lets go moleskine!

This blog entry is my entry for Avalon.ph's Win a Moleskine Colour a Month Daily Planner 2010.

I'm really not into joining contests because 1. I'm starting to think I have bad luck when it comes to these things and 2. I'm too lazy to follow contest mechanics. But when I browsed through my Tweets this morning I found out that Avalon.ph is giving away Moleskine Colour a Month Daily Planner in 12 Notebooks 2010 (link from Moleskine.com), retails for Php2,750.00 locally. I was planning on getting a 2010 Monthly Moleskine Planner but this one is just made of awesome.

Here we go!

What are you thankful for this 2009?

I'm feeling a wee bit under the weather. They say that writing is therapeutic and keeping a journal/blog helps release bottled up emotions. So maybe it's time to write the bad vibes away. I have nothing significant to say so I might as well just rant. I have a headache, it's not the migraine kind. It's the kind of headache I usually get when the weather is too hot. Odd though, it's not that hot today. Maybe it's my eyes-- my contacts are off and I'm not wearing my glasses.

You see, I am the type of person who gets sick a lot. Sick as in I've had way too many Emergency Room trips, too many hospital confinements, and too many needle pricks from IV insertions, blood extractions, and injections. My illnesses always seem to target major organs-- liver, kidneys, and heart. When 2009 went along without me being sick, I felt like throwing a huge party for the success of going through a year without a hospital trip. But to my dismay, in June 21 of Father's Day I started feeling unwell. It was Sunday and my throat started to become itchy. During this time the outbreak of AH1N1 virus (Swine Flu) took Manila by storm-- the numbers was growing and so was my paranoia. I thought about accidentally catching the virus at the mall or somewhere else because I was paranoid that way. On Sunday afternoon I started to have a fever. I was anxious to get myself tested for the virus this time and that evening I went to the E.R. of St. Luke's Medical Center. The resident-on-duty there interviewed me and almost laughed at me when I answered "I was just paranoid of catching the swine flu" when asked about my reason for being in the ER. I was surprised to see a lot of people in the room that time, all with coughs, sore throat, and fever or at least one of those symptoms. We were all required to wear masks because one of us might really be positive for AH1N1. The doctor then proceeded to check my throat. It wasn't even painful during the time but he said my tonsils were swollen. Since I had three of the symptoms that qualified me for a swab test, the doc immediately referred me to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine all the way in Alabang.

To cut the long story short, after a swab test and a three-day quarantine, the results came out and I tested positive from the virus. I was quarantined for 7 (LONG) days more. I was ALONE in the house because only one person could take care of me (to prevent further spread of virus). I wrote this rather lengthy blog entry on one of those days when I got depressed and lonely from being quarantined for that long: Rising Above.

After my whole ordeal with the swine flu was over, I learned that in 2009, I am most thankful for good health. Yes, good health despite the things that I go through with my body-- I am Hypertensive at this age, I have heart conditions called Mitral Valve Prolapse and Second Degree Heartblock, I have heart dysrhythmias which I am currently on medication for, and I am at risk for developing diabetes because of my family history. Sometimes I call myself a "factory defect of heaven" but then again, God made all things beautiful and there is no such thing as a "defect from heaven". I am thankful for good health because I was able to fight AH1N1 and all the emotional stress that came along with it. I am thankful for good health because even after my episode with the swine flu, my body regained its normal strength without any complications. I realized that I also have my family and my boyfriend to be thankful for. My boyfriend turned into a personal nurse who came to visit me and bring me food the whole 10 days I was quarantined (and no, he didn't get the virus) and my family for being with me in spirit even if they couldn't be with me physically (my parents live in Brazil and my sister was on her first trimester of pregnancy during the time). I felt my parents' care and love through their lengthy phone calls and Yahoo Messenger chats. Therefore, I should be thankful for technology too, I guess! It also kept me company during that long solitary confinement-- the internet, twitter, and facebook kept me sane.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I am thankful that no matter how many times my spirit is brought down from getting sick a lot, I am still able to come back after fighting it and I guess you can say that I'm braver each time too. So if 2010 comes and I get sick again, I'm not going to be too depressed anymore because I've been through tougher times and I always come back a hundred times braver.