Third Time Around

 My friends know that I went under the knife twice last year - nephrology in July where they took out my cancer riddled right kidney and a complete thyroidectomy last November. While I am not complaining, my wallet is. I thought that I have already completed my health issues by then and I will never have to see the operating room again with all the hassles from blood donation, securing clearances and finally, not being able to pee while stabilizing in the recovery room. Let me illustrate:

Blood donation - upon learning that my urologist, Dr. Joel Aldana, required blood just in case I may need it, my sons and a brother-in-law were quick to donate blood to St. Luke's at BGC where I was supposed to have my surgery. However, that surgery was postponed because i could not complete my clearances. The blood donation had to be wasted, well, on me anyway. When it was time for my surgery, there still was no blood as my donors can no longer donate as it was still to soon from their previous donation. My son, Mickey, rescued the day when he bought the needed blood, thanks to his organization, the JCI who had contacts with the Red cross a day before surgery.

Securing clearances - During my very first operation, I have to secure clearances from a cardiologist, a nephrologist, gastro, endo and ENT. It would have been a simple one until my chest xray showed that there is a deviation on my right chest as a result of my growing thyroid. As I had to undergo another CT scan with contrast, a clearance from my nephrologist was needed which proved to have given me the hardest time. When I was about to see her for a clearance, I was told that she was attending a convention the whole week. I was delayed for a week.

The week I was supposed to see my nephro, she had changed location to far away Alabang. I tried contacting her thru teleconsult but I am really not comfortable doing that. I had to go to another nephro who gave me my needed clearance.

Peeing- it has always been my problem eversince - I cannot pee on a bedpan. I have to be standing and alone. I realized this problem when I had my first operation, a partial thyroidectomy in 1986. They wouldn't let me stand and go to the toilet in spite of my insistence that I am no longer groggy. After several hours, and too much prodding, a male nurse accompanied me to the toilet. When I reached the toilet, I got the bottle of IV from him and asked him to step out. Only then was I able to pee. This happened again during the thyroidectomy in November. I was so frustrated they would not return me to my room unless I peed. I told them of my dilemma and even bargained to sign a waiver, just let me go. They enclosed my bed with standing covers and allowed me to stand and yet, no dice. Finally, they succumbed and returned me to my room where my wife was patiently waiting.

Enough of my woes.

Last December, I noticed that my left abdomen was bulging. Alarmed, I contacted a surgeon, the daughter of a very close friend. She asked if I had an incision on my tummy when I had my nephrectomy. I had one because while they did a laparoscopy on me, they had to make an incision to take out the kidney. She told me that sometimes, it could result into a bulging and advised me to see my urologist who did the operation. Having known that, I googled reasons why an abdomen would bulge after a surgery. Turns out to be hernia.

I went to my urologist as I was due to see him in January, anyway. He looked at the bulge and saw that it was not due to the incision thus ruling out incisional hernia. He asked me to lie down and felt my abdomen and suspected it to be an abdominal hernia. He recommended a surgeon, Dr. Dante Ang.

So, today, I. together with my wife, am due to go to the Philippine General Hospital for the third time for admittance. I shall undergo another surgery tomorrow. I hope everything is in order.

A little prayer for me will go a long way. Thank you all.

PS.

This post yielded about 387 reactions and 286 comments in response to my request for prayers. I feel so loved at this point 

All reactions:

397Mizel De Los Santos, Nitz Delos Santos and 395 others

My Kidneys

 Eversince I retired in 2018, I had been seeing two different kinds of doctors for the past two years as a result of my being diabetic for more than twenty years – an endocrinologist, Dr. Lu, who takes care of my endocrine disorders which is the primary doctor who takes care of my diabetes and my thyroid seventy five percent of which has already been removed in 2003.  The other doctor, Dr. Guiang,  is a nephrologist, who takes care of my kidney as they started weakening since the beginning of the 21^st century.  

