SURVIVING CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

"Congenital heart disease is a type of defect or malformation in one or more structures of the heart or blood vessels that occurs before birth" (http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/congenital-heart-disease). My congenital heart problem was caused by a rheumatic fever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheumatic_fever). So the valves of my heart have been affected since I was in the womb of my mom. This type of heart problem is called rheumatic heart disease (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4709), and it's congenital.

I remember I became so bony when I was in grade 2 which caused our family doctor to advise my parents not to send me to school anymore. For the whole year I was confined in a clinic, and our house became my hospital. I hardly breathed that time. I always had a fever, and my throat was always reddish, and painful. I couldn't even eat. I hardly walk either. If I walked a short distance, I would tremble and would fall on the ground. Our doctor, I still remember his surname, Dr. Felizarta of Polillo Quezon, Philippines, even advised my mom to look for a heart specialist, a cardiologist, to perform any heart operations on me. So my mom and I went to Laguna Province, Sampaloc in Manila City, Lucena City, and a lot more places just to look for a heart specialist.

We were lucky enough to find one, but was asking my mom to produce a tremendous amount of money so he could perform any operations on me. My dad was in the ministerial vocation that time. He was one of the pioneering volunteer church workers of the CHURCH OF CHRIST or the Iglesia Ni Cristo (http://iglesianicristochurchofchrist.webs.com/), here in the Philippines. My mom was just selling some fish on the streets around our community. We didn't have any means to earn millions or even thousands of pesos that time. So my dad told my mom and I to just pray. He said that if doctors could lengthen someone's life, the more OUR GOD CAN.

My parents and I usually knelt down every night and day, regardless of time, just to beg from our GOD to add more years to my life. We bowed our heads, and earnestly asked for GOD's mercy. Since then it became my habit to always kneel down and pray all the time especially when I become very, very sick.

Many times I came to a point where I was about to expire. In 1999, I already saw my body lying on my bed while my mom was beside me crying. I was telling what my mom should do whenever I would be leaving her alone for I know my mom was so weak in the sense that she would just accept whatever came across her journey. She was always bullied and terrorized by any one. So even if I have a congenital heart disease, I stood for my mom whenever she was beaten and hit by a woman or by other peson of her age, or younger than her, or older than her. I was my mom's hero despite the fact that I am very, very sick. She died in 2000 due to heart attack and a kidney failure. She was found unconscious beside the well in her haven in Caloocan City, a place where my family and I loved to stay under the sky when the moon was in its fullest and biggest.

Just this year, on August 11th, my dearest brother, Bern, who stood as my best friend in our family died of a gall bladder stone operation at the St. Luke's Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines. My brother, as far as my knowledge about him and my observations are concerned, was a kind of weak, too, with regard to body pains. He couldn't tolerate even a simple headache. He would take drugs for headaches, or colds whenever he felt like he had. He drank a lot of medicine all the time. He always went to his doctor for a general check up. But he wasn't able to foresee and notice the effects of drugs into his body, and what drugs did to his gall bladder. He didn't listen to what I told him about taking drugs: synthetic or authentic.

When my mom died, I had several heart attacks. And when my brother died in August this year, I also fainted, and went unconscious again for 10 minutes here in my place.

In 2002, because of a lot of pains and heartaches, I was hospitalized. My system was not functioning well. I couldn't pee. I couldn't poo. I was violet again. I forgot to mention that I was also a blue baby when I was born (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_baby_syndrome) . The nephrologist, Dr. Ong of the National Kidney Institute, and was also working in the New Era General Hospital where I was confined for a week told me that I needed to undergo a surgery, that time for a kidney failure and a kidney stone. I know that my body would be too weak to undergo the process. So I asked Dr. Ong how much percentage of the possibility of surviving the operation he could spare with me, and the possibility of being cured since my heart was also very much affected that time. And Dr. Ong said there was ONLY a 50-50 chance of surviving. I was vegetable that time but I managed to negotiate with my doctor. I told him to release me and send me home. He refused for he said that my kidney failure was already fatal. If something wrong happened to me in my house, no one would attend to my needs and no one would give me at least any first aids. But with firm conviction and positive mind, I told Dr. Ong that MY GOD CAN GIVE ME A 100% LIFE, AND CAN ALSO TAKE MY LIFE A 100%. My GOD HAS NO 50-50 CHANCES. WITH MY GOD, I CAN HAVE 100% CHANCE OF SURVIVING AND 100% CHANCE OF DYING. So I wouldn't be suffering much. This what I told the attending kidney surgeon.

Dr. Ong asked me to sign a waiver before I left the hospital. This waiver stated that I would be coming back to him for surgeries after a week. He TOLD ME THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO SURVIVE. I was hospitalized for a week in 2002 after the death of my mom in 2000, and never came back to Dr. Ong, and to Dr. Mayo until today, December 29th, 2010. I became paralyzed. I wasn't able to move. I couldn't even go to the rest room to pee or poo. My husband needed to carry me to the toilet. He also needed to help me lie on my bed or move whenever I needed to take congee, or any soft food, and MY CLEANSING AND HEALING DIETS WHICH WERE GIVEN TO ME BY GOD. I stopped using synthetic and even authentic drugs upon knowing that the drugs that were given to me were all steroids. For you not to ask youself 'why' and 'why' and 'why', I inserted this link http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20050316/why-steroids-are-bad-for-you, to explain to you the bad effects of steroids.  I had oedema that time. I was bloated. And I looked like a zombie. My husband has been taking care of me. My brother, Bern, was the one who prayed to our GOD to grant me the best 'freedom' that HE could give me that time. My brother, Arthur, was my therapist and my reflexologist.

Little by little, I was able to walk. In December, 2009, GOD allowed me to walk painlessly. I was able to  dress myself up. And I was able to attend our Thanksgiving at the Temple. That Thanksgiving Day,  I begged from the ALMIGHTY GOD to HELP me walk, and heal me completely so I could go back to my previous church duty, that's  being a choir member.

Some of my loved ones have already passed  away. I saw how they died. I saw how they were treated at the hospitals. From then on I promised GOD to continue serving HIS NAME, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS WORLD AND TO MY LIFE. I PROMISED OUR ALMIGHTY GOD THAT I WILL DIE GIVING HONOR AND GLORIES TO HIM FOR HE HAS HEALED ME. I AM ABLE TO SURVIVE DEGERATIVE DISEASES THROUGH THE HELP AND ASSISTANCE OF THE TRUE ALMIGHTY GOD. So the life and strength HE is giving me all years long will be spent on giving services unto HIM, and on singing hymns of praises.

THE ALMIGHTY GOD ALSO HAS GIVEN ME THE FORMULAS TO SURVIVE. If you are interested in knowing the formulas, please get in touch through this page. Please leave you comment here with your e-mail address.

Thank you!

Enjoy reading.