Padre Pio and My Grandfather

          October 2009, my grandparents went home from their tour to the US. They enjoyed every minute of their stay there, especially my grandfather. And since then, Lolo have been complaining mild to moderate pain from his shoulders to his lower back. He thought it was only the result of the electronic massage he tried in the US. But still, we insisted for him to consult medical help regarding his condition and later he was diagnosed with arthritis.

He had a regular monthly check-up at the Out-Patient Department of Veterans Medical Memorial Center since my grandfather is a World War II veteran. The pain he was feeling had become consistent and would take pain relievers almost every day. 

Last week of May 2010, Lolo already cannot sit and stand alone and would seek assistance to be able to walk. His appetite decreased and experienced “balisawsaw” or urinary retention. My grandfather slowly became very weak. 

We opted another consultation where blood samples were taken from him. Then on June 11, 2010, we received the results and according to the doctor, Lolo has to undergo immediate blood transfusion because of very low hemoglobin level. He was directly confined to the hospital and had to go through several tests. His attending physician requested for more blood works, abdominal ultrasound, chest x-ray, and bone scan. According to the bone scan result, there was already a widespread metastatic activity from his prostate to several parts of his body particularly on his bones including the skull. To confirm everything, lolo had to undergo biopsy. 

July 2011, at age 85, my grandfather was diagnosed with Stage 4 Prostate Cancer. ­­­­­­­­­­The whole family got shocked, confused, and feeling hopeless upon learning that he was now suffering from the big C. Tears filled everyone’s eyes but still tried to stay strong and be positive.

While waiting for the proper intervention to be carried out, Anna, a family friend came to visit my grandfather. She introduced and told us everything about St. Padre Pio. She also massaged lolo with holy oil from Padre Pio then we all prayed. Before leaving, she gave us a copy of the novena prayer for Padre Pio. Since then, we would attend mass at the Padre Pio Shrine in Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City.

We prayed the novena every day, until the doctor told us that my grandfather had to undergo surgery. They said they had to perform Orchiectomy or the removal of the testes.

Following the successful operation in August, we were told that my grandfather has to subject for Cobalt/Radiation Therapy. For 21 working days from August to September, Lolo went on his Cobalt Therapy session. And during those days of treatment, we would also make him drink a drop of the holy oil from Padre Pio.

After my grandfather had completed all the intervention, amazingly, a cancer indicating test showed normal result, making him free from cancer. He felt relieved and stopped complaining from pain. 

On October 2, 2010, my grandfather was discharged from confinement. At age 85 with a stage 4 Cancer, he was considered as a Cancer survivor.

As an out-patient, he went on physical therapy and continuous medication. For several months after being discharged, he seemed to keep on getting better. We happily celebrated a number of special occasions including Christmas, New Year and his 86^th birthday. So with the miracle and all the blessings we had received, I promised to make a testimonial on how Padre Pio helped my grandfather survived everything. 

          But since it’s been almost a year now since my grandfather had survived cancer, this testimonial must have come late – very late.

          On June 2011, Lolo started to complain of moderate to severe pain from his thorax up to his head and to different other parts of his body. He went on a bone scan. The result showed that the cancer recurred and this time, it has a more massive widespread metastatic activity. From then, he again had to undergo several tests and medications.

          August 2011, due to low sodium he was confined at the Intensive Care Unit. His sodium was corrected for almost a week in the ICU then went back to a regular room. Although lolo had the inability to stay awake for a long time, he seemed to get even better. Until we discovered he had acquired an infection in the lungs – Pneumonia. Probably due to activity intolerance where he can only perform minimal movements and failing immune system, he had collected huge amount of phlegm that led him to Pneumonia. His sodium also failed to be on a constant normal level that caused him to a whole body edema. With such condition, he was again, transferred to the ICU.

          He was closely monitored and constantly checked up on. After several tests, the neuro-surgeon informed us that there is already an internal bleeding happening in my grandfather’s brain that caused him to sleep all day and incoherent. Though they do not guarantee a full recovery, we were asked if we wanted our lolo to undergo surgery to stop the bleeding. With my grandfather’s age and condition, we all agreed not to pursue the surgery. My grandmother doesn’t want to see her husband feel more pain and in such difficulty. As of the moment, even not on a state of comatose, my grandfather is now on mechanical support or ventilator. 

          This testimonial might have been delayed but I still pray that a miracle from God and Padre Pio would happen for my grandfather. To everyone who gets to read this, continue to have faith and believe in the power of a prayer and miracle.

July Movie Experience

Last July, I was able to catch two (2) of Hollywood’s major films; Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon and Captain America: The First Avenger. So this entry may come as late – very late.

July 1, I watched Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon where Shia LaBeouf stars once again, for the third time. With his Autobots friends, they shared another adventure in a war against the Decepticons and Sentinel Prime in order to protect the earth. Sentinel Prime’s character may have shown a little twist to the story but it was also a bit predictable. For a film with a shallow plot, I still didn’t notice that I was already sitting and watching it for more than two (2) hours. Thanks to the CGI effects or animation. The movie was indeed action-packed and breathtaking although most of the fight scenes seemed stretched just to prolong the movie. 

As a whole, I enjoyed the it, though most of the feedbacks I’ve heard or received were negative. I appreciate how they add humor to the story where Sam (Shia's character) was having a hard time getting a job and how everybody neglects him after saving the earth twice. The only thing that made me really disappointed about the movie was the lady lead; Rosy Huntington-Whiteley was terrible. She only emphasized her butt and kept on pouting her lips. Transformers is simply never the same without Megan Fox. 

On its second day of showing, July 28, I watched Captain America: The First Avenger. It starred Chris Evans for the lead role. It is the usual Superhero story where a weakling turns into a superhuman. 

Steve Rogers, a small, thin and puny guy from Brooklyn who only has good intention to serve his country by entering the army. Through the army doctor, he was able to be part of the elite soldiers that focuses in battling with the Nazi. He was also chosen to be given the special serum to become a superhuman. With the serum and Howard Stark’s inventions, the weak boy developed into a buff guy. Rogers became taller, showed huge muscles and appeared stronger. He then led a special group of soldiers. 

There’s actually nothing spectacular about the film aside from how Chris Evans played the weak and buff Steve Rogers. Again, thanks to the technology that made Chris shorter and skinny guy. In the film, they just depicted what Captain America is known for—his shield, which he sometimes used as a boomerang. And also, it was nice to see Tommy Lee Jones back in action. Well, compared to other superhero films, this movie was a little cheesy and has more drama. But what really made watch this was the trailer that was shown after the credits of Captain America. I eagerly waited for the credits to finish and catch the trailer of The Avengers which will be shown next year. And now, I am excited for it to come out.