Greatness Starts @Home Indeed: A Tribute to Mom

I believe that experiences during childhood at home have a great impact in what one will become someday.

My mom died 30 years ago at a young age due to kidney failure when I was eight years old but she has a great influence on me until now.

My mom

She had Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), a genetic disorder characterized by numerous cysts in both kidneys which may cause hematuria (blood in the urine) episodes of back pain, flank pain and abdominal pain. 

Polycystic Kidney (Figure courtesy of  NIDDK).

I was told by my father that when I was born, my mom had only one kidney left (after an operation removing the other one) which also had cysts. She frequently had fever and pain perhaps because of recurrent urinary tract infection. But despite the difficult condition she is in, all I can remember is her love and dedication to teaching her children, without any complaints.

Despite the pain and the stress she might be in, knowing she had "bad" kidneys, she was a hands-on mother to me. She accompanied me in field trips, brought me to school, sat me in her lap as she taught me the ABCs and the DoReMi's while assisting me in my homework. We also enjoyed watching Ernie and Bert at Sesame Street together.

Her efforts were not wasted. I was a consistent honor student during her time and even way past her demise, I was high school valedictorian and medical school scholar.

The image of her always by my side as a mother and a teacher at home lingered on.

Fast forward to the present...

I now have a Masters Degree in Health Professions Education which made me better equipped in my teaching profession.

UP Manila Chancellor Arcadio handing me my diploma for my Masters

Yes, I am now myself an educator and it all started at home. 

Following my mother who never got tired of teaching me at home, I became a medical doctor who loves to  guide future medical students despite also having PKD myself. 

I also educate my readers online spreading PKD and public health awareness as a blogger from the comforts of home.

Thanks to my mom, I appreciated the value of teaching early. Thanks to her, I got to love teaching.

And thanks to my mom, I now get to enjoy my greatest moment of achievement  --- witnessing the beginning of greatness of others, my former students as they become successful doctors.

And it all started with the greatness of someone at home --- MY MOM.

If you have a story to share regarding your greatest moment of achievement, then write a blog post about it and submit the link as a comment to the Greatness Starts@Home Blogging Contest Page by Globe Tattoo and get the chance to win great prizes including Samsung Champ phones and Samsung Galaxy Tabs. On the same page, details regarding the contest as well as the criteria for judging are indicated. Stories will be featured on the official Globe Tattoo Facebook page the day after submission. Contest will run from February 25 to March 17, 2012.  

The Search for Happiest Pinoy 2012 Goes to Cebu

What is very admirable about many Filipinos is that they still manage to smile despite adversity, calamities like Typhoon Sendong and earthquakes. These people remain to be optimistic despite trials. This cheerful, optimistic trait is what Polycystic kidney patients like me should possess.

It came as good news to me that a Filipino company promotes a unique advocacy of spreading a "Happy-demic".

Cebuana Lhullier Insurance Solutions, Inc. (CLIS) launched the Happiest Pinoy search which "seeks and recognizes the country's most optimistic and passionate Filipino who overcame difficulties and exhibited resilience amidst life's challenges without losing their cheerful attitude."

It is bringing this nationwide search to Cebu to give chance to Cebuanos to nominate also.

Any Filipino residing in the Philippines, of legal age and good moral character may be nominated.

Any Filipino of legal age may nominate. Any organization or group registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission may also nominate.

Nominations are still open until May 30, 2012.

There are online nomination forms which can be downloaded, accomplished then uploaded back to http://www.happiest-pinoy.com/.

Accomplished forms may also be sent to Cebuana Lhullier Insurance Solutions Head Office, 821A Spring corner J. P. Rizal Streets, Makati City.

Criteria for selecting the Happiest Pinoy include:

• A constantly cheerful face and optimistic outlook
• Proven ability to rise above life's challenges.
• Positive impact on the lives of others.

The grand winner will receive P250,000 tax-free and a trophy. The nine runners-up will receive P25,000 (tax-free) each aside from a trophy.

For more information, follow Happiest Pinoy in Facebook, Twitter, and in their website and submit your nominations.

Spread the Happy-demic. And smile despite the challenges of having PKD!

The Gift of Time

by Henry L. Yu, M.D.

One of the things that we are equal with any Pepe or Pilar or Nena is the Gift of Time - a time to be born, to grow, to make friends, to be happy, to get hurt, to love, to give life, to serve, to have a family, to be old, gray, weary and sickly, and a time to come back home to our Creator one day. Someday. As one author would put it, "To live is to go on a journey, to die is to come back home."

 

In our lifetime, we travel through life's many journeys, either alone or in the company of friends and loved ones. Some journeys may be smooth sailing, with less air pocket as we fly high, while other roads may be too rough thus making us stumble and fall.

 

As human beings, we have our own stories to tell and our personal histories to share - our past and our present. Each to his own. We know our past because we've been there. We have lived it. We know our present because we are living in it now. But the future is something we are not familiar with it as it is yet to come. What it will bring, we don't know exactly. Only God has the key and the answers. In His Time.

 

Yesterday... Everybody was rejoicing and welcoming a newborn baby that was us. We were given a name. We went to school and made friends out of the many classmates we have. We learned our lessons. We graduated. Then we applied for work and got employed. We worked, earned, and saved. We got married and have a family of our own.

 

Today... We have become parents who have to work, earn, and save for our children's basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, education, among others), the same things our very own parents went through when we were young. Today, we have friends who readily stand for and by us through thick and thin. We have neighbors who share with us life's agony and ecstasy so much so that they have become like family to us.

 

Tomorrow... We have yet to know. It is the future that will still have to come and to happen. Will it be as wonderful as yesterday or as beautiful as today? Will tomorrow be filled with sorrow? Will it be raining in our hearts?

 

Come what may, no matter what, the fact remains: Life continues as we travel its many journeys, along with the many lessons to learn from, people to meet, adventures to experience, challenges to face, and the many more things to do in a lifetime.

 

Yesterday was a time. Today is. Tomorrow will be. All these are God's gifts to us. Let us rejoice and be glad for the gift of time.