My HMO, which is a carry-over of my employment at DLSZ, was due to expire in sometime in May, 2023 as I am to turn 65 years old in September.  Our contract says it can only be extended till that age.  When I told my doctors about this, they agreed that I might as well take advantage of it and to run all possible tests before it expired.  Following the suggestion, I had an ultrasound of my upper and lower abdomen and my thyroid not knowing these would start a battery of tests that will give me quite a scare and my first brush with the Big C. 

The tests yielded that my thyroid is acting up again.  The result said that it has formed calcification which means that the risk of malignancy is quite high.  I was advised to undergo a Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy but even then, I have decided that I will just have to undergo another surgery and have my thyroid completely removed.  I thought that would have been the end of my worries not knowing that it has only just begun.  The ultrasound of my abdomen turned out that I have developed complex cysts in both of my kidneys.  I immediately reported this to my nephrologist who advised me to have a CT scan.  I had the CT Scan at the Medical City and it yielded that what I have at the left was Bosniak Type 1 which is okay and that they just have to monitor it annually.  The right kidney was the problematic one because what I had was Bosniak Type 4 which has at least a 90% risk of being malignant.   I was advised by my doctor to see a Urologist immediately to address this.  As some sort of appeasement, my nephrologist, showing me several diagrams, said that normally these cysts are taken out partially and that if taken away, will be the end of it. Emboldened by this possibility, I immediately went to the Urologist to have these checked - but he was not available. I was only able to see him after two weeks. 

My meeting with the Urologist was not pleasant.  Without any pause or introduction, he said flatly that the tumor was at the center of the kidney and the only possible way is to take the kidney out in its entirety.  What really bothered me was his statement that this might mean I will have to start undergoing dialysis, something I have dreaded from the time I was told that my kidneys were weakening several years earlier.  My head began to spin and I saw my world crumbling down.   I immediately told my nephrologist of this development and seeing how worried I have become, she gave me the assurance that dialysis was not automatic.  The kidney function should at least be at 15% before one has to go on dialysis.  Mine was at least at 48%.   Much later, I would have an imaging of the function of both kidneys and it showed that the right, which was to be taken away, was at 52% while the remaining one was at 48%. It was just my luck that it would be the better one that has to be taken out but it is what is.

It was at this time that I sought to have a second opinion.  I went to another Urologist, this time at the Medical City, Dr. Joel Aldana.  Now, upon seeing the position of the cyst, he said he was going to discuss it with his anesthesiologist and see the possibility of an ablation, a surgical procedure that partially burn off the cancer from the source. That gave me a glitter of hope.  He asked me to return a week after he had discussed my case with his team.   The following week, I went to see him again and this time he said that neither ablation nor partial surgery is possible due to the location of the cysts.  The kidney really has to be taken out.  He said that we can have the procedure done at St. Luke’s, BGC.  Asking him for an

 

 

estimate of how much the procedure would cost, he said aroung Php500,000.  When he saw the price blew my mind, he offered that my second option was the Philippine General Hospital where he said it will be almost half of the price.  I discussed this with my wife and both of us not knowing how it will be at the PGH, it being a government hospital and all, decided to have my surgery done at St. Luke’s for after all, the retirement pay I got from my previous employer is still intact.  My doctor got a schedule for me to have the procedure done on April 25, 2023. Seeing that it was only two weeks before, he ordered me to see a cardiologist for clearance.  I did and after having a battery of tests, it turned out that there is a deviation on my right lung due to my thyroid which is acting up again.

