FLOODS, RAIN AND SURGERY

Amidst the constant rains and flooding in our city, I had my minor surgery on Wednesday, to remove the new lump that I just discovered on my remaining breast just this last Monday. The whole procedure took about two hours. I just had it done in my doctor's clinic, with local anesthesia. This was a personal request from me as I have grown quite tired of the usual hospital protocol of having to go through the Emergency Room and about a dozen inquiring residents who all have the same set of questions to ask.

The interrogation alone can be trying, to say the least.

My surgeon, Dr. Emil Salcedo just talked me through the operation, with a myriad of topics from mountain bikes, to siopao, to church politics. I was trying not to laugh too hard at his usual and somewhat satirical take on such things. I tried my best not to look at the incision he was working on, just a few inches below my chin, but the lure of the grotesque was just too much. I would sneak a look once in a while, but not too long as I always turn queasy at the sight of blood.

Every time I would hear the snip of the scissors, I would recite the Panatang Makabayan in my head, to distract myself from the morbidity of its implications.

By the time I knew it, Emil was stitching me up. I went my way to the mall with my daughter who needed a new pair of shoes. After that we proceeded to the prayer meeting to kick off our church anniversary this year.

A half-centimeter lump was removed, with another half-centimeter of surrounding tissue all around, which I immediately submitted to the pathologist for biopsy. I will get the results next week.