By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

NOT all ailments can be cured by the latest medicines. Some medicines may impact on vital organs causing them to fail, aggravating the original condition they are prescribed to cure. Science is responsible for a lot of new pharmacological remedies, but its limitations are real.

There was a time my sister Emma could barely manage to take a step, after bleeding profusely even though she was ligated. With her doctor’s help, the bleeding stopped but she could hardly walk after. We could not remember the intervening events, but she decided to go back to work, and began walking at the UP Academic Oval regularly. She walked without fail until one day, we noticed she was keeping pace with my brisk walk. Fourteen years after, she is still walking and doing aerobic exercises, in addition to her daily household chores and maintaining a large garden.

I came across a similar story of 55-year-old Beda Aspurias who has climbed over 145 mountains in the Philippines and abroad. Aspurias, who comes from Banaoang, Mangaldan, began her climb after struggling with health issues that made it difficult for her to walk. Determined to improve her health, she pushed herself to climb Mt. Ulap in Itogon, Beguet in January 2020 at the age of 50. Her determination paid off: “Actually, I was already there. With the help of God, when I went to Mt. Ulap, I got separated from the group, and then I found out, I was already ahead of the pack.” (English translation)

My story is not about difficulty in walking, in the beginning. I was seeing a dentist for a root canal that took longer to pinpoint where the remaining sensitivity was coming from. It was important to deaden the nerve so that the tooth could be sealed. For a day the pain was gone, and the dentist sealed the tooth. After the anesthesia wore off the next day, the pain was there again, so the dentist unsealed the tooth and began treatment with the help of a dental neurologist. Both tried different medications but eventually declared that my case was a challenge, and discussed with me the possibility of extracting the problematic tooth. They told me, we can extract the tooth but the pain may still be there, like in some cases they were aware of, where the patient decided to have three teeth pulled, later diagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia. I decided against extraction.

For more than a year, I suffered the pain which progressed into my not being to swallow properly. Then, I could no longer talk and had to write what I needed to say. Then I could no longer chew and had to process my food in a blender so I could take it in with a straw. During this time, in order to maintain my wellbeing, my sister Emma and I walked daily. One morning, as we were walking, in the middle of just one step, the pain shot up from the leg to the top of my head. I lost my ability to walk.

My family and friends who were privy to what was happening were alarmed. Family friends Aloc and Gwen, thinking that the tooth may be cancerous or worse, brought me to Dr. Susan Casipit, a certified Dental Specialist in Orthodontics. Dr. Casipit performed all the dental procedures, and for a while, the pain eased. We were relieved to know it was not cancer. Then it was back with a vengeance despite the top of the line painkillers. I cringed with excruciating pain at every small hump/hole on the road as we traveled to the doctors. I thought I was dying and made a draft of my last will and testament. (To be continued Healing Part 2).

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