I went to UST Hospital yesterday to finish up the requirements for my Intravenous Therapy (IVT) license.  I just needed two more blood transfusions to wrap everything up, and come on, the place was a hospital; how hard would it have to be to find a patient who needed two units of blood products?  I called UST Hospital’s Nursing Service Office (NSO) last week and I had got a slot in the six AM to two PM shift. 

Because my parents won’t let me commute all the way from Laguna to Manila during such early hours, they offered to leave the house super early so I can make it on time.  Well I did arrive at USTH a little bit after six and boy oh boy was I pissed when I found the door to the NSO locked. 

I stood around there for a good ten minutes before I had the sense to walk over to the hospital chapel and hear the days’ early mass.  It was a good way to kill time and I got to hear the word of God, just like shooting two birds with one stone. 

When finally the clock dinged seven o’clock the NSO finally opened for business.  Ma’am Eve, one of the training heads, smiled kindly at me and rang up all the wards in the clinical division, asking if they had any blood transfusions scheduled.  It was so very awkward to be sitting there, hearing her say “Oh, no BT’s for today?  Well please kindly call the NSO at once if any BT’s come up, thank you,” over and over again. 

After a half a dozen or so phone calls I was banished to the Emergency Room to wait for their phone call when the BT’s arrive.  It was a good thing that the staff nurses there are very kind and very good humored; they even advised me to check on all the wards in the clinical division for the BT’s.  I did exactly that, three times actually, and still no blood transfusions.  I made my rounds every two hours, so much so that the staff nurses in the different wards already said “no BT’s yet,” before I even got to finish my question. 

It might seem like a total waste, BT-wise, but it wasn’t too bad, mostly because I got to hang out and meet a lot of people that day.  

I happened to chance upon one of my RLE-mates, Arianne, who just ended her night shift in the Critical Care Unit.  It was so nice to see her again; it’s ridiculous.  We got sharing on our woes about med. school and our current unemployed states.  Oh how I miss my RLE mates.

And I got to talk to the two trainees who were on deck on the ER, Viki and Den-Den, who were so chatty I hardly had to say anything at all.  They were very nice and very friendly; I didn’t feel uncomfortable, considering everything.

After my shift I was supposed to go straight home but then Kams invited me to go and check out Mica’s part-time job, which happened to be in the same building that my mother worked in.  We ended up hanging out, gabbing and having dinner together.  Kams and I met a few of Mica’s friends from work, and meeting new friends are always nice. 

It was all very cool.  Had the day ended differently I’m sure I’d be pissed off, but it didn’t so I’m not.  I hope when I return to USTH on Thursday I’ll have a day as colorful as this one, plus those two BT cases.