Returning to Swimming

Tonight I went swimming in a public pool. For exercise.  For a healthy lifestyle. Because swimming is an activity I can comfortably do - it is my chosen sport.

I never thought doing something so familiar could be profound and though-provoking.  Soon as I showered, I chose an empty "lane" and I jumped right in to start on my laps. No preliminaries.

My initial thought was "oh my, this is an olympic-sized pool and the end is so far... what if I can't finish one lap?". The idea of quitting before I even started was not an option, so I continued my strokes and kept the end of the lane in sight.  Soon I could feel the muscles in my legs stretch and contract, pumping blood, increasing my pulse rate, adjusting my breathing comfortably in time with my strokes.  Eventually I got to the end of the first lap and started back.

My next thought was that this is how I attack each project in my life - I decide that I want to do it, and with no preliminaries, I jump right in and I just keep on swimming.  I just keep on breathing.  I keep my head above the water.

On my sixth lap, I was rattled by fellow swimmers who were faster than me, swimming very close to my lane.  They seemed like sharks intimidating this gentle "butanding" (whale shark).  I know that they were minding their own business, but I was afraid of bumping into them or being run over.  One guy even hit my right leg with his arm, albeit unintentionally, but I panicked and swam a bit faster...
I just kept on swimming and continued with this conversation with myself... "keep your head above the water, concentrate on your breathing, maintain your pace" - my mantra was intended for my self-preservation.

When I reached the end of the lap, I spoke to one of these "sharks" and asked whether I should stay on the "line" or on the "space" and in a deep baritone he answered "I think you can swim anywhere..." and flashed me a killer smile.  I noticed that most of the guys swimming around me had shaved heads.  Is this for improved fluid dynamics, perhaps? A mystery not meant to be solved that night, because butandings don't associate with sharks.

On my eighth lap, I noticed that my goggles were fogging. I couldn't see clearly.  The lights were also dimming or flashing.  Again, I felt myself panicking to reach the end of the lane where I can feel my feet touch the bottom of the pool.  I converted to a freestyle instead of my usual breaststroke and soon my hands and feet were numb, and I felt I wasn't getting enough air into my lungs... so I slowed down and floated and just concentrated on my breathing.  I really have to work on my pacing.  I just need to maintain my direction, believe that I am going in the right direction even if I don't see it - eventually I will still reach my destination.

At the end of my 10 laps, I felt fulfilled, patting myself on the back "good job, you swam 1 km... no sweat!" and so maybe I'll do it again and find that while having this inner conversation with myself while doing something mechanical,  I come to a few conclusions and a few self-lessons:

1. If you want to do something, you jump right in and do it!
2. To reach the end of the lane and finish the lap, you have to keep on swimming.
3. Focus on what you are doing.  Do not be distracted by anyone or anything happening around you.  Stay on your lane, and maintain your direction.
4. Keep your head above the water and concentrate on your breathing.  This will keep you alive.
5. Know the limitations of your body. Know when to stop for the day to able to come back another day.

I am Dr. Helen Madamba, gentle "butanding" este swimmer.

Team work makes the Dream work: #hcsmPH, the "tweet child of mine" perspective

Imitation is the highest form of flattery.  I would think that acknowledgement of that imitation is even better. I am Dr Helen Madamba, a newbie blogger.

I remember locating my friends on Friendster during my college days.  We used to keep in touch through yahoogroups where our email inboxes would be filled with long discussion threads.  By 2008, I slowly switched to Facebook.  In this era of social media, I am more familiar with Facebook, and it was thru Facebook that I first heard about HealthXPH – a group of doctors who tried to video conference online on Google Hangouts on Air (HOA) as early as January 2014.  It was @cebumd Dr Narciso Tapia who told me about twitter, and that I would need a twitter account to join the weekly #HealthXPH tweetchat as they shifted from Google HOA to twitter. 

Dr Helen Madamba, Newbie Twitter.

It was in August 2014 during the 8^th Philippine National Health Research System Week celebration at Radisson Blu in Cebu that I opened my brand new twitter account.  The first person I sent a tweet message to was the @endocrine_witch Dr Iris Thiele Isip-Tan whom I met for the first time that day. 

After that, I started joining the weekly tweetchat.  I quickly got hooked to the mental stimulation in a non-threatening environment.  Everybody is courteous and friendly with one another, each tweet message styled in diplomatic terms, and strategically direct to the point in 140 characters.  After virtually waving hellos to one another and welcoming new guests, a flurry of tweets on the selected topic for the week are exchanged and in no time one hour passes by quickly.  Others continue to linger and debate finer points during the discussion. It’s quite difficult to make them stop and nobody says “time’s up!”

By September 6, 2015, an event was posted on Facebook which introduced the idea of a Health Care Social Media Summit 2015.  There were no details yet on registration fee, venue, topics or speakers – but I instinctively knew that I would be attending, so I hit the “going” button.  Dr Buboy Tapia later laughingly admitted that I was the very first person to join.

