October 19, 2014 (Sunday): I left Los Angeles with a heavy heart because of what had happened at the job the previous day. I resigned as a nurse supervisor because of a rift with my Director of Nursing. So in order for me to focus on my trip I opted to resign and will just take care of the problem when I come back. I just don't want to think something when I'm gone so it's much better to left and clear my mind of some blame. It was a hard decision but I have to do it. Maybe this is the time when I needed to face another avenue in my life.
I called a taxi to drop me at the airport after I spoke to my landlord and left him some instructions about my dog. I was still numb about the resignation but I have to brush it off because of this very important journey. I arrived at the airport two hours before the departure. I still have time to check in and it went smoothly. I also went through past the security line without any problems. I then located the gate for the boarding and then waited for it to start.
We boarded the plane at 1625H and then we left at exactly 1700H. My Armenian seat mate was very nice giving me the aisle seat because I needed it for my frequent bladder problems. We taxied the tarmac and then flew smoothly to Moscow Sheremtyevo International Airport for exactly 11 hours and 40 minutes.
We arrived it Moscow the following day October 20, 2014 at 1540H. It was snowing at the airport in Moscow. The grounds were covered with thin layers of white powdery snow and it was cold there. I have to wait for 4 hours and 30 minus at the airport for my connecting flight to Paris.
When I was at the airport in Moscow I have a little funny experience there. Right afterI got out of the Aeroflot plane flying from Los Angeles I felt that I needed to use the restroom. I went in the first rest room I saw. When I went in the room I saw only stalls and no urinals. So I went in one of the stalls and used it. When I was sitting on the bowl I realized that they have this covered stalls for a men's restroom. That was odd!
When I was done I went out of the stall and realized all the people coming it to use it were women. Oh no I went in the women's restroom. I immediately washed my hands and went out there in a jiffy. All the women were looking at me and were not even surprised that I was in their restroom. Maybe because I look like a woman because of my long hair. Hahaha! That was very embarrassing and funny.
October 20, 2014 (Monday): After waiting for four and a half hours at Sheremtyevo International Airport in Moscow, at Gate 40in Terminal E, we were called to board Air France flight 475 gong to Paris. There were only few people flying to Paris and the plane was not that really full. The plane left at 1945H and we were on air for four and a half hours. It was a slightly bumpy flight but a safe one.
We arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 2300H and it was already very old there. The airport appears like a ghost airport because there were not much people there. I after going through the immigration and retrieved my luggage I went to look for a money changer but they were already closed. So I decided to go out of the airport and look for a taxi to drive me to my hotel in Montmartre. I told that driver that I don't have euros so he stopped me first to the nearest ATM station and there I withdraw some euros enough to pay the taxi hen he drove me to Rue Rochechouart where my hotel is located.
We finally located the hotel so I paid the taxi and then went up to the hotel and checked in. After getting the keys to the room I went in and then retired to sleep because I was very very tired from the seventeen hours trip plus the lay-over time. It was a very tiring trip and I took my much needed rest and sleep after I got in the room. I didn't even have the chance to ask the receptionist about the WiFi password because I was in a hurry to just retire.
All in all in was a very safe trip with no problems at all. I arrived safely and soundly in Moscow and Paris with some minor setbacks but all in all I was fine. Thanks God!
Monday, October 20, 2014
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Thoughts For Doreen
Last October 10, 2014 my best friend Doreen, my travel buddy everytime I roam Europe, had died due to the complications of bone cancer. I was shocked and devastated of course. She was a very dear friend to me, full of vibrant life and infectious optimism. She is a brave woman who had faced this ordeal with cancer for a long long time.
Not until last year that she had a feeling that her fight was futile because the cancer was very aggressive and not responding to the prescribed therapies. She was also devastated, as what she've told me, but I think she had totally accepted and learned the fact that the end of the rope for her was already at its end. She has silently faced the dilemma without causing a fuss, that her close friends and families did not even know. What a very intrepid girl!
