A Good Day to be Happy

Today is another "D Day" for us as a family. . .

That means, it's chemo therapy session day for us. That is how it works. It is really us, as a team undergoing the session, but of course "Wonder Mamu" as the lead. Got to face this with a bit of excitement and thanksgiving as well.

So at 6 am in the morning, little "ate" sister (our youngest sister) called up Mamu to give her happy thoughts as "pabaon" (like a take out or something). Mamu was able to talk to her grandchildren (Julia, Jareth and Zachy) in the US.

Then came the call from my only brother living in New Zealand who also gave a present to Mamu by having his son JP talk to Mamu before she heads to the hospital. This not only made Mamu happy but busy because she had to rush dressing up for we have to go. We had about four big bags to carry. We were like going to a summer outing. We even forgot our pillow. With all the hustle and bustle, her thoughts were off the chemo therapy. Great!

Our relatives both here and abroad have also showed their own personal ways of caring and support. Mamu's community members (of the Lourdes parish church) have also done their prayers and vespers, all for Mamu's health. Thanks to all of them, not to forget our very own friends too.

We started our day early. That way, we don't have to mingle with the traffic, both vehicles and people. A reward is having to choose "our place". I am referring to our "suki" cubicle, the one we always choose.

We went straight to the BCI unit (BCI stands for Bienavides Cancer Institute), with big sister saying good morning to the secretary, the security guard and the nurses, "parang kakandidato" (like a candidate for a government position). That's how she is.

The hospital has new, up-to-date and clean facilities and equipment. Here is the nurses' station in the middle of the room. At the sides are the cubicles, now with pink curtains and golden yellow bed sheets. The last time we visited, they had light yellow curtains and bed sheets.

We were contemplating on trying out the cubicle near the large glass windows so we can look at the big green trees and the vast blue sky, however, the sunlight might smile on us too much, heheh, so we ended up on our usual "fave" spot where it's super cool, besides cubicle 7.

An elderly couple was occupying Cubicle No. 7. The husband was the patient who completed his 6 sessions, however, his doctor recommended a 7th. The wife went to this 7th session with a worried face (most probably a worried mind and heart as well, not to exclude a worried financial situation, since this was what she mentioned to Mamu). She quickly received comforting words from my eldest sister for that's all my sister's powers can do for the woman at the moment.

Mamu, the wonder woman that she is, takes her position on the bed with conviction, taking off her pair of golden "Crocs shoes" . . .

The nurse, in blue not in white, diligently prepared the medicines and the gadgets. Would you believe they were so busy because all the cubicles were occupied. The other room for children patients was also accommodating grown-ups for the day.

My sister and I try to cheer up Mamu as best we can. Mamu was sharing her feelings about the contents of the cards her grandsons Justin and Jeric gave her and some funny stories about Angelica, her granddaughter, who was in school, on a Saturday, for her review. Grandchildren are a blessing (most of the time, viewing it positively). We had a lot of chit-chats and laughs before the session plus some eats.

Mamu had a couple of McDonald's hash brown before the session, some delicious sweet crunchy native "turon" (fried sweet banana) during the session and "lumpiang sariwa" with mouth-watering halo-halo after.

We had her listen to nice music to make her relax. She was asleep the whole time, but I guess it's more of the Benadryl (a medicine that makes one sleepy) more than the music, heheh. Of course not, the pop music helped.

According to Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner, we have an experiencing self and a memory self.

From what I get, we define happiness based on our memory of the experience rather than the experience itself. This is something new to me and I find it really interesting.

This is the reason why we make an effort to build a positive experience today for Mamu than any other day.

Keep on believing! Chow!