are too small and can be carried by the wind because of their light weight.

Scratching is not really a good idea, so I have search online for best cream for insect bites. I have known that Fenistil is proven good but I am not sure if it is available in the country since I bought this cream in Europe when we are travelling and got beaten by bed bugs from one of the hotels we stayed in.

Anyway I have found few suggestions online but they are expensive, and that’s where I have found out about Calmoseptine being available in sachet for almost a dollar.  Calmoseptine cream can be bought in any Mercury drug stores, the cream temporarily relieves discomfort and itching from insect bites, rashes, cuts, scrapes, diaper rash, minor burns, chapping, itching, fungal infection and many more.

The cream is just right what we need, it avoids us from scratching all over and making the ant bites to get worse.

We had an appointment at the International Clinic in Itaewon last Saturday so we went to Seoul to see Dr. Kim and have our typhoid shots. It was been three years since I had my first shot in Korea,  we also want to have yellow fever shots but this vaccination can only availed in Seoul University Hospital if I am not mistaken. After seeing Dr. Kim and getting our vaccination shots we left to find the Bulgarian Restaurant.

International Clinic can be reached through Itaewon subway station exit 2 just walked a little and you will reach the building, just beside is a coffee shop.

From http://www.internationalclinic.co.kr –