A time to weep and a time to heal

Probably half of our female population has breast cancer while the other half is in mortal fear of getting it. We make this fearless assumption as the nation observes Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. You may be among the lucky ones who don’t have breast cancer but surely, you must personally know someone who has it. I know a lot of women who are battling this No. 1 female cancer killer, some of them have courageously survived it, while others fought hard but lost the battle. One courageous survivor is my good friend Lita whose birthday falls on Oct. 2, the feast of angels. Loving mom to two smart and healthy girls, both of whom she breastfed, Lita found out she had cancer just this year. She went to see a doctor because of back pains that wouldn’t go away. Then she heard her doctor say the most dreaded word: cancer. Lita has stage 3 cancer. From what I remember Lita telling me on the phone, she was advised to undergo six chemotherapy sessions. She said the chemo’s aftereffects weren’t as bad as she expected maybe because of her vegetarian diet.  Lita has junked meat in favor of vegetables. Even her sandwiches are loaded with vegetables — care for an eggplant sandwich? (I have another friend, Alice, a breast cancer veteran, whose husband goes to the wet market to get her tons of carrots, that have been part of her daily diet. Often asked by market vendors why he buys that many carrots, Alice’s husband would casually reply, “Because my wife has breast cancer.”)

When I called up Lita on her birthday, she said she was feeling much better and is now ready to face the world again after a long hiatus from social life. For Lita, there’s sunshine after the rain.

To help women with cancer has been a lifetime commitment of Grace Adamson, a therapist and naturopathic philosopher who co-founded Australia’s first Cancer Support Group movement in the early Eighties and has since worked with more than 10,000 people searching for life’s meaning.

“I first came to the Philippines more than 10 years ago to bring my husband Ian who had bone cancer and was given by doctors only a few weeks to live,” Grace tells us over a healthy lunch to launch the SpaAsia Wellness Summit 2007 at Sofitel Philippine  Plaza, where over 300 delegates consisting of spa owners, healers, doctors, therapists, financiers, investors, and developers attended.

But after only a month in the Philippines, Ian, according to Grace, “had a tremendous transformation, as he became a man living with cancer. There was little, if any, impact on the tumor size, yet he gained seven kilograms, was pain and jaundice-free, and had gained his mobility again.”

For all that, Grace is most grateful for “the total loving kindness, generosity of spirit, and a field of open possibilities” that met them in the Philippines.

Aside from Grace, another speaker we met at this big spa summit launch was New York-based Raymond Nadeau, who considers spiritual and moral well-being as the ultimate luxury, and suggests a whole new way for consumers to see wellness.

To go back to Grace Adamson. She accepted Ian’s marriage proposal and married him despite the fact he was dying of cancer. Married for over 20 years, half of which she was nursing her husband to recovery, she divorced in 1997. But that’s another story.

 A woman full of grace, passion, and compassion, Grace Adamson is also author of the book Women of Silence, which is considered a classic handbook for women living with cancer.

Grace writes, “As a woman, I have been touched deeply  by the lives and stories of so many women affected by breast cancer. As a holistic healer, it would not be appropriate for me to maintain silence or withhold the knowledge and insights I have gained through their sharing. At this moment, as I write, I am thinking about all the women with breast cancer who have journeyed in and out of my life over the years; each one of them being like a strong thread in the finely woven fabric of life. Some have survived with immense dignity and courage. Others have died with immense dignity and courage. They showed a remarkable ability to take charge of their lives and take charge of their death. It has been an honor to be in the company of such brave women.”

Serving as the voice for the thousands of women who have for far too long been suffering in silence, Grace urges the women of silence thus, “Nurture yourself and make yourself whole. Live your life fully and realize your goals. Be gentle and strong. Find the courage to heal and to sing your heart’s song.”

Grace teaches these women of silence how to reconnect with their passions, how to love, laugh, and live again.

Yes, there’s  a time to weep and a time to heal. 

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A plea for potable, affordable water

Here’s an open letter to national and local government officials and Maynilad from the residents of Payatas in Quezon City:

For us who are living in the Payatas area, waiting for the daily ration of water through extended hose or truck delivery has been included in our routine. Now that Maynilad’s pipe-laying project is in progress in front of our subdivision on Litex Road, Payatas along the La Mesa Dam reservoir, our wish of having water running from our faucet has, at long last, come true.

We — residents of Parkwood Hills, Violago Homes, and nearby communities — are appealing to the authorities to provide each and every home with potable, affordable, and sufficient water supply.

The Nagkakaisang Samahan sa Tubig, a non-partisan organization of homeowners, was formed to work for an obvious goal: an individual water-metering connection.

The clamor of the majority is for the Maynilad to lay new water pipes in our subdivision and assign every home a water meter independent of their neighbors, as against the bulk water selling scheme proposed by Maynilad.

In the bulk selling of water, Maynilad will set up a mother meter with sub-meters. Each sub-meter will be connected to each house and the old connection of pipes will be used. This proposal is not feasible due to the defective and inadequate facilities of our subdivision.

Residents of our communities are ordinary employees who earn just enough for their families. A clean, safe, and cheaper supply of water, which is a basic human need, will really be a big help.

If the government can provide us with individual electric power connection through Meralco and telephone lines by Bayantel and PLDT, why not the water supply?

Our only hope to achieve our goal is the intervention of your good offices to help alleviate our plight. We hope for the day when we will experience the kind of services other villages are enjoying.

We appeal to the authorities to include us in their list of priorities.

Martin “Binky” Gaticales

President

Nagkakaisang Samahan sa Tubig

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