Wednesday. September 21, 2022.
Hello everyone. It's my 4th day here on this platform. 🙂 I already introduced myself here but I still want to share a little about myself. I already shared this on my other platform but I just wanted to share it here too, just something about my second life experience. 🙂
Time flies so fast, it seems like only yesterday that I was in the hospital, lying and almost dying because of my severe illness.
Four years have passed since I had a serious illness. I was diagnosed with Pelvic TB (Tuberculosis) year 2018. It was also the first time I learned about such a disease. All I knew before was that TB can only affect the lungs. It turns out that many parts of the body can be infected with TB. Either lungs, kidneys, spine, brain, or pelvic. And Pelvic TB was the one that hit me at that time.
At first, I didn't really know that I was sick. It's just that I was suddenly delayed for a few months, I guess 3 months as I remember. No matter how many times I take a pregnancy test, it always comes out negative. So I thought maybe I'm just really delayed. I didn't feel much during the first months either, so my mind was complacent that I was fine, and I had nothing to worry about.
Until suddenly my stomach swelled as if I was pregnant. Someone told me that I should go for a check-up because I might have an Ectopic Pregnancy. I also feel tired so quickly and short of breath even if I just move a little. As time goes by, my condition is getting worse. I can't even sleep well anymore because it's hard for me to breathe, especially at night.
I have reached the point where I don't know what to do anymore. I am really afraid of what is happening to my body. I even asked for help from my family and friends so that I can get checked up because it is difficult here in the Philippines when you go for a check-up in a public hospital. There are too many processes that you need to go through, you will be sent back and forth to the hospital before they even know about your illness. That's the reality here, that when your external condition is not that bad sometimes you are not their priority unless you are already 50/50 in front of them.
I was also lucky because my aunt (my Dad's sister) came to the rescue, she immediately sent me 5,000 PHP so I could get checked up. I checked up at the private clinic at first, but the advice to me is that it's better if I go straight to the hospital for a further check-up because all water (ascites) was found inside my stomach via ultrasound. So that means I'm not really pregnant, but there's a more serious reason why my stomach is swollen like I'm 5 months pregnant. The doctor said that there could be many reasons why my stomach was full of ascites and that it would only be known at the hospital because they have more complete equipment there.
As my mother was already worried about me, she immediately asked me to go back to Manila for a check-up at the Philippine General Hospital, she said I should have a check-up there because the doctors are also experts and their equipment are complete. When I returned to Manila, my stepdad accompanied me to the PGH Emergency Room since my Mom was also sick and could not accompany me (She's a Lupus Patient), but just like the other Public Hospitals I was not admitted to the ER either, they said it seems like my condition is not that serious and they say there are more serious patients they need to prioritize. The intern said I just need to go back the next day to the Out Patient Area, to check up there.
The next day, my stepdad brought me to the ER again just in case they will accept me there already. Mom didn't want us to go through OutPatient because it would take longer and they could see that I was struggling already so I needed to be admitted ASAP. But they rejected me again, they insist that I can only be seen as an Out Patient, no need to be admitted to the ER. When we got back to my mom's house, it was really hard for me to breathe anymore, I couldn't even stand up properly. So at dawn, we hurried back to the hospital, my Mom called an ambulance in the barangay and they put me in a wheelchair. At that moment, my mom came with us to the hospital even though she was having a hard time too. They took me straight to the ER and as before they still didn't want to accept me so my Mom got angry with the ER staff, she made a scene there to get the attention of the other Doctors. I am already crying too coz I'm catching my breath already. I know to myself that my body can't take it anymore. Good thing there was a Resident Doctor who stopped by and checked my condition right away. He asked my stepdad what happened to me and they showed me the results of my laboratories at the Private Clinic. The doctor immediately sent us to OBAS, an emergency room for OB-GYNs.
Finally, they prioritized me and took care of me as soon as they saw me. They immediately had me do laboratories, they checked on my tummy and within the day they immediately diagnosed me with Pelvic TB and they said if I hadn't been taken to the hospital I might have died from it because it had spread throughout my body already. Imagine 3 days going back and forth to the main ER and they just ignored me just because of my outward appearance. They don't even know that inside my body my disease is slowly killing me.
I was also confined to the hospital for almost 3 weeks. Thanked God for the second life and the second chance he gave me. I am thankful that he has not abandoned me even in the worst moment of my life. I really didn't think I could survive it. I was so scared back then because I'm thinking about how my children would be when I was gone. I can't imagine leaving my children so early. Despite the hardships I went through, I still tried to fight and survive. I still tried to overcome that challenge in my life.
I am so thankful to my family for not leaving me and for helping me fight my illness, especially to my Mom who never left me at the hospital even though she was sick. She watched over me even when she was struggling with her own illness. Every time I remember that incident, I miss my Mom even more now (she's already now in heaven with our Lord God).
I learned to take better care of myself. I admit that I also abused my body before. I had bad habits like drinking alcohol every day and smoking. Now I have learned to appreciate the life that was lent to me. Sometimes we are strong on the outside but we didn't know that inside we are getting weaker. That's why we should learn to protect and love ourselves at all costs.
I Learned to appreciate my family more. In times of need, family is the first thing we lean on, family is the one that will never leave us. That's why as long as they are still there by our side, we should always appreciate them. Let's show them how much we love them and how important they are in our lives.
I learned to be stronger. In these situations, being strong is our only choice. In any trial, all we have to do is trust in our own abilities and courage to survive. Always believe in ourselves. There is no test that God will give us that we cannot overcome. We have nothing else to do but just keep going, and be positive in every challenge that comes our way.
Lastly. Always put God first. Let him be the center of our lives. With every plan we make, with every choice, we want to make. If we put him first, everything will fall into place. Give everything to the Lord, and always trust and believe in him. No matter what we do, no matter what we go through, or no matter where we go, always keep him in our hearts and mind. Let him teach us our life lessons. Let him lead us on the right path, let's leave everything to him.
