Health Concerns

One of my regular blog readers posted a comment on my page asking how have I been.

Well folks, I was off line in the last few days because of some health concerns. I have been feeling numbness and tingling sensation on my left toes up to the calf and left fingers up to the elbow. Two doctors' initial diagnosis: hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

Right away I went to see an internist who subjected me into a battery of medical exams. The first day was devoted to chest x-ray and electrocardiogram. The blood chemistry and hematology laboratory tests had to be taken on the second day because I need to fast for eight hours. The vial of blood extracted from my arm was too horrid for me that I had to close my eyes until it was over. The finger prick could have been worse where a slightly bleeding finger was swiped on a slide to get a stain. But given the choice, I liked the big volume extraction rather than the finger prick. (Ouch!)

Four hours after, I was sitting in the doctor's clinic for the final verdict. I heaved out a sigh of relief when he gave me a clean bill of health. I tested negative of the initial diagnosis as well as for diabetes. My ECG and x-ray exams fell within normal limits and so were the other laboratory exams (normal liver, heart, and kidneys). I just needed a generous amount of vitamin B complex for a couple of weeks, but he warned me that he is going to refer me to a neurologist if numbness would still persist.

I did enjoy reading all of my friends' blog while I killed time at an internet cafe in the hospital premises, but was too hypochondriac to leave a comment.. But anyway, I'm back in circulation now!

(Reposted: April 18, 2007)

Computer Jukebox

Indeed,it is a nice feeling to have chanced upon a song that we really liked in the past. I am sharing to you an online jukebox; but it is no ordinary jukebox. It will play all of your favorite songs from 1952 through 1982. Each year has a scroll or drop down box that shows all the great songs for that year. Most years have over 40 songs.

Once you click on a song it will play and when it finishes it automatically plays the next song in the list and continues until it has played all the songs.

This is really cool. Have fun with it.....!!

It has a volume control which you should use in conjunction with your computers volume control.

One of the best features is that it will play in the background. That means you can be doing other computer work on a different screen. For those are not too familiar just open this Jukebox, start a song list playing THEN open another window in your Browser and use that window to surf the net or whatever, while the music plays. I set it up on my desktop as a favorite so all I have to do is click on it and it opens automatically.

This is the great music from the past. No Gangster Rap or other unintelligible garbage that has been foisted on the public with an attempt to pass it off as music. There is also Christmas Music, Movie Themes, Show Tunes and lots of other categories.

Hundreds, if not thousands of hours, went into creating this Juke Box by a fellow in Puerto Rico.

Pick and play any popular song from 1952 through 1982. So hit the link now..

http://www.tropicalglen.com/


(Reposted: April 19, 2007)

My Friends

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.

(Reposted: May 1, 2007)

Mama

On the second Sunday of May, the world will honor all the mothers. I do not wish to wait for the 13th of May to honor this special woman in my life. I am doing it now and not waste time..

Mother. Mommy. Mum. Mama. We call her in many ways. In the Philippines, we call her Nanay. Nanang. Inang. Inay. Mama. Mamay. Mamang. Inah. 

In our family, we call our very own mother in more colorful ways. Mother Goose (I thought she invented the once-upon-a-time thing). Mother Hen or Mama Bear (She is over-protective.) Mother Nature (She has a green thumb and the schoolteacher that she was, encouraged her pupils to go into vegetable garden in little plots behind the school house). Mudra (our playful endearment to her). But she is officially Mama to us.

Her name is Corazon, meaning heart in Spanish. And her heart is bigger than her name. And when I was born, I was named after her. I am Corazon Junior. But my heart is not as big as hers.

Mama was an indispensable figure in my tender life. I could not imagine life without her. And when I offended her a great deal, I would be reduced to a nervous being when she declared, "You are going to kill me with your attitude. Wait if I died, your father would re-marry a wicked woman." I was so scared of losing her. So I was careful not to displease her.

I remember that during a clan gathering when I was much younger, the cousins had a family game where we were drawing cards with a question. And we were to answer on what comes first into our mind. Mine was: If there was a person in your life who would not die, who would it be? And I answered without batting an eyelash: "œMama!"

I saw Dad from the corner of my eyes withdrawing to the background wanting to shrink into forever. He did not speak to me for a couple of days and I realized that I committed a mortal sin.

