Progress.

I finally hooked up with Dr. Erlyn Cabanag, St. Luke's famous cardiologist at 7:30 this morning. Via the phone!! I am truly in the ranks of the privileged, for having a sis/kababata for a cardiologist-consultant from that leading hospital. I mean, people fly to Manila to line up for a month to get an appointment with the specialists there, and here I am able to consult with one from the comfort of my own bedroom?? Truly I am blessed.
And somehow, after weeks of wondering, worry and confusion over Dr.One & Dr.2's conflicting diagnoses, somehow, Dr.Erlyn's simple analysis was comforting. She said: I am truly hypertensive (for real, and not just 'stress hypertensive' as the other 2 docs called it), and as such, require some meds to bring my bp down. The bad news is, i have to lay off my favorite Frito Lays potato chips, the bbq-flavored nuts, sawsawang patis, suka and toyo-and anything else with SALT! At the end of 5 days, if I were to be a good, obedient girl, my BP would go down, and all my problems would be solved. Well, maybe. Doc E still wants to view my heart scan video---which I have to grab from the hands of Doc#2---so she can confirm if my heart does have so much love to give it's bursting. But hey--i'll worry about that later. I gotta worry first about what to eat if I am to live without the salt of the earth???It's like telling me not to breathe!!!

Anyhow, after the phone-consult, i had to run off to meet with my Breakfast Club, who was very strict about what I ate in front of them. I was allowed one teeny bite of the crispy dilis, though. Had fun but had to run after an hour and a half to join the kumares---who, lo and behold, had all the sinful food spread out: dinuguan, 3 kinds of cake, ube halaya, leche flan...and wouldn't hear of my not eating any despite my making kwento about Dr. Erlyn's lay-off-the-salt warnings. Hmm. Maybe they want me to die early? Dr. Vivs was there (my neighbor who's an endocrinologist), and started planning to get me a CT-scan, a salter something monitor, etc,etc...whoa! Methinks she and the other docs hereabouts had their chance to heal me, and now that I was getting happy with Dr. Erlyn, she's suddenly planning all these other tests and telling me not to listen to my sis? I'm starting to get stressed here.

Fortunately, I am able to run out again, this time to drive down the hill, as another group of friends await me (the 'Old Neighborhood' friends)---and with a table laden with pasta, roast chicken, kinilaw, lumpia, pancit, suman and mangoes! And it's not even 12 noon yet, ha. Shoosh.
This group is more sympathetic (like the first group), and allow me to eat just the kinilaw, suman, white chicken meat and ripe mangoes. The rest was off-limits. Then later, they drive me to the drugstore to buy the meds Dr. Erlyn prescribed. But only after an hour on the videoke.

I am finally home by 4pm, in time to see my boys coming home from school! After sharing some merienda with them, i hie off to bed for a nap. Three eating events in one day can be pretty tiring. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Malling limits

For July 16:Am back in circulation with a vengeance gayud! Just spent the weekend in Davao, wouldjabelieve? Actually, the original plan was for Rene to join this big golf tournament in Davao sponsored by this German company---kaya we were gearing up to go talaga early Saturday morning. In fact, some of our friends left the day before pa, para dili kapuy (it's a 2.5 hour drive to Davao). But the rest of us planned to leave around 5:30, so the guys could catch the 11am tee-off. Sus unsaon man, kay the night before (friday)--there was this Mindanao-wide brownout (which is a rare occurrence)---which delayed pineapple processing at the plant, so my hero of a hubby decided he had to be on site Saturday morning. But since we were all 'primed' to go pasyal in the big city na, we still decided to push through with the trip--kahit na no good excuse to go. Well, i did come up with one good one: i had to start buying good books for our church's Mt. Matutum Christian School library, o teh?

So it was one good suroy trip---though i know na for certain that i can only be on my feet (kanang walay-lingkod-lingkod) for TWO hours MAX!! Then the kuyap-feeling begins. Three times this trip, actually, so mas tipid kay i wasn't able to cover as many shops in so little time. Of course, never fail naman to visit my favorite Girbaud shop, and this time i came out with this sling bag na made of some washable tent-like material gani? I figured this would be good for mga suroy where you need to be on your feet. It's a little more than a pocketbook (libro) in length and width, with lotsa pockets...but big enough to hold a small water bottle which i constantly need. And of course, i bought lotsa books again. And lotsa food. We never fail to hit the bigger malls' supermarkets kay lotsa foreign food stuff we like to browse around and buy.

I'm baaaaccckkk!!!

This is for July 13th.Yes--i'm kinda getting back in circulation---testing my limits, so to speak. Last Monday nga, i went swimming three laps at the pool with friend Becbec. Tapos hingal na. Tuesday naman, Myrna called to invite me and Lina to watch the movie, plus some malling.
Wednesday, another of our long, extended lunch parties at the club, Thursday, neighbors Espie and Elvie invited me to go ukay-ukay at the market (whee! I found this vintage bag---a little square thing in dark mustard suede unya may fur-lining ang rim---for forty pesoses!). Nalifong ko after a couple of hours, but i just sat down on the ukay itself, so there. Barely 30 mins home, had to shower quick, dress again, as the kumares were picking me up to attend this lunch celebrating a friend's death anniversary . After a polite amount of time making chika with the people at the lunch anniversary, we crossed over to visit another friend, Grace, who'd separated from her husband and now just moved into a new house of her own. It was a cute 2-bedroom affair with a big, cool blue bathroom...cozy gyud, but lonely kay siya lang mag-isa. Sad. She has two handsome sons, both working for banks in Manila. Hubby in Davao (actually Rene's bosom buddy, so that time of their breakup, we had to run up to Davao and console him till 3am).
Barely after getting back from Grace's, i had to take a nap muna (hilong talong na gyud) coz i had to cram pa for Bible Study.In a couple of hours, my sundo came na, brownout pa gyud sa Bible study house! Buti na lang, there was a full dinner set out for us, so we attacked that first, then the lights came on na. Home at 10pm. Hayyyy.

