Elmer Domingo: November 2016

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

I’m Still Playing Ragnarok Online

I’m back in Ragnarok Online! This time, I’m playing in the International Ragnarok Online (iRO) server, which is based in the US. Last year, Philippine Ragnarok Online (pRO) closed. Good thing that the characters were migrated to iRO. I was able to migrate most of my characters and I have 5 accounts (I forgot to migrate 1 which contains my assassin cross and crusader). I was on hiatus for a year since pRO closed mostly because I find iRO very laggy. After a year, I’m back and iRO is now playable (no longer laggy). In fact, I can attend sieges with ease.

My 81 whitesmith doing the Bounty Hunting daily quest at Geffen.

When the pRO accounts were migrated to iRO, they created a new server for these characters – Thor. The only problem I’ve encountered is that my zennies were wiped from all of my characters and I lost some items (like counter dagger for my soul linkers). Also, my geneticist’ skills were reset and he no longer have cannon. He’s 150, vitality-intelligence (vit-int) and I don’t know how to level him anymore without using the expensive Acid Bomb (AB) skill. Everything else is intact and are safe in my Kafra storage.

The past few days, I reviewed my characters’ equipment and I realized that it’s all been old school stuff (Rune-Midgard days before the discovery of Schwarzwald Republic and Arunafeltz). I also checked Prontera and most of the items and equipments being vended are new to me. I really have a lot of reading to do from the Warp Portal forums. I need to get familiarized on these new equipments. I also need to know what monsters are dropping the latest equipment. I have a lot of grinding to do since the level cap was raised from 150 to 175. I have the following characters to level-up:

Level 150 Geneticist, Mechanic, Archbishops (2 battles and 1 full-support), Rune Knight (RK), Royal Guard and Scholar

131 Ranger

100+ Kagerou/Oboro (Ninja), Gunslingers

99 Rogue, Wizard, Agi Knight, Soul Linkers (I have 4), Hunter, High Priests, Dancer, Assassin, Star Gladiator, Alchemist

60+ Bard, Wizard

Job 50 Archer, Acolyte

I’m not a botter by the way. All my characters were manual and the product of playing pRO for 12 years (2003-2015). Now I have to kill a thousand more monsters to reach level 175 (yellow aura). It’s my biggest problem these days since I can’t think of any other leveling place except Rachel Sanctuary. There are also fewer players of Ragnarok now for Endless Tower (ET). The current population of Thor is between 400 to 800 players.

Since iRO is based in the United States (for North American clients), the premium service is now using US dollars. That will be way expensive for me to buy Field Manuals and Bubble Gums. The daily Alberta Quest in pRO is not present in iRO. I also can’t find any Eden quest for characters level 100 and above. I need to read a lot from the Warp Portal forum for smarter ways to level-up my characters. Overall, I’m happy to be back in Ragnarok Online.

By the way, I was able to change one of my Gunslingers into Rebellion (next job). I’ve also seen the future job advances for Soul Linkers and Star Gladiators as well as revision to Prontera and improvement to player interface. Gravity (the maker of Ragnarok Online) still has a lot of plans for this MMORPG. Indeed, Ragnarok Online 1 is far from ending.

My full support (FS) priest partying with an assassin.

I need to know these new equipment sets.

My 150 archbishop Zach Roerig attending siege under The Hobbits. War of Emperium (WoE) is very much alive in iRO Thor server.

Technorati Tags: Ragnarok Online,International Ragnarok Online,iRO,Thor Server

Sunday, November 6, 2016

My Tonsillectomy Experience (Part 2)

It’s been 48 days (from September 19) since I had my tonsillectomy at The Medical City, Pasig. It’s also 29 days (from October 8) since I got a 2^nd surgery due to the complications of tonsillectomy. This was done at St Luke’s Medical Center, Bonifacio Global. Yes, I was hospitalized twice due to tonsillectomy.

My ENT doctor from St Luke’s told me that a complication like this happens (like 10% of all tonsillectomy surgery). What happened last October 8, 2016 was the hardest and most painful experience I had. I taught that I’ll die from bleeding.

I was at work on the early morning of October 8, Saturday. I guess I cough very hard that I suddenly tasted blood in my mouth. This was the 3^rd time that I experience bleeding since I got the tonsillectomy last September 19. The 2^nd time it bled, I was also at the office also. It happened last September 29. I was rushed to St Luke’s Medical Center but during that time, the bleeding stopped. So I was discharged the same day and the ENT doctor told me to take meds for the bleeding.

Going back to the 3^rd time it bled (and the worst), my officemates rushed me to St Luke’s Medical Center (again). This time, the bleeding continued and the ENT doctor tried to suppress the bleeding but she eventually told me that they have to stitch the left side of the area where my tonsil used to be located.

It was about 45 minutes to an hour that I was bleeding before my brother, sister-in-law and I decided to have the surgery (again) at St Luke’s instead of going back to The Medical City. By this time, I almost passed out due to loss blood. I was also vomiting blood. It was really a mess.

So for the 2^nd time, I was lying on the surgery bed again and I am inhaling anesthesia again. I woke up after 5-6 hours later. I felt really bad and I have to undergo blood transfusion. It was my first time to have it. It took 2 bags of blood for my blood chemistry to be okay. I was at St Luke’s Medical Center for 4 days! I was dispatched on Wednesday afternoon. Ever since then, I was on sick leave until today. I would be returning to the office tomorrow. Hopefully everything goes well.

The hardest part of this 2^nd surgery due to complications from tonsillectomy is financial loss. Since I used up most of my health card the first time I got hospitalized, my aunts have to pay for the rest of my hospital bill at St Luke’s. My total hospital bill reached around P93,216.83 (P33,000 is the amount left on my Maxicare + P60,216.83 cash payment). The professional fee reached P17,240.00 which was mostly covered by PhilHealth.

Emotionally, I was worried what would happen if this happens again in the future? What if after my operation at St Luke’s, another bleeding incident happen? I have no more funds on my Maxicare. Hospitalization is really expensive.

There are a lot of things going on in my mind during the 4 days I spent at St Luke’s Medical Center. I experienced the stages of grief – denial, bargaining, etc. Good thing my brothers and aunts are very supportive and my sister-in-law took care of all the paper works. My older brother, hipag and eldest nephew also spend 4 days with me at St Luke’s. It’s really depressing to spend days at the hospital.

During my stay at St Luke’s, I also taught that perhaps karma or judgment day really happens while we’re still on Earth. Perhaps this is my karma for all the times that I’ve been an asshole to my fellow human beings. All the things I did bad to my friends and acquaintances, it came rushing to me. Then, I had weird dreams, which I am thinking, is due to the “foreign” blood that is now running in my veins.

Looking back at that experience at St Luke’s all I can say right now is that I’m very thankful that I’m still alive and kicking! I’m very fortunately to have my relatives with me and loving family. I won’t be able to make it without them.

Thank you for all the help Aunties, Kuya, hipag, Bunso, pamangkins for all the help – emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

Technorati Tags: Tonsillectomy,St Luke's Medical Center,Surgery