Dad was the undemonstrative one or should I say, he loved us from a distance without us knowing it. He raised us with the proverbial rod. Offending him meant whipping. Where Dad lacked in affection, Mama fully compensated it without condition. And we grew up believing that only Mama Bear loved the children bear, and Papa Bear was out of the picture when it came to hugging and loving. She was there when I was sick. Graduation. Birthdays. And other important milestones of my life. When I went to high school and university, I studied so far away from home. I wrote her a lot of letters and she wrote back, longer and more frequent ones. I loved getting her letters, which I now stored in one huge box, and I could write a book on them.

I admire her from a distance and she did not know it. I wrote a lot of poetry about her and she got little surprises in her life when she rummaged through my things and found published poems of her. (Now I know I got this affection-from-a-distance from Papa Bear as well as the passion for writing although he wrote mainly in the Spanish language.)

Mama Bear was a former school teacher. And she was my first teacher. She taught me how to read and write before I entered formal school. She taught me how to be independent. At a tender age of eight, she sent me alone to another province to see her parents. I never saw her worried. In my time, it was still perfectly safe to talk to strangers. At the age of 15, I already considered myself a seasoned local traveler, embarking on inter-island travels, even reaching to far regions of the country. (The Philippines has 7,101 islands.)

When children left home to marry, she is the cohesive instrument that kept us together. "Come home for Papa's birthday." "Let my grandson spend his birthday with us, we are going to throw a big party for him." "Everyone's coming home for Christmas and you should not miss that." "On New Year's Day will be our 38th wedding anniversary, please make it a point to be here." And when the children were home with her, we all followed her around the house, whether she was cooking, cleaning, or relaxing. We never run of out of stories and laughter.

Two years ago while I was on a sea travel, the waves were so huge that the sea craft almost went down. And I absent-mindedly screamed for mama. Later, I would realize how in my sub-conscious mind, I am still dependent on her for strength. I still call on her..

She displayed tremendous strength when Papa Bear died. She never showed us that she was as broken as the children. She was a strong pillar for us to lean on and we found an unbreakable refuge in the fold of her arms. She continued being Mother Hen. During the wake, her humor was never lost. At a family conference of who takes care of what task (church service program, food, cortege flow, police force leading the flow, transportation, hotel accommodations for the sympathizers, etc.), she absent-mindedly said: "Where is Papa? He has not yet come to the conference table." Forgetting that he was laying in the casket in the family room.

She still continues to be the unifying factor of the family. "Please come home for Christmas so that your brothers could see you. You have been missing for eons." "Be sure to be around for Papa's death anniversary. Everyone is coming." "Your sibling will come home from the Middle East on Lola's birthday, please mark the date for a family lunch."

Now in her twilight years, we never knew how many more years we will have of Mama Bear. In these remaining years, she has put everything in order: her life insurance, the properties already partitioned (I got a farm land and a residential lot), settling a sibling in peaceful married life, and the family business to be taken cared of by the oldest child. But I still could not imagine life without her.

And I guess, when Mama Bear will finally go to join Papa Bear in heaven, I would read a big part of this blog in her honor before the church congregation. 

Until now, the childhood question that cost me Papa's hurt still rings in my ear. If there was a person in your life who would not die, who would it be? My answer would still be the same...

(Reposted: May 2, 2007)

Rubella Baby

It is said that you could never repay your mother if you did not become a mother yourself. Childbirth makes one a complete woman.

I went beyond childbirth. My pregnancy was a gamble and I made a pact with God.

In the middle of 1992, the rains were coming as it was the onset of the wet season. Epidemics that the rain would bring were rampant. I remember being downed with a severe cold and a cough with a convulsive fever. Then one day, I woke up with red dots all over my body. Itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, red polka dots.. Dengue! Uh-oh.. A chill swept over my spine. I was supposed to stand as a baptismal sponsor that day, but went to the doctor instead of going to church where the rites were performed.

The doctor flashed a concerned look upon seeing me. 

"œThis is rubella, Coy," he bared.

"œGerman measles?" I asked in confirmation.

He nodded.

"So what medication should I get?" I asked, wanting to get over the red spots immediately.

"œDepends. Get yourself a pregnancy test first."

