Life's Lemons
LemoWarning: Some words and phrases may not be suitable for young children. :)
In conclusion:
***** Ninja Battle Updates:
Update 2: Lito just had a minor operation by a very great surgeon, Dr. Tablante. We love him! :) The operation is for the installation of a Port-a-Cath. This is a device that is used to make administration of chemotherapy easier. It can also reduce the risk of complications due to chemo. It is placed under the skin, in the upper part of the chest. It has a small reservoir that is connected to major vein inside the chest. This device facilitates administration of chemo drugs in to the venous system. We opt to do this because some chemo drugs can cause major problems if they leak from the veins to the surrounding tissues. Such damages are dangerous and are not at all helpful to Lito's condition now. In addition, since Lito will need frequent injections and IV treatments, if we don't do this, we may run out of usable veins.
Update 3: Last Valentine's Day, he made me cry and touched a lot of other people's lives with his gift-- his own version of our love story.. Check this link: Things My Wife Didn't Know.
Update 4: Speaking of flowers growing in shit, I have finally decided to write a book. Where before Lito insisted so much that I write a book of my own, I never had the inspiration. Not until all these crap. :) Will be writing in the hospital as I take care of our ninja. :) I hope it comes out readable and brings justice to our experiences now. hehehe..
If life gives you lemons, you make what? Lemonade. And as Pinoy as we are, we will also make lemonsito ice candy, put that lemon in our viands-- pancit canton, sauces, etc.
So, when life gives you lemons, do not complain. Instead, thank God for the opportunity!
This is a new thing I have learned for the past few days.
Is this denial? Learned helplessness, as a friend of mine associates this statement with? Is it depression, you say? Or hopelessness in the guise of leaving it all to fate?
I don’t know with others but as for me, it’s the mere acceptance of things. It does not correlate with my faith, or my beliefs and principles that miracles happen but as of this moment, I choose to take things simply. And by simple, that includes my perspective of life and all it has to offer.
When life is raining with lemons and you just accept that for the mere simplicity of it, it alienates all the unnecessary questions of self-doubt and God’s existence like, “Why me, Lord? Why not the bad guys?” or “Are you there? If you are, then why are you such a vengeful God? Don’t you have mercy on me?” And since I was in this situation before, I realized that my analytical self has been eating me up and that I should have embraced this very simple fact that life just happens.
Life is life, guys. Bad things happen sometimes. There should be no questions on why’s and how’s and what if’s. It happens to good guys. It happens to bad guys. It happens to kids, old people, single, married, that one in the corner reading yesterday’s paper or those couple trying to avoid my eyes because they want to kiss.
Let me explain further this new thing of mine by a story I heard once:
A lecturer told a joke to an audience. It was so funny the audience had to laugh for a few seconds. Some guffawed. Then he told his joke again. There were some who still laughed at it the second time but not as much as the first one. After the laughter subsided, he told his joke again. This time, no one laughed. And then, there was silence.
Jokes, if repeated again and again, are not funny anymore. So is pain. So are heartaches.
If you’re in pain, it hurts, yes. Sometimes, we brush it off and say: Well, things just happen. And we deal with it. But if life gives us the same pain over and over again, we tend to ask, “Why does it keep on happening to me more than others?”
Life is tough like that, yes. But it's up to you on how you make use of all those lemons. This goes back to my self-embedded principle: Life is a matter of choices, even with all the lemons falling down on you.
I’ve learned we are made to be tougher than all the things thrown our way. In that story about the same joke being said again and again, I say---Why listen? Why listen to the same joke when you can go out of the room, ask the lecturer to make another joke, or just make your own story. And for me, this is the same with life. If life gives you the same crap, the same pain and the same shit, then by all means, do something about it! Look around if something else is thrown your way. Maybe you're focusing on the shit so much sometimes, we don't know that some good stuff are throw our way as well. It’s always a choice between just standing there and let yourself be drowned and blame who ever it is to be blamed, or you might want to step aside, let it fall and move on with better things.
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| i love kissing his what i call "minion-haired" head, this is our nightly ritual, he offers his head now for kissing.. i love you, brat. |
I would like to believe that I am capable of talking about shit happening. Because if this is our topic, then friends, welcome to my world of crap—ranging from owl droppings to bullcrap and monkey dung. You may sigh and say, “Why them? Why me?” And I say, why not? Bad things happen to good people, sometimes as much as good things happen to bad people. Shit happens to the best of people but it’s up to you if you will let it get the best out of you.
With all the “shit” that my husband and I are thrown at, I am amazed at how easy it is for us to laugh at small stuff, to appreciate the little blessings, cry at life’s surprises and not dwell on the petty things that we so made a big deal out of, before shit ever came. We are more loving, caring and mindful of each other’s well being. We are more sensitive to each other’s needs and we are now stuck like glue. We have bonded so much and have more time with each other. We have a new perspective with our real friends, supporters and a newfound relationship with faith and God.
You smell stink? I smell opportunity. You see shit, I see fertilizers. And I see a future with a bountiful garden, full of colorful flowers—lilies, roses, tulips. I see butterflies flying about and the smell of pine trees are just lingering ahead. All will grow on that shit I’ve been so bombarded with.
But then---
Rainbows do, too.
Flowers bloom.
Miracles happen.
I await what tomorrow brings for us.
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| Where anyone else may have been dismayed, my Lito is all smiles. I could never be more proud of such strength and such spirit! I love you so much! |
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| This is Lito's Port-a-Cath. He calls it his ArcReactor. He now refers himself as Ironman, 2nd to Ninja. He just nicknamed his Operating staff and doctors his own Jarvis. That's another way of looking at it. :) |
Update 1: We tried our luck in St. Luke's Global for HLA Typing in the possibility of finding a bone marrow match for his stem cell transplant. However, it is with sad news that he didn't have a match among his 3 siblings. Best option for us is to continue his chemo cycles here in Cebu.
TTFN! xoxo, Ara
