“Menmen!”
Before meals, we usually pray to thank God for His grace. Typically, Warren would hold Tommy’s left hand while I hold the right. Admittedly, we only started this holding hands tradition when Tommy arrived and started joining us on the table during mealtimes ( on his 17th month). One time, we forgot to hold hands and he acted… please click here to continue
Adoption is taboo
I’m finding more and more extra hours to blog lately and today, I was able to sneak in a few to blog-hop. My choice of blogs to visit? Adoption blogs. I just wanted to catch up with my regular favorites and hopefully get wind of other ones that would pique my interest as well.
Most of the blogs I came to are American, Canadian and European bloggers who have adopted from China, Russia, Africa, Korea, Philippines or Taiwan. If my instincts are correct, that would mean I am the only Filipina (person of Philippine nationality) who has an adoption blog, or simply put, the only Filipina who is out in the open telling the whole world about her family’s adoption journey via the cyberspace. Hmmm… Does that also mean we are the only Filipino couple who have chosen to adopt?
Flowers for AJ
These two long stemmed roses are for AJ. They were given to my dad, who handed them out to me and my mom while tears were about to stream down his cheeks, this morning during the Baccalaureate Mass held in her school, she was supposed to graduate from secondary education tomorrow.
Sadly, AJ won’t be there to receive her awards for being an excellent student, nor even her diploma for a job well done.
(Continue reading here)
Scam
How could anyone still have the guts to scam people who are already in the middle of a crisis, I wonder.
You all know that my family’s going through a tough time right now because I wrote about it on all of my blogs with the hopes of getting information/leads to organizations/foundations that could help us avail treatments for my niece who is afflicted with leukemia.
Two days ago, I received a comment from an update post on After His Own Heart, Warren woke me up excitedly to let me know that someone from China offered to help, it all sounded so appealing because the claim was that 9 of their patients since December are now completely, 100%, cancer-free and have returned to their normal lives (school/work/family).
I contacted this person, let her know that we cannot afford anymore expensive treatments especially such as the one they are offering but asked anyway how we can avail of the medicines, what company manufactured it and I asked for references that I can use to check the validity on the internet. She replied and this is what she had to say: (I am assuming it’s a “she”)
Help for Sixteen Year Old Leukemia Patient
This is an attempt to disseminate information to get more people to pray for my niece who has cancer/leukemia.
Alleah Janine Reambillo, we call her AJ, was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in 2001, she was nine years old at that time, a smart little girl who loves to draw and color and a consistent honor student in our local grade school. She went on remission with the help of oral medications (Glivec by Novartis) and in October of last year, her doctors gave her the permission to fly to Singapore for a final round of tests before they can give her a complete clearance.
She was supposed to fly with her dad this summer after she graduates from high school on April 3, she is also supposed to receive awards for being a student journalist and for being the school’s Ms. Alma Mater. Unfortunately, three weeks ago, my niece had high fever and my mom saw some bruises on her legs and arms again. She was rushed to the hospital and after a round of tests, it was discovered that something triggered the cancer to recur and it has mutated, it has become non-responsive to Glivec and from CML, it looks like it has now turned into Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). She is still confined at the Fe del Mundo Children’s Medical Center Foundation in Banawe St., Quezon City as of this writing.
AML is relatively curable, according to some research I did a few days ago, but it requires chemotherapy, transfusions and a host of other procedures. We do need financial assistance to get through this, her parents are ordinary call center agents and she has siblings who also need care and support, my other brother and sister are also pulling their resources to help out, but it isn’t enough. Conservatively, we need PhP150,000.00/ US$3,200.00 every month for the next six months at least. She needs 6 chemotherapy sessions, one of which was already done two weeks ago and several blood transfusions. She was also prescribed several antibiotics to ward off possible infections. Until she finishes with her 6th chemo, we won’t know for sure if the bad cell was arrested or not. If it was, then we’re probably good to go, if not, then we will probably be needing more chemo therapies. These are just intelligent guesses, of course we still need the doctors prognosis which we will have only when she finishes her 6th session.