"But doc, I had my period three weeks ago," I protested.

"Never mind, you still have to undergo the pregnancy test to be safe."

So I went to the medical laboratory where my sibling had an internship as a medical technologist. The rest of the interns gathered upon recognizing me and playfully asked what kind of test I would prefer: the kit or the frog test. Ugh! I was more concerned of the measles.

The kit yielded a positive result. An ultrasound suggested I was gestating at six weeks.

The doctor was concerned as ever. "This is a risky pregnancy," he announced. "Your baby could be born blind, deaf-mute, or without extremities. Worse, he could get a heart disease."

He referred me to his good friend, an obstetrician, who further said that she had a patient with the same case as mine. The baby developed cataract right on the delivery table.

"We should terminate your pregnancy," she informed me. She set the date, the hospital, and all the stuffs that should be taken care of. My mind was somewhere else. My baby born blind? I went home warbling a song in my head.. Three blind mice, three blind mice, see how they run.. No! I do not want a blind baby for a child.

On the arranged date, I did not show up at the hospital. I went to church instead and asked that God would at least show me His mercy and give me a healthy baby, far than what has been described of a rubella baby. I offered my baby to Him long before he was born, leaving God to do what He wants my child to be.
 

"œJust give me a complete baby and He is all yours," I was ready to enter into a memorandum of agreement with Him.

It was a difficult pregnancy during the first trimester: dizzy spells, nausea, vomiting, weird food preference. The rest of the months came easy. I was strong, active, and workaholic.

When the baby was born on May 31, 1993, I opted not to sleep through the normal delivery process. And when he was placed on my bosom for his first suckle, I inspected his tiny frame right away. I heaved a sigh of relief. My baby was complete (thanks heavens!) with both lower and upper limbs. A thought came. Had I expelled him, I would have not seen him in that form. I must have made the right decision of going on with my pregnancy despite the doctor'™s stern warning. I was so proud thinking I was going to have a baby.

(The boy is turning 14 years old by the end of the month. At ten days old, he was discovered to have a ventricular septal defect (heart has three holes)“ and he was classified as special and hyper-active. Ultrasound revealed that when I contracted rubella, his heart was developing at that time. He was on steroids at age ten days until two years. He is growing up pretty well, tall, still hyper-active, and will be in junior high school next month. He attends a special education class for the gifted. Photo above showed his early attempt at arts.)

(Reposted: May 10, 2007)

Acupressure (Identifying Pressure Points)

Just look at this nice picture of your feet.

The organs of your body have their sensory touches at the bottom of your feet If you massaged these points, you will find relief from aches and pains. As you can see, the heart is on the left foot. 

If you are feeling unwell in a certain part of your body, apply pressure for three seconds on the affected point. Release. Repeat for a period of 15 minutes a day. You can always do this while you are watching TV or just plain relaxing.

Typically, they are shown as pressure points and arrows to show which each organ connects to each other.

It is indeed correct since the nerves connected to these organs terminate here.

This is covered in great details in acupressure studies or textbooks.

God created our body so well that He thought of even this. He made us walk so that we will always be pressing these pressure points and thus keeping these organs activated at all times.

Hope you would be an expert at least for your own family.

(Reposted: June 3, 2007)

Foot Massage

I have been complaining of a numb toe in the last two months. Despite medication and a triple dose of Vitamin B, the discomfort is still there.

As an alternative, I also went to a reflexologist to get a foot massage. Reflexology is the most known term for acupressure in my country. It is said that whatever disturbance you have inside your body is reflected on the reflex points of your feet. But we were warned. It could be extra painful when those points were pressed or rubbed!

Two office mates went with me to the reflexologist, all for curiosity's sake. We were jerking and excruciating in pain when our feet were massaged for one hour. (Not to mention laughing at each other'™s grimacing forms.) I was in deep pain and kept pulling my foot away. I was told that I have disturbances in my ovaries, uterus, spinal cord, lumbar nerve, and kidneys. Sheez! And a little toe was in so much pain. I was told I have migraines. True..

The three of us made it a point to get thrice-a-week sessions. After a while, the pain has become tolerable unlike the first session. And we can already ignore some pain. I hope to get a painless rub a few weeks from now.

(Reposted: June 5, 2007)