Tweeting helped my dad.

My dad turned 59 last Tuesday. This year, he celebrated his great day with the same enthusiasm but in a different venue, hospital. :(

Growing up, he's a very strict dad but he always explain his point. I don't know why but he's very expert in world history (that's why he's very bored in the hospital because there are no CNN or BBC and he keeps on watching teledramas). He's a very naughty and loud person, "makulit" as everybody says. I remember when I was in elementary, everybody's saying that if I'll have a boyfriend without finishing college yet, my Dad will ask me to marry and leave the house as soon as possible because he's very strict. But it wasn't true, he's strict and makes sure that you'll stand firm (and fight for it if necessary) to whatever you believe in. He's a very cool and kind man.


Since he is in the construction industry, he drinks a lot as part of motivation in his workers and as part of "pakikisama." He's always the last man standing in drinking that made him look more scary and strict. We thought we're prepared for this but when Dad's liver started to have a problem, we realized that there's never a preparation for these kind of things.


His hemoglobin dropped to 7.3 last Friday, half of the normal 14. His liver wants rescue in producing red blood cells that made me and my whole family panicked. He was getting weaker and more pale.


I didn't know where to get them but I knew, I must.


Then, I tweeted (part unconscious).


After a few minutes, Tonyo Cruz, a famous blogger in the Philippine Blogging community, retweeted my post. Then 5, 10, 20 people that I didn't know, retweeted what I said. Some of our friends sent group text messages. I was overwhelmed by the fact that many people care about my dad, some were my friends and colleagues, some didn't even know him.


I remember writing about the power of posting and re-posting a month ago because I was so impressed with the natural kindness of people and I didn't know that when it happens to me, it's much more impressive.


On Sunday morning when I was looking for people who'd donate O+ Blood for my dad, Enzo, a Filipino photographer and blogger from Bulacan and Carina delos Santos, a very kind-hearted Filipina from Muntinlupa who started donating blood when she saw the hardships of her family in looking for blood donors when she had dengue (and almost had blood transfusion), arrived in the hospital and told me that they will donate blood to my dad. I mentioned the places where they lived for you to realize how grateful I was that they went all the way to Taytay, Rizal and donated blood to my dad. How cool was that? Who are these people? :)

Though because of the schedule and several other things, Enzo wasn't able to donate. Me and my family truly appreciate his kindness. 


Amazingly, both Carina and Enzo didn't know Tonyo, the person that they both follow in Twitter and the person who disseminated the information about my dad. I am very thankful to Tonyo's big heart and I would really appreciate if I'll have a dinner with him and would be very grateful to finally introduce Enzo and Carina to him. 


Words can't explain how grateful I am.


Several people sent me emails, Facebook and text messages, and even tweets from friends from Indonesia, US and Singapore, expressed their prayers and support for dad's fast recovery and for me and my family's strength. Thank you very much.


My dear sweet friend Agatha Tapan, dropped by the hospital to pray over my dad. 

My ever supportive friend, Danica, brought a cake for me for my dad's birthday.


I don't know how will I be able to thank my aunts (Tita Billie & Tita Carol) who were there from there from the very start. I never felt scared, I was never alone. My Ate Marissa coordinated with the Red Cross for the blood which made me feel so much better together with the prayers of my cousins and friends.


After the transfusion of 3 units, Dad's hemoglobin was 8.7, increased but still not a good number to proceed with the operation since that time we learned from the result of the CT Scan that he has Cirrhosis of the liver. So we asked our friends and colleagues again for help.


My Japanese supervisor, Kaoru Ito, donated blood for my dad. It was very unexpected since Japanese people are mostly scared to visit hospitals in the Philippines unless their familiar with it, so I was very surprised and thankful to her.

These are the people who donated blood for my dad that our family will always be thankful:

And of course, I was okay because of Taku. He reminds me everyday that tomorrow will always be another great day and that tough people know it. For the record, it was his first time to meet my parents and surprisingly, my Mom had spoken Japanese again and entertained him. Haha.


Dad's still undergoing the second unit of blood transfusion and might finish the last tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow morning, he'll push through with the operation and he'll be able to get out of the hospital after.


Again, thank you for the support and prayers and God bless you more! Let's keep on tweeting!