‘… how do we secure for the rest
of our people as good a health
condition as they can achieve
without having to pony up
the pesos they don’t have?’
LAST week, I trooped to the seventh floor of St. Luke’s BGC for my annual executive check-up, or ECU as Intellicare, our company HMO, refers to it.
I’ve been having my ECU without fail (save in 2020 and 2021) since 2017, right after my “annus horribilis,” because 2016 was the year my candidate for President of the Philippines lost in the May election, then I lost my father in September, then Hillary lost the US elections in early November followed by the death of my first ever Maltese, Cleo, before November ended.
During the early 2017 ECU, they discovered that I had a small gallstone, and I immediately had a cholecystectomy — the surgical removal of the gallbladder — thankfully by laparoscopic surgery at Asian Hospital. Post-op, the surgeons were surprised that I went through the procedure despite the fact that the stone was still quite small; they didn’t know that I loved undergoing general anesthesia and putting my life on the line for unnecessary procedures so I can take advantage of my HMO benefits! Seriously, I figured I didn’t want to risk a gallstone attack when I was much older, had retired, and had no more HMO, and by which time I’d need a full incision on my torso rather than just suffer the scars of three small holes.
I even have an experience to write about, occasionally.
But anyway, I checked in as required last Wednesday noon. Had my vitals taken (my weight had dropped from 91kgs during my Oct 2022 ECU to 87kgs now!), my BP was 128/80 and I was all set until I was told that because of my bad colds, I couldn’t be admitted and needed to get an RT PCR test. So down to the ER I went where I was swabbed thrice. In four hours, my results were in — negative for a host of viruses except for the cold virus (surprise!). But it was too late to be admitted at the Wellness Center, so it was the next day, same time, that I checked in again.
This time, everything went well. I did my stress test and reached stage 5, one stage better than last year. Had my eyes checked. My hearing was checked. Had four organs subjected to ultrasound. Had my urine checked. Went through nutrition counseling. And even had a foot spa at the spa on the 6th floor of St. Luke’s — part of the wellness package.
Oh, and was honored by a visit from Dr. Dennis Serrano, the big boss of St. Luke’s himself.
And I also maxed my time at the hotel-like buffet spread.
Everything was great — as were the results generally. I left the hospital relieved that I went through this for another year, but wondering also — how do we secure the rest of our people as good a health condition as they can achieve without having to pony up the pesos they don’t have?
For my age I guess I am in good health — but can the same be said of our general population?
