My 92-year old father-in-law is in town for his annual medical checkup. Without fail, Dad comes to Manila year after year, makes the rounds of his doctors, suffers through whatever tests they prescribe, and faithfully takes all his medicines . The PERFECT PATIENT!
On the day he had his blood test, I decided to have myself thoroughly tested as well. When the results came in, we both had generally normal results. His BUN and Creatinine were elevated but the doctor said it was a case of old age.
What was surprising, however, was that his total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL/HDL results were BETTER than mine. And while I was anemic, his blood levels were just right!
Imagine, here is a 92-year old just a few months shy of another birthday! And here I am….practically half his age…..anemic and with a higher cholesterol reading than him!
I attribute Dad’s very good health condition to his lifestyle:
1. He eats a lot of vegetables and fruits
2. He does some form of t’ai chi every morning (an aunt-in-law tells me he has a Chinese poem which he recites in his head while exercising to keep him in rhythm)
3. He is faithful to his medical checkups
4. He is blessed with 7 children and 14 grandchildren (as of last count…)
5. He stays in touch with the business world and still attends Board meetings, Lions activities, and reports for at least half a day at the hardware store (even if it is just to read his Chinese newspaper)
6. He still insists on travelling with younger family relatives abroad — which almost always makes everyone else apprehensive while planning for his safety and good health while abroad. On his last trip to Beijing which our eldest son Ian also joined, both grandfather and grandson scaled a part of the Great Wall for a sentimental picture together.
7. He is just DARN LUCKY and BLESSED with a strong constitution!
One of Dad’s doctors, a urologist many years younger than him, once commented that he had patients in their 70s who were in wheelchairs and had to be attended to while Dad still walks by himself. Funny thing, that urologist himself is now RETIRED due to some health conditions while Dad is still around being attended to by the urologist’s doctor-son.
This coming week will be another round of doctors but I think Dad will pass. In fact, he already has Mall of Asia lined up as a must-see place prior to his going home on Friday. And I mustn’t forget to bring my digicam along to take a thousand and one pictures of Dad against the mall’s various backdrops so that he can add these to his ever-growing photo albums in the family library (which he personally maintains).
For a while there, I was a bit concerned about her since I was not too sure if she could keep up with the rest of us who were younger than her but to my great surprise, she SURVIVED with flying colors!
