Tag Archives: medical checkup

Is There A Happy Goodbye?

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For me, goodbyes are always sad. That’s why tonight, I can write the saddest lines.

Today marks my first day being separated from ze husband. While packing his things inside his luggage, I offered to make him a pretty ribbon as a marker for his luggage just like what I did with mine. But he gently declined my offer telling me that his luggage was fine just the way it is. I guess my unicorn luggage is too pretty for him. 😅

One is going out of the country, the other is going out of town.

Nope, I am not afraid to live alone. I was single for 2 years and lived alone in our old apartment in Quezon City before I met my husband. I was passionately serving God and the church during that time I haven’t given singleness much a thought. I was, in fact, enjoying it.

But as we all know it, God called me to be a wife. Eight years later, here I am living alone again as the wife of an OFW. It’s only for 2 years though. But a lot can happen in 2 years. Adjusting also doesn’t come easy as I’ve gotten used to having my husband around for 8 years.

What I am afraid of now is that I’d get too comfortable living alone given that I’m an introvert and have an affinity for solitude. I’m very comfortable being alone, but I also crave human connections every now and then.

I do love to hang out with a few closest friends and stay up late talking about shared interests. But my default social circle, whenever I am transferring homes, is the church, so connecting with Victory Sorsogon is one of my priorities when I get back home.

I still have to wait for 2 weeks though before I can pack my bags and head home. I was scheduled to have my executive checkup on the 21st and 22nd of April. I just want to make sure I am 100% healthy before I go back to my multitasking, unicorn self. 🦄

When It’s Hard To Understand, Just Trust God

I am never the type who asks the “why me” question to God when I don’t understand the circumstances around me. God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-8). Neither does God expect us to understand the circumstances around us, but He wants us to trust Him completely despite the uncertainty. And yet I can’t help but wonder why God called my husband to work in the Middle East as a nurse when wars are rampant there. Why there?

Just the day before my husband’s flight this morning, Iran initiated missile attacks against Israel. All the flights in the Middle East were canceled and flight operations were suspended, but they also resumed a couple of hours later. My heart sank after hearing the news. I couldn’t sleep well for the past few nights. Why now, Lord? But then, God reminded me about Queen Esther in the Bible and how God chose her for “such a time as this.”

Our Daily Bread Daily Devo

In between our sobs and hugs, I told my husband that we have to stand firm in our calling even if we have to make sacrifices, just like what Queen Esther did. We go where God calls us to go, and we serve those whom He has called us to serve. We may choose not to respond right away because of fear. And we can think that we were able to avoid the responsibility entirely. But the truth is, we are only delaying the calling. The calling will remain until it gets fulfilled sooner or later.

Thus, there is only one response that God requires from us – we obey. Obedience is of paramount importance to God. He measures our faith and our loyalty to Him when we follow Him even if it means our lives are at stake. Not every calling is the same, but every calling will define where we stand with God. Are we with Him or are we against Him?

YouVersion Bible Daily Devo

Different Places, But The Same God

I felt like God wanted me to see our situation now from a bigger perspective. The Middle East is comprised of deserts. Our farm, on the other hand, is comprised of wilderness. Right now, the wilderness and the desert are unfamiliar territories to me and my husband and yet God called us to step out of our comfort zones to serve in these places.

We don’t know what is waiting for us in the desert and in the wilderness. There can be abundance and growth, but there can also be lack and drought. There can be cooperation, or there can be resistance. There can be war, and there can be peace. But one thing is for sure, God is opening doors that He wants me and my husband to enter.

YouVersion Bible Daily Devo

Getting Ready For The New Season

I am beyond grateful that the provisions, guidance, and protection from God are overflowing during this season. Last Sunday, I received another job invitation aside from the ones I received in the previous months. These positions are a bit different from my previous writing jobs.

Job Invite #1
Job Invite #2

These are supervisory roles, too. And yet if God wills it I accept one of these jobs, I know God has prepared and will prepare me well to take on bigger responsibilities alongside my farm duties. All of these opportunities came just in time – I am planning to go back to the workforce, and my previous work experience as a brand journalist and my background in agribusiness will allow me to deliver what the company needs for its business.

Speaking of going back to the workforce, this is also why I need to prioritize my health before starting any job. God is giving me plenty of options to choose from to keep my health in check, and these options are getting better. One of them is the SPOT-MAS offered by The Medical City. I just need to ask my Mom’s oncologist about the difference between the SPOT-MAS and the BRCA 1/2 mutational testing.

