Place:
Ayala Center Cebu

Year:  
May 2012

Characters: 

                                   Philip (my 20 year old youngest brother)

    Cholo (7 years old)

     Derek (5 years old)

We just had our lunch inside one of the big malls in Cebu last year (my first vacation alone with my gremlins) when my youngest brother asked me money so he and my kids can play inside Time Zone. We were on our way to Dunkin Donut for a coffee (my dad is coffee addict).

I shook my head and said no. We can go after coffee. But he was insisting that he and the kids will be bored watching old folks like us killing time sipping coffee, talking.

Anyway, thirty minutes after, I was sipping my coffee with (baby Dean strapped with me) my parents when I noticed my brother wandering around not far from where we were.

OMIGOD!

My heart was thumping so hard that it felt like was going to jump off my chest. I didn't know how I told my parents that my boys might be missing without raising my voice. I texted my brother (no, he didn't came to us, I think he was trying to look for them on his own). I was really trying not to hit his head when he stood in front of me with his so clueless facial expression and kept on saying it wasn't his fault. He told me they were on their way back to us when Derek ran. Instead of running after the 5 year old like any responsible adult, he instructed my eldest son Cholo, who by the just turned 7 year few weeks ago to run after his younger brother and bring it back to him.

WTF!

Okay, I think this time I did knock his head. Mentally, he was already bugbog-sarado. I was so angry at him. My mom was trying to calm me down.

How could he tell my eldest son to run after his brother when he have no clue about the mall? This was their freaking first time in the place!   

Well, what should we do, right? We had to dispersed on different directions so we can find the kids faster. 

Yes, my head was swirling with crazy thoughts as seconds gone by. I had no idea how scared or scary I must have looked at that time since I can see people were staring at me. Was I turning into a crazy person? Was the line Irresponsible Mom Lost Her Children written with bright neon pen on my forehead? Should I care? No, what I wanted most at that was to find my kids back.

"oh God, is this really happening to me? I just gave birth six months ago and now I lost 2 his older brothers!"

"my husband is going to kill me when he gets I couldn't find the boys. will he leave me? how about Dean?"

I was talking and asking God how are the boys.

Were they together?

Will any crazy couple bring the two at their house? Then I remembered about group of people kidnapping kids and opening them up just to get their hearts, livers..

"oh God, oh God, oh God!"

Dean was sleeping so soundly while his mother was freaking out. 

Just then, I couldn't remember how long I was searching for them until, I heard my name on the speaker. It was choppy, so I wasn't able to get where to pick my kid(s) up. At this point I still have no idea if my boys were together or not, but what I am sure of the one who was calling my name was no other than Cholo. Because I kept on wrecking my head trying to remember if Derek knew my real name or will he choose the names he heard like;

• Mama
• Dedeng
• Tere
• Mama Bear

On our way home I asked Cholo what happened. 

Mama, bien kore gat si Derek (mama, Derek was running so fast). But I was able to catch him. *proud of himself*  Then I grabbed his hand and turned around. Nuway man si diku (but I didn't see uncle). So I looked around for guard and approached him. He kept on babbling things I don't understand. I waited for him to stop and said, "guard, our mama is missing."

Yes, the past two years would mark the "Let's Scare Mama Gremlin" Year led by Cholo (2011) and Derek (2012). Its like they planned this one day while watching  Phineas and Ferb episodes.

Last year, Cholo was playing inside the room and tripped. He bit his lower lip and it was swollen and so nasty to look at. As if that's not enough we went to have his back x-rayed after the iron post dropped and slid off his back and foot, while playing with his school mates.

This year, Derek was like, "wait a minute, why can't I have my "Scare Mama Gremlin Year?"

Last year, Derek was like his Teacher Eusie's monster student for being uncontrollable, he would spend more than half of his time in school playing outside the room. He would just behave when I was inside monitoring him. He wanted me inside the room with him, but I have to be firm and left him on his own after four months. 

Yes! Freaking four months! At the end of the school year he graduated Nursery with definitely didn't learn how to write his alphabet and had to learn how to write on summer vacation with me. Sigh!

This year, I was doubly concern of him carrying off his keber-ko-attitude with his pregnant Teacher Len. I was scared that he would be the reason of miscarriage. But then in fairness, Teacher Len seemed to know how to handle him better since this time he likes to go to school compared to last year.

