Managing My Journey

Good health and happiness: these two are valuable gifts for old age. It’s a road map for longevity. But why are these conditions elusive as one grows old?

Looking back, I could retrieve my lifestyle when I was a young mother and a classroom teacher. Those were years when a hullabaloo for natural foods was nil. The promotion for healthy lifestyle was not as extensive as of today that market was bombarded with processed foods. Following the least resistance, I bought what was practically available.

I often felt a certain dryness in my throat and I easily got tired.  The feeling was aggravated by a terrible migraine. My doctor advised me to get enough rest and go easy on multitasking.  He prescribed antibiotics for my illness and vitamins for maintenance. The relief was short-lived. I thought I was just pestered by my low grade health and I was too busy to brood over it.

Later it developed into a more serious health problem. I was alarmed. I thought  I couldn’t be around to see the growing up of my children and my younger siblings whom my mother entrusted to me  before cancer took her away, much more could I reach my retirement.

When I felt a lump on my left breast my husband accompanied me to his friend, a doctor. The doctor informed my husband that he would prepare me for a complete mastectomy the following day.  I didn’t show up on the scheduled time for I consulted another doctor who advised me otherwise. “They are just hormones”, he said,” just leave it for the time being; only when you’ll be in the late 40’s, out of ten women you will be the first to have cancer”. Well, it’s in the genes, I told myself but thankful that I still have my left breast intact.

Then I had an enlargement of the thyroid gland the reason for dryness of throat and feeling of tiredness. I was again advised for a free operation on goiter. I was like Jonah whom God ordered to go to Nineveh but went to Tarshish instead. So I went to Chiropractic. He treated me and gave me a list of food to avoid. They were all my faves. He lectured on healthy living which I followed closely. I began taking carrot juice before breakfast. Nibble on vegetables and heartily enjoyed fruits and fish. I was told to stay away from meat but I ate sparingly.  After two months, the enlargement subsided and the symptoms gone.

I was not able to escape the third operation in my late 40’s. A benign tumor was found lodging on my left ovary. So I underwent a “Tab SU” short cut for a medical term which I now forgot. My doctor prescribed hormonal pills to replace what I lost but I started feeling the same pain I had before on my left breast. Contrary to the insistence of my doctor, I gave up the pills and took Soya milk regularly. I also experimented on varied fruit and vegetable juices. I tried Guyabano (Annona Muricata Linnaeus), oranges, guava, pineapple and other Filipino fruits.  I also alternately experimented juice of red bell pepper, squash, green leafy vegetables with no sugar and water, just pure juice. I was able to put under control my allergic rhinitis which was the result of my migraine before.


Guyabano as what we call it in the Philippines has a sour, creamy, citrus

flavor profile close to a combination of strawberry and pineapple.

Now I can still pursue my own creativity except with a few aches, pains and scars I brought along with me from the past. Just like the oak tree as described by Steve Nix, which stood for 300 years. In old age, “it grows fatter than usual, appears dumpy, gnarled and shows signs of decay. It is hollow inside because woodpeckers peck on its bark on summer only to dig deeper on winter. Despite this appearance it is healthy for great age, attractive and functional”. I thank God for leading me to this stage in life where I can praise Him even more.

After 65 I still have enough vitality to pursue activities that make me happy and productive.