“It was painful at first…I was nervous…but I have to follow what he said, he might got mad at me.”

He told me to relax…I was biting my lips. I was only 18 years old.  “Just close your eyes…take a deep breath…I promise, I will be gentle…”he assured me. I can really feel the sensation when he pushed it inside…”ohhhhhh”, I uttered . But he said, “okey , open your eyes now, its done!”

That was how my friend  Bianca naughtily  described the first time she subjected herself, for “fasting blood sugar” test. She fondly recalled,” My first was painful and scary, but the succeeding experiences were already exciting.”

I would always recall the story of Bianca each time I go to a laboratory for some routine check. At my age–(………..) something , I do submit myself for some routine check. And recently I had it again at the Medical Plaza, Bacolod City. That was my second time  -in that laboratory.

In my past visits to any clinics, I seldom encountered  secretaries or front liners that are super nice to their clients. Most often those who are nice are lovely and those that aren’t are those that need make-over , and worse, others need– miracle! Indeed, “ugliness is synonymous to bitterness”. Of course a lot of doctors are really nice to their patients, but  most secretaries and front liners need  –dulcolax! I remember one secretary in one of the doctor ‘s clinic I visited before. I guess she was around 50’s at that time, very serious, sounds commanding and noticed that she never smiled to any of the patient. I thought, maybe she has a monthly period- menstruation at 50’s or seemingly on menopause?

Well, I don’t have any complaint with the front liners of the medical plaza. I would  rate  them average or 7 at the scale of 10, 1 being the lowest. But what I admired most was  Cenon Rumbines, Phlebotomist. I don’t understand his designation.But he was the one who extracted blood from me. That was already my second, and the experience was okey—I almost didn’t feel the needle injected to me. He was very  good. I  told him  how appreciative I was. And he told me, “maybe because I am doing this everyday..(pa-humble effect!)”.  I would like to rate him a perfect  10.

Another personnel whom I believed  deserved to be mentioned in this article was the Xray technician. He was very pleasant in answering to all of my queries. I would also like to give him a perfect score of 10. Unfortunately, I failed to get his name. I was  hungry at that time—12 hours fasting huh! I remember the last time I had my lipid profile test, after the test-
I indulge immediately to a bowl of “dinuguan”(hoping i will replenish the blood that i lost) and puto. Late in the afternoon we got the result—my cholesterol was high…toink!

I guess it is very obvious… Medicines cure our physical body but kindness heals our emotions… and with the people like Cenon Rumbines and the xray tecnhnician of the Medical Plaza, even our visit to any hospital or laboratory would still be a HAPPY TRIP!