The summer sun was on its hottest state as usual. Many people congregate at the school; queuing at different directions towards different classrooms, not minding the sweat coming out from their pores. It's May 10 today and everyone is excited as it is the Philippines' election day. I believe people like me are eager to vote in two ways. One is that we are here again in a very special day to make a major decision for our country by selecting  the leaders whom we think can "manage" our country for its betterment and the other one is that we are so excited as this is the first automated election in the country's history. We are so feverish to witness the controversial PCOS machine and check how it works.

The process wasn't as smooth as expected. Some people complain of waiting for so many hours just to have for their slot and vote. Some are complaining of extreme heat and dehydration (that was their fault though), some are complaining of defective machines, some were not able to have their sheets counted , and some can't just think of anything to complain. I don't mind though, I have my tools-my umbrella, my Pierre Cardin towel, a paper fan, and a bottle of C2. I made sure as well that I had a good bath first before going to my designated precinct. 

The waiting time would surely test your patience. A lot endured and were able to cast their precious votes. During my turn, I read the instructions carefully. I chose my candidates as planned and shaded their designated circled regions. I went to the machine and at last, my vote was counted. As my friend commented on my Facebook status wall, the process is really fulfilling. Not just because you were able to see how the machine eats your paper and congratulates you that your vote was counted but the feeling of being heard to make a decision for your country as a citizen.

Truly the right to suffrage is one of the rights we citizens of this nation are entitled to shape our nation. Again, for those who haven't cast their votes yet, go out now and vote. Now is the time to make a major decision for our country. Don't waste it.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Calling all the registered voters out there, may it be your parents, your siblings, your friends, or your jejemon clanmates. Tomorrow is the date when we will exercise our right of suffrage. We will make a major decision tomorrow and the power lies in our hands so to speak. Please do not waste your right to vote. Go out there and choose your preferred candidate. If you still haven't located your voting precint, kindly proceed here:

It was a day where I have this feeling of urgency to drop by at our office even if I was still on leave. I have been away for more than 10 days due to my Typhoid Fever and I felt I have the responsibility to update myself with the information that I've missed during my confinement Especially now that I have been given extra task to perform. Nothing was that different then except for the warm welcome by my friends. I thought it was just me who made it to the headlines at the workplace but to my shock, Mamacon, as we call our colleague named Connie brought a not so good news to me.  We saw each other at the locker room, exchanged friendly kisses, and greeted one another. She spoiled the news that Judy, one of our colleagues was currently mourning at the demise of her mother. It really shocked me as the news sent shivers. I just can't bear the thought of a passing of a mother. It is something that I cannot truly handle should it happen to me.

We went to the chapel in which her mother's remains are located. The place by the way is so far, far away that we literally begged for something to drink at the time we have arrived. We extended our condolences tp Judy and had some chit chat with her. We found out that her mother's death was caused by a disease called Lupus.

 Lupus is a disease that involves the immune system Normally, a person's immune system works by producing immunity cells and antibodies, special substances that fight germs and infections.

But when a person has lupus, the immune system goes into overdrive and can't tell the difference between some of the body's normal, healthy cells and germs that can cause infection. So the immune system responds by making autoantibodies that attack the body's normal cells.

1. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Also called SLE, this is the type of lupus that most people mean when they talk about the disease. It was given its name by a 19th century French doctor who thought that the facial rash of some people with lupus looked like the bite or scratch of a wolf ("lupus" is Latin for wolf and "erythematosus" is Latin for red).

SLE is the most serious form of lupus. SLE can affect the skin, joints, and tendons. It may also affect organs like the brain, heart, lungs, and kidneys.

2. Cutaneous (or skin) Lupus

This type of lupus is a skin disease that causes a rash on the face, neck, scalp, and ears. There are two types of cutaneous lupus: discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), which can cause scarring; and subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE), which doesn't cause scars. Discoid lupus is a much more rare form of lupus than SLE, although about 10% of people with discoid lupus will develop a mild form of SLE. It doesn't affect other body organs the way that SLE can.

3. Drug-Induced Lupus

This type of lupus is caused by a reaction to certain kinds of medicines. For example, some types of antiseizure medicines and acne medicines can cause this kind of lupus in teens. Drug-induced lupus is similar to SLE in the ways it affects the body, but once a person stops taking the medicine, the symptoms usually go away.

  

WHAT CAUSES LUPUS?

No one really knows what causes lupus. Researchers think that some people may be more likely to get it due to things that are out of their control, like:

    * gender: Many more women get lupus than men; for every 1 man with lupus, there are 10 women who have it.
    * estrogen: This female hormone may be a factor in lupus — almost all women who get lupus are of childbearing age.
    * race/ethnicity: Lupus occurs more often in African-American, Asian-American, Latin-American, and Native-American women than in non-Hispanic Caucasian women.
    * family history/genetics: About 10% of people with lupus have a family member with lupus.
    * major stress or infection: If people have the genetic tendency to get lupus, extreme stress or an infection may trigger the disease — but the blueprint for lupus has to already be there. One thing researchers know about lupus is that it is not contagious. You can't catch any of the three types of lupus from another person. And although lupus involves the immune system, it is not the same as other diseases that involve the immune system, like AIDS.

Symptoms of Lupus and How It Is Diagnosed

Lupus can be hard to diagnose because its symptoms can vary from one person to the next. The symptoms can also make lupus look like certain other diseases. They may have muscle aches, loss of appetite, swollen glands, and hair loss. Sometimes they have abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.

The doctor may perform certain blood tests when lupus is suspected and will probably send the person to a rheumatologist (pronounced: roo-muh-tol-uh-jist). Rheumatologists are doctors who have special training in diagnosing and treating autoimmune diseases like lupus.

