Happy Hoarse Voice Day!

Taken from http://memegenerator.co/instance/36719840

Today, I remembered someone who had a soothing, magical voice that lulled me to sleep when I was young. That voice that I admired so much. That voice, that made this special person famous all over the world and made this person bag a lot of awards. That voice, that wonderful voice, that was stolen away from her several years ago before her death.
She was once my favorite, no wait. She is still one of my favorite singers.

Anyway, this entry is not about her. I just remembered her because my voice hasn’t come back yet. To give you a comprehensive background of the case, here’s the story:

Last Saturday, I attended a volunteer activity in Delpan, Manila, with one of my friends at work. It was an activity launched by VIDES and LIVE Group of Volunteers. Every first Saturday of March, June, September and December, they have a schedule to conduct free lessons (mostly Catechism with singing and other activities for kids) for two hours. This activity is similar to Literacy Training Program and Community Immersion for university students who are taking Bachelor of Science in Education.  

My friend once borrowed my USB to save some activities for the kids and I asked her where she would be using that stuff and she explained that those were for the kids that she would be teaching for free, as a member of a volunteer group. Since I was looking for a program/ group to join to boost my resume because I would like to go back to teaching, I decided to join the group. Not only that, I thought that this would also be my chance to re-enhance myself before I teach again.

I was so excited to teach kids. It has been more than six years since I taught a real student, face-to-face. However, in this volunteer activity, we would not be teaching inside the classroom, but in an open space in front of the Barangay Hall. I was assigned to teach 12-15 kids, Grades two to three. We just sat beside each other, forming a circle and since there were many people around us, the environment was so noisy that I had to make my voice a little louder. As time went by, I worried that these kids could not hear my voice well, so I had to make it louder. However, I noticed that my throat was getting dry and it started to ache. To make it worse, I had forgotten to bring a bottle of water and there was no water for the volunteers. 

Although I was happy to teach kids again, I was not happy with how I felt when I reached home. My throat went dry and I started to have a headache. The following day, I had a runny nose and dry cough. I still had managed to go to work last Monday; however, talking on the phone was hell. Some students couldn’t fully understand what I was trying to tell them, especially the first-timers. When I went home that afternoon, I already had a fever and my voice had gotten worse. My husband was so worried that he took care of me; he cooked our dinner and gave me a hot compress which had helped my fever to subside. 

The following morning at 3 AM, my voice hasn’t back yet, so I decided to text my Team Leader that I would not be reporting to work. (I just need a medical certificate and/or doctor’s prescription to file for sick leave.) 

I just slept for a few hours. At ten AM, I went to our barangay health center for a check-up but there were a lot of people waiting, especially pregnant women. The nurse-on-duty, who was a bit sarcastic, told me that they would only accommodate pregnant women in the morning, so I had to go back at one PM. Furthermore, she also instructed me to pay twenty pesos for the envelope since it was my first time to undergo check-up in their center, and I also had to bring my “Yellow Card”, a card issued to bona fide residents of Makati City. The problem is, hubby and I haven’t had it yet since we just had started living here last September. So the last resort: use Fortune Care health card issued by the company. Ayaw ko pa naman sanang bumiyahe and whenever I get sick, I’d still prefer to sleep, have a massage or traditional “hilot”, have a bowl of Lucky Me Chicken noodles or porridge/ soup and sleep again. But I didn’t have a choice, so while waiting for my hubby to return, I looked for accredited clinics and hospitals of Fortune Care nearest to our house and guess what I had found out? SAINT LUKE’S GLOBAL CITY! Sosyal, ‘diba? 

That was my first time to undergo check-up at Saint Luke’s. The people were nice. Fortune Care staff were accommodating. Dr. Castillo, EENT Doctor was very professional in answering my queries. However, he said that the cause of my hoarse voice was laryngitis, the medical term for inflammation and swelling of the larynx, which is also known as the voice box. (http://www.emedicinehealth.com/laryngitis/article_em.htm). The doctor told me that this is common to teachers and call center agents. He also advised me to rest for two days, and I didn’t have to ask him for medical certificate: he gave it together with the prescription. Now I just have to sit all day, watch anime, and listen to some Japanese rock songs all day since hubby went to work. I hope that my larynx gets better tomorrow.