So you see, am back on my feet---just not driving far pa. I probably can get to my destination (kahit gensan), but thing is, after making la-ag there and getting kapuy, can I drive back? While at BS last night, i missed a call my uncle who's a biggie surgeon in St. Luke's---he'd heart about my enlarged heart ek-ek from an aunt earlier, and was compelled to call and nag his favorite niece to come to St. Luke's kay i need good doctors daw. He was horrified to know from my mom that I was all over the place na---apparently, these doctor people take hearts seriously.---and demanded I fly over A.S.A.P. Ay, ay. Parang i'm scared to return his call tonight- kay basi mag-nag to death.

If i have to go to Manila, sa September na lang seguro, when it's Trina's bday, and my bosom friend Joy's bday too. I have a reunion at Eping's house pa in August, remember? Speaking of which, i got a letter from the South Cotabato province SU Alumni president (and my brod), Joe Villanueva, telling me he was too busy daw sa trabaho, and would i please handle the annual alumni party this August for the whole province???? Yeah. that would be easy with me on semi-house arrest, huh. He also enclosed an embossed invite to the installation of the 12th Silliman U president, Ben Malayang this Founder's Day --so hmmm. i gotta stop pigging out, if i'm to fit into my little black dress then, huh? Assuming, that is---that i'm really back on my feet and able to travel all the way to Dumaguete---with all these bus-plane-boat transfers i have to take! (help me pray, ha).

I shall overcome...!

Took up bead work again today. I remember there was this simple white t-shirt with a beaded butterfly on the chest part that i'd been seeing in the Guess showindow for the past couple of months...Liked it for the butterfly, but didn't want to pay the price ( the cost of which would be 9 white t-shirts put together?). Rene said not to worry, as i'd probably be able to comeup with a good substitute sooner or later. True enuf, i saw this plain white shirt in Davao last week with a huge rubberized butterfly decal in front!! So much potential there for another beadwork masterpiece---and so much satisfaction in the end, too! Yey!

And that's what kept me busy for the most part of this afternoon. This morning naman, i cleaned up Trina's old study table so that Momon could use it as his 'own' workspace---at least for the duration of this schoolyear. Although Mikko's desk has long been relabeled as 'tambakan' (he studies atop his bed!!), Momon couldn't use it as another presence in the room would distract Mikko while studying. Hay, quirks, quirks, quirks. Next year, however, with Mikko hopefully in college by then, Momon will have full use and control of their bedroom!!

Got dizzy again, so i went night swimming with bosom buddy Becbec early tonight. I never do night swimming, being a sun worshipper and talawan sa cold water, and yep, chilly out there with bats flying overhead and the full moon hiding behind dark clouds, but hey---I figured i better start building up resistance again to fight this thingie i've got! Had to take it gradually, though. Doc#1 said bawal ang exercise, while Doc#2 said okay ang exercise. Sheesh. Makabuing gid. So i decided to take the middle of the road and go slow. Did only three laps tonight, and spent the rest of the time discussing with Bec some stressful church-related stuff. Next time, maybe I can do 5 laps na? Who knows, after this, i won't get dizzy at the mall na! Yey!

Doctor One and Doctor Two...

Last Wednesday afternoon, i decided to go see the cardiologist i was supposed to see in the first place, Dra. Yabut ( saw Dr. Johnson Wee the first time).And guess what? Except for the part where i was a STRESS HYPERTENSIVE (e.g. anything out of the ordinary 'kalma'---be it happy or sad--my BP would go up), Dra. Yabut declared from the same readings of the heart scan that my heart wasn't enlarged at all! She also said my fainting thingie was common to a lot of people (a shrug of shoulders here...). So she TOOK ME OFF MY MAINTENANCE MEDS which Dr. Wee gave earlier! Save for the occasional tranquilizer in case i get hyper over anything...that's it. Two weeks observation. Ang pinagbawal na exercise ni Dr. Wee, she said pwede na, as long as i get back to it gradually....and so on, and so forth. Now i don't know who to believe na regarding my enlarged heart.

Tamang-tama, later that evening( like 9:30pm), Myrna texted me, inviting Lina and me to come with her to a balikan trip to Davao (with driver, of course). I jumped at the chance to see some civilization after my house arrest (which was lifted), siempre! So off we went the following morning (yesterday). I just got dizzy bouts 3x at SM there, but possibly because of prolonged walking in the mall after being on the couch for ages!!!

So here i am still a bit woozy.( Hmmm....that's why i'm still wondering what i've got lagi.) and checking my 1250 unread messages in my inbox. Have lots of work to do for the church council meeting this weekend, so i'm going to be tied up to the PC the whole day, it seems. Oh, yeah---and there's that class directory i haven't finished for our batch, and it's taking ages to do, and frustrating pa, kay lots of the addresses are from our hayskul days, o our hayskul days pa!

See? So much to do even if i'm on 'sick leave' from the world! Hoohooy.Que sera, sera.