But it seems that her secrets needed to be spilled. When she went for an evaluation last month together with her employer she was told that she has only four more weeks to live. She was not shocked at all because she saw it was coming. She had accepted the verdict without any questions at all. She decided to go home to the Philippines to spend the remaining days of her life with her mom, siblings, relatives, and friends.
She was very weak when she left France. Her friends in Aix-en-Provence had gave her a big "good-bye" party. They were worried if she can make it to the Philippines because it was a long flight but thankfully she arrived in Manila safe and sound. One of her friend's family picked her up at the airport in NAIA and had accompanied her to Iloilo where she arrived also well and sound.
She spend the first few weeks after her arrival with her family and friends. She was visited by a lot of close friends and relatives (she got overwhelmed) and was offered with foods that she had missed. It looks like a big feast everyday. That was the days when she was still very alert and oriented.
As days passed by her condition had worsened. She started to turn jaundiced, her tummy was ballooning, and her breath was becoming rapid. She complained that she feels drowned all the time. They were thinking that her tummy has ascites, which was retaining fluids that probably caused to compress her lungs upwards that made her out of breath most of the time. So her family decided to bring her to the hospital to have her tummy drained so that she can breath better.
When she got admitted to the hosptal, her doctor (who is also an oncologist and a family firend) had ordered an ultrasound right away. There she saw that the tummy has no ascites but it was the cancer that had metastasized on her internal organs and it was really advanced already. She was also prescribed to have oxygen. She had also her confession and communion at the hospital because the mom of one of our college classmates had brought a priest in her room and there she had her last religious rites.
After staying three days in the hospital she told her mom that she needs to go home and that she requested to have an internet because she needed to do some correspondence to some people she needed to contact with. She had her request fulfilled and was happy that she had been back again to use the social network. She had chatted with our classmates in our chatroom for a few minutes and was thankful for all the money and prayers they gave and did to her.
Two days after she just detriorated rapidly being confused and hallucinating. She has no appetite to eat and that she became very weak and fragile. We were thinking that since her liver could not metabolize well the by product of that metabolism which is the ammonia had probably went to her brain which made her confuse and not acting well. Because of increasing compression in the lungs she also required a high amount of oxygen until it was maxed out.
She just detriorated fast and come October 10, 2014 in the afternoon she was looking really bad that prompted her family to rush her to the hospital but unfortunately she did not made it to the hospital and died on the vehicle that transported her to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at 1530H, Philippine time.
*******
It was around 0700H in the morning of October 9, 2014 (it was a Wednesday) Los Angeles time when I knew the sad news. When I opened my Facebook messenger that time I saw a message from her brother, who lives in Alberta, Canada with his family, who left a short message notifying me that Doreen had died and that they were rushing her to the hospital but she did not made it and had died on the van that took her to the hospital.
It was a shock and I did not noticed the tears that welled and pooled down my eyes. I was crying impishly in my room readying myself for work. I felt so down at that time and had no energy to leave but I have to go because it was too late not to come in to work and ask for a rest day. I went to work with my feelings hurt and numb. I am still in denial about the news and about what had happened to my best friend.
I started to gather myself from the shock and started praying for my best friend. I started to realized that it was a good thing for her because now she can rest eternally without pain and worries and that she is now with our Almighty Creator in heaven. That thought had quite pacified and calmed me. I will miss her and I am just relieved that she is not suffering anymore.
I know she will be my angel watching over me in times of desperation and sorrow. And now she is the one consoling me not to cry for her because she doesn't want me to cry over her. It was just normal to do it and that I have to vent it out so that I can shake it off my system. It was just a very sad day that day and I finished my clinicals without any errors despite this sad news that had shaken me the whole time.
*******
Another breakthrough is that our college friends had set-up a chatroom in Facebook trying to advocate donating money for Doreen's hospitalization and daily needs. Our friends and classmates were so generous enough and almost all of them had donated money to help Doreen and her family. We were solid on this cause and that the money was just pouring in like rain. We had collected, all in all, more than $5000 dollars for Doreen. Kudos Batch 91!
