BENCHWARMER

Transition
RAMON S. DACAWI

Janet, the elder child of my late elder brother Danilo, never grew up. Until she passed on at 27 last Tuesday afternoon, she remained a child, in that mental state we non-special people outgrow yet sometimes wish we were back in whenever realities of the adult world get too harsh and complex to comprehend or untangle.

Her medical case that began early last month was too complicated for laymen to understand. Her magnetic resonance imaging suggested Pott’s Disease or bone tuberculosis. An initial biopsy on her spinal showed no trace for cancer. Orthopedics were set to open up part of her vertebral column to fill up a hollowed lumbar vertebra and brace the adjoining ones with titanium.

Before the procedure, she had to be cleared of lung infection. Instead, she deteriorated fast. She started throwing up and losing her appetite. A sudden growth on her neck required another biopsy. Her eyes turned jaundiced and a plastic catheter drained brownish fluid in a trickle, suggesting hemolytic anemia. Most of the excess fluid remained on her, bloating her faceand limbs.

The staff of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center worked overtime handling her medical needs. One lady doctor had to be on her feet for over an hour by her bed, carefully implanting a tube on her arm. Other specialists came one after the other to check on her, together with staff and interns.

When she needed eight units of blood platelets, the hospital laboratory released them with dispatch, giving us time to now look for donors for the replacement. The farmer-husband of another patient readily bled a bag. Another would-be donor came out almost cursing himself for his honest admission that had him disqualified – a puff of marijuana in his teen years.

From Canada, Baguio boy Irwin Ilustre called, to ask his sister Juliet to get a low-down on Janet’s ordeal. Juliet was then visiting the pedia ward to look into the medicine needs of some of the child patients. I don’t know how tall Irwin is but he sure belongs to that breed of boys with hearts bigger than their bodies.

Saving Janet was an inspiring team work Her mother just can’t figure out how to thank them all who helped -the Pacdal Forest Nursery neighborhood, Dr. Ray Cariaga, Dr. Rommel Palaganas and their peers, the medical and support staff of BGHMC and the rest. Pay it forward, as the book and the film of that title suggest. The story revolves around a boy’s idea that kindness can be subject for networking, similar to the down-line system of selling goods, but for a differentreason. .

Two days before she passed on, Janet hallucinated. She told her mom she saw her late father by her bed, beckoning his child. My brother Danilo succumbed to aplastic anemia two years ago. Janet had ribbed neighbor Rolando Marquez and carpenter Celes Poschor when they had to carry her to a cab for the first biopsy. “Nagdadakkel pay anges yo,” she told them in childish humor.

Neighbors took turns supporting her mother Fely during those two weeks in the hospital. At the risk of violating the one-watcher hospital rule, Imelda Pascua stayed overnight so Manang Fely could rest. During class breaks, Mrs. Pascua’s three daughters –Regine, Amy and Melanie – served as relievers.

When Janet thought she could eat, Florida Acosta cooked pork sinigang. She later asked for porkchops with tomatoes, also her favorite. Make it two porkchops, she said -one for her, one for Melanie, her best friend.

Late Tuesday afternoon, my nephew Joseph later called to say they were already at the Baguio Memorial Chapels. He can stand what I can’t – watch the frantic medical staff pumping his cousin’s chest, as he did watch when his uncle Danilo’s time was up.

Joseph, his sister Jo-ann and sister-in-law Maritess were somehow relieved to find the embalmers idle, free to focus on preparing Janet for the wake. For two nights, the whole parlor was empty except for her chapel named Garnet where she was during the wake for her father. The place looked so exclusive, as if reserved for a reunion of kin and friends that turned complete with the coming home of Ronald, Janet’s soldier-brother assigned in Mindanao.

“You have exclusivity because no one’s dying as it’s too expensive,” observed Santiago Dariano, my classmate under Emmett Asuncion’s tutelage at the University of Baguio Science High.