I was referred to a pulmonologist who ordered that I have a CT scan of my chest, among others.  Before I could do that, I had to secure a clearance from my nephrologist to have it done since the procedure would require a contrast, a dye that would show the organ to be scrutinized .  I went to Dr. Guiang only to be told that she won’t be available for the whole week as she was attending a convention of nephrologists.  That meant I would not find any from anywhere as they were all in that convention. To find one was like looking for a needle in a haystack. We had to cancel my scheduled surgery until I have obtained the necessary clearance that it would be okay that the anesthesia tube won’t stand in the way.  After a week, I was able to get the needed clearance from my doctor so I immediately went to St. Luke’s for the CT scan. The contrast, which is some sort of a dye that would  make the target organ be visible is not pleasant. I knew it would cause me itchiness albeit not being allergic to it.  Just the same, I had the CT scan and after a week got the result that it won’t be a problem. I was advised to see an ENT for clearance.  I went to one who said it will be okay as he sees it would not be a problem – and yet, he added to be sure, to have someone insert an instrument down my throat to see the opening!  Since he categorically said in his clearance that he saw no obstacle as to why it would cause a problem from his professional point of view, I showed it to my urologist.  True enough, he wanted to be sure and have an ENT view the interior of my throat.  I went to another ENT, who, put an instrument down my nose all the way down to my throat.  I was given the go signal.  Armed with a clearance from the ENT, I  went back to the cardio to get my clearance from her.  However, realizing that my tests show that I have a slightly fatty liver, she asked me to get another clearance from a Gastro.  I did as told although I knew that in order for a fatty liver to be considered high, the number should be at least three times the upper limit. Mine was not even double.  Anyway, I got the clearance and went back to the cardio who finally released her own clearance.

It was at this time that I decided to have my surgery done at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) as my HMO has, by this time, expired.  I was contacted by my Uro’s secretary who told me that my schedule will be on July 3 and that I should go there two weeks before to get a reservation. That gave me plenty of time to go to Calatagan, Batangas and do the school’s graduation stage.  This gave me some money plus the painting commissioned by its Principal, my good friend, Henry Magahis was my income for the month. 

One morning, I received an email from DLSZ asking me if I wanted to renew my HMO. I thought they may have made a mistake forgetting that I cannot renew anymore. I read the email carefully and surprised that the school had decided to extend the benefit for five more years. I will continue enjoying the benefit till I turn seventy. Great!!! It just might turn out that I won’t be paying anything for this operation with it being done at the PGH.  All that delay might have proven to be a blessing after all.

Although I had to pay for a higher premium, I immediately went to the bank to pay for the renewal of my Health Insurance.  Everything seemed to be falling in the right place.  So, on July 19, two weeks before my confinement, I went to the PGH with my wife to reserve for a room.  As instructed, I had to be confined a day before the operation.  Unfortunately, I was told there was no room available on that day. 

 They had a vacancy the day prior, July 1. So, I grabbed that, paid for the reservation and was on our way.  Again, that worked like a blessing as it gave me more time to prepare before I went under the knife.  Days before the procedure, I remembered my friend, Doc Emer, who taught at the UP Medicine which used the PGH as its hospital. I contacted him at his Instagram account and told him of my plight.  It was then that I learned that he knew my Urologist - his classmate in Med school.  He had to go abroad on the day of my surgery and will be back days after when I have gone home.  Just the same, he promised to endorse me to my doctor.  This turn out to be another blessing as I found out from my Insurance provider that my doctors are not accredited and that I would have to pay the Professional fees from my own pocket. Maybe I can get a discount.

On July 1, we were taken to the hospital by my son, Mizel. We were met there by Dennis Lopez, the nephew of my eldest sister by marriage.  He worked at the hospital and promised assistance with whatever we would need.  I was admitted around 11 am, three hours after we checked in.  I was taken to room 708, which was surprisingly big. I would have gotten a much smaller room for a higher price had I gone to either St. Luke’s or the Medical City.  It was immaculately clean.  The only misgiving I had was I waited for lunch, only to be told that it has been delivered already.  An apologetic nurse offered to help me order food from outside.

Soon, doctors were coming to the room to do their routine interviews. Then, one of them asked me about the blood donation.  It then dawned on me that I had forgotten about the order to have someone donate blood, just in case I needed it.  My two sons could no longer donate blood as they have already done o together with Mizel’s brother in law, Jeartley.  This was recent which disqualified them to be donors, until three months have elapsed. 

My son, Mizel,  to the rescue again.  He is an active member of the JCI and one of their programs is helping out with the Red Cross.  He asked around and found there was of my blood type at the Port Area branch of the organization.  He made arrangements to pick two units the following day.  That settled, I had nothing to worry about anymore.

