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In sickness and in health

My lolo was confined in Medical City for 2 weeks, and half of it was spent at ICU. During those times, we could only see him from 0900-1100 and 1700-1900. One day, I arrived at ICU-C3 with lola talking to my dear lolo while holding his hand. My lola who started being makulit and makakalimutin 4 months ago, was diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s disease. She knows that lolo was in the hospital because he’s sick, but “fortunately” with her condition, she doesn’t know how serious it is. Everyday, she would dress up and wait for my tita to accompany her to the hospital, would bring clothes with her thinking she’ll be staying with lolo. My lolo can’t speak due to the respirator inserted in his throat, and would only scribble on a notebook what he wants to say. As I arrived, he wrote something about bringing my lola home, therefore taking care of her, for he knows that if we let her out of our sight, we might spend the rest of the day looking for her.
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Btw, we transferred him to the hospital along Taft. I rode the ambulance. Though not a good time (when is it a good time anyway?) I still felt excited with the thought of riding one.
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Oh, and I lost my glasses… again.

over a cup of coffee

Aside from the critical event in my life, a horrifying truth ended my childhood fantasy. All it takes is a confirmation. I thought we were different. I was wrong.

My lolo

I ain’t no drama queen, but I think I look like one especially when I talked to lolo while he’s in the ICU. I was trying to be strong for the sake of him, but my eyes can’t control the tears welling up my eyes. I told him to fight. I told him to be strong because we want him to be around for our grand reunion on December wherein his children, my aunts and uncles, who now lived on different parts of the globe, would be here to celebrate Christmas with us. I can see his face contort with agony and his closed eyes welling up with tears as well.

My 82-year-old lolo had his first stroke last Thursday as he was trying to lift the can of paint and doing things he shouldn’t do due to his condition. At his age, he shouldn’t be exhausting himself lest he’ll be ill. He was trying to repaint the house in Cainta and even with helpers around he still does things himself.

He got admitted to Medical City in Ortigas and I’ve been staying with him since Sunday. He was recovering but due to nosochomial infection he acquired while he was confined in the ACSU (Acute Stroke Unit) his condition aggravated.

The phlegm in his lungs due to emphysema thickened and he is having hard time breathing. He would cough hard but cannot expectorate the phlegm. His erythema face contorted with pain and the determination to fight. The doctor put an intubation wherein a tube was inserted down his throat using tools you wouldn’t wanna be inserted with. My lolo gagged at it and is still gagging even when he was starting to get sedated. It caused trauma not only to him but for us as well who saw it all. The doctor said that if his body wouldn’t respond well to the medicine they couldn’t do anything more.

Please pray for my lolo (Matias Guimba). Please pray that God would continue to watch over him and embrace him with His loving touch. We cannot do anything more but pray. We lift it all up to Him, the Almighty One, who knows what would be best for His child.

October 13

So fast. The semester already ended yesterday after our final exam. We celebrated it by giving ourselves a movie treat. Although it was not the movie we originally wanted (Skeleton Ring), we suit ourselves with Rob Schneider’s Deuce Bigalow at G4 instead. The movie was so-so. It lacks substance, but we laughed at it anyway. We were stacked at traffic jam and a total of 2 hrs travel time was made, but it was a fun filled afternoon all the same.

I ran in with Kim that afternoon with his friends, and when I got home he has a fever. He told me that they were supposed to watch that same movie but their plan did not materialized when he told them he’s not feeling well. Up until now, I’m playing the ms. Little nurse for my little brother. I hope he’ll get well soon.
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During our Finals, Ham and I only got to chat one time, because he was giving me time to “study”. That’s thoughtful of him, but I can’t help myself and misses him instantly. I can’t text him that much though, since his Globe doesn’t work up until now and the cost of texting him on his Aussie phone is as expensive as the call. Lucky for me, Mom allowed me to use her phone to call him but I’ll be paying her at the end of the month, fair enough. It was just for a minute or two, but hearing his voice made me focused on what I am studying and more determined to do well.

Communion and Graduation

Last Friday was also Geri’s First Communion. She was chosen to recite the Second Reading. We’re proud of her!

The next morning was my little brother’s graduation day. Yep! He’s now included to the list of professional bums in the country hehe… but we’re really proud of him!

Dinner date

Last Friday was our last meeting before our final exam. Only a handful of students were present to compute for their grades including us. Mostly, those were the students who are “grade conscious” so to speak…. Or like us, who were planning to have a gimmick afterwards.

I brought my digicam for a class picture. Most of my classmates were shy when I told them to look at the cam except my “bibo” friends who enjoy posing for the camera. After a while, with Daddy Yo’s encouragement they gladly smiled on cam.

We were dismissed early, and since we would be meeting Liezl after her 7pm class, we decided to go first at San Lazaro to eat. It was my first time to eat the Greenwich Special Pizza since I always order pasta whenever I frequent the place. The pizza was ok. But our snack was cut short when we were informed that the office will be closed on Saturday. Since I still don’t have my permit (%$#@&*) for our exam even if I paid full during our enrollment, I have to wait in line and present my receipt in order to get that permit. Hmmp! I didn’t had my receipt then so Jebs drove us to my place and hurriedly snatched my receipt from my folder. Luckily we reached the school before the closing time.

We still have ample time to spend before meeting Liezl. We decided to stay at Jollibee, order nothing and just review for our Lecture exam. Em, Melai, Xandy, Jebs, and I discussed the answers in our questionnaire on our Unit exam and asked each other questions we could think of regarding the subject.

Once there, at Liezl’s place, we played with Tyrone (her son), I took his pictures mostly, while his mom got dressed. We drove straight to Don Henrico’s in Tomas Morato ordered buffalo wings, baked ziti (did I spell it right?) in red and white sauce, and pizza in bacon cheeseburger flavor and the other one which I don’t know. The food was rich in flavor and I got satiated easily. Liezl haven’t forgot our weaknesses and so she brought her big Toblerone bar and shared it to us.

The rain was pouring hard and our Cinderella (Em) friend must be in her doorsteps at 10pm. The traffic was jammed and we reached her place at 11pm. The night wasn’t done yet for us so we stopped at Café Briton in Greenbelt and ordered crepe for dessert. We talked about our life in general and whether Liezl would go back to Metro or not. At the end, we were the ones who were convinced to transfer to other school for a better quality of education. It’s still the thought that’s gnawing my mind up until now.

Over all, that dinner with my friends was terrific. Now, we need to prepare for our final exam this week. *grin*

Icky day

Shhh.. I have something to tell you. I didn’t bathe this morning when I went to my grandparent’s house. Did I tell you that the water system in our area has a mood? Oh yes, so if we wake up late in the morning, like 10am, we’ll bathe in slightly murky and smelly water. Kadiri noh? Anyway, that’s what happened this morning. I didn’t want to bathe in water like that, and since I bathed last night, I thought I wouldn’t smell that bad naman.

The day was hot and sticky. We arrived in Cainta at lunch time amidst the blazing sun. We ate, talked with our lolo and lola, and had a siesta before going home. I only had a time to change my sweat drenched white shirt with fresh new white shirt before we went to the Church to attend the Mass. It’s St. Therese’s feast day so we chose to attend Mass there.

I was conscious and a bit guarded as to how I smell whenever they would go near me. I felt sticky and filthy. During the Mass, I realized that not only my physical body hasn’t bathed yet, but my soul as well. I feel sticky, smelly, and filthy inside. It’s been a while since I last had my confession and communion. I feel bad about it. I pray that this “spiritual gap” I am experiencing would be over soon.