Weygan-Allan: The wound is raw

A RAW wound is painful as it exposes the nerves and the flesh to the elements. It is most exposed to bacteria that could multiply in the body and so preventing any infection is the best response. In the Covid-19, health issues become a reality as the magnitude of the contamination is a phenomenal pandemic. Now I talk of a raw wound that hurts at the moment, but in due time they would heal.

Rose Marie Pal-a Dulnuan, my best friend of many decades, died and even with how much we were prepared her passing on has given difficult times to recover for me and some of her friends. Prepared, I say because she has been sick for a while. We were in Nepal on a mission trip last June of 2017 and then before the year ended, she went to the USA but when she came back her fragile body has needed medical attention she has reluctantly sought. She has been first treated for Tuberculosis which at the end of the treatment did not heal her.

I have to literally threaten to carry her body to the hospital if she does not go herself, and she did go to the hospital for a second opinion. It was not tuberculosis and them dais pneumonia and she was treated for that but at the end of two weeks she was still not any better and finally she went to the lung center and they said Lung cancer. She came to Baguio but finally her oxygen level necessitated that she be on lower ground, so for over two years she has lived in La Union and Pangasinan. I was able to see her in Jack’s Grandview a few days before she went down to La Union.

I had asked how she is but I had respected her silence, but finally, they told me where she was and I went to see her. I remember the first time we went because my husband was driving and we took some time to find the place, because as hard-headed as he can be he did not slow down when I said so and we reached the edge of San Fabian and I told him to turn back. Called up Rose again for direction and we finally got it. We had been visiting her there periodically and also some of her friends too.

At the end of her lease in la union, her sister called up looking for another place and we started looking until we finally they were able to find a nice place in San Fabian. We went down for a visit and she looks better. We celebrated her birthday last year with a mass celebrated by Fr. Clyde Banasan, and she was very happy and doing well.

But the last time I saw her was before we left for the USA this February and she was not well. I urged her to go back to the Lung center or have a specialist see her because she told me it’s her sister Doc Christine who was seeing her for her medical concerns. She looks sad and a bit tired and so we did not stay long but after sharing lunch, sharing some memories and a little prayer we left her. That was the last time I saw her because by the time we came back from the USA we were locked down.

I now tell her this; she does not need pity as she is a proud, strong and determined lady. We have shared many things, closer than most siblings and co-workers. We travelled together far and near and told stories and concerns we may not be able to share with others. I will miss her terribly; the wound is raw but in due time it will heal. Bye, my trusted friend.