Endoscopy . . .

As scheduled, we were in Asian hospital last Wednesday, February 11. Hubby was requested to be there as early as 5am since the endoscopy is scheduled at 6am. We came in a little late since we slept so late that morning. We went to the admissions office to facilitate the processing of the documents prior to the operation. In no time, we were on the 2nd floor already where the operation will take place.

Hubby was endorsed to the nurses and he was asked to prepare himself already. I on the otherhand was instructed to wait in the lounge area. I just gave hubby a pat on the back to assure him that everything will be ok. The next hours was so looooooooooong! I don't know what to expect. I tried to sleep on the sofa but I can't. I flip from left to right hoping to get a comfortable position but to no avail.

I was expecting that it'll be over by 7am since the actual procedure is about 10 to 15 minutes only according to the doctor. Another 30 minutes have passed and hubby is still inside. My mind was preoccupied with a lot of "what if's ". I was worried if something went wrong during the procedure or hubby did not respond well to the anesthesia or the doctor found something wrong and has to do another tests . . . oh, well I'm just simply worried and a lot of baseless thoughts are coming through my mind during that time. Another 30 minutes have passed and it's 8am already. I went to the cubicle wherein there was an attendant and I asked the condition of hubby. She told me to wait for another 15 minutes and hubby will be out. I assume hubby is ok so I just have to wait for the test result.

I transferred in the lounge area in the other wing since hubby will be coming out from that side. In about 20 minutes, hubby was already out. He showed me the test result and everything is ok. Nothing serious. The diagnosis is gastritis. As per my research, it's the inflammation of the stomach lining and it's very much treatable. The doctor prescribed some medicines and instructed hubby to have a low fat high fiber diet. Caffeine and alcohol is a no no! ! ! So no more coffee in the morning and no more softdrinks during snack time. Alcohol won't be an issue since hubby is not a drinker. We also have to check if he can continue to be "on diet" since it can be another cause for his condition.

Hmmmm? This is in contrary to his initial illness last year wherein he has to be on diet. Well, I guess hubby should just eat in small amounts and just increase the frequency of his meals. He really has to check his diet and eat healthy foods instead of avoiding mealtimes.

Dad, be careful and stay healthy. We need to be healthy for the kids. I want to grow old with you as we watch Kaila and JM have their families of their own. Perhaps we can have more kids in the near future. :) Lets grow old together taking care of each other and maintain the friendship & companionship that we have right now. I don't see myself growing old with somebody else. I love you so much and I'm looking forward to the next 50 years or more of togetherness with you.

Heartburn . . .

strikes back! Exactly a week ago, hubby suffered another heartburn attack. It was almost the same time when he had it last November. It was between 2am to 3am. But it was more serious as compared to the first attack. Hubby ran out downstairs from our bedroom catching up his breath. Sensing that there was something wrong I followed him and saw him pouring cold water on himself. He was sort of panicking at that time. He went upstairs to wake up his grandma. He then went to the bathroom and opened the shower. He kept on pounding his chest. All of us were nervous since we don't know what might happen next. We kept on giving him cold drinking water. He pours the cold water on himself from time to time. He was chilling already at that time. I asked our yaya to get him new clothes so that he can dress up. While dressing up, Lola Norma and our yaya went to our neighbor to ask help. We need somebody to drive us to the hospital.

In time, we were on our way to Calamba Medical Center already. We went straight to the emergency room and his vital signs were taken. His BP was quite high at 150/80. He had his ECG as well. We waited for the resident doctor to interpret the result of the ECG. Of course the doctor asked us again what happened and we recalled the series of events. The diagnosis of the doctor was GERD . Same diagnosis as before. But the doctor found some abnormality on his heart. According to her, the size of his heart is quite big but nothing serious. It may not be serious for her but for us patients knowing that there's something different or abnormal is something to be worried about already. She prescribed some medications and asked us to consult a gastroenterologist for further tests on hubby's condition. We were then discharged from the ER.

Upon arriving home, Lola Norma was waiting for us. We told her that hubby is ok already and she can go back to sleep. Hubby and I then talked and I told him that we should go to a specialist already since this is the second attack in a matter of 3 months. Plus, his BP was high and there might be something wrong with his heart. We decided that both of us we'll be on leave for the day so that we can go to Asian Hospital later that day for another check-up. We went upstairs to have some more sleep before we go for another round of check-up.

I'm not sure if it was past 8am or 9am when we were awaken. We had our breakfast first and started to prepare so that we can leave before lunch. The kids were so happy to see both of us. They asked if we'll be going to the office. I told them daddy is sick that's why we're home. Kaila was asking if she'll go to school or not. Hubby agreed to let Kaila stay home.

On our way to Asian Hospital, hubby had another attack. This time he was driving the car by himself. I told him to park in the nearest gasoline station so that he could rest for a while. I bought a mineral water so that he could relax himself. In about 15 minutes or so we were driving again. After a while he was having another attack. We had to park on the next gasoline station again in SLEX. Another 15 minutes or so passed. It took us almost an hour to travel all the way to Asian Hospital. Normally, this is just 20 minutes away from us without traffic.

We went straight to the ER so that he'll be immediately attended by the nurses. His condition and vital signs were again checked and later brought to a private room. He also underwent another ECG and this time the result was normal as well as his BP. The diagnosis was almost the same and he was referred to a gastroenterologist. But he was given a medication through an IV so we stayed for a while until he feels better already. We then went to Dr. Novenario who is the accredited gastroenterologist of Maxicare.

