Confined to the four walls of our abode, we cannot help feeling despondent with this present situation. Friends close to us have succumbed to covid -19. Covid is getting near our doors. We pray for God’s mercy to end this pandemic. A very good friend and his dose of mild Covid and was hospitalized for 10 days alone in the hospital. She said it is depression that kills you. The feeling of aloneness and the fear of death without saying goodbye to loved ones are enough to kill you. We know there is God Omnipotent but we just cannot help feeling despondent.
Let me share with you the thought of Dr. Uma. We are just hoping our leaders in government would have a paradigm shift in approaching a solution to the present situation.
In this time of isolation, when doctors are hard to come by and you are just to go on teleconsult, I remember those days when doctors easily responded to house calls. There was just the mission hospital run by the UCCP, United Church of Christ in the Philippines and the provincial hospital. The mission hospital was located where the Galleria Luisa is now. It was where Dr. Canlas, Dr. Luther Ramiro and Dr. Rio had their residency. There was also a Dr. Castro. All dedicated doctors, loyal to the oath they swore to. There was no Philhealth then, and I could not remember a time when patients were denied hospitalization due to lack of money for payments. Hospitals then had their charity ward. Lifestyle was simple.
In the home front, doctors at the health centers were so approachable. There was Dr. Ester Lim with her nursing staff, Ms. Zapatos, and the midwife Ms. Luzviminda Ferrer.
Dr. Ester is in her nineties now and is residing at the St. Therese home in Mansasa, living with the other elderlies taken care of by the sisters.
I miss Dr. Sergio Cañete, the husband of Julie Tejano, who had his medical practice in our town even after Julie’s death. Baclayon became his home until his second marriage to a medical doctor from Antequera, who was U.S. based. His children Eric, Bengbeng, Junjun are all grown up with families of their own, and have made Baclayon as home, even if they are in foreign lands. Dr. Cañete is truly missed in our town. He readily responded to the calls of people in the wee hours of the night in his motorcycle. No celfone then in his time.
He died recently here in Baclayon. Living in his chalet facing the sea. Oxygen tank was ready for his use as he had emphysema due to his smoking. But his was a good life defined by his devotion to his profession.
Dr. Disi Yap-Alba is always there to lend her helping hand despite her co-morbidity. One time, when feeling so low due to my husband’s deteriorating health, she promptly answered my call in the middle of the night. She explained that she cannot actively practice her profession due to her co-morbidity but she can always be consulted by phone anytime for free. That alone is enough to bolster my spirit. If only her brother Bobong were alive today, he would have been another doctor one can always depend on.
There is always Dr. Em em Uy whom we can call but we have to consider that her position at the department of health is enough to burden her days.
Thank you to the doctors out there who work quietly to brighten the days of their patients.