Christmas and New Year 2014 Day 9

Dec. 27, 2014

SCARY

At 7AM, the day started with mom calling me into their bedroom to help dad because he couldn't get up from his chair. He had transitioned from the bed to his TV chair but was experiencing some kind of numbness on his left leg. I helped him get up but he wanted to go back to bed. He said he thinks his leg is cramping so we had him lay back down and start massage the offending limb and curling his toes. He complained that the left side of his left thigh is also very tight alternating with his entire left leg being numb and increasingly getting hot. He started to complain more about the heat and was visibly uncomfortable to the point of tears. We start applying a wet towel onto the leg and simultaneously fan it because he continuously would say “It is hot, the leg is burning hot!” The weird thing is that his leg was really cold to the touch. Anyway, mom texted their longtime doctor for advice and he instructed us to elevate the leg and give him pain medicine while continuing massage to stimulate blood flow. Took us till 10AM for him to get comfortable and was able to sleep. He was exhausted. His team of helpers who fanned, massaged and applied the wet towel were all relieved of this ordeal. It was the first time they've encountered this with him so they were equally scared. Needless to say they were just as happy to help him through it. It happened a second time after lunch but not as intense as this morning. I think it was because he expected and adapted to the pain and may have mentally calmed himself to get through it. My aunt Ining who apparently had been his 'quack therapist' as they all call her, was the main person who painstakingly had her hands on his leg for both events. Whew!

The day went on just staying in until mom needed to go the the grocery to get stuff for her pasta sauces. It is amazing to watch this woman buzz through the isles picking up her ingredients and other items on her list, fill up the cart, and finish within 15 minutes. The amount of stuff she collected would have taken me at least thrice that time as I would have dilly-dallied my way around the store. She was in such a hurry to come back home that she was getting impatient with whoever would slow us down: the cashier, the bagger, the traffic enforcer at the parking lot, even Melvin our driver who was organizing the bags of groceries in the trunk. I bit my tongue to refrain teaching her about proper employer-employee communications but understood her desire to return to dad's side. The lesson will have to wait another day.

Dad come out to join us in the dining room and we chat a little. He is way behind schedule in reading his morning paper so he dove right into it. At one point I could hear a marching band in the distance and thought there must be a procession taking place.

True enough the sound was becoming louder and I asked him if he wanted to see it with me but he declined. I open the gate to see the procession about to pass with about 150 attendees accompanying figurines of Mother Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus on a well decorated trailer. Aside from the marching band heading the procession, the people in the back are praying loudly and saying the rosary.

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In the evening, we meet up with Ate Cris, Kuya Ruffy, Ate Lourdes for a Mexican dinner and margarita. A Toda Madre is this super quaint bar in the heart of Makati. The area is quite bohemian even for Makati as foreigners and seedy individuals ply the streets. Don't get me wrong, the street and alleys were surprisingly clean but you cannot avoid noticing the number of people 'working' their trade. Most of them transvestites. Anyway, the food was exceptional and comparable to the best Mexican food I've had in Dallas. The presentation was well done as well. I find out that the owner actually has a house in Texas and flies back and forth quite often.