On stroke and my heroes

Mariano Carrasco

MY youngest son, Kim or Marlo Karlo, can be in two places at one time. Why? He donated to me his kidney about four months ago. While he is studying in Makati, his kidney is with me here in Cagayan de Oro. I am now out of dialysis though I am very grateful to the charming and good nurses of CUMC’s dialysis center who were “sharpshooters” in inserting the needles into our veins, and in making us less sad.

When my son was just six months old, he got seriously sick. He had not drank his milk for days and his head had been shaking. He had blood clot, it seems. The four doctors attending to him had surrendered. My beloved wife Vangie and I were crying already while a priest was ministering to him the Sacrament of Extreme Unction which is usually given to those on the verge of dying. Then the good doctor, Joseph Garcia came into the picture. He had this small machine that injected something into his brain very slowly. The medicine or vial used could not be found in the drugstores. We were lucky when it was found at the Maria Reyna Hospital and was sold to us. The next day Kim’s lips moved as if wanting to suck milk. We cried and shouted with joy. He recovered, though for about a year he had to take phenobarbital.

I thank God for Kim’s recovery, and for my own recovery from the kidney problem, and for the extension of life. We were born, and we all have to die physically sometime in the future. We all have to follow the Creator’s will. Our task really is to protect and prolong life as much as possible and make it qualitative, meaningful, and socially and spiritually productive in accordance with His will.

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A close relative of mine almost died. She had been working too hard and had been sleepless for days to finish some paperwork. Then early dawn she had to go to Davao. Her near fatal mistake—she took a cold bath. She staggered, almost fell, and vomited. There was extreme pain and headache. Aneurysm or a near rupture of the vessels in her brain, it seems. The stroke could have been fatal. Now she’s slowly recovering after the scans showed no rupture or serious clotting had occurred.

I have seen too many individuals who suffered from sudden high blood pressure and stroke. Their situations were similar. Either they had worked so hard, or had been out in the sun for long, or had been vigorously playing, or had been drinking or had been sleepless for long, or had been exposed to heat when cooking or putting out grassfire or preparing copra and exposing themselves to the fire—then they all took a cold bath or drank something very cold or got wet in the rain. If they were younger with more pliant blood vessels, they probably would just catch cold  or have a fever or  headache and chills. If not, their blood pressure could shoot up and blood vessels especially in the brain could break, resulting in blood clot, lack of oxygen in the brain, damage to the brain cells and paralysis of the nerves and muscles, or eventual death. It is good to listen to the advice of the old folks. Take a good rest before taking a cold bath or drinking something cold. If you have to take a bath or have to drink, use lukewarm water or drink something warm.

This phenomenon could be tested this way. Get a glass. Fill it up with hot water, then throw the water away. Then fill it up with cold water. The glass will break. Our body works in a similar manner. The Department of Health should make a massive campaign on this—to avoid an alarming destruction of our people’s health.

(Mariano B. Carrasco is a lawyer based in Cagayan de Oro.)