Go Bayani!

"Paano po ba maging isang bayani?" How will you be a hero?

Efren Penaflorida asked that question via VTR last night in Isang Tanong, a GMA 7 Presidential forum which includes: Sen. Manuel Villar, Sen. Noynoy Aquino, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Ex-pres. Joseph Estrada, JILC Leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, Olongapo Councilor John Carlos Delos Reyes, and activist Nicanor Perlas (note: this is random, not by favoritism).

Of course, all of them said something about helping the poor by giving livelihood projects, and the like. You know, the same old statements we usually hear every election. But Bayani Fernando answered that question in a comical way.

He said, "Kapag pinangalanan ka ng tatay mo." When your father gave you that name (Bayani).

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Speaking of Efren Penaflorida, he just gave another honor for our country for being the CNN hero of the year 2009. Hurray!

CNN - Efren Penaflorida, who started a "puschart classroom" in the Philippines (Cavite) to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the year.


All of the viewers' comments in youtube were all positive except for this one, which I think is very true:

so sad that CNN recognized Efren's good deeds first instead of the government. I'm sure in no time politicians will be riding his popularity. - crewsnest

PS: Sorry if I always misspelled Efren's surname in this entry, but I'm really having difficulty in typing Alt 1-6-4 all at once. :)

Ice, ice baby

During only this year, a lot of people died from cancer. Because of that, I became a bit paranoid of whether I would suffer from the same kind of disease when the time comes. Call me paranoid but hey, it's just a thought! We don't really know what's bound to happen. In fact, there are some people I know who have a healthy lifestyle, no family history of cancer, but they died due to the said disease.

But somehow, there might be already a cure for cancer.

I watched The Correspondents last night and they featured Cryosurgery as a means of curing cancer. Karen Davila went to Fuda Cancer Hospital in Guangzhou, China which is actually becoming popular because of the method they're using in treating cancer. Based on the documentary, there are more or less 5,000 people all over the world who are now cancer-free because of them.

Chemotherapy and radiation are the most popular method we know in terms of treating cancer. Since both are not used localized, they have wide-variety of side effects. Chemotherapy can be administered through a vein, injected into a body cavity, or can be used orally. It destroys cancer cells as well as our fast-growing cells, such as hair and blood cells. With radiation, a large machine called simulator delivers the exact amount of radiation to kill the cancer cells in a certain area. The skin around it may be reddened or irritated after the treatment. Also, radiation therapy can kill the germ-fighting cells in the blood, thereby decreasing the person's body to fight off infections, and making it necessary for the patient to have blood transfusion.

In Cryosurgery, they use a localized probe in contact with the tumor, causing the cells to freeze. The tumor is frozen, thawed, and refrozen until the malignant cells are completely destroyed. This process is monitored with ultrasound in order to preserve as much nearby healthy tissue as possible.

(using cryosurgery in treating liver cancer)

People they interviewed includes some Filipinos who are actually admitted in that hospital for series of cryosurgery treatment. One even claimed that only for 5 weeks, she was already cancer-free. The brother of Sen. Guingona also gave a testimony that after a series of chemotherapy in Manila which didn't work for him, Fuda Cancer Hospital gave him a second life.

Isn't that amazing?! Finally, a cure for cancer!

Only, you have to travel all the way to China and spend more or less Php 1,000,000! But I think it's worth it considering you also have to spend that much for chemotherapy, plus the side effects it could give you and the non-assurance that you would be cancer-free after the treatment.

I just hope after a few years, cancer patients don't have to travel to China anymore because we already have cryosurgery here in the Philippines.

Credits:

www.surgery.wisc.edu/general patients/uwmhpscryo.shtml

http://www.chemotherapy.com/treating_with_chemo/treating_with_chemo.jsp

http://kidshealth.org/teen/diseases_conditions/cancer/radiation.html

----->>> COMMERCIAL: What I love about blogger/blogspot? It automatically saves your drafts. You can recover your post even if you're such a nuthead for clicking the X button. :)

I hate being old

Not that I'm afraid to have all the signs of aging, but sometimes, being old means you'll start analyzing things and understanding the why's in life.

Take these instances for example:

I have watched Notting Hill about 4 times when I was in high school. All of my aunts and my older female friends cried over the movie except for me. Back then, I was thinking maybe I'm stronger than them being the only one unemotionally attached. But when I have watched it again when I was in college, I cried pathetically with my friends for hours even after the movie had already ended. At that time I already had my fair share of heart aches and love problems that's why I can emotionally relate to these kind of movies.

Same with sad love songs. I have sung Roselle Nava's Bakit nga ba mahal kita song over and over again during my childhood days and never did I shed a tear. But I became a silly cry-baby after singing this again at a videoke party 2 years ago after being dumped by someone.

I also realize, that as I grew older, I became very cautious with my actions. It's like being accidentally wounded by a knife while chopping vegetables. The next time you use it, you'll be more careful because you don't like to be hurt and wounded again.

And I hate it when I tend to overanalyze things when in fact, there's nothing to be analyzed about.

But that's what grown-ups do. Experience helps us understand things in a better(?) perspective.

But would it be much nicer to just stay young and be carefree?

I wish!

Friends...

They make you laugh your heart out.

They love and accept you for who you really are.

They help you carry your burden no matter how heavy it is.

Thank God for friends!

Christmas lights

This afternoon, my grandfather asked me to go upstairs to check out what he did in our terrace. He fixed our Christmas lights. Not only did he put on the lights but he also designed it in two giant wired circles with an angel between them. It's really nice but not as beautiful as the first time I've seen it.

On second thought, I've never actually laid eyes on this Christmas lights anymore like the way I used to when I was a child.

When I used to admire our big Christmas tree with lots of adornments decorated by my grandmother. She loves decorating our Christmas tree every year. Then my grandfather will put the musical Christmas lights around the tree and all of us will put our gifts underneath it. But since my grandmother was diagnosed with  a heart disease about 5 years ago, and she easily gets tired nowadays, she doesn't put up our Christmas tree anymore.

At the age of 10, I remember myself still writing a letter to Santa asking him what I want for Christmas. And he never let me down. Whenever I wake up early morning of Christmas day, my present would always be under our Christmas tree or inside a "Santa's sock" outside the window pane. My family and I was already having a difficult year during that time because both of my parents lost their jobs. But nonetheless, I still have the Christmas spirit in me so I asked Santa for a Polly pocket as his Christmas gift for me. It was already 2:30 am of Christmas day when I was about to go to the bathroom to pee when I saw my mother doing something beside our Christmas tree. I tip-toed a bit just to look a little closer on what she was doing. She was wrapping a small box with a purple art paper. I was too sleepy and groggy at that time so I just quickly went to the bathroom and went back to bed. The next day, I saw that very same box already wrapped in purple art paper under the tree. I opened it since it has my name on it. A pink Polly pocket was inside it. That was the last time I believed in Santa Clause.

As I get older, we seldom spend Christmas time together. My father went abroad and so was the sister of my mother. Being an only daughter and grand daughter in our family, I only have 4 members of my family left here. We don't put up the Christmas tree anymore. No more decorations aside from the musical Christmas lights in our terrace which by the way, doesn't play any music now. We don't wait for 12 midnight anymore to spend Noche Buena. We just have it the next day as our lunch. No god-children coming into our house anymore.

It's just like any other day. Like our birthdays when we get old. We don't anticipate and celebrate it anymore as we used to when we were young.

Seeing those Christmas lights made me wonder, when will be the next time my family and I will celebrate Christmas together again.