I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it. –Groucho Marx
Easier said than done, but worth the effort, I suppose. Yeah, I’m having one of those days, but this too shall pass. In the meantime, I can take comfort in knowing that things can, and have been, worse than they are. It’s easy to forget your blessings when you take them for granted, but you don’t have to look far to see that the struggles of others are infinitely worse.
When I decided to move to the Philippines, one of my goals was to try make things better for people by my being here. Yeah, you can’t help everyone, but you can make a difference for some. To some degree, I’ve achieved that goal, even if you don’t count providing lady drink commissions. One of my current projects is helping an acquaintance who is currently fighting uterine cancer. I help out with rent, food, and medical expenses, but damn, the struggles of getting proper treatment in a public (versus private) healthcare system here are phenomenal. Here’s her latest message to me:
Hello John, update for today; I couldn’t undergo chemotherapy this Monday, and I was also confined for another day because I had a blood clot in my catheter. They conducted some tests, and I was discharged from the hospital after the tests. I will return to the hospital this Friday for my CT scan urogram. I hope it gets done so we can know what the urology department will do regarding whether I will need surgery or not. I’m back on antibiotics again because chemotherapy didn’t go ahead due to my cough and cold. It’s really frustrating because I seem to catch coughs and colds quickly now.
Always fighting, John. I don’t want to die yet; I don’t want to stress myself over what’s happening with my treatment. I constantly pray that I can get through all of this.
What happened to me earlier was intense. Before my CT urogram, I fainted; suddenly, I couldn’t breathe, my legs started to tremble, and I had a headache. I thought it was the end for me, and I ended up praying unexpectedly, saying, “Lord, please don’t take me yet.” My blood pressure and sugar levels weren’t low; I just couldn’t handle the prolonged fasting because I needed to fast for the CT scan. They’ve postponed my schedule today, and now I’m rescheduled for the CT scan on March 5. Aside from the severe headache I’m experiencing, the equipment for my CT scan isn’t complete, so I have to go back on March 5. The effects of the chemotherapy they are giving me are hard; they are not just attacking the cancer but also weakening my good cells and immune system. I need to find a clinic that prescribes fenbendazole and ivermectin because they have been effective for colorectal cancer patients. I need to try it; I don’t want to die, Lord. Please help me; don’t abandon me.
Endless gratitude, John, for all the help you have given me, and thank you for not abandoning me in this fight. I owe you a huge debt of gratitude, as the Lord sent you to help me financially. Thank you, Lord, for everything, and please do not forsake me in my battle against this illness.
What a nightmare to go through. I believe she is in her 30s. At my age, I wouldn’t have the strength or the will to fight this battle. When my time comes, I hope I go easy into that gentle good night.
Here are my blessings from yesterday:
Sunday Sweets Stroll:
Later in the day we made our way out to the Arizona floating bar:
When our time on the floater was done, we popped into Red Bar for some libations before moving on to Jumpin’ Jacks to check out their menu.
I did play a game of pool with one of the waitresses while waiting for our food order, and I won! Maybe that darts practice is paying off.
And that’s all there is to the Sunday story.
As expected, the Iran memes are exploding across the internet. I found this one worthy of sharing:
From Facebook memories, John’s place opened in its new location four years ago:
On to November 2017 in the LTG archives, and in this post, I was reminded once again how stupid I am when it comes to matters of the heart. Jesus, what was I thinking?
Today’s YouTube video provides 10 reasons not to retire in the Philippines. Damn, NOW you tell me. But seriously, going on eight years now, and I don’t regret coming here. Most of these can be overcome by invoking the mantra I learned long ago as a tourist: Take a deep breath. Relax. Accept the Filipino way. That said, the noise does still bother me, and if I drove here, I would be insane from road rage by now. Still, I’d rather be here than back home in the USA.
Humor me:
And now to prepare for another Hash Monday.
I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Re: Matching shirts
Yup, a very Asian thing to do. You could do a poll on “Who wore it better?”, but I think we all know what the results would be. LOL
(Good song pick. Had an uncle that turned me on to Yes. Definitely prefer the original lineup rather than when Trevor Rabin took over lead vocals. Recently listened to a new CD that Jon Anderson put out just about a year ago called “True”. Amazingly enough, even pushing 80, his voice has hardly changed. Not a bad CD – very much like an early “Yes” album.)
Did your beneficiary permit you to put her correspondence up on your blog? I mean, it does give us readers a deep insight into one of the people you’ve been helping (she writes like a native speaker—is she? you could take lessons), but if she didn’t give you permission to air her private correspondence, she might be mortified to find out that it’s online for anyone and everyone to see. I’ve been dinged for doing something similar, hence my concern. File this under Too Much Information.
That said, best wishes to her in her bout with cancer. After Mom’s death, I feel for anyone who’s got any kind of cancer. And this is a side note, but when it comes to the brain, I feel for people I wouldn’t normally want to associate with, like Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat politician who got shot in the head years ago. Just seeing her try to speak is enough to tighten my throat, and while she might be on the opposite side of the aisle, I still just want to give her and everyone in a similar situation a long hug.
This one made me grown.
This meme made me “grown.” If you use a “from,” you should also use a “to.” Or several, in this case.
That’s what Buddy did.
I imagine that Buddy is thoroughly domesticated now, yes? No more such urges?
Kevin, no, I didn’t ask permission before sharing the correspondence. I’m confident neither she nor anyone who knows her will ever see it. And I didn’t use her name or photo. She is a native Filipina, and I also noticed how well she writes English. The experiences she has shared with me concerning her treatment in the public health sector are shocking in their incompetence and lack of concern for her suffering. Under the best of circumstances, chemotherapy is torturous, but when it is administered haphazardly, it can be as deadly as the disease it is intended to cure. She’s a woman of faith and a fighter, but damn, the deck is stacked against her.
Yeah, that time when Buddy ran away was when I first brought him home, and he was scared and confused. Now, he’s my loyal friend, and he awaits my return faithfully.
Brian, don’t worry, I won’t tell Swan you think I wore it better.
Indeed, it is hard to say no to Yes! I hadn’t heard that Jon Anderson is still recording, but it’s good to know.