As expected, there were a lot of people for consultation. I just stayed in the lounge area while hubby was inside in the waiting area of the doctor's clinic. It was more than an hour or so before hubby came out. He was scheduled for an endoscopy on Wednesday so that his condition will be evaluated more thoroughly. We went from office to office to finish all the documentations needed for his test on Wednesday. We were finished by around 5pm. We went to Festival Mall afterwards and ate in Old Spaghetti House.

It was another tiring and stressful day. But I thank God since hubby is safe and nothing is serious with his condition.

My Valentine Treats . . .

Hubby never fails to give me white roses on Valentine's day. It is usually delivered to our office that's why my officemates were expecting it last Friday. When they reminded it to me, a part of me was somehow expecting it too. But come 4pm and there were no flowers. hu hu hu . . .

Hubby and I will be meeting in Paseo to have our dinner there. I came in first and bought him a Havainas flip flops as my Valentine gift. I spent the rest of my time in National bookstore where I left my gift in the package counter. He texted me that there was a heavy traffic. It was almost 7pm when he came. He was pulling me towards the exit at the back but my gift was in package counter in front. I asked him to go the other way and as we are nearing the exit I handed to him the number tag for him to get the package himself. I immediately went out and looked at him while he was going out. He was so happy and surprised for my gift. It is seldom that I surprise him with a gift. he he he . . . It is usually him that surprises me with gifts . . .

We went out afterwards and we're on the lookout for a venue for our dinner date. We passed by Poquito Mas and we are not satisfied with the buffet selection so we looked for other restos in the area. We ended up in Fastuarant which specializes in Italian cuisine. They also have their buffet which consists of pastas, chicken in different sauces, fish fillets, mussels, pizza and a lot more. Their buffet is only P299 which is inclusive of one round of ice tea, soup and a dessert. Another good find for us! We enjoyed our dinner and I almost forgot about the flowers already. :)

Hubby asked me if I wanted to have coffee in Starbucks. I declined since I'm so full already. We just went around for a stroll and watched the live concert in the activity area in Paseo. We were about to call it a night at 10pm. While on our way home already, hubby asked me if I wanted to go to Tagaytay. Of course I said yes.

It was hubby's first time to drive all the way up to Tagaytay by himself. Unfortunately, I didn't bring our camera so we have no proof that we actually went to Tagaytay. We just went to Starbucks and hang out for a while. We didn't have our jackets that's why both of us were freezing in the cold winds of Tagaytay. We ended up our night at exactly 12 midnight.

When we arrived home, hubby took a while before he was able to get inside the house. When he came in he was with the bouquet of flowers already! This time he personally handed to me the flowers plus chocolates this time. My Valentine's day is finally complete. :)

My bouquet of white roses . . .

My bouquet with chocolates this time . . .

Our New Passport . . .

has arrived last Friday, February 13. I was not on my desk when our receptionist called me. She called one of my officemates and asked where am I. My officemate asked our receptionist if I have the bouquet of flowers already and she volunteered herself to get it. Unfortunately for her it was our passport which was delivered.

Since we have our new passports already, it's time to move on to our major project for Q1.

A Day of Fun and Excitement . . .

From the time the kids saw Fun Ranch and Ark Avilon Zoo on the net, they kept on asking us when are we going there. So we planned to go there on the weekend of JM's birthday. Initially, we were scheduled to go there on January 31 but we have to cancel it on the last minute since we have to attend Joey's birthday in Cavite. Last Saturday, February 7, we went to Fun Ranch and Ark Avilon Zoo already. Both kids were so excited.

We went to Fun Ranch first then we went back to Tiendesitas to have lunch first before we went to Ark Avilon Zoo. The kids enjoyed Ark Avilon Zoo better than Fun Ranch. Their favorite was feeding time with the animals. We paid additional P20 each so both kids can have carrots to feed the rabbits. They also enjoyed the play area where we rested for a while. Hubby and I were happy as well knowing the kids enjoyed the day very much. We were so tired but seeing them play, smile and giggle eases out all the difficulties.

Here are some of our pictures:

You may view more pictures here.

3rd Quarter Performance . . .

Last Friday, I went to Kaila's school right after office since we are on an early knock off every Friday. I was there just in time for my appointment of 5pm. Teacher Liza will be discussing with me Kaila's performance for the third quarter. Initially, the test results were showed and explained to me. I was so relieved and proud at the same time cause Kaila got high grades again even without a decent review at home. he he he . . . All the books were sent home during the Christmas break but we were not able to review even for a day. We were all busy during the holidays. We only had a review just a day before each exam. Kaila wouldn't even participate during our reviews cause it seems she knows it very well already.

Next items to be discussed was Kaila's performance in school activities. Her report card shows a great improvement as compared to the first quarter. From a crying baby to a performing kid during the Christmas presentation and a very competitive kid during the sports fest. Both Teacher Liza and I was so happy for Kaila's improvement. I can say that we have already achieved our goal for this year which is to improve Kaila's social skills.

We are looking forward to the next school activity which is the Family Day. It will be the culmination of the Sports Fest wherein parents will also participate in the games plus there will be a cheering competition.

Here are the test results of Kaila:

94% in READING . . .

96% in LANGUAGE

96% in MATH

100% in SCIENCE

Another 100% in CIVICS and CULTURE

Keep up the good work Kaila! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! We love you!