I woke up the following day and since I was the first patient to undergo surgery at the time, I was picked up from my room at around 5 am.  I patiently waited while they were all busy preparing the operating room.  I noticed a beautiful woman helping to prepare the room.  When I got to see her name plate, it turned out she was part of the anesthesiologists.  Everybody was busy preparing the sterilized room, machines being prepared while I remained lain on my bed.  One by one, the doctors arrived. I was rolled in the operating room and soon, Dr. Aldana who was to perform the operation greeted me.  It was at this time that I was assured that everything would go well.  I was asked to lie on one side, hold my feet together in some sort of fetus position as I was being told by the beautiful young woman that they were putting me to sleep.  As expected, I was roused from my deep slumber at the recovery room after I was told I was under for four hours.  It was all over and I never felt a thing.  It was there when I saw the beautiful young doctor again looking at the records. She approached me and muttered that they are taking me back to my room.  It was there that I gathered enough courage to talk to her.  “Miss, there is something I want to get off my chest.” Without batting an eye, I told her, “You are very beautiful!”  She smiled and said something I could no longer remember.  I was wheeled back to my room after what seemed to be about less than an hour. 

Two days after the operation and I was given the go home order. This is quite fast and I am on my way to a fast recovery. There are a lot of people I have to thank for making this event of my life pass like a breeze. My expression of gratitude will never be enough but all I can do is give my sincerest appreciation to the doctors who performed the operation, anesthesiologists, resident doctors, the medical staff, the nurses, orderlies of PGH who made sure that I was comfortable and safe. I would like to thank my friend, Dr. Emer Faraon,  for giving a shoutout to my Urologist, Dr. Joel Aldana, my former student, Dr. Raphy Arada who endorsed me to his resident friends, Dr. MKristoff Delos Reyes, Dr. Nats DelCarmen, my nephew, Dr. Manny Glorioso, Dr. Pau Gonzaga and Dr. ED Ecle for patiently explaining and helping me understand what I was going through from the discovery of my ailment till my operation. I give special thanks to my former student, Cong. Bryan Revilla and his people at the Agimat Party list for offering financial assistance, my eldest sister, Rosalinda Delos Santos Lopez and her in-laws especially Dennis Lopez and Andrew Lopez Cacnio for their invaluable assistance during my stay at the hospital, her son Renato Jun Lopez, my children who gave me their full support, especially Mizel for driving us to and from the hospital and acquiring the blood from the Red Cross, my friends, Raymond and wife Angie Cadlum, my very close friends, Ollie and wife Catherine V. Marcelo, my former principal, Alfred Sagum who took time out to come visit me, Aura Gonzales-Trinidad for the fruits she sent my way. I would like to thank the more than 450 virtual and personal friends here and abroad, who liked, hearted or gave out virtual hugs and/or commented on my post right after my surgery – my prayer warriors from the very start. Lastly, I thank my wife for staying with me all throughout the entire procedure.

 While I am still waiting for the result of the biopsy, I was told by my doctor that the complex cysts in my kidney seem to have been contained inside and could not have spread which means I do not have to undergo chemotherapy. Today is my third day after the procedure and I am now at home and on my way to a speedy recovery, comfortable, and in high spirits.

 

 

All's well that ends well

I have said more than once that the only reason I keep a blog is to keep my memoirs for the succeeding generations of my family. As I am not a rich man who can leave huge estates to my children, I only have my memories, my thoughts as a legacy for them to know how I lived and how I reacted to things around me hoping it could serve as a guide for them.


That being said, let me narrate the events that happened to me and my wife awhile back. Most of my friends knew about this especially my good friend,
Doc Emer and my nephew, Dr. Manny Glorioso with whom I was in constant communication through the entire ordeal I suffered while this was happening.


