The Fat Diva Sings and Another Battle

Dear mouse,
I am going to the Nuclear Department of a hospital today. Nah, I am not trying to be a nuclear scientist to find out what brought Malu Fernandez down from her pedestal. She must be afraid of the retaliation of the AXE,Charlie-wearing OFWs. It’s scary to read the vengeance that may be
inflicted in her, her friends and families. Nah, do not even think of murder. She has said that she felt she has died when she was in plane’s cabin with those OFWs. Read the possiblities that could happen to her according to Arman dela Cruz, a commenter in MLQ 3 blog .

This battle is over. The Fat Lady already sung.

I am talking about my own battle which symptoms I have ignored until…

In 2006, while I was stressed waging that battle in the corporate jungle where hyenas laughed with you but in truth they liked to tear you to pieces due to envy, jealousy and insecurity, I ignored an innocent-looking lump. Thinking that it was just an infection which I treated with a general dose of mouth rinse and toothpaste, I was relieved when I noticed that it was gone.

Then came the weight loss. I never changed my diet except for the breakfast cereal and the
oatmeal that I substituted for my coffee and slice of bread. The weight loss if ever there is should be minimal. But I was losing one pound a day that in 30 days, I lost a total of 30 pounds. I could have modeled for a weight loss program.

Then came the hair loss. That is when your comb is full of hair and there are some more that would fall on the floor like falling leaves during autumn.

I blamed it to my shampoo and hair conditioner. I learned that the brand is being phased out, that is why I was also having a hard time finding it in stores where product shelf lives last only up to their availability of stocks.

When I went back to SF to give up my place, my friends who were helping me pack the things for storage while I was looking for another place noticed the blue black “thangs” in my legs and arms.

I went to my doctor. Although her first diagnosis was calcium deficiency, she scheduled me for a series of lab tests. The scheds were spaced apart that I have to stay in SF for several months more. I was planning to move to the East Coast but if I can postpone it if I can stay a little while, the discovery could have been earlier. My mammogram result was abnormal. But the follow-up ultra sound test that they sched could not be possibly met. Getting a place for aonther one year lease is out. Only a temporary is abode is needed but was refused by a person who benefited my sacrifice as a migrant worker. So I missed all the lab tests.

After my move, I started looking for a job and planned to settle here for good. But then, I noticed something. One time, I went for an interview in an office which was two blocks away from the Union Station. I could not walk without resting for a few minutes. I, who used to walk those long blocks in San Francisco downtown because it was crazy to bring a car in a place where the parking fee for five days/four weeks is equivalent to your monthly amortization of your car,was panting. The public parking area where you still have to shell out at least 7 dollars a day is located in places still requires distant walking. Unlike in the Philippines when there are jeepneys which you can take in one block and get off in the next block, dito parusa ang maglakad papunta sa opisina.

Then the pain came. Then there were the blood tests and more blood tests and other exams.

And now I have to face the truth as to the extent of damage it has wrought my body.

It seems I am a lady who’s always in a hurry…

Pray for me.
The Ca t

malu Fernandez,Jo Malone cologne,OFWs,Manila Standard