on being selfless

my mom’s been kicking ass since yesterday. in short, she’s a lot okay now since she got sick about 2 or 3 weeks ago. cool…very, very cool. we’re now able to make kwento with her and laugh at our jokes. *insert loud sigh of relief here*

after i got home yesterday and did some pa-housewife stuff in our apartment, i took my pillow, blanket, lip balm, cellphone and house keys and marched to my mom’s house. yes, she’s my neighbor (haha!). ive been sleeping in her room for the past 3 months already. its impossible to have my eyes shut with my landlord’s children doing jumping jacks in the room just above where i sleep. i guess even if i complain a kadillion times, children will be children and im beginning to get horrified at the idea that i might bear similar mini monsters like the one our poor landlord have to bear with for the rest of his life.

anyway, going back to my mom’s room, it was around 1:30pm when i got in bed and she followed so we can make kwento on what transpird during her regular visit to her doctor. as of presstime, my mom is still undergoing extreme medications (read: 3 antibiotics with a daily dose of injectables that costs 1k each…damn!). but the happy thing is, she’s been going to her doctor on her own now. meaning, she can now handle herself well which is a neon sign saying that, I’M FEELING HEALTHIER EACH DAY! good.

so, she told me of the latest findings and all that medical stuff you don’t wanna know. and we reminisced her old days when she was in and out of hospitals, maybe 3x in a year. and i reminisced the time geebee was hospitalized for 2 months. that was last year, around this time, during our first year together. that was the most trying time in my entire life (second of course to the time my mom was hospitalized for 3 months in manila and she was on comatose for 3 days). during that time, i had a medical crash course and i became nurse, caregiver, pharmacist and dietician within the span of 2 months. here’s how:

::nurse because i had to be there if not 24 hours, at least most of my waking hours. i had to make sure his temperature is always normal, that his dextrose doesn’t ran out and if he needs to have is injections or have his blood pressure checked…and if his doctor comes in, i become assistant to his assistant nurse…so that makes me assistant assistant nurse and all his doctors respect that which is why they update, i repeat, THEY UPDATE me on how he’s doing…

::caregiver because i have to change his clothes, accompany him to the bathroom (remember: he has a needle stuck to one of his arms), help him brush his teeth, comb his hair…

::pharmacist because i know all his medicines, including their generic names, where a specific med is bought and how much it costs. i know which medicine is to be taken at a particular time and which medicine is already running out. i can even tell the name or what its for just looking at the shape or color…

::dietician because i know which food is good for him and which food could kill him. i know which food goes with which med and which shouldn’t be eaten with which med. i even know why he needs a particular food and where it can be bought at what price…

ive given him almost all my time, energy, tears, care and love. during that time, it was 2nd semester and i was finishing the last half of my thesis with defense drawing nearer and nearer. i had to do write-ups in the taxi on my way to school or to the hospital. and when we had to transfer geebee to a hospital in manila, i had to go down friday night with a bunch of paper work like surveys to be tallied and analyzed inside the bus then come back home on a sunday night with the same paperwork on hand. it was stressful… but the funny thing is, i cherished every moment. i did everything i can in my power for him to get better…like walking to the nearest pharmacy at 2 in the morning when he needed a particular injectible that is not available in the hospital’s pharmacy.

and his parents, his family saw all of that. and i guess, because of all that effort, i was able to prove that id do everything for him. not that they doubt me at all, its just like i gave them a clear verification. and i became closer to his family because of that. and it was heartwarming…

my mom just smiled while i reminisced that time. there’s nothing else to say. like i said, she’s my neighbor so she knows how i take care of geebee even at home. and she says im ready. i believe so. im ready.