Cariño: Baguio Connections 59

LAST week, a shying away from operations had at the BGH by yours truly. Simply because talking about stuff like that makes me faint.

In third grade, when my Science teacher lectured on the circulatory system, I asked to be excused, headed to the bathroom to vomit, and sat out the whole period because the whole blood thing just made me faint and still does.

BUT. Good doctors, like Doc Untalan, deserve much credit for the work they do. So this week, again, we give credit to doctors for jobs well done.

The first ever surgery I had was on my eyes, to fix a bad case of cross-eyedness. Because of the condition, I was in very thick glasses since a really young age, and my pictures of the time also show each of my eyes going in different directions.

I was in first grade that my parents checked me into the BGH one fine day. It was also the day that I had finally learned how to roller skate, and I remember being called in from skating, packed into the car, and checked into the hospital with the yaya of the time.

My room was next to the balcony of the second floor, and there was a telephone in that balcony, from where I was always calling home. To minimize the number of those calls, I got brought all the latest issues of the comic book Turok, Son of Stone.

Then it was the next day, the day of the operation. Then it was the next day, and my eyes were in bandages. Then it must have been yet another day or later, and my doctor was removing the bandages and checking his handiwork while my parents looked on. As I looked into the mirror at my bloodshot eyes, the adults discussed them, remarked that the eyes were no longer crossed, to my parents’ apparent relief, and that I would have to stay home for some time, still.

The doctor who did that successful operation was Dr. Policarpio de Jesus, BGH’s resident eye doctor and father of my classmate, Maritess. He has lived in the memory of my family as the doctor who fixed Linda’s crossed eyes. He allowed me to go back to school at one point, but with dark glasses to cover my eyes for a good number of days.

And then the dark glasses were allowed to come off. And then I didn’t need glasses anymore, dark or otherwise, hallelujah! Yes, doctors do perform miracles. Dr. de Jesus performed one on my eyes, and if you notice, his family name is the name of one of the greatest miracle workers of all time.

Maritess, Tish, and I found each other on Facebook some years ago. A few days ago, she thanked one and all for the birthday greetings sent her way and that she was visiting her father in Nashville, Tennessee. It seems that she and her sibs were in Nashville to greet him. It was good to see a pic of the de Jesus family together, especially of their patriarch, the doctor who saved my eyes a long, long, long time ago.

Thank you, Dr. de Jesus.

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