Case 25 : OPERATION COMPLICATIONS
Case Study 25 : OPERATION COMPLICATIONS Challenges A 58-year-old female developed episodes of mild, crampy abdominal pain over 3 months. Physicians diagnosed her with malignant ovarian tumor and thus advised surgery. During the operation, the surgeon inadvertently punctured the aorta. The team immediately rectified this by calling in a vascular surgeon. Upon recovery, the patient […]
Case 24 : HOSPICE CARE
Case Study 24 : HOSPICE CARE Challenges An 85-year-old married female was admitted because of body weakness, poor food intake and continuous severe pains in the lower half of the body. CT scan showed multiple lung metastasis as well as lymph nodes and masses growing inwards and compressing the urinary bladder. The patient felt very […]
When Does Persistent Canker Sores or ‘Singaw’ Require Medical Attention?
Though it typically measures less than a centimeter, a canker sore (known by its medical term as aphthous ulcer and colloquially as singaw) can ruin your entire day. Found on the lips, cheeks, gums, or tongue, these non-contagious small, shallow, and white lesions with a white or red tip and red border are so painful, […]
Get to Know the Rare and Serious Condition “Mirror Syndrome” Among Women
As the parent designed by nature to carry a baby to full term in her womb, a mother has the great responsibility of taking good care of herself. Her overall health, after all, has a direct effect on the health of her unborn child. If she has the Zika virus, HIV/AIDS, or Hepatitis B […]
How Breaking Free from HIV Stigma Improves Treatment Outcomes
When it was first diagnosed in the early 1980s, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was a looming death sentence that took approximately two (2) million lives annually during its peak from 2004 to 2006. Today, as experts continue to fine-tune potential cures to the disease in clinical trials, breakthroughs in suppressing the virus have allowed […]
Case 23 : INCOMPETENT ADULT’S PROXY
Case Study 23 : INCOMPETENT ADULT’S PROXY Challenges A 72 year old female was admitted due to fever that began four days prior to admission. On admission. The patient had a fever of 37.8ºC and hypogastric and right lower quadrant tenderness. Initial laboratory examination revealed pyuria, leukocytosis and hypoalbuminemia. CT scan of the lower abdomen […]
Viral Gastroenteritis: What Causes the “Stomach Flu” and How to Prevent It
Never underestimate the power of handwashing. Each time we practice the simple task of cleaning our hands thoroughly with soap and water, we protect ourselves against a myriad of diseases—from respiratory illnesses like the common cold, pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19, to gastrointestinal infections like hepatitis A, cholera, E. coli, salmonellosis, parasites, and stomach flu Not […]
How to Live Longer with Lung Cancer: 4 Doctor-Backed Tips
If Lung Cancer is the number one cause of cancer death in the Philippines and worldwide, it is because its symptoms—a persistent cough, blood in the phlegm, shortness of breath, unexplained fatigue and weight loss, hoarseness—do not show in its early stages. “The challenge is diagnosing Lung Cancer,” concedes Antonio Ramos, MD, Thoracic and […]
Case 22 : MINOR’S PROXY
Case Study 22 : MINOR’S PROXY Challenges Three weeks before admission, a one-year-old girl experienced abdominal pain with vomiting, loose bowel movements (LBM), jaundice, and a 30% weight loss. Physicians diagnosed her with congenital heart disease (CHD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), tricuspid regurgitation (TR), and mitral regurgitation (MR) since birth. On the sixth hospital day, […]
Case 21 : WITHHOLDING LIFE SUPPORT
Case Study 21 : WITHHOLDING LIFE SUPPORT Challenges Patient is a 56 y/o female admitted because of difficulty of breathing. She was diagnosed with infiltrating Ductal Cell carcinoma for 3 years, and recently, with advanced pulmonary metastasis with a rapidly deteriorating condition. The doctors inform her any major intervention would most probably be of no […]
Case 20 : BENEFICENCE AND NON-MALEFICENCE
Case Study 20 : BENEFICENCE AND NON-MALEFICENCE Challenges A 62-year old female is admitted for the sixth time in the hospital because of difficulty in breathing. She is diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and maintained regularly on anticholinergics and beta-2-agonist nebulizations. Her condition progressively deteriorates. On the fifth hospital day, the patient goes into […]
Case 19 : BURDEN
Case Study 19 : BURDEN Challenges The family of a 23-year old female patient, attached to a respirator for the past three months and in a comatose state, decides whether to discontinue the respirator’s use. They fully understand the patient’s situation, and that ethically speaking (assuming the patient is in fact entering the dying stage), […]
