Love, Over the Counter

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The lack of love is a disease, that is. Where gambler mama cried for repentance to her 12-year old daughter after having found her tied to a rope up on their house’s ceiling, semi-conscious and cyanotic, whom she had hurt physically just two hours ago. Or the Muslim teenager who was grasping for life after being shot by to-whom-it-may-concern bullets on a cold, drizzling night. As well as another man, bleeding, after having been mauled to death by his blood brothers nga “ni-enter.”

The need for love is a disease, that is. Where a diabetic old man with a swelling left foot at Bed 15 cried out “Dili naka ganahan nako? Kwarta nalang jud imong sige ug pangayuon?” (Hindi mo na talaga ako gusto? Pera nalang talaga ang lagi mong hinihingi?) to his 30-something girlfriend every other afternoon, but still gave her a chance to change ways. Or the pretty girl who drank a bottle of bubbling shampoo after a big fight with her boyfriend, yet found him at her bedside, holding her hand, giving her tender loving care.

An antidote is imperative. And you wish (oh yes, you just wish!) that those who succumbed to such malady could encounter without ado its phenomenal after-effects. Like the worried husband at Bed 20 who tightly embraced his once-disoriented and restless wife in the middle of the night when she finally recognized him, reassuring her with “Ma, ako intawn ni” (Ma, ako po ito). Or perhaps, our dearest (yes, our dearest!) at Bed 1, bloated and sweaty who held his wife’s hand while saying “Salamat sa tanan” (salamat sa lahat-lahat) in a whisper just before he took his last breath.

And with those long (or sometimes brief) encounters with strangers (and some strangely familiar few), those uncanny coincidences and turn-out of events that foretold why, indeed, the greatest disease isn’t medical but the need of the heart, we come to terms with the soft parts of ourselves, who, like any other, are predisposed to ailments or not, would want that panacea. That capsule. That tablet. That teaspoonful. That fundamental need for love, over the counter.

@ 5:06 PM |

28 Comments:

At May 29, 2008 at 6:54 PM,  Anonymous said...

This really touched me Kendz... it reminded me of two special people. One of them is my lola who died in my arms last year...

Love. The Panacea. This has got to be my favorite post of yours. The world needs more nurses like you who understands the need for love.

 

At May 30, 2008 at 12:12 AM,  rainisrian said...

these are not just drama stories but real events that really touch some deep part of my heart.

Hahay jud.

 

At May 30, 2008 at 1:30 AM,  Anonymous said...

kendz, you just made wanna go back to that nurse station and don that white cap.. i'l read this post again and again,it's bittersweet..

 

At May 30, 2008 at 1:31 AM,  Anonymous said...

correction:
kendz, you just made me wanna go back to that nurse station and don that white cap.. i'l read this post again and again,it's bittersweet..

 

At May 30, 2008 at 7:56 AM,  kendi said...

@ little tikla: thanks mir... most of the time, it's not about synthetic medicines jud. it's the way you take care of someone, the way you speak to him, the way you hold him and many more, the way you do it with love. and the miracle happens. :)

@rian: well you've been my listener to those stories gang. and i can vividly remember when you said @ early dawn that if i were the one taking care of you, you wouldn't wanna leave the hospital premises. haha. char.

@ kai: you will, kai. really soon. hihi. kita daw ta nila manong Dan and Tey before he leaves cebu. :)

 

At May 30, 2008 at 9:48 AM,  Anonymous said...

i almost created a music vid sa akong ulo while reading this. once, i watched after my li'l sib sa ospital for a week. i found friendship with this 5-year old girl without a right eye(had to be removed kay may tumor). hahay this post makes me miss her. the echoing of her laughter when she touches my butt and she screams: "siopao siopao". haha.

may she rest in peace.

 

At May 30, 2008 at 12:53 PM,  Anonymous said...

silly how, something with symptoms as diverse as this one has do not warrant a differential diagnosis on Dr. Gregory House's white board.

pervasive and sadly common an ailment as this is, the afflicted can only get too much from modern medicine...

 

At June 4, 2008 at 9:30 AM,  Miki said...

gang sounds sooo sweet
three tablespoonfuls
wahehehehe

 

At June 7, 2008 at 10:14 AM,  kendi said...