It had brought us together and had united us to help out Doreen. Everybody had good comments about Doreen and expressed their affection for her in the chatroom. It had brought us together and had bridged us together no matter how far we are to each other, no matter what country and place we are now. Doreen was the medium that had made us united as classmates. Without Doreen everybody was busy doing their own business in life.
Now the chatroom was very active with almost 90% of our classmates were there trying to say "hi" and "hello" at each other. Everyone had also grieved and prayed for Doreen when they knew that she did not made it.
We left some of our comments and thoughts about Doreen and were praising her for her courage and stoic. Everybody were also devastated and shocked (like me). Everybody started to console and comfort each other and had left some positive thoughts and prayers for Doreen, trying to let her know that we love her and missed her so much.
*******
Doreen, wherever you are I just wanted you to know that I love you so much. If ever I hurt you my dear friend, I am asking you to pardon me. Sorry if sometimes I did not corresponded to you frequently but you know how much I love you and admire you for your courage. I know you love me too and likewise I am for you.
You at a peace now with God. You are pain free now and that you are eternally peaceful now. I envy you because you don't have to suffer the struggles of life anymore. I envy you that you already have/will meet God and the angels in heaven and that they have sounded their horns and trumpets to hapily welcome you in your eternal place in heaven. I hope your journey to heaven was smooth sailing.
Your death is not the end for you but a beginning to enjoy heaven. We will miss you but we are happy that you are in a very safe place now, free of mundane worries and anxieties. You're not considered as a loss to us because you always made us know that you are always with us. You made us remind that we are just human beings and that everything has its end. Thank you for that reminder because sometimes I tend to forget that I have limitations.
Bye now my friend and please look after us who are still here on earth. Thank you for your friendship. Surely, I will miss you. I love you and miss you so much. Take care and bye for now. Bisous mon amie!
Not until last year that she had a feeling that her fight was futile because the cancer was very aggressive and not responding to the prescribed therapies. She was also devastated, as what she've told me, but I think she had totally accepted and learned the fact that the end of the rope for her was already at its end. She has silently faced the dilemma without causing a fuss, that her close friends and families did not even know. What a very intrepid girl!
But it seems that her secrets needed to be spilled. When she went for an evaluation last month together with her employer she was told that she has only four more weeks to live. She was not shocked at all because she saw it was coming. She had accepted the verdict without any questions at all. She decided to go home to the Philippines to spend the remaining days of her life with her mom, siblings, relatives, and friends.
She was very weak when she left France. Her friends in Aix-en-Provence had gave her a big "good-bye" party. They were worried if she can make it to the Philippines because it was a long flight but thankfully she arrived in Manila safe and sound. One of her friend's family picked her up at the airport in NAIA and had accompanied her to Iloilo where she arrived also well and sound.
She spend the first few weeks after her arrival with her family and friends. She was visited by a lot of close friends and relatives (she got overwhelmed) and was offered with foods that she had missed. It looks like a big feast everyday. That was the days when she was still very alert and oriented.
As days passed by her condition had worsened. She started to turn jaundiced, her tummy was ballooning, and her breath was becoming rapid. She complained that she feels drowned all the time. They were thinking that her tummy has ascites, which was retaining fluids that probably caused to compress her lungs upwards that made her out of breath most of the time. So her family decided to bring her to the hospital to have her tummy drained so that she can breath better.
When she got admitted to the hosptal, her doctor (who is also an oncologist and a family firend) had ordered an ultrasound right away. There she saw that the tummy has no ascites but it was the cancer that had metastasized on her internal organs and it was really advanced already. She was also prescribed to have oxygen. She had also her confession and communion at the hospital because the mom of one of our college classmates had brought a priest in her room and there she had her last religious rites.
After staying three days in the hospital she told her mom that she needs to go home and that she requested to have an internet because she needed to do some correspondence to some people she needed to contact with. She had her request fulfilled and was happy that she had been back again to use the social network. She had chatted with our classmates in our chatroom for a few minutes and was thankful for all the money and prayers they gave and did to her.