So the scare mama gremlin comes in when he came back with a nasty cut (same reason with his older brother) on his upper lip. Before that students came running to me to inform that Derek was bleeding. I was like GOD! We brought him in WMMC (siguro we can avail SUKI CARD if the hospital has one) and have him checked, fortunately uppat that time no stitching required. But what was scary was after when the nurse asked if his immunization was complete specifically the Anti-Tetanus Vaccination. 

To make the long story short, after he was being injected with anti-tetanus I thought it was the last time. I thought he learned his lesson well, besides after all the screaming, shrieking, freaking out inside the ER was enough.

Until a month after came and this time it was notch higher than the last time. I was in my afternoon nap with Dean when I heard soft knocks and the head of our hired labandera popped in. "Anti, ya kay si Derek na hagdanan."

Seriously, I was awake but my brain was still sleeping coz I didn't freak out like I was used to. Hello?! The stair was steep and its not wood.

I walked out and saw him standing in the middle of the comfort room with the blood dripping like mad. I was angry, brain sleeping, pissed off. How could he forgot that he was strapped down by four guys in the ER the other month just to have him injected? I wiped the blood and covered with a band-aid and before heading to the hospital, again.

As expected when we walked in the OPD of ER the nurse remembered him. Duh?! While cleaning off the blood, which was now a dried streak on the left side of his face, I could see that this was one deep wound. My eyes almost popped out. Remembering that while he was waiting for me he was playing around with Cholo like nothing happened. God, this need stitching! 

"Ma'am, can he sit still while stitching his cut?" The nurse asked. 

I was like screaming in my head, "seryoso ka, neng?!"And I heard myself replied, " Didn't the last time 4 people or nurses including my husband was needed to strap him down?" 

"Amu gane." She replied. "So it leaves us no choice but to have him sleep and instead of being an out patient he would be admitted."

I was pondering and entertaining that thought. I was scared that he would be too uncontrollable and something worst would happen while stitching.But then no room available so we said that we had to try Ciudad.

It was my first time to walk in not as a visitor but as a (parent of the) patient.

Anyway, I was kind of clueless coz I am really a WMMC suki patient (all my three babies were born there, when Derek suffered from amoeba he was confined there, and yes when I was a victim of Dengue I was their patient) and was kind of used to how long I have to wait for the Cocolife office to approve the request. Kaya nga I was kind of surprised, in a very good way of course, how it was so easy Cocolife beneficiaries like me to walk in Ciudad Medical's front desk (I don't know what to call it.) and have all the things done in less than five minutes...definitely far cry different from WMMC. All I did was hand in the id card, signed, and done.

Unexpectedly, there's no room available in Ciudad, too, I guess its because of the high rise of Dengue patients kaya puno ang mga hospitals.

The nurses in the ER told me that there's no need for Derek to be stitched in the OR and it can be done with the help of local anesthesia. I was thinking, "damn, you don't have a clue how my kid can do his karate moves." But I gave in. I kept on texting my husband to hurry coz we need manpower to keep little Gremlin from doing his "parang sinaniban".

In fairness with WMMC, after all the waiting in approval from Cocolife office, the service in OPD was faster compared to Ciudad considering of how busy the prior ER compared to the latter. WMMC ER are always busy with patients swarming in and yet, they were able to tend to out patients with their needs.

That's why when I agreed for him to be stitched using local anesthesia I was expecting wow the prepping would be faster since there was only two patients. But I was wrong, we waited longer. I had no clue why it takes them longer to prep.

When my husband arrived after more than thirty minutes of waiting (or was it almost an hour?) they handed me the form to fill up and started to prepare the things needed...then off we went to the battle. lol

One male nurse were holding his head/face, the other was his shoulders, then my husband his arms, while I on the feet (my husband and I swapped midway coz kasi yan cramps el mano).

Yes, we endured Derek's screaming of , "OH MY GOOOODDD!!!!" to, "I wanna go home na!!!!" and, even, "Sorry na, mama! Please, sorry na! Last ya ste. Ende na. Ende na!!!!"

I guess we're too hungry that day that we three went to Greenfield and had our dinner there. We were laughing about Derek's pleads and all. 

 A month has passed and nothing happened to Derek, but I know for sure it wouldn't be that last time.

Two years ago, I would have passed out with the sight of the blood...but now I am a little stronger. My insides doesn't do somersaults or my nose doesn't pick up the "ironish" smell of the blood...and yes, thanks to Dean, I can actually suck it in everytime needles are needed to be pricked--coz he can take the pain, why can't I?

That's for another post. :)