Because signs and symptoms of SLE can be so varied, a rheumatologist will look for 11 specific signs:

   1. malar rash: A malar rash appears across the nose and cheeks in the shape of a butterfly.
   2. discoid rash: This rash features round, red, scaly patches that can appear on the face, arms, scalp, or ears.
   3. photosensitivity: This means sensitivity to ultraviolet rays, like the ones that come from the sun or from fluorescent lights. Most people with SLE are photosensitive and find that the sun worsens their lupus.
   4. ulcers in the nose or mouth: These usually don't hurt and many people with SLE don't even know they are there.
   5. arthritis: This makes joints hurt, especially in hands and feet. Unlike the kind of arthritis that older people sometimes get, this arthritis doesn't damage the bones. Most people with SLE have some degree of arthritis.
   6. serositis: This is the collection of fluid near the linings covering the heart, lungs, or abdomen.
   7. kidney problems: These can be mild or severe. Most people with SLE will have kidney problems, but only about half of them will have permanent kidney damage.
   8. neurologic problems: This refers to problems with the brain and nervous system, like seizures.
   9. blood problems: SLE can cause a lower than normal number of red blood cells (anemia), white blood cells, or platelets.
  10. immune system problems: Blood tests may show that the immune system isn't functioning properly.
  11. positive ANA test: This is a blood test that shows a certain type of antibody. About 95% of people with SLE have a positive ANA test.

Someone with four or more of these signs or symptoms is likely to have SLE. Most patients don't develop all 11 of them.

TREATING LUPUS

The type of treatment someone gets often depends on how severe the lupus is and which body systems are affected. Almost all people with SLE take some kind of medicine to help control their lupus. Patients whose joints hurt often take acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin) to help with the pain.

Others take antimalarial drugs (medicines first developed to prevent and treat malaria, but that have also been found to help treat lupus). Antimalarial drugs often help treat skin rashes and joint pain.

Some rheumatologists prescribe anti-inflammatory steroids, medicines that help fight the fatigue and fever that can affect people with SLE. People with lupus that affects important body organs may be given other immunosuppressive drugs. These drugs help stop the immune system from producing the autoantibodies that destroy healthy cells. These drugs are very strong, though, and can have side effects. So they are used only when it's really necessary.

Judy's mom was not able to triumph over Lupus. Who by the way says that treatments are guaranteed for  recovery? One thing is for sure though, her mother is now in a place where antibodies are no longer needed. Where medicines are no longer necessary. Even health is no longer a matter of the subject. She is now happy; free of all pain and suffering.

The fight is over and Mayweather triumphed over Mosley. Mayweather’s points victory over Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night was a masterful display of technical boxing and the work of a genius athlete. However, the fight was as boring as hell. The news flash at a popular Philippine TV station by the way aired the said victory and the reporter who has covered the scenes kept on saying "Manny Mayweather". I thought there was just a mix up between the names of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather but the reporter refers to Money Mayweather-just as my brother had thought. He may have made the pay per views to land on the top 10 but the whole show was just all about boxing technicality.

People clamor for the fight that they all have been anticipating; the match between Mayweather and Pacquiao. People nowadays are no longer watching the boxing show just to see men showcase their technical skills in boxing but they crave for excitement and if you may allow me to say this, people wants to witness a  tremendous clash between brave warriors inside the ring. The PPVs may have proved the success of the fight between Mosley and Mayweather but are we sure that we'll get the same vibe? If I may compare, the fight was not as enthralling as Pacaquiao's fight with Ricky Hatton where the people literally got up from their seats.
These men-Mayweather and Pacquiao has to come into agreement and set aside their reservations. The boxing needs a super fight and it has to commence soon.

APRIL 23, 2010; 10:00 PM MANILA TIME-My body's sweating after having a dream. Though it wasn't a nightmare, I can tell that it was vivid and it made me rouse from a very light sleep. My head experienced an excruciating sensation as if a steamroller is running on both sides, trying to flatten out my head's surface. I thought it was my depression that causes it. I'm so nauseous, exhausted, and so hopeless.



I rushed to the restroom to throw up. After some minutes of such ordeal, my mother noticed it and tried to help me with whatever she could extend just to somehow ease my suffering. She caressed my head, put some ointment on it; for some hope that the torturing pain in my head would cease. Prior to this nightmare, I've been having an on and off fever for the past 4 days. 2 days prior, I have already consulted a doctor via OPD and was diagnosed with acute rhinitis. I was given oral medicines and was sent home.

On that night, such meds wouldn't work anymore. Anything that I ingest would surely be catapulted to the toilet bowl. After those painful hours and countless times of vomiting, my mother decided to take me to the hospital.

APRIL 24, 2010; 6:00 AM MANILA TIME-I was lying at the bed at the emergency room. I was already at the hospital, I thought. The process was tedious and prolonging. Thank God I have my health card with me as I won't pay for anything (I thought!). Doctors interrogate me as if I am some sort of a thief or whatever. Nurses come and go to check my temperature. After such question and answer portion and temperature check of 40° C, they figured out that I am suffering from Typhoid Fever.

The dextrose was put in and I was sent to my regular Private room. Doctors and nurses still come and go to check my progress. People who knew my situation extended their regards and let me know that they have prayed for me. Some relatives, friends, and office mates took time to visit. After 5 days of confinement, I was finally discharged. After those 5 agonizing days of medication, I became stable and the illness went off. Whether they have detected where I have gotten the disease or not, I don't care. As long as God, the Jehovah Rappa who healeth thee took care of my disease I am fine. I will just be careful with what I eat and drink from now on.

The Doctor who handled my case documented that I am fit to work on Tuesday, May 4th. I still have time to recuperate and rest. I can't wait for that day!