Advanced Math
I now know the import of those oft-repeated admonition: tatanda ka din.
When I was young - I mean younger - and foolish, I admit I scoffed at these words. Oh sure, at the back of my mind I know that that is an irreversible fact of life - everyone ages. But when one is at the pink of health and full of vim, cholesterol counts and all that stuff were things incomprehensible and irrelevant. They could very well be asteroids orbiting another solar system in a distant galaxy, you know they are there but they just do not concern you.
And then wham! I hit the threshold age and a few weeks later, I am pacing outside some doctor's clinic waiting for the results of all kinds of tests. Within a span of two weeks, I was poked at, my insides peered at, my blood analyzed, etc, etc. I never realized there was this variety of tests available. And by golly, whoever thought of these tests must have been trained by the Nazi doctors during the Holocaust.
All of a sudden, I am counting cholesterol levels, sugar levels, blood pressure, heart beats, respiration, etc. I have seen an ENT specialist, a cardiologist, an internist, an opthalmologist, a neurologist, an abortionist (just kidding about the last one). And all these on top of my regular doctors and close friends who also happen to be doctors.
You would think that after all those procedures and with a century worth of medical training and expertise among them, they would be able to diagnose what exactly was causing my blood pressure to rise and my constant nausea. No cigar. It seems some things are still beyond the realm of science after all.
And so they all cast if off to something I could have done in the first place (which I always do admittedly) - blame my parents for it - genetics!
I wish I can charge the bills to my parents as well.
When I was young - I mean younger - and foolish, I admit I scoffed at these words. Oh sure, at the back of my mind I know that that is an irreversible fact of life - everyone ages. But when one is at the pink of health and full of vim, cholesterol counts and all that stuff were things incomprehensible and irrelevant. They could very well be asteroids orbiting another solar system in a distant galaxy, you know they are there but they just do not concern you.
And then wham! I hit the threshold age and a few weeks later, I am pacing outside some doctor's clinic waiting for the results of all kinds of tests. Within a span of two weeks, I was poked at, my insides peered at, my blood analyzed, etc, etc. I never realized there was this variety of tests available. And by golly, whoever thought of these tests must have been trained by the Nazi doctors during the Holocaust.
All of a sudden, I am counting cholesterol levels, sugar levels, blood pressure, heart beats, respiration, etc. I have seen an ENT specialist, a cardiologist, an internist, an opthalmologist, a neurologist, an abortionist (just kidding about the last one). And all these on top of my regular doctors and close friends who also happen to be doctors.
You would think that after all those procedures and with a century worth of medical training and expertise among them, they would be able to diagnose what exactly was causing my blood pressure to rise and my constant nausea. No cigar. It seems some things are still beyond the realm of science after all.
And so they all cast if off to something I could have done in the first place (which I always do admittedly) - blame my parents for it - genetics!
I wish I can charge the bills to my parents as well.
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