In behalf of my family, I would like to ask for your help. We need leads for foundations or organizations that help support children afflicted with leukemia/cancer in the Philippines, and yes, financial assistance at this time is also badly needed. *But most of all*, we need prayers from everyone, please help us pray for my niece, please help us beg the Lord for His mercy on AJ. If you are a blogger and are reading this, please help spread the word so that we can get more people to pray for her.
I have blogged about her on After His Own Heart, there are also pictures of her in the hospital if you’d like to see, you can just click over.
Thank you so much.
In Christ,
Hazel Chua
Philippines
… because I am just a poor Pinay
We just had the worst possible two days of our lives.
Warren’s mother spent the last couple of days incessantly barking into Warren’s ears just how unfortunate and disappointing it is for her to have a son like Warren – jobless, poor, wanting to be a pastor and married to a woman she does not like at all. She made sure that she used the best possible weapon to hurt my husband, insult me and strip us off of our dignities. We came back home so depressed, so demeaned and belittled that we could not even look into each others eyes because we were so ashamed of ourselves.
We were not supposed to see her, but you know, my mother-in-law knows her way around my husband’s heart, she called, she sent SMS messages, she howled and bowled until we had no choice but to give in and see her this weekend. I knew the moment I looked into her face that it was going to be an action-packed weekend and I was oh so right.
(Continue reading here)
Some By Chance, Some By Choice: In reference to an article by Nancy Rome
I read an article on being childless from the Washington Post and thought I must share it here. Here is an excerpt from Nancy Rome’s Childless: Some by Chance, Some by Choice
“No, no, sorry. I don’t have any . . .”
Why does this always seem to be the first thing I’m asked? It takes my breath away, yet why do I feel the need to apologize for my reply? Looking vague and embarrassed, my questioner glances over my shoulder for someone else to talk to: someone with whom he or she has more in common, someone with children.
I never thought I’d be childless. Thirteen years ago, my husband and I were expecting our first child. I was a healthy 37-year-old when I went into labor one chilly November morning. We raced to the hospital, the atmosphere between us full of anticipation and anxiety.
The delivery was normal; almost everything was normal. Except that our daughter was dead.
Nancy’s account on that November morning sent the chills to my spine. I could not imagine what it must feel like to lose a child after carrying her in your womb full term. I would have been really devastated.
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I Left My Heart At…
It’s been three days since and I am still left without words to say.
Perhaps these pictures would tell a million and one more than I can…
This is where the Young Married group of Calulut Baptist Church went to last Saturday.
It was a journey that most of us will remember for a long time.
Brace yourselves for the next images…
Levi’s Promotes Garbage Now
Attention Parents!
I found out about this new Levi’s commercial through The Berean Wife and Virtue Alert. I have no clue on whether this has already reached Philippine television and if not, if Levi’s plans to (I HOPE AND PRAY NOT!). The ad is raunchy, to say the least, and unsettling. Aren’t the Twilight series, The Gossip Girl and Sex and The City enough to dilute the minds of the consumer public that Levi’s just had to jump the bandwagon and add to the already piling up trashy so-called entertainment? (Read the rest here)
Debunking Bo Sanchez
We have seen them. It’s all around us. It’s on TV. It’s on billboards. It’s in the movies. It’s in the magazines. It’s practically everywhere. It’s the comfort zone. It is what society teaches us. Self-esteem. Be rich. Be healthy. Be beautiful. It is the implementation of worldly principles. It is the fuel that Satan throws to liven up the fire-You will become like God (Gen 3:5). It is what everybody is buying. This is entertainment, ladies and gentlemen. And this is what everybody wants.
Bible teaching is boring, let alone studying. Show me the way to “true” success. We’re experiencing economic crisis, I need to get rich earlier. I want to live longer. I want to be good-looking. I want to live a decent life. But having all these demands can be crazy. Unless of course I’m a Christian. Okay, let’s add this to the list: I want people to think of me as a Christian as well.
(Continue reading here)