Let me narrate it from the very beginning. On May 16, Sunday, my wife was complaining about her tummy, thinking she may have been suffering from diarrhea and/or indigestion. That was a day prior to her one week stay in Batangas for work. She thought she was feeling better the following day, so she went ahead with her assignment and bag in tow, left in the early morning of May 17. Everything was fine until I received a text message from her that Thursday morning that she was not feeling well and was taken to a Tagaytay hospital. There, they ran a few tests and these yielded that she was suffering from LBM and nothing more.


Come Friday, she was still not feeling well. Things got really bad that on May 25, she was accompanied by her sister to St. Luke’s at the Fort to have her examined. She was advised to be confined but since St. Luke’s was fairly new, they could not accept HMO holders. It was then that they decided to go to Medical City. We stayed there for a while thinking she would be out in only a few days. However, the stomach cramps kept on pestering her especially during the wee hours of the morning. It was then that her attending physician decided that she underwent an ultra sound of her abdomen. She did and the result was that she had gall stones and needed to undergo an operation.


She had her operation on the night of May 31st. Thinking that it would be a normal, perfunctory procedure, I went home after seeing her on her way to the operating room, gave her a kiss and left her with my eldest sister who was kind enough to be with her during her confinement as I had to report for work. That night, I was constantly texting my sister to ask how my wife was. Nothing. Until I received a call from her at midnight. She told me that the surgeon requested for her to come down the OR as he had something very important to tell her. Shakily, (who wouldn’t be afraid having to face a surgeon who called for you in the middle of the night to reveal something very important to you?) she went not expecting anything at all. She narrated that the doctor told her that the operation went well and that he had extracted the whole gall bladder off my wife. However, he discovered that there were plenty of fluid in her stomach which could only mean two things: tuberculosis or cancer. As part of the protocol, he probed into my wife’s organs, tried to fill for mass in each one and found nothing. To be sure, he also asked his assistant to do the same for a second opinion. Nothing. So, they closed her up, took out a sample of the fluid for testing.


That morning, I immediately called my nephew who is an oncologist based in Zamboanga. He told me what to expect and asked if they can run a few tests, notably a CA 125, a tumor marker. The good thing about it is that the attending physician, Dr. John Querol, was also an oncologist and luckily, a friend of my nephew. He was the one who took care of my sister, my nephew’s mother, while she was alive. My nephew called him and they conferred and my nephew said he was told that the amount of liquid was minimal (contrary to the surgeon’s claim at this point).


They ran a CA 125 test and my nephew said that if the reading would be more than 80, she may have a tumor in her ovaries. It is needless to say that I was praying hard that the result would be negative. I did not go to work anymore at this time and stayed with my wife hoping and praying that the results would be known in the morning. When the doctor came, I asked for the results and he said it was quite high. I accompanied him on his way out and pressed him to give me the numbers and he said it was 199! My world crumbled as my heart shrunk and pounded but I kept my composure. I immediately texted the information to my nephew and Doc Emer who were continually checking my wife’s condition. Unfortunately, Dr. Querol was already out of the country attending a congress in the US. I could not tell anyone of what I knew at this time as I did not think I have something conclusive. Both my nephew and my friend said that the problem with CA 125 is that it is none specific or something (I forgot the term they used). I could not tell my wife, my sister or any member of her family and most definitely not the children. I felt so alone. Visions of me and my wife getting old together inside a farm house which we could have bought ran through my head. I have always told my wife that part of my dream was to buy a farm in Tagaytay where the weather was to my liking and retire there. I have also thought all these time that I shall go earlier than my wife with my diabetes and all. I never thought that we would be having a problem like this. It was at this point that an OB – Gyne was called and was told that her ovaries were fine. However, it was far from over as my nephew said the ovaries can be tricky.


On Sunday, I texted our friends about my wife’s condition and requested them to come visit her as she was getting lonely. I feared that all these things could make her feel depressed and that was the last thing I wanted to happen. My friends were surprised to find out that we were still in the hospital and immediately were on their way.


