“…Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” Nehemiah 4:14b

This chapter of the book of Nehemiah serves as a reminder to me to always “Remember the Lord, great and awesome…”

On May 1, 2016 I found myself at the emergency room of a local provincial hospital, BDH, in Laguna. We were asked to return as the room was not yet ready. The next thing I know, after a sumptious meal at a local eatery, I was quietly brought into the ICU. What for?Something is wrong with my heart, that is why I was in the ICU. Believe me, there was nothing intensive in the care one receives in such places. Perhaps in others, but not in this place. That was step 1.

Step 2 was being transported to the Philippine Heart Center for an “angio-gram.” This procedure gives a doctor a clearer picture of what a patient’s heart has, is going through. A kind of “cardio forensic carbon dating.”

Bottomline, which is Step 3, is I need by-pass surgery. According to the ‘Doc’ of the the three alternatives in treating a heart disease, this is the one option left for me to undertake. Imagine, some stranger cracking open your chest to make the necessary repairs of your clogged and damaged hear? It was at first hard for me to accept but then…

My loving and beautiful wife was with me all throughout, I thank the Lord always for her.  She has been my personal nurse, dietician, police, she’s been wearing as many hats as she as she actually has. God bless her.

Stay tuned for more of this “heart to heart” journey I’m taking you on.