Ailing, aging NE bachelor gets wish for medical treatment after 3 years

PALAYAN CITY, Nueva Ecija–After three long and agonizing years, 55-year-old bachelor Juanito Esteban finally got his wish for medical treatment for a still undisclosed illness.

          Esteban, of Barangay Caimito, will soon undergo surgery for a lump which grew in his left hip, through the assistance of Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas and the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (CGHMC).

          Esteban, accompanied by his elder sister Corazon Deregla, went to the Caimito Elementary School gymnasium here yesterday morning for the medical and dental mission jointly sponsored by the city government, the CGHMC and the Philippine Chinese Charitable Association (PCCA), Inc.

          The half-day medical activity benefited 1,000 residents from 19 barangays in this city.

          Esteban, who was lying in a stretcher, said he first noticed the lump in 2010 which caused him severe pain. It gradually grew, growing the size of a baseball. Because of the ailment, he could no longer walk.

          Deregla said his brother, the third in a brood of eight, sleeps by his side, in pain. “He eats and sleeps in excruciating pain always,” she said.

          Johnson Dy, director of the CGHMC observed that Esteban’s feet have turned yellow, indicating that blood is no longer circulating in his body.

          Dy and Maria Gracia Jiongco, CGHMC deputy administrator, told Cuevas they would have Esteban examined and operated at the CGHMC.

Cuevas and her husband, businessman Vince, will assist in shouldering the operation. I’ll support you all the way. I won’t neglect you,” Cuevas told Esteban.

          The 33-man medical and dental team led by Jiongco and Dy consist of four pediatricians, five physicians, four dentists, four nurses and a crew of 14.     The group also distributed assorted medicines to local folk.

          Jiongco said their group has already conducted at least 30 medical and dental missions in various parts of the country this year. From November 25-27, they went to Tacloban to provide assistance to 1,300 victims of typhoon Yolanda. 

          The PCCA, headed by its president, Dr. James Dy, is an active organization serving as umbrella of various organizations that include the CGHMC and involved in several socio-civic activities providing aid in areas where people underwent tragedies brought by natural calamities.

          For several years, PCCA organizations also got involved in relief operations in far-flung areas such as Bohol, Davao, Northern Samar and Tuguegarao.                  

          Aside from Jiongco and Dy, the medical team here include director Robert Yang, Dr. Jose Mari de Jesus, Dr. Leila Karen Nagal, Dr. Charles Erwin Cabus, Dr. Leighnette Geronimo, Dr. Maria Aloiza Hadloc, Dr. Dara Diana Relleve, Dr. Nico Ong, Dr. Jomar Silvestre and Dr. Roger Tiangco; dentists Eloisa Ferrer, Linda Corpuz, Olga Francia and Malu Calano, nurses Cherry May Almarez, Shane Mendoza, Lariza Javier and Olivia Leonardo and staffmembers Cocoi Hombrebuano, Melicia Barroga, Armine Navarette, Vilma Dy, Reymund Petrocinio, Shynee Calahat, Roberto Pangilinan, Mary Ann Pacheco, Beth Ngo, Jerry Dy, Zsha Tabirao,  Ony Bago Jimhar Kallong, Leonilo Agus, Linda Alvarez and Rubilyn Argonido.

Among the medicines given out were analgesic/antipyretic, anti-asthma, antibiotics, mucolytic, anti-diabetic, nasal decongestants, anti-histamine, pain reliever, anti-helmintic, anti-diarrheal, hematinic, eye irritation, anti-spasmodic, anti-coagulant, anti-hypertensive, cough and cold remedies, ear antiseptic, electrolyte replenisher, vertigo, anti-tubercular, topical preparation and vitamins. (Manny Galvez)