That night, she was taken to the CT Scan machine and the following morning was told that the walls between her abdomen and intestine were thickening. This time, a gastro specialist, Dr. Flores, came and told us the details of the results of her CT scan. She had gastro-enteritis and was given two types of anti-biotics. She also suggested that she undergo ultra sound endoscopy. However, since the hospital did not have the machine to do that, she said she will refer us to St. Luke’s in Quezon City.


It was at this time that Doc Emer emailed me in my facebook account of an article in a medical journal about the CA 125. Basically it says that ascitis (fluid in the body) can make the reading of CA 125 go haywire. Now, I had something to hold on to. It was such a relief to find out that the doctors had ordered a repeat of the CA 125 as her tummy's fluid has gone down. God must have listened to my prevent prayers as this time the reading was 31. It was only then that I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Until now, we do not know what caused the ascitis. It could have been due to the inflammation as a result of the gall stones. Who knows? What we know is that it neither contained microbes nor cancer cells.


My wife was discharged with a little tube connected on her to drain the fluid out on July 7. From then on, we would visit the doctors for check up and everything seems to be good. This morning, we finally went to St. Luke’s for her endoscopy and was told that everything seems to be normal! What a relief!!!!!

Me and my appetite

The only thing I don't like about the holiday season is that the food triggers my tastebuds like crazy. I had to indulge with a lot of wonderful food which is actually very bad for a diabetic like me. Much more that my micro albumin is getting high. I think that means my kidneys are extracting protein. Since most of the food being served are party food, i.e. lots of red meat which I had been forbidden by the doctor to partake, I can't help myself but give it a try. The small bite became a big one and more. That made me think I will stop eating meat the following day. How wrong could I have been? Dismally wrong!

This afternoon, I went to see my doctor and lo and behold, my weight is up again to 190 pounds! To think it was down to 170. As usual, I have to pay the lab a visit and see how my blood is doing this Saturday. Hopefully, my micro-albumin has not soared otherwise, it will be not be a good sign.

The problem with diabetes is that it is an illness that makes you hungry all the time. What's more is that sometimes, your blood sugar drops and you feel like as if you're melting like a candle. You begin to shiver and become very very weak. If only my body can have a tune-up the same way the mechanic gave my car.

God plays little tricks on us sometimes

In one of the pre-celebrations of our 30th foundation anniversary, I saw someone who I think looked familiar although I wasn't really very sure. I may not be very good with names but I have a good memory for faces. However, the more I looked at him, the more I failed to remember who he was. Since I was kind of busy then, I dismissed the thought and went on with what I was doing.

Then, last week, I just confirmed that I knew him. He was a former student of mine. As a matter of fact, our valedictorian in 1989, our school paper's editor at the time and recipient of our Man of Letters. The reason I couldn't recognize him then was because he is suffering from an affliction. He developed a dystonia as a result of a brain stroke "...from a ruptured AVM ( Arterio-Venous Malformation, an abnormal collection of fragile blood vessels like arteries and veins, in my particular case, my brain".

His name is Richard Buencamino. When he graduated with honors, we knew he would go places. True enough, he was accepted in the U.P. College of
Medicine's INTARMED program( an accelerated 7- year medical curriculum which only accepts the top 20 males & top 20 females in the Philippine) and was awarded as one of the outstanding interns in Surgery,ENT & Family Medicine. He passed the medical board right after that and was accepted to the Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics(4 years instead of 6 years of Internal Medicine & Pediatrics when done separately).

How can something go wrong with all these credentials? He is young, bright and full hope. However, God has other plans for this young man. One day while he was making his rounds in the hospital, he had the attack. As if that wasn't enough, while he was recovering from this, "(he) developed a terrible illness called Dystonia, secondary to the stroke(involuntary contraction of various muscles in my body like the tongue, eyelids, esophagus and neck)" disabling most of his bodily functions like speech due to involuntary contraction of the tongue, (he communicates through a voice synthesizing device and pen and paper). He also has an impaired vision at times and has to pry his eyes wide open to see. He cannot eat solid food and has to have his sustenance pass through a tube that is connected to his belly. His left ear has gone and can only hear through his right ear. Even his balance is way off and has to be assisted to stand and walk as a result of abnormal contractions on his head and neck.

