Celebrating A Life Of Second Chances

Some call it the big C, I don’t.

The big C for me is Christ. At one time in our lives, we experience such life-changing ailments and fear for our health, we are afraid to die. But let’s face it, when our time comes, no matter how careful we are, no matter how we show the world how brave we are, then it is really time to go.

It takes courage to face something we didn’t even expect. It takes a brave outlook in life to go on.  Today is my 9th year since I underwent sigmoid surgery because of stage 3 colon cancer.  Six cycles of chemotherapy, almost six months in the process. I’ve said before in my other blog posts that every July 13 for me is a celebration of life, a life of second chances.

Yes, life has changed since then. I gained more friends here, I  got a wonderful gift when my grandson Nate was born, I’ve been strong enough to face those everyday challenges that are part of life. Additional nine years of bliss, small miracles that happen every day, wonderful  things that made me laugh and smile and cry sometimes because of joy.

Life is a miracle. Every day that we are alive, there is always sometime worth-celebrating.  There is always something that makes us stronger in our faith, courageous in life’s battles and  having  enough confidence to face life itself.

Courage is not just the strength to go on, it is going on when you don’t have enough of it. The journey is not always a paved highway, but sometimes they are back roads, the roads less traveled.  The destination doesn’t matter much but the journey does. We will encounter obstacles, make mistakes along the way but we will learn through it all.  Sometimes we discover beautiful paths.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. – 2 Corinthians 5:7

 

 

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Magic Ng Pasko

It’s been  a long night. A lot of my friends and relatives saw the video of my interview last night. Come to think of it, I didn’t even tell them that there was a segment called Magic ng Pasko. I got hundreds of likes and several comments on the album I posted there. A generous friend took shots of the video and sent the photos to me.  It was the first episode in a series I think this Christmas season.  Here’s the hashtag that the GMA network used in this segment.

They  uploaded it on YouTube. It was done though in Tagalog so most of you won’t probably understand what’s been said. Anyway, I am posting it here for you to see. Not registering so well on TV I think, body fats are aplenty… haha!

Some say they got inspired by the story. Some say they admire the strength I had facing such a predicament. Some say they admire my faith amidst such trials.  I say that God’s graces are immeasurable. I think of what happened as a test of strength, how far one can endure, how far one can go on and how far one can  let the magic of Christmas stay alive in our hearts. It’s been seven long years and I know I am healed.

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Lovely Saturday, Quiet Sunday

It’s been a long time, literally, that is! For the past few days, all I came up for a blog were one and two-liner features that made it to my most read list, just the same.  Anyway, I just thought of updating you all with the weekend I had.

Yesterday, I met a friend way back in college and I remember that the last time we had lunch together was a year ago. Although we get to text each other once in a while, it is always a welcome change to chat, giggle, reminisce, hold hands  and cry a little while drinking hot tea and making the big effort of finishing off the Shabu-Shabu plate she ordered at Gloriamaris  Restaurant at Gateway Mall.  Would you believe that we’ve been through the same predicaments and problems in life (not in the same degree probably) while counting the years being cancer survivors?  I’ve always said that the best people who would truly understand what you’ve  been through and what you are presently undergoing are those who are on the same road with you and traveling the same journey. Precy, a friend for almost forty years now is one such gracious and caring lady who is ready to help – a shoulder to cry on, a sister, family and all.

We attended a seminar on health and healing at  Noble Life International (Phils.) They develop and market organic healing foods endorsed by world-renowned medical researchers and doctors.  Their products are used by doctors and medical professionals as food therapy. Yesterday I learned a lot from one of their guest speakers, a neurosurgeon.  For the past three months,  Precy has been taking these  all-natural supplementary food medicines and she says that they really help in her recovery as a breast-cancer survivor. Having such toxic elements in your body as a result of six cycles of chemotherapy makes you so wary of eating unhealthy food. I’ve been so careful of my diet since I was diagnosed of stage three colon cancer almost three years ago. And again this brings me to some friends asking, “how can you talk freely about your illness and what you’ve been through?” Well, having a light-threatening disease is not the end of it as some people perceive it to be. It’s true, you have to go through the drastic measures of treatments, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and all but I am of the thought that sharing it through my blogs would somehow ease the pain for someone out there undergoing the same health problems as I am. And I feel happy that in my own little way, I am  doing a bit of helping these people cope. It’s the reason why I put up this blog in the first place.

Nissa and Obet came over yesterday to have dinner with us!  They brought with them ingredients for a yummy dinner, pork sinigang in guava.  And Obet could cook, we let him labor in the kitchen, churning out a tasty and indeed yummy sinigang sa bayabas. It was a lovely Saturday, alright:) And I had the chance to see the photos forwarded by their official wedding photographers. They haven’t chosen yet what to put in the official album from around 2,000 photos which will be narrowed down to about 150 at the most. I suggested that we have the candid shots printed and have them made into one lovely family album, after all, it’s not every day that your one and only daughter gets married:) .

It was a quiet Sunday and I almost cried listening to Fr. Leo’s homily today!

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