Baby Steps

One Friday afternoon last April, Mama slid down a small flight of stairs (just three steps) in our laundry area. This wouldn't be much of a problem, had not the steps been slippery (the laundry area was outdoors) and Mama being her age (she is turning 75 in October). I found myself frantic on the cellphone, minutes after I received the SMS Dad sent me about Mama's accident. How is she, Are there any bones broken, Why aren't you in the hospital yet? were just some of the questions I asked my family (in my high-pitched, panicky voice) as I tried to deal with the news.

Luckily, Mama was conscious and had no broken bones. She did, however, rupture her patellar tendon and as such, would have to go surgery and physical therapy to regain the full use of her knee and left leg.

Mama's current condition has taken a toll on the family in a number of ways. We are all stressed and a bit sad to see her in bed almost 24x7, with only about an hour a day exercising her legs using a walker. She hasn't even gone out of the house since coming home from surgery (almost two months now).

She started her series of physical therapy sessions last Tuesday and can flex her left knee up to 78 degrees. To be able to climb down a flight of stairs, she would have to come up to a full 90-degree bend, which will take several more PT sessions and some more patience. We are optimistic that Mama will be walking again come July but as of now, she is taking a lot of patient baby steps to get there.

I'll get more done, I'll have some fun

How can you unhear a sad song?

Test

This is a test

Happy New Year

Green tea ice cream for a clean slate in 2010.

The Itchy Truth

Balot, The Revelation of Human Frailty

After almost 26 years of existence, I only recently found out weeks ago that I was allergic to a Filipino delicacy - balot. It all started when my boss and a colleague each had one egg for ourselves before dinner time. I confessed that until that moment, the only time I ever tried balot was back when I was a toddler (and I'm not even sure if it really happened, that my Dad and I were seated at the dinner table and he was cracking open the egg for me). 

I was feeling brave that evening; I had cracked open the egg in my hands and obediently drank the liquid before moving on to munching on the meaty bits. At one point, my colleague who was observing me while I ate said that I had already begun eating the unborn chick (sisiw, in Filipino) and I said "Oh, really?" but kept eating anyway. 

Despite my not finishing the entire egg, I still developed huge, red welts all over my face over 36 hours later! This was after I've had three full meals, and needed to drink half a cup of milk just before bed. I thought my allergies to dairy and poultry had come back and I was devastated (this is really the right term, as I almost always cannot live without cheese in my diet).

Imagine that - if what I had eaten were poison, I'd probably be too long gone to save if the side effects took almost two days to manifest. I quickly downed two anti-allergy pills, drank a lot of water and stayed up until 2 am, hoping that the welts would go away the next day (yes, I am vain that way). Good thing my boss didn't feel guilty when I told her I found out her balot gave me allergies. She just grinned and told me that we had to try one again soon. 

Welcome to the Zebra Crossing