Out from the Grave, A Short Update Before I Go

Good day! I hope you are having a nice day..or night..wherever you are right now. :)

So..it's been over three months.. I guess?

Hmm..Where should I begin?

Yes, I've went missing without notice since February due to a personal reason. I was sad that a person I was very close with became so inconsiderate and was even manipulating others by spewing negative things about me. It hurts but I wasn't surprised because that's who she is. I guess no amount of praising and serving the Lord can change who you really are. I thought she had change because of becoming very religious for some years now but she's still the same, just with more knowledge of the Bible and its verses that she would post occasionally on Facebook.You know, that's why I could hardly believe all religious people are good people because not all of them practice what they preach. Those who aren't very religous are sometimes even better people and have more compassion and understanding.

Anyway, this is just a minor cause of my absence. The major reason had me got no time to open Hive and even made me forget the Hive Power Up Day. I have missed three HPUD now and it feels frustrating. I usually remember the HPUD a day before and a few hours after the deadline. Ugh.

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Last April, my family's life changed and was shaken when our mother started acting differently. She stopped doing her usual routine at home. I was the first one who noticed the changes as we are mostly together most of the time. She stopped cooking or sometimes she forgets the food being cooked and it gets burnt. She only stayed in her bed, usually sleeping or using her phone playing a short video over and over and over again. When I was certain something wasn't right, I immediately told my sister about it and we initially assumed she had Alzheimer's disease. I was crying day and night because of mama's sudden change of behavior. Few days later, we brought her to a doctor and after some tests, it was discovered that there is a tumor in her brain. The doctor said one and quick solution is an open brain surgery but it is too risky due to mama's age.

We were then referred to a Neurosurgeon and was referred to another doctor. Long story short, after a few more tests and scans, they found out that aside from the tumor in her brain, there are more little tumors in her intestines which has also partly went up to her esophagus. Doctors said the ones in her stomach were the source and it had spread in her brain. One doctor even said that she's afraid her blood has also been infected. There's still no result from her biopsy taken about two weeks ago but doctors assumed the tumors were stage IV gastric cancer.

Honestly, our family was shocked about this. None of our relatives in the past and at the present have cancer. And how come it was immediately at fourth stage? Why no symptoms have shown?

My father assumed it was due to mama's organs not being returned properly after giving birth to me via C-section. She had another operation after that where her organs were cleaned and arranged. Though prior to giving birth to me, my mama had a cyst in her ovary while she was conceiving my brother. The cyst was benign. Then a couple of years ago, some small cysts appeared in her neck area but were also benign. Even though doctors say her current tumors are malignant, without the result of the biopsy, we are still hoping for a miracle that the tumors are benign.

Right now, mama is on her eighth session of radiotherapy to reduce the swelling of her brain. We've also been staying here at the hospital for almost three weeks already. She can now actually go home but we decided to stay here because it's too difficult for mama to travel daily. Her left side is weak due to her right frontal brain being compressed by the tumor. Last May 24th, we were supposed to visit her Oncologist but we weren't able to go because mama's left side was very weak and we can no longer assist her to walk to the garage and into the car. Her doctor advised us to have mama confined instead.

Also that day, we had an online consultation to a Neurosurgeon at Manila who does non-invasive surgery. I'm not sure right now if our family will still push with this option.

Thankfully, my family can still bare the hospital expenses right now. We still haven't checked the total amount though I am certain we're running six figures now. However, this will still be discounted by PhilHealth and senior citizen discount. I am not writing this to ask for monetary help but if you are willing to share then it will be well-appreciated.

Mama will be discharged on Friday after her 10th session of radiotherapy. Her biopsy result might also come out soon. After that, we will have a discussion with her oncologist about what treatment should be done on the tumors in her stomach. It's still going to be a long battle and we hope mama will be brave enough to face and defeat this enemy.

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_{Now that I've talked about the science/medical side of mama's condition, we also somehow consider the thought of someone doing harm on mama with black magic. Well, who knows, right? 😅 Why did this happen all of a sudden? If there is really someone who had done this to my mama or have cursed our family, I bring it back to that person in a way he/she can't ever imagine.}

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Anyway, that's all for now. I wanted to write and tell more of what happened these past few months but time is currently limited as I am taking care of mama. I cook her food, do her laundry, wash the dishes, watch over her and accompany her to the hospital. Those things alone are enough to consume my entire day. I no longer have time to even draw right now. But I hope things will settle a bit in the coming weeks and then maybe I could have some time to do Hive and draw again.

Until next time! :)

Please pray for mama and wish her to recover from this sickness.

🤍