The Medical City
Philippine Genome Center

If you’ve been reading my blog posts for a while now, you would know by now that I love asking a lot of questions out of my need to learn more so I can make better and informed decisions. And I realized just recently, too, that if you ask way too many questions, sometimes you get a good laugh as an answer. 😅

When I was talking to Healthway Medical’s patient care coordinator about their executive checkup package, I asked how long will it take to finish all the tests. He answered na 7-8 hours daw. I was like, “Whuuuuut? That’s like an entire shift already. ‘Di kaya sa ospital na ang ending ko nyan sa tagal ng mga tests. Mage-extract lang ng dugo, 1 hour ang inabot. Hinimatay na pasyente dahil sa blood loss.” 😂

He laughed so hard when I told him that. I know he was just joking. The tests will only take about an hour or 2. I already got these tests before except for the treadmill stress test, so I already have an idea how they’re done. I was just curious if every clinic has its own protocol when conducting the tests.

I must commend him though for being very accommodating and patient enough in answering all of my questions. And he sure is the right person for the job because he knows how to pacify an anxious patient. I will test this again when he assists me during my executive checkup on Sunday. 😁

Praying for good results. 🙏

Yes, tonight I can write the saddest lines. But I chose not to. Because I am not Pablo Neruda. Obviously. lol How to state the obvious without being obvious? 😄

Seriously, I will remain hopeful for what is yet to come and remain faithful to what is yet to be fulfilled. For now, we continue to rise above the challenges and overcome our fears of the unknown as we answer God’s calling – even if it entails sacrifices, many or few. 🙏

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.” – 1 Peter 5:7

“What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” – Genesis 28:15

“The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” – Deuteronomy 31:8

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Matthew 6:34

“The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness;..” – 1 Samuel 26:23

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” – James 1:12

A Healthy Self-Care: When God Says ‘Rest’

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Our bodies are like a rose. When it wilts, it loses its beauty and its essence. When our health fails, we lose vigor and vitality. I was prompted to write this article after feeling down under the weather the past days – a call for a healthy self-care.

To Rest is Not A Sin

I have this allergic rhinitis where I sneeze almost every hour accompanied by a runny nose. There’s a flu going around too and I think it triggered the attacks.

A few days back I experienced shortness of breath and chest pain and I asked my husband if it’s a panic attack or was it asthma. He told me to monitor the symptoms first. We have a history of asthma in the family and allergies and I used to have skin asthma or eczema. After a consultation with my derma, one of the triggering factors is stress and my first eczema outbreak happened back in college when I was trying to finish my undergrad thesis.

It’s been almost two years since the last time I had an outbreak. But now, I noticed that every time my immune system is low, my soles become very itchy especially when I eat something that contains allergens. It’s just so itchy you pretty much would like to crack your soles open and see where that itch is coming from. After the itch is gone, the soles of your feet will have dry, scaly skin – an indication that it went through a ‘rough’ battle. One of my sisters has this condition, by the way, that started back when she’s just a kid.

Only We Can Feel What Goes On in Our Bodies

I have a high threshold for pain. I can tolerate severe migraine attacks or very itchy feet without taking painkillers. But now, I am also allergic to some painkillers and I am close to believing I really have a weak immune system by genetic composition.

I told my husband I can sense that something is wrong with my body. I am also feeling pain in certain parts of my right breast and I don’t want to give myself a scare but it calls for one mandatory checkup in the family that I’ve been stalling for years now – mammogram. You may read this article about the history of breast cancer in my family.

Healing By Faith and Science

Succumb. Let Science play its role for now. Because for how many years I’ve been trying to leave it all to faith. ☺

Just like me and my husband’s attempts to have a child for 3 years now. He believes it is about time we seek for professional help and be at peace whatever the results may be.

We are scheduled to have a thorough checkup with an ob-gyn tomorrow and I plan to have a mammogram by the end of the month. I am stalling the PE too required at work because let’s just say I’ve been evasive of everything ‘medical’ the past years. Not because I am fearful of the results but I am believing that God will heal me by faith alone.

But then again, I know sooner or later I just have to go through these medical checkups most especially when symptoms are too visible to disregard and they disrupt my daily routine. It can really become too much of a hassle and an inconvenience.

I actually told my husband that I have the will power to still do things despite my weak physical condition because I am very strong-willed. But when it’s your body that starts failing you, that’s where doing things become really hard.

Our bodies are a vessel. Without it, we can do nothing. Our sense of purpose in this world comes from our ability to do things physically and a deteriorating vessel will be of no use. Except perhaps to fulfill a purpose that only God knows and only God will reveal in His perfect time.

For now, God is asking for a healthy self-care. He’s been asking for years. And did I say that I am just too plain stubborn? 😀

Now obeying and resting when God says so,

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” – Proverbs 17:22

P.S.

The roses were given to me by hubby dear last Valentine’s Day and methinks they are too pretty to just let them wilt. So here goes my appreciation by including them here. 😊