The first step is to admit that you have a problem…

Friend 1: Nagpaparehab ka ngayon? Bakit?!!! :-O

Niennavarda: Oo… Addict ako eh…

Friend 1: Huh?! Addict?! Addict saan?!

Niennavarda: Sa jutes, sa bato, sa ecstasy…

Friend 1: (Speechless…)

Friend 1: (Still speechless…)

Niennavarda: Uy, ok ka lang? You know, it can happen to anyone…

Friend 1: Oo… pero bato?

Niennavarda: =))

My rehab session ended this morning and I am sure going to miss making jokes out of my predicament. My doctor told me that I can continue the exercises I’ve been doing at home. I just need to buy ankle weights and endure looking like an idiot while executing the rather peculiar patterns I have to trace while walking/jogging forward and in reverse. Tracing an asterisk-like pattern is not as easy as it looks.

While I am totally relieved that it is finally over, I am going to miss Candy, the sweetest Physical Therapist in the whole wide world and all the kind souls I have encountered at the Philippine Heart Center Rehab Section, from the cleaning lady, the guards, the receptionist and all the other therapists like Lex and Joanne. Apart from your superb service, all your encouragement meant a lot to me and contributed to my fast recovery. Thank you, thank you, thank you very much I would also like to thank Dr. Consuelo Suarez, my Rehab doctor for performing the miracle of making me be able to walk in a short span of a week’s therapy. This coming from a really painful knee and walking in crutches. Ang galing mo doc

I still can’t run or do jump shots this summer but I’m already well enough to jog! Wag lang aabuso since the injury is still there. Off to Japan I go in a month

I can also already enjoy the fruits of my labor and splurge on myself! Spending 700 Php on rehab and taxi fees (doctor’s fees are still another story…) every other day is surely not a joke. Wahahaha! I am going to treat myself on the next payday

To everyone out there, take good care of yourselves. Be aware. Accidents happen in the most mundane circumstances. And don’t forget to enjoy life! You never know when your last day on earth is going to be

Excited na ako sa ASTRA outing next week Yahoo! And maybe I can already buy the swimsuit I had my eye on last week…

The day before going to the rehab, my Ortho doctor injected some kick-ass pain steroids directly to my knee. Needless to say, it was painful! I would have cried if I was the crying type. The thought of some metallic, pointed, foreign object being forced into my knee joint was beyond me and the sensation of some viscous fluid being oozed inside was really some experience. I wouldn’t forget that until the day I die. Anyway, after the seemingly endless minutes of torture, the steroids kicked-in and Hallelujah! I couldn’t feel pain. For the first time in a very long time, I was able to lightly step on my left leg. I was due for rehab the next day.

My Ortho doctor recommended either National Kidney Institute or Heart Center. I was eyeing NKI at first since their rehab department was only on the 2nd floor versus the Heart’s Center’s 8th floor but their slots were full and I just wanted to start my rehab immediately. The Heart Center lady over the telephone was also more accommodating so Heart Center it is. I chose well. The rehab facilities at the Phil Heart Center were good and the staff were all warm and friendly (my Physical Therapist was hot!). I even bumped into Kuya Dave Griffiths at the rehab. He was also having PT sessions for his back. But I guess, all hospitals have their flaws. Have I already mentioned that the Rehab Department was on the 8th floor? Billings were issued at the department and payments are to be made at the cashier on the ground floor! Isn’t that just great? It was just so freakin’ smart of them, I think. And I thought I could manage going to rehab alone. Good thing Kuya Caloy loves me and promised to go with me on all my rehab sessions (waaah! what would I do without you, Kuya?) which is by the way, everyday at 7 o’clock in the morning. Indeed, one of the perks of being injured is that you genuinely feel that you are loved.

My rehabilitation consists of an ultrasound, electrocution, muscle stretching and walking. I was kind of a bit scared of the electrocution thing at first having a lot of traumatic experiences with electricity in my past life but it turned out it was one of the most relaxing parts of my therapy. They had a 4KHz, 20 Hz frequency modulated signal with a 30mA current pass through my knee and thigh muscles. The current was to be increased every 5 minutes and it does alleviate the pain! Amazing! My favorite part of the rehab was the muscle stretching. Being able to stretch my tight muscles after weeks and weeks of no use was just… ooooohhh! Rehab was like having a Thai massage everyday! Rehab is bliss if only it were not draining all my hard-earned money. Yezzz, tama ang commercial ng Clusivol, mahal magkasakit kaya bawal magkasakit. I promise never to scrooge on myself again after this. I am going to enjoy every penny (or centavo or yen) I’m ever going to earn to live a happy life and to make others happy. After this experience, I’m going to live life as if death is just an arm’s length away. First step, rehab. Tomorrow, earth, beware, I’ll be let loose soon!

… and so is this the wrath of God that hath fallen down on me?

Went to UERMMMC early this afternoon for a 4th consult regarding my knee. My knee has been hurting really bad for a month now and I’ve been walking in crutches for more than two weeks. I am due for rehab and if that doesn’t work I’m off to surgery. I’ve never thought that one little mistake could have such fatal consequences.

This comes with plenty of hard lessons to be learned and I surrender to the higher powers. If this won’t teach me a lesson, I don’t know what would. The aftermath of my stupidity and ignorance and sin has really cost me a lot. I know I’ve been really, really bad and I’m sorry. I really am sorry.

The incident has put a lot of things in perspective. I’ve learned to appreciate the things you would normally not appreciate when you are whole. I’ve learned to appreciate running, walking and dancing. I’ve learned to grab every opportunity to have fun and to travel and to experience new things. I have learned to say “No” to people I care about if what they offer may potentially harm me. I learned never to do anything against my will. I’ve learned to think more of myself, that it is all right to put myself first and not others all the time. I’ve learned to ask for help, to swallow my pride and be dependent on the people who care about me, the kind souls around me (and this really, really hurt). I’ve learned (and to borrow Samwise Gamgee’s words) that there is good in this world and it is worth fighting for. I’ve learned to love life. I’ve learned to appreciate mine. I shouldn’t waste it away.

I’ve been thinking for quite some time now how long I could still outsmart God. I’ve done a substantial amount of pretty bad things in the past couple of years and I have been putting all my wits to deter cataclysmal ramifications. But I know it’s all just a matter of time. I know that bottom line is, in the end, no matter how long it takes, God would win and all the consequences would come crashing down on me. He would no longer withhold his wrath. My sins would catch up on me.