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.

 

 

I am back!!!

 

After four years of retirement, I am back in the classroom!  Well, not as a regular teacher but just a lecturer or should I say a workshop facilitator, for the Arts and Design program of EnzoTech Senior High School in Calatagan, Batangas.   It is so nice to be back and teaching young minds and helping them hone their craft.  The good thing about it is that I am only teaching twelve Grade 11 students. That is the current number of students in their Arts and Design strand.  Hopefully, I can help the program in attracting more students next year. I used to handle at least thirty-nine students and so it is very relaxing! The best thing about it is that these students are scholars of the Zobel Foundation so not only is their interest  in the arts solid, they have to keep their scholarship and so seeing their very good outputs make it very fulfilling! 

I owe this wonderful experience to my good friend, Henry Magahis, a former colleague at De La Salle Zobel who  is now the Principal of the school and Director of the Zobel Foundation.  I have known him since he was a fresh graduate and a new teacher at DLSZ..  I have witnessed his growth as a teacher and as an administrator.  His ascent to the proverbial “corporate ladder” was almost put on hold when he had a mild stroke last year.  I am so relieved that he has regained his health and is definitely back on his feet and doing a very good job at his current position.  I see a very bright future ahead of him.  Not only does he have what it takes to be at the helm, he seem to have unlock the formula of a good manager, but even more so, as an excellent educator.  I am truly lucky to have known him throughout the years! 

Teaching

 I have always thought that teaching is a thankless job. It had been told that many times. Now that I have retired, I was surprised how some of my students I got to befriend or even just met somewhere, (I always run into them making my children say,"Papa seems to know a lot of people") come up to me, say "hi" and even recount our days together working in the classroom.

Now this. Not only did I get a thank you, she showered me and my family with love I got teary eyed reading her message. Her words are one of the kindest I have gotten so far. She just made me a very happy old man - feeling fulfilled and proud of myself.

I know there could be some who hated me, too, especially those who were under me during my last two years. You see, after a long period with the administration, I was assigned back to the classroom two years prior to retirement. I was already an old man, sometimes grumpy and probably out of reach with a huge gap in age with my students. Oh well, we can't always win 'em all.

Miki's message made me think, why did I ever leave the classroom? It might be possible that I didn't lose my touch and even got better with my relationships with my students both intellectually and emotionally.

At any rate, thank you MIki for your very kind words and your patronage. I am extremely happy that we reconnected after so many years, this time as true friends.

Tito Rolly

----------------------------------

We finally got our hands on a Tito Rolly, shipped all the way from the Philippines! It’s also our first ever art purchase so it feels like a milestone to celebrate. Sir Rolly Delos Santos was my art teacher in Zobel throughout grade school and high school (my lack of artistic prowess in no way reflects his teaching abilities ) AND my homeroom teacher in junior year. He’s not only an excellent teacher and artist, but also a very good writer. As my homeroom teacher, he would have us write essays for fun, which he would then proceed to read in depth - I always appreciated the thoughtful comments he’d make on mine and the insights he would share. He retired from teaching a few years ago and so has had more time to focus on his art, and I told myself if I ever got to a point in my life where I could set aside a little extra for art, he’d be the first person I’d reach out to. He calls this “Troubadours with the Red Guitar”, painted July 24, 2022.

Miki Litao-Goyokpin

Bacolod, the City of Smiles

 On October 23, my wife and I embarked on a tour of Bacolod, Iloilo and Guimaras with our close friends. We have been friends with these guys since our much younger days. I was alone with the girls in Bacolood as the husbands are still working. They are going to join us in Iloilo on the fourth day.

Being retired, my wife and I have all the time in the world to enjoy ourselves. Why not? We have to enjoy touring while we still can, right?

The only set back of the tour is our flight via Air Asia. IT SUCKED BIG TIME! We experienced about four reschedules. The week before our flight, we were told our flight had been rescheduled to a much earlier time, 4:00 am!!! That meant we had to be at the airport at around 2 am at least. Then, a few days after, it was rescheduled again to 5 am. I thought, this is much better as I will have time to at least sleep until 2 am and leave for the airport at 3. On our way to the airport, I received a text message that the flight has been rescheduled to 7. WTF!!!! I could have stayed in bed and rested. Well, we cannot do anything about it. So, we had to wait it out with our friends in a very cramped airport due to the delays in flight. Well, in fairness, we were given a Jollibee chicken for breakfast but it mus've been old as it was stale. As my friend Vivian said, it was a lonely chicken!

