A Present to Ann

Ann Oseta (chronic kidney failure patient) with her peace sign
and me handing her a pen tablet she has long dreamt of.
Taken at MCM during her dialysis session July 26, 2013.

Last Friday - July 26th - I visited Ann during her dialysis session at Medical Center Manila (MCM). She looked healthier than when I last saw her in person. This is despite the sad news that I found out from her. Since last May, she went down to two (2) dialysis sessions per week as compared to the recommended 3x-a-week frequency due to financial issues. Her creatinine went up two (2) levels from 12 since then.  For a kidney failure patient, once creatinine level reached 5 - kidney is already in bad condition and already requires a regular dialysis.

For Ann, a creatinine level of 14 is fairly high. :(

I asked her what her doctor said about the decreased frequency, and she said that the doctor strictly required her to go back to 3x weekly at once if there is any occurrence of nausea, vomiting or other similarly alarming conditions.

One of the good news she shared with me is her availment of the SSS Disability ID which comes with a substantial amount of benefit. SSS provides up to around Php5,000.00 monthly to its disabled members - not enough - but is already a big help for Ann who is not able to keep a regular job with her current condition.

Ann is still working in Mom's Restaurant as an admin personnel. The restaurant has been generous enough to adjust to her dialysis sessions. When able and when there are opportunities, she also takes programming and/or designing projects. Ann is a software engineer familiar with Microsoft.NET technologies and with great artistic/designing capabilities. I used to work with her and she was one of the main resources I had on the team whom I can really count on to.

Kevin of Minions.
A (failed) attempt after
following instructions
from this tutorial.
I really suck at drawing. ^^,

One of the reasons I visited her is to give her the long-time pending gift I bought especially for her - a pen tablet. Ann really likes drawing and according to one of our common friends, she has been wishing for a pen tablet even during the time she was still working with us. Based on her reaction - she really liked my present. I hope she can use that on a lot better ways than I was able to when I tested the product - Look! I drew a Minion!

Funds Progress Report

Last week, I received a donation from one of our former colleagues. Thank you very much! God bless you more with all the blessings you share. With this, our fund has grown to Php60,000.00. Yey!

Spread the word. Help Ann. Pray for her. ^^,