of stitches and pork legs + others

Yesterday, Friday, March 14, 2008, I made my first stitches on skin. Oh yeah, it was great! It was hard at first because my hands weren't used to moving in those sequences required for stitching skin but the subsequent knots were easier to do. Oh yeah, I also had the chance to stitch muscle, which was a whole lot easier to do than skin! whooohooo!!! *clap,clap* Then we made knots with one and two hands. (They were a lot different from the knots I learned in ECHO to tie up my hammock, I tell you. hehe)

But no, I DIDN'T sew human skin. Rather, we practiced on a PORK LEG. And on GLOVES. Hehe. Syempre noh, first time lang namin magtahi. We incised the skin on the poor pig's leg and stitched it up again. Or we made tears on the gloves and fixed those up as well. We were taught by the surgical Residents from the hospital. Ang saya magtahi ng balat ng baboy! Made me think of going into Surgery.... If only surgery entailed just stitching people up. Haha. Asa pa. Wala namang specialty sa medisina na taga-tahi lang. Sa Fashion world pwede, sa medisina hindi. hihihi. So that's still bye-bye surgery. Boo.

Anyway, since we were 10 groups in the classroom, each group brought their own pork leg. After the exercise, guess where those legs went to? To DB Ledesma! Yummy! My classmates collected the legs and brought them home. I was able to enjoy CRISPY PATA at the Balay Bisaya. We also celebrated Loribee's birthday than night. Whoooohoooo!!!! Ang sarap ng crispy pata! (Of course the stitches were taken out before the poor pig's legs were cooked.)

...

On Monday, we'll have our final exam for Block XX: Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Trauma.

And in two weeks.... we'll invade the hospital. Ang I don't think I'm so afraid anymore. Sabi sa Princess Diaries diba: Courage is not the absence of fear. But the realization that something is more important than fear. Hihi.... Pero what makes me less afraid is this: "Cast your cares upon me, you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." This I was reminded of this morning when I attended the celebration of the first death anniversary of a dear family friend. I am blessed because even though she is no longer with us here on earth, through her, people are still being ministered to. Although I didn't know her much in life, she is still a blessing to me in death. Her legacy will endure. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. I know I'll have the chance to get to know her more in Heaven and I'll be able to thank her there.