Lo and behold! The flight was rescheduled again to around 8! Well to make a long story short, we finally took off at around 9!

Bacolod was lovely!!!! The food is spectacular! The first stop we did was eat at the manukan place at the famous Aida's! It was heavenly. I never tasted chicken as good as that one. It was tender and juicy! I had pecho (I could not have legs, my favorite, because I am o longer allowed to eat) and my favorite baticolon (gizzard) which they don't sell here in Manila anymore. Of course, I bathed my rice with chicken oil, something they don't have in chicken inasals in Manila anymore.

Next thing we did was to tour the city, We went to San Sebastian church, then as one of the recommendations of my Bacolod based friend, Bugsy, we took a cab and went to the Art District. It was very impressive. Too bad, I was enjoying my chitchat with one of the tour guides that I forgot to give her a tip! What was I thinking?? The next stop was at the Fiesta Market, again as recommended, we had lumpiang sariwa and empanada! Next stop was the Negros Museum. We were especially impressed by a copper wire artist, Ian D. Valladarez. He made sculptures using a continuous copper wire. With good fortune, we will meet him in person and in action two days after.

We were told that there was a good batchoy place called Super Batchoy and so we decided to check it out for dinner. To our dismay, no local, not even the police knew where it is. We walked endlessly, with Catherine even using her waze, but to no avail. We ended up eatting at Gina's, a seafood restaurant which did not fail our gastronomic appetites. The funniest thing was that on our way back to the hotel, I just tried to ask the driver if he knew where the batchoyans are and he said, without any hesitation that the best one is called Superbatchoy!!!! We shouted with glee as it was the exact place that we were looking for.

The next morning, our tour guide , Lemuel, which was recommended by a friend from the University to my wife, picked us up. The first stop was an hour and a half ride to Don Salvador Benedicto Northern Negros Park. We had lunch at the Kurvada restaurant which turned out to be owned by the uncle of one of my students, Kat! We were given a tour of the place and had a wonderful view of the Malatan-Og Falls.

We then embarked to go to the famous Canlaon mountain where we visited the Canlaon Balete Century tree It was magnanimous to say the least.

Next stop was have merienda at Tia's Garden Cafe. Our driver took us to Super Batchoy but unfortunately, it was already closed. It coses at 5:30 pm. So we had dinner at the manukan country again, this time trying Nena Rose. We cannot help comparing it to Aida's and while it is delicious as well, it lacked the juiciness and savory taste of Aida's in our opinion.

On our third day, we were picked up again by Lemuel. This time, our first stop was the Victoria's Milling Company but we were not allowed to go inside as it was milling time. We proceeded to Silay City and visited San Diego de Alcala Parish Church. From there, we were taken to the old houses in Silay then to the Balay Negrense Museum.

Next stop was at the oldest bakery in that side of the country, El Ideal bakery where we bought some goodies for pasalubong. We then went to Laktawan View Resort. We were supposed to have lunch at the Ilaya Highland Resort but found it too expensive for our taste. It turned out to be a fortunate decision as we decided to try the best cansi ever, Sharyn's Cansi House. Again, it did not disappoint us! It was a wonderful experience as we sipped the delicious broth and the succulent meat and collagen brought about by the bone marrow! (I know, it was sinful especially for me but I allowed myself to cheat this time).

Being Lasallians, we all had to see La Salle University in Bacolod. Had a few shots of the facade and were on our way to the best photo ops in our entire Bacolod trip at the Ruins!

Bacolod as the City of Smiles is one place I would not mind visiting again. Thanks to our good friend Agnes, who gavve us the idea to tour the city. If only for the food, Bacolod is worthy to be toured more than once. Well, I guess it is also because I had wonderful company that the city is made more wonderful than it aready is.

is.