Fighting Grief: The Time To Show You Care

The news came as a shock to us all. He who had been ill for days had been taken to the hospital. It was found out that he had very high amount of creatinine in his blood, resulting from a stone in one of his kidneys.

Creatinine is a liquid waste. It causes slow blood circulation, making even breathing difficult. While the normal amount of creatinine in our body is 1.5%, he had 23.3% of it.

He had assured us it was only a frustrating duo of ulcer and bronchitis so no one thought it was a kidney problem, which I only used to hear about from other people's sob stories but never thought would happen to my own flesh and blood- my father.

A tube was inserted into my father's body to start the perritonial dialysis. The nurse had warned it would be painful because the anesthesia would not reach the innermost part of his body. Still, I was shaken to hear his tortured scream as the nurse punctured his abdomen.

For days my father struggled with a tremble to move a muscle or to eat without vomiting the food out. He couldn't seem to swallow anything down his throat. My father?whom I neglected while others longed for a paternal presence in their homes?oh, how I had wronged him!

For the first time, my siblings and I showed how we truly felt, even humbling down to our knees to pray and beg God, in the midst of weeping and yes?running noses, to show us mercy. It was quite a scene?sure beats "Maalaala Mo Kaya".

Friends became out of reach, or perhaps it was me who was withdrawing from them. In their absence, strangers and people I hadn't heard for years came pouring in to help.

It took great effort to focus at work but like a puppet I moved on, not daring to disturb normalcy. Somehow I had kept myself from bawling for moping could not help my father.

Our prayers and (this will sound corny as hell) love have done wonders to my father although he still has to undergo hemodialysis. Now he could even make faces at us. Funny how he tries to make us smile in the face of grief.

My siblings and I have become closer than ever. And the realization that our parents had raised us well dawned in. In this hell we are going through, we've found a little heaven. Indeed I had a lot to thank God for. He had allowed us the pain that has shaken us to the core. But a pain meant to heal us spiritually and emotionally, a pain that has brought with it people we could count on. Sigh, God's mysterious ways!

Only now have I heeded to the good ol' saying romantics often chided to me: Always take the chance of showing that you care, for you never know when that chance would be taken away from you.

Thank God, I still have that chance.

---

Google News Updated : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:25:52 GMT US Oil, Gas Producers, Pipelines Brace for Gustav (Update1) - Bloomberg ABC News US Oil, Gas Producers, Pipelines Brace for Gustav (Update1) Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Margot Habiby Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc plan to finish shutting oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and Enbridge Energy Partners LP will close pipelines as Hurricane Gustav gains strength and moves ... More volatility seen with hurricane, payrolls Reuters Airlines bounce as oil gives up early gains MarketWatch Forbes - DesMoinesRegister.com - CNNMoney.com - guardian.co.uk all 3,463 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:21:02 GMT Experts: Silver lining for ‘viable’ Mitt Romney - Boston Herald Experts: Silver lining for ‘viable’ Mitt Romney Boston Herald - 8 hours ago By Edward Mason Mitt Romney - once a top contender to be John McCain’s running mate - may have suffered a bruised ego when he was passed over for the little known Gov. It's not Pawlenty, it's Palin Worthington Daily Globe Pawlenty, after the pick, another day at fair Minneapolis Star Tribune Post-Bulletin - Washington Post - Grand Forks Herald - CNN all 2,700 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:13:29 GMT Hurricane Gustav Strengthens, Accelerates, Heads for Cuba, Gulf - Bloomberg BBC News Hurricane Gustav Strengthens, Accelerates, Heads for Cuba, Gulf Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Patrick Donahue and Robin Stringer Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Gustav strengthened and picked up speed as it headed toward western Cuba and the US Gulf Coast cities ravaged by Katrina and Rita in 2005, after lashing the Cayman Islands with ... Video: Gustav Follows Katrina's Path CBS Some leave Gulf Coast ahead of likely evacuations The Associated Press Reuters - Minneapolis Star Tribune - New York Times - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal all 6,069 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:40:06 GMT S. Ossetia to be absorbed into Russia - United Press International BBC News S. Ossetia to be absorbed into Russia United Press International - 1 hour ago TSKHINVALI, Georgia, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- South Ossetia says it will become part of Russia and host Russian military bases under a new agreement. Video: UN does have double standards RussiaToday Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will Times Online The Associated Press - AFP - Civil Georgia - New York Times all 6,104 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:01:52 GMT Sign of the times - BBC News San Diego Union Tribune Sign of the times BBC News - 1 hour ago As Russia and the West warn of a new Cold War after the Georgian conflict, the BBC's Humphrey Hawksley in Moscow tries to imagine what it would look like. European Union to Hold Urgent Meeting on Russia Voice of America last straw" for Russia Reuters New York Times - Financial Times - Wall Street Journal - Jerusalem Post all 333 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:10:28 GMT Obama campaign buoyed by convention - Los Angeles Times ABC News Obama campaign buoyed by convention Los Angeles Times - 5 hours ago He sees an unusually strong jump in support after the carefully choreographed event in Denver. By Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer DENVER -- Amy Pearl is the sort of Democrat who made the Barack Obama campaign nervous. Look out, Palin The Hillary factor . . . Chicago Sun-Times Hillary supporters aren't bitter; they're concerned Chicago Tribune The Associated Press - CNN - Philadelphia Inquirer - New York Daily News all 8,528 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:00:48 GMT Comcast to Place a Cap on Internet Downloads - New York Times ABC News Comcast to Place a Cap on Internet Downloads New York Times - 3 hours ago By BRIAN STELTER Comcast, one of the country’s largest Internet providers, said this week that it would place limits on customers’ broadband usage. Comcast's Answer to ... InternetNews.com Critics Question Comcast Broadband Caps PC World CNET News - Wall Street Journal - ZDNet - InformationWeek all 386 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:08:14 GMT Data Feed Content for Web Pages Amazon Associate Feed

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