One of my trusted staff was absent for a couple of days because her daughter was sick. She reported for work today and when I saw her I made kumusta. She was in tears when she told me to help her find a rheumatologist to get a second opinion. Her 21- year old daughter had been feeling sick, she’s suffering from joint, back and shoulder pains, she feels her muscles are being torn apart, she’s running a fever, her hands and feet are swollen. According to their doctor, these are all signs of LUPUS, a disease with no known cure. Instead of protecting the body from virus and bacteria, a person with LUPUS‘ immune system attacks the healthy cells, thus affecting the organs such as kidney, heart, liver, and the skin. Known causes are genetics (hereditary), exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, extreme stress, allergic reactions to certain drugs, environmental causes such as drinking the water from the well.
My staff was crying and felt so helpless. This is a tough situation for a mother to see her daughter suffering. I told her to offer mass for 9 consecutive days. In difficult times like this, the only refuge is our faith that there’s a supreme being that could rescue us from our miseries. God bless her daughter.
