It took me some time before finally finding the time to create another post as things had gone a bit chaotic for me lately. So even if I seriously hoped to draft, let alone post an update on this blog, a number of things deprived me with the momentum of writing anything new.
About a month ago, a friend gifted me with a copy of the book Some Days You Can't Save Them All. Published by University of the Philippines Press, it contains essays written by Dr. Ronnie E. Baticulon, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Philippine General Hospital, and a faculty at the College of Medicine of UP Manila. Knowing that I have a new book to read is a delight to my senses (and my braincells), but this one gave me more than just that.
For about a week, I was provided not just with the glimpse of Dr. Baticulon’s challenges, struggles, hits and misses in medical school. His book also left me pondering about a lot of things and questions in my mind. In the first few pages of his book, I felt like I time travelled with him as he narrated about his life as a student in UP’s INTARMED program. It caught me by surprise to find out that just like me, he was also part of the batch of highschool seniors who took the UPCAT back in 2000, all because of that part in the book that mentioned about showing a copy of our parents’ Income Tax Return just so we won’t need to pay for the exam fee for UPCAT (and the school fees in case we passed the exam), and waiting for February 2001 for that letter from the Office of Admissions that will tell whether we made it to the cut, or otherwise.
More than just a book of essays written by a neurosurgeon, Dr. Baticulon’s book allowed me to witness the realities of life that happen within the rooms and hallways of a state-owned tertiary hospital. I have never been to the premises of PGH, but the author’s narration of his daily interactions with different patients, particularly those admitted in the hospital’s charity ward, spoke volumes. From various stories of love in different forms, the struggles of every indigent family to secure medical care for an ailing family member, and how doctors face the dilemma of inadequate funds as they look for and exhaust each and every possible means to fill what’s been lacking just so they could provide the most appropriate (if not the best) medical care to patients. Each story in his book kept tugging my weakest heartstring that I had to pause every now and then either to think or wipe the tears escaping my eyes.
Reading the book gave me a glimpse of the painful reality being faced by each medical professional every single day as they respond to the call of duty to serve and save lives. While I may have worked for the academe, I can relate to some of the situations mentioned in the book, because at some point, I also went through similar ordeals too in the course of my previous job in a state-funded institution.
Some Days You Can’t Save Them All is a book that is both enlightening, heartwarming, and inspiring to read. By the end of the book, I found a significant realization about people in the frontlines particularly those in the medical profession. Yes, people might look up to them and idolize them just like superheroes, but at the end of the day, they're still humans just like us. They also go through various emotions, which are all valid. And no matter what the circumstance, they are also individuals worthy of respect for their diligence and acts of service rendered to humanity in spite of the difficulties they face; and despite of the reality that some days, they cannot save them all.