I assume that it is due to this overenthusiasm that by January 10, 2015, I had the honor of being a guest moderator for the #HealthXPH tweetchat! We discussed a topic close to my heart – youth! Everybody pitched in to help me develop my chosen topic, so we discussed “Addressing healthcare issues on children’s/teenager’s access to social media”.  Feeling a wee bit anxious and a lot excited, I greeted each person as they joined in the discussion, fast typed to follow the tweets, and then viola!  From a technologically handicapped “I don’t know what twitter is” person, I became an energetic supporter of the #HealthXPH four founders.  I suppose this is the reason why I was the person given the great honor of telling everyone about their story and how #HealthXPH began.

A Series of Fortunate Events.

The endocrine witch describes the creation of #HealthXPh as A Series of Fortunate Events.  Dr Iris Tan and Dr. Gia Sison had been active on Twitter with the #hcldr tweet chat.  She posted on Facebook that she wished to attend http://www.doctors20.com/ in Paris. Dr. Remo Aguilar (@bonedoc) asked “why not have our own Philippine conference?” A week later, Dr Remo posted about how to become a Google Hangouts hotshot. What followed was a flurry of posts from Iris, Gia and Remo which spilled over to Twitter. And then the hashtag was born … #HealthXPh.

Dr. Remo documented on his blog what #HealthXPH is:

• It’s a collaborative effort of healthcare stakeholders – healthcare professionals, institutions, academe, patients and policy makers.
• It will discuss, use and continually push the boundaries of social media and other emerging technologies in healthcare to impact the Philippine health landscape. 
• It encourages collaboration and application of emerging technologies to improve delivery of healthcare.
• It is open and free to all the stakeholders.  It aims to educate all the healthcare stakeholders.
• Social media is going to impact Philippine healthcare. #HealthXPh wants to make it a positive one.
• Social media and other emerging technology is making it easier for patients to access their healthcare professionals, institutions and policy makers. #HealthXPh will give insights on how to effectively manage this upsurge.
• Social media opens new possibilities to participatory medicine practice in the Philippines. #HealthXPh is taking advantage of that. 

The program for the HCSM Summit read:

“#HealthXPh is a regular weekly tweet chat organized by Dr. Remo Aguilar, Dr. Gia Sison, Dr. Iris Thiele Isip Tan and Dr. Narciso Tapia. Registered on Symplur under the Healthcare Hashtag Project, this tweet chat discusses the impact of emerging technology and social media on healthcare, bringing together not only healthcare practitioners and patients from the Philippines but a global audience as well. “

Learning all about impressions, I am impressed by the “reach” of what we were doing.  We were building a community.  We were protecting the public’s need for accurate real time posts and advocating ethical behaviour online.  #HealthXPH reached 300+ million from January 1, 2014 to February 19. 2015.  Just imagine how powerful this is as a tool for health promotion and advocacies!

By December 2014, we were planning the summit in earnest, confirming speakers, coordinating with sponsors, encouraging online registration and blasting promotions on social media (of course!) and I found myself right smack in the middle of organizing with my online family.  Even during the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges (APMC) Annual Conference in Davao, social media was presented as new innovative technique to aid medical education.

The First Meeting: A Historic Moment

At last, all four founders physically in one place at the same time.  For a national summit, it was quite amazing that #HCSMPH was organized without the organizers ever meeting until the night before the event.  Take note: they had to exchange cell phone numbers before their flights, in case they would not have internet connection enroute!  Meeting up for dinner at STK ta Bay! and for last minute slide preparations and coordination, this historic first photo of the #HealthXPH founders was taken – one for the books!

I knew I signed up for the summit, and declared that I’m game for anything.  In all truth, it was only during that first meeting the night before that it was clear to me what I was expected to do.  It finally dawned on me how I became the “tweet child of mine” – the first sprout from the original four founders.  At the summit, I explained what #HealthXPH was about and how a series of fortunate events led to the First Healthcare Social Media Summit 2015 and Social Media and Medical Professionalism: A Manifesto from #HealthXPh signed by PMA President Dr. Minerva Calimag, our mentor Dr. Ted Herbosa, PCP President Dr. Tony Leachon, our import from Canada Mr. Pat Rich, and all other friends and classmates.

                   

A whole day of tracks where people insisted on a chance with the microphone to ask their all-important questions on use of social media for health promotion, the legal and ethical issues on social media, patient stories, and role of social media in health professional education and research. There was no dead space. There was no need of planted questions at all!  After the adrenaline rush we just wanted to stay seated to conserve our energies: the first official family photo of #HealthXPH with this tweet child of mine, was taken at the conclusion of the Healthcare Social Media Summit 2015.

My UST classmates had a lot of different suggestions for me - still considered a newbie in the field of social media.  YouTube video uploads, blogging site, website, facebook page, instagram…. I’ll get there someday, one step at a time.  A week after the hcsmPH, people were still talking about the summit, most especially during our post-summit Saturday night tweetchat where the numbers say we had 7,676,490 impressions in one hour!

As promised, I launch this blog as minimum requirement for the future plans and dreams, the next big project of #HealthXPH.  Finding an apt title seemed difficult, but I stuck with “Sleepless in Cebu” because I’ve always been having difficulty sleeping at night, and I hope that writing this blog would help – instead of counting sheep, I will count stories.  Stories that keep me awake at night, and stories that motivate me to wake up in the morning.  Henceforth, I am sincerely,

Dr. Helen Madamba, newbie blogger, Sleepless in Cebu.