My Brother is Sick

Parang naiiyak ako. Actually naiyak na nga ako nung isang araw pa. My brother, Kuya Romy, is in the ICU at St. Rose Hospital in California since Thursday.

I have a long list of urgent things to do here in the Philippines and Oyen and I are also scheduled to travel together soon to Thailand. I am also in the midst of several transactions so I am in a quandary whether to drop all of my schedules and fly to the US to visit my brother. I am supposed to leave before Christmas, if I leave this early, I might get stuck there because for sure I would find things to do too. I don’t want to go back and forth, ang tagal ng jet lag ko.

Kuya Romy was brought to the emergency when he complained of dizziness. There was blood in his vomit. He was transferred to the ICU. The doctors could not initially determine where the blood was coming from. He was bleeding and the doctors could not insert a camera inside his body for fear of cardiac arrest. After several CT scans and tests, doctors also discovered he has a kidney disease and he now has to undergo dialysis. He has diabetes and when they tested his blood sugar it was 260. His face, hands, and feet are swollen.

They collected at least half a bag of blood from his stomach and is undergoing blood transfusions. As of last night, kumonti na daw ang dugo so he is now scheduled to have endoscopy.

Kuya Romy is 73 years old and is the second from the eldest. He lives with his 3 of his four sons in the US. His eldest, Rommel, used to live also in the US but is now currently based in the P.I. with his family.

Kuya has been very helpful and valuable to his adult children and their families. He brings his grandchildren to and from their respective schools. He and his wife Ate Ella keeps watch of their apat na apo while the parents work. Alam naman antin walang yaya, driver at katulong sa America.

My sister told me Kuya even went to her house last Tuesday and delivered a big bag of sayote he harvested from their backyard. Nagulat nga daw sya kasi ang bigat-bigat nung mga sayote eh paano nya nabuhat yun. Ang daming ibinigay sa kanila.

My brother is one person who does not rely on other people. He also doesn’t complain of any difficulty. Even if you give him something, nahihiya pang tanggapin.

I really hope and pray he pulls this through.

Kuya magpagaling ka at magpalakas. You are only 73, mahaba pa ang tatakbuhin ng buhay mo. I wish you many more years of happiness, togetherness and love from all of us. Next year Kuya Junior ang host ng family reunion natin. Hindi masaya kung kulang tayo. Kailangan nadun ka at nakikipag saya. Magagaling sa musika ang mga apo ng Kuya Junior at sigurado puno ng kantahan at sayawan yun. Hindi tayo pwedeng mabawasan. Hindi tayo pwedeng magkulang.
Sa 2020 ikaw ang naka toka, ikaw ang host. Special request ni Edmund yung bulalo mo daw. Ang bilin nga nya sa akin pagpunta ko dyan magpaturo ako sa’yo kung paano mo niluluto yung bulalo dahil ibang klase daw. Simula nung natikman nya, yun na ang gold standard nya sa bulalo. Ikaw ang pinaka masarap magluto ng kare-kare sa buong mundo.

Kuya we love you. Magpagaling ka. Kapit ka pa kuya. Sana umabot ka pa ng 80 or kung pwede lampas pa dun, na malakas at nakakapagtanim pa ng sayote.

God please have mercy on my Kuya Romy. Please extend his life for many more years here on earth. Give him physical strength and totally heal his body from any sickness. May your love cover him with complete protection from any sickness, pain and suffering. Maraming salamat po.