"Ouch... Yayay... Yayay... Yayay," Sebastian cries to Ariel Allera

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"Ouch... Yayay, Yayay, Yayay"
By Ariel Allera



I'm having what my physiatrist, Dr. Jorgen Lim, calls ulnar neuropathy. It's due to more than eight hours of leaning on my left elbow while sleeping (which I was so fond of until last Monday when it took its toll on me). Now I'm on my phone and just using my right hand as I try to make sense with this blog. I'm going to post this now for "only me" to view, and I will reopen it for "everyone" to see when I log in to a computer later on.



Today I had the third of my ten physical therapy sessions at Chong Hua Medical Arts Center. For two successive days, I practically spent the whole afternoon at the hospital after I got off from work, as my left hand got swollen, looking red to some yet violet to others and causing me inconvenience to take a bath, dress up or dress down to work, hit the keyboard on the computer, yadda-yadda. I never complained to God, but let me tell you that it pains every time my left hand moves a muscle.



My doctor did not really reprimand me; he just said I shouldn't have reported to work after my first consultation with him, for he had told me that I should let my hand rest for a few days--meaning, because my job requires a lot of typing, that day did not only intensify the swelling or aggravate the pain, it delayed the process of recovery. So he issued a medical certificate for me to rest for three days.



The prescribed medicine was somewhat affordable, since I told Dr. Lim, in all honesty, that I'm trying to cut corners these days like the rest of the Filipinos, except, of course, the rich some or those who are working only to fill their own stomachs. When the doctor suggested that I buy a splint and I heard from one of the physical therapists that it costs a whopping one thousand and five hundred pesos, I cried no but then promised to let it rest on my own, as properly as though I were wearing the sophisticated splint. He made another suggestion: to fold a newspaper thick and then wrap it around. Loved it.



When I arrived in Malabuyoc this afternoon, I tried to look for a newspaper that I could use, but since I was in each of the back issues that I kept from my print media days, I opted for an old calendar instead. What pained me as the 2010 Mercury Drug calendar was being wrapped around was not my swollen hand per se, but the sight of Sebastian crying: he begged to remove my improvised splint because it looked painful and he didn't want me to be in pain anymore (with it). Wasn't that sweet?



Thank you, Sebastian, for showing me such gesture of love, as I promise to continue showering you and Kenshi with love and prayers. Happy 22nd monthly birthday to you today, the twentieth of July! And, yes, because I love you, I will not let my inability to use my left hand hinder me from giving you the same amount of attention, inspiration, dedication, and all the life-enriching "tions" in the dictionary.

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