Two days after she just detriorated rapidly being confused and hallucinating. She has no appetite to eat and that she became very weak and fragile. We were thinking that since her liver could not metabolize well the by product of that metabolism which is the ammonia had probably went to her brain which made her confuse and not acting well. Because of increasing compression in the lungs she also required a high amount of oxygen until it was maxed out.
She just detriorated fast and come October 10, 2014 in the afternoon she was looking really bad that prompted her family to rush her to the hospital but unfortunately she did not made it to the hospital and died on the vehicle that transported her to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at 1530H, Philippine time.
*******
It was around 0700H in the morning of October 9, 2014 (it was a Wednesday) Los Angeles time when I knew the sad news. When I opened my Facebook messenger that time I saw a message from her brother, who lives in Alberta, Canada with his family, who left a short message notifying me that Doreen had died and that they were rushing her to the hospital but she did not made it and had died on the van that took her to the hospital.
It was a shock and I did not noticed the tears that welled and pooled down my eyes. I was crying impishly in my room readying myself for work. I felt so down at that time and had no energy to leave but I have to go because it was too late not to come in to work and ask for a rest day. I went to work with my feelings hurt and numb. I am still in denial about the news and about what had happened to my best friend.
I started to gather myself from the shock and started praying for my best friend. I started to realized that it was a good thing for her because now she can rest eternally without pain and worries and that she is now with our Almighty Creator in heaven. That thought had quite pacified and calmed me. I will miss her and I am just relieved that she is not suffering anymore.
I know she will be my angel watching over me in times of desperation and sorrow. And now she is the one consoling me not to cry for her because she doesn't want me to cry over her. It was just normal to do it and that I have to vent it out so that I can shake it off my system. It was just a very sad day that day and I finished my clinicals without any errors despite this sad news that had shaken me the whole time.
*******
Another breakthrough is that our college friends had set-up a chatroom in Facebook trying to advocate donating money for Doreen's hospitalization and daily needs. Our friends and classmates were so generous enough and almost all of them had donated money to help Doreen and her family. We were solid on this cause and that the money was just pouring in like rain. We had collected, all in all, more than $5000 dollars for Doreen. Kudos Batch 91!
It had brought us together and had united us to help out Doreen. Everybody had good comments about Doreen and expressed their affection for her in the chatroom. It had brought us together and had bridged us together no matter how far we are to each other, no matter what country and place we are now. Doreen was the medium that had made us united as classmates. Without Doreen everybody was busy doing their own business in life.
Now the chatroom was very active with almost 90% of our classmates were there trying to say "hi" and "hello" at each other. Everyone had also grieved and prayed for Doreen when they knew that she did not made it.
We left some of our comments and thoughts about Doreen and were praising her for her courage and stoic. Everybody were also devastated and shocked (like me). Everybody started to console and comfort each other and had left some positive thoughts and prayers for Doreen, trying to let her know that we love her and missed her so much.
*******
Doreen, wherever you are I just wanted you to know that I love you so much. If ever I hurt you my dear friend, I am asking you to pardon me. Sorry if sometimes I did not corresponded to you frequently but you know how much I love you and admire you for your courage. I know you love me too and likewise I am for you.
You at a peace now with God. You are pain free now and that you are eternally peaceful now. I envy you because you don't have to suffer the struggles of life anymore. I envy you that you already have/will meet God and the angels in heaven and that they have sounded their horns and trumpets to hapily welcome you in your eternal place in heaven. I hope your journey to heaven was smooth sailing.
Your death is not the end for you but a beginning to enjoy heaven. We will miss you but we are happy that you are in a very safe place now, free of mundane worries and anxieties. You're not considered as a loss to us because you always made us know that you are always with us. You made us remind that we are just human beings and that everything has its end. Thank you for that reminder because sometimes I tend to forget that I have limitations.
Bye now my friend and please look after us who are still here on earth. Thank you for your friendship. Surely, I will miss you. I love you and miss you so much. Take care and bye for now. Bisous mon amie!
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