@ tinay: most often, i've met people who touched the deepest part of me too. and they are the ones written in this post. some survived, some didn't. but wherever they are right now, may they find peace and love. :)

@ jeub: for someone who's such a medical noncompliant like me, i prefer 2 tablespoonfulls of what that remedy rather than those synthetic ones over the counter. :)

@ miki: wala akong ma-say. kita-kits next week sa cebu. :)

 

At June 25, 2008 at 6:38 PM,  Miki said...

i didn't realize yung Danilo na pinakilala mo sa akin was the same Ramon na naka-link sa blog ko, hehehehe

i only realized it when i checked out his site and was struck by the drawings that looked so familiar
gi-link diay nako sa una pa kay i find his drawings really good

 

At June 30, 2008 at 8:46 PM,  incendiary tey said...

hi kendi!
you know, when i read you,
something inside me opens, some deep corner that only opens when touched tenderly or with a tinge of melancholy.

yes, melancholy.

i still wish you were there, though, two nights na! hehe

 

At July 1, 2008 at 6:58 AM,  Brennan said...

hello kendi.

first up, ganda ng lay-out. winner po. tagal ko na hindi naka visit sa blog dito.

having people like you in the medical profession is a welcome relief indeed. after all, we cannot separate the human being from the disease. and that makes all the difference in this universe.

blog on!

 

At July 1, 2008 at 4:48 PM,  kendi said...

@ Tey: i think i know why you felt melancholy... but cheer up, yo! there's more to come pa man pud. :) and sowi for not being there... i'll make up for those nights lang the time dili na kau ko busy. :)

@ Baktin: it's been a long time nga. and new hair mo ha. hehe... hope to see you soon here in our city. :)

 

At July 1, 2008 at 6:00 PM,  incendiary tey said...

hahaha.anong you think you know why i felt melancholy ka jan?, ha?! hehe.

no, i meant each time i read you and not this particluar post, hehehehehhe...

bitaw sige lang, kitakits!!!

 

At July 1, 2008 at 7:16 PM,  kendi said...

@ tey: haha.. char.. intrigahin ba? shhh...

 

At July 7, 2008 at 6:05 AM,  duke said...

the page layout, the drawings, the music, this entry...they give me a feeling of sadness. it's like watching the window on a rainy day from inside a cold and dark room. gloomy. can't describe it really.

i like this place.

 

At July 7, 2008 at 12:00 PM,  kendi said...

@ Dr. Duke: naks... thanks for visiting. been lurking at your site as well. magpa ECG nalang kaya tayo noh? masakit sa dibdib.

 

At July 24, 2008 at 8:59 PM,  worldtraveller said...

hi, you should really publish, it moved to the last words...

 

At September 3, 2008 at 3:27 PM,  Anonymous said...

hay naku, drifting pa rin

 

At November 9, 2008 at 1:46 PM,  Anonymous said...

hanep sa symbolismo. anu magpublish ka naba ng buk?

 

At November 9, 2008 at 7:34 PM,  lucas said...

ei, ms. kendi! do you still remember me? hehehe! anyway...

about your post...

it's so ironic how something as pure as love could be related to the ugliest diseases in the world. i totally agree on what words were saying...the lack of love, the need for love...truly human soul craves for it... is it possible that there's a form of love that corrupt a soul? hays...

i love it :)

linked you up :)

 

At November 10, 2008 at 12:58 PM,  kendi said...

@ eli: thanks, but those were just random thoughts and words.

@ ron: i don't think there is love that corrupts a soul. it can't be love in the first place. love creates, i doesn't destroy. diba? hehe. but then again, who are we to define love? it's ineffably effable most of the time. :)

 

At November 17, 2008 at 10:24 PM,  Anonymous said...

reading this post is like being in the ward... i could picture all those patients... kinda... like understanding them better. ;)

 

At November 18, 2008 at 9:53 AM,  kendi said...

@ iammai: oh yes, and by being with them, you'll realize that you are not alone, and so are they. :)

 

At December 28, 2008 at 1:03 PM,  Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! Wuhooo!

 

At January 17, 2009 at 3:18 PM,  Kodak Picturezzz said...

I don't know how I got here.

But I like what I see.

Good read.

 

At January 22, 2009 at 3:06 PM,  Miss F said...

beautiful post!
reminds me of one of my
favorite quotes:

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
-Jalal ad-Din Rumi

 

At April 1, 2009 at 5:09 PM,  ZeroGravity said...

write na

 

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