...I wouldn't even have time to blog. But really, if things were really so different as they are now (could be worse, I know), I'd definitely have my hands full with loads of stuff, some of which I will attempt to list here.
1.) Open a clinic. Was thinking of calling it The Purple Room, but it targets a very specific clientele. Some of the sample tests we'd be making include the ELISA, and if commerially viable, perhaps even the Western Blot.
Now, that already gives you a clue. No, there'd be no flag waving outside the main door. Discreetness as a policy will be strictly observed.
2.) Open a Design Company. Although I just started one with a friend, VATEL Manila, this will basically cater to event needs like weddings and debuts (I call it my "creative investment"). Creative juices flow best during crunch times. Souvenirs will soon be added to the line-up of services.
3.) Pursue many other commercial concepts I have long been drawing up in my mind: NOTORIOUS, Cibreo, La Almohada and then some.
4.) Complete the Sandman series of comic books.
5.) Wipe out all debts. Such an emotional burden, really.
6.) Invest on Second Chance, a business venture I've been toying with in my mind after my Mom had mastectomy. The rise in the incidence of Breast CA has taken life, so to speak, from so many women all over. I have a friend - all of 28 years old and just starting her career as a physician - who had one of her breasts removed because of a tumor. She's never had a boyfriend. Now she has to adjust all of her clothes to make it appear like nothing's happened to her.
Mom hated her wig so much. But what's sad is that she'd never be able to wear many of her clothes again. There's the need to hide that empty space where a full breast used to be - scarves, looser blouses, the works.
I was thinking of customizing breast "replacements" in the form of padded bras (yes, bras, ladies and gentlemen!), designed to make it appear like what once was. We have to accept the fact that not many women can afford breast reconstruction. The operation and chemo alone will cost an entire family their fortune that aesthetics take a back seat. As long as you are alive, that's fine.
But women think differently than men. There'd always be the social cost of mastectomy. Why can't we help them deal with life's challenges in a manner that allows them to move on as well? Second Chance will surely help. I hope.
6.) Invest in an Asthma and D.O.T.S. Center. A lot of poor patients with asthma and tuberculosis have very little access - if at all - to nebulizer machines. At Php 2,800 per, not many families with asthma patients can possibly afford a machine of their own. If they were to rely on the lone machine in DOH Health Centers (which only open for 8 hours a day), we'd find more and more patients suffer further.
The concept: a walk-in center. At least 5 machines. Minimal rent per use. Nebules will also be made available in the clinic. In May 2000, a study in the US predicted that nebulizer machines will be outdated and will be replaced with handheld inhalers with large spacer tubes, especially in the treatment of smaller children. This may spell d-e-a-t-h to the machine.
Note, however, that the study noted that for test groups using the machine and the inhaler, "There were no differences in improvement or side effects between the two groups." At any rate, I can see that the nebulizer machine will remain to be the standard mode of treatment for asthma patients in the Philippines.
As to the D.O.T.S. concept, that's something that has to be done in coordination with the local DOH office.
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It appears that having more-than-enough money is, well, not enough. Sigh.
