Kris Aquino having a COVID-19 test (left); the 'Queen of all Media' showing some of her bruises during treatment for autoimmune diseases.
Kris Aquino via Instagram, screenshots
MANILA, Philippines — At noon Thursday, just around the same time as the inauguration of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as the country’s new president, actress Kris Aquino, from the Marcoses’ political rival Aquino family, posted her health updates on Instagram.
Just like Marcos Jr. who had his inaugural speech, Aquino also had a long written speech about her current condition, accompanied by photos and videos of her family, particularly her brother, the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
Aquino’s post, presented as an open-letter to Noynoy or PNoy (President Noy), started with Kris apologizing to her brother for greeting him five days late for his first birthday in heaven.
Then, she proceeded with enumerating the conditions and treatments she went through, going through and is about to take, including a Corticosteroid challenge that gave her body pain “even worse than bone marrow aspiration.” She said she usually had a high pain tolerance, but the body pain was “so hard to endure” that it also made her youngest son Bimby cry. And Kris could not get morphine to suppress the pain because she is also allergic to it.
Apart from allergies and other treatment side effects, she also experiences hives, “constantly high” blood pressure that hopefully has not yet damaged the blood vessels to her heart; and Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome. Mast cells have also been found in her gastrointestinal tract and stomach.
To make matters worse, she and Bimby also tested COVID-19 positive around three days after her eldest Joshua tested positive.
“It was heartbreaking to leave Kuya. I felt like I was abandoning him in his time of need,” sobbed Kris when she and Bimby had to isolate after Joshua tested positive first, sharing that the doctor assured her that Joshua would survive but the doctor was more worried about her and “asthmatic” Bimby. She then experienced symptoms like chills and fever, while Joshua, who has autism, was low in energy and was “not his usual self.”
All these were “definitely a test of fortitude and endurance,” said Kris.
But through it all, even while isolating and recovering from COVID-19, the actress and “queen of all media” had some good news.
Her liver and kidney are still functioning normally. She is also undergoing treatment for EGPA and to be able to eat solid food again.
She underwent a cancer test from the same panel that tested PNoy and she tested negative in most types of cancers, including breast and colorectal, the type of cancer whose complications killed their mother, the late Pres. Corazon “Cory” Aquino, who led the 1986 People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos Jr.’s father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Kris recalled that if Cory was able to extend her life to a year and five months despite being given only three months to live from stage 4 colorectal cancer, then she, too, could survive her ordeal.
Kris shared that she joked PNoy that he will not allow them to have a death anniversary so close to his.
“I even joked with you – I said, ‘Noy, you are super BIDA now because you’re the only one with mom & dad – If I die, of course, Bunso will get the majority of their attention & for sure you won’t like that.”
But seriously, she prayed: “Noy, help me please – these 2 only have me… Please help me survive this, PLEASE?”
She said she is saying “goodbye for now” because after being COVID-19 free, she is to undergo Rituxan, which she described as chemotherapy but for people with autoimmune diseases like her.
After two months of Rituxan treatment, she will rest for four to five months before beginning another cycle or probably another chemo. She was told that treatment would probably last for the next year and a half.
She said she had to say a proper goodbye in social media because many have prayed for her and her sons “regardless of their political affiliation.”
“Please know that I remain thankful for all the concern and prayers you have sent our way BUT during very difficult times, I want to just keep the suffering to myself with only family & trusted friends kept informed… because everyone else is also going through their own personal trials – ang hirap ng buhay para sa marami, nakakahiyang maging pabigat pa ‘ko,” the 51-year-old said.