By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
There was that terrible gas pain that woke me up at around three in the morning three days ago. With the various illnesses that hit me at around that time for months, it made me gasp, God! What is this again? I did not feel so bad at all that time as the doctors might find out a disease that could become serious if not nipped in the bud.
About 3 weeks before that I was rushed to the hospital as there was something in my breathing. As if my lungs were somehow being filled with water. It could happen when you have heart issues. I was subjected to an x-ray procedure, blood and urinary tests, etc., and the doctors saw I had pneumonia in its beginning stages. Presto! Antibiotics, and it was nipped in the bud. Otherwise, I could have been added as a statistic to the elderlies whose lives were claimed by that deadly disease.
So see, there is a positive side to anything, particularly being rushed to the hospital especially if you have a number of comorbidities. In fact, you should welcome it as, with PhilHealth benefits, chances are, you will end up paying nothing. Just in this last episode of my being rushed to the hospital the doctors with all the tests they undertook, found nothing wrong with me. Our family’s disturbed sweet early morning sleep was a small price to pay for knowing I was OK. A tummy pain can mean so many things. Thank God, I was cleared of any possible serious concern down there.
As I found out, one of the best things when you are always sick is, due to helplessness, you learn to surrender things to the Lord. After all, after doing everything and things are not yet OK, you just have to rely on His Grace. To let Him decide on what will happen to you.
It is when you are holding on to the last inch of your life’s rope that something miraculous happens. You realize that everything will be fine. If He decides to take your life, then you will finally meet Him or see the next chapter of your life. Will you end up in that burning place or in heaven? At least, the answer will finally be settled.
In my case, with all the things I have gone through the past 12 months, or still going through, there are still so many questions to be settled. That the final questions we all long to answer about life have yet to be finally answered. That life has still to go on for me, in pain or in pleasure, so I will later find out. Will the end be good or bad?
You know the answer to that. When the pain from various illnesses confluence, ending one’s existence is the better choice. But when things are OK, we want to go on living.**