But amidst all these trials, he has not surrendered his resolve. He turned to writing poetry and drawing. In spite of all those contractions, he still tries to write and draw from his heart. If there is one thing that this young man has, it is his will to live and his passion for life. While I was browsing through his writings, I remember distinctly something that he wrote. "Good food is not served on a platter twice." I had occasion to read his poetry and I had a hard time keeping my tears to myself as I read one of his poems that speaks to his 8 year old daughter. I hope it would be alright for me to reprint it here.

LAURYN, I love you very much!
9:30 am 10-10-08 by DAD

Lauryn, my daughter, I think of you in my solitude
Feeding my Jevity cans through my feeding tube,
I cannot talk, eat or walk properly
And my head turns to the right… o, Lord help me.

But I think of my loving daughter there in the U.S.
Who still has to hear me utter those words…
Oh Lauryn I yearn to talk & be with you,
Like a normal regular father would do.

How I yearn to carry you
Up in the heavens… the sky,
Where the mighty winds can blow your lush hair,
As you graciously go by.

There are so many things I long to give you dear,
So many dreams I desire to bestow but I fear,
That they may not come true
Yet, I know that GOD can make
the radiant sun emanate from this blue.

I remember the house by the beach,
The BMW SUV your Mom & I followed
but could not reach,
Yes, that house you were supposed to have
A party your friends & barkadas will simply love

I know with every fiber of my dystonic being,
That GOD is great every single time
Like that good old mailman HE always delivers
His graces to poor lonely souls
like us who always quiver.

So keep your chin up,
Lauryn, you are blessed from above,
GOD put us here for a purpose
We in due time will discern His love.

Lauryn, Eryn, I love you very, very much!
You may not know this fact,
Because I have been a stubborn fool
in all 8 springs that has passed,
I know that we will triumph,
In GOD we will always be exuberant!

My indiscriminate, carefree ways during my teens are now taking their toll on my body. I can tell. I am not as healthy as I was and I feel so fragile that everything in my body seem to hurt at the first sign of irritation or discomfort. Stand up for a long time and my leg will want to give in.

For several months now, my Saturdays have always been trips to the clinic for lab tests to monitor my sugar. When I got back from Thailand, my sugar level shot up which caused my doctor to increase the dosage of my meds and add some more. Thank God it has normalized already. I got the scare of my life when my creatinine and microalbumin yielded a high level. This meant my kidneys are starting to lose protein and my doctor told me if this does not improve, I might have to undergo dialysis if my kidney fails.

I was forbidden to eat red meat anymore. No pork or beef which has always been my staple eversince I was born. I followed and guess what, last Saturday's result was very promising. All my tests yielded normal. FBS, 2HPPBS, creatinine, uric acid etc. - Normal!

The bad news is that I am down with the flu! I cannot go to work today since I have not been feeling well since Saturday night. How can I keep this old body of mine work as if I am only 18?

Gotta jam with the Rolling Stones tomorrow

I shall not report for work tomorrow. I am scheduled for a lithotripsy procedure tomorrow. For those who are not in the know, this is a painless, bloodless procedure for stone removal. A very welcome change in stone removal as I don't have to undergo an operation anymore. This is going to be my third time. It seems like I am a stone former. For a diabetic, that does not sound well. I don't know what's causing these stones to form. I don't even know what their composition is. I suspect salt as I am fond of salty food.

I should have had this procedure last Friday. I even thought the no class day was a blessing because then I wouldn't have to be absent from work anymore. And that means less trouble for me because I don't have to think about my children going to school and back. The problem was it turned out that the stone unit of the Medical Doctors is also closed!

LAstly, the real bummer is that I have to go on fasting again and drink that awful castor oil! I wonder if you've tried that before. Well, if you haven't, how about imagining drinking three tablespoons of your mother's sewing machine oil. Just a whip is sufficient to make you puke, right?

oh well, I have to do what has to be done rather than wait for this stone to act up and send me writhing in pain to the hospital again.