Healthy Enough

The doctor pronounced me healthy enough to have the biopsy.  They are doing 12 samples, so I will be sedated, and they have to be sure my heart can deal with that.  My BP is back under control, my blood sugar is excellent and so is my cholesterol.  I lost 4kg last week.  I will see the urologist Thursday to schedule the procedure.  Grace is such a big help in navigating the medical system.  They have their own way of doing things, and it is not what I'm used to, so it is very helpful to have a native Tagalog speaker in my corner.


We played hooky from working out at the gym today and went to the Moonwalk Barangay Hall. Barangay roughly translates to "community" although from my perspective, it seems like "neighborhood" would be better.  The city of Paranaque has a number of distinct communities, and each has its own Barangay Hall, administrative staff, police, and traffic enforcement officers.  Grace needed to register her new address and get an ID card from the Moonwalk Barangay.  Chateau Elysee is in the Moonwalk Barangay, so that's where she had to register.  The Barangay ID is required to get a Post Office ID, and Grace needs that to get clearance from the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation - roughly equivalent to the FBI in the US)  The NBI Clearance is documentation that she has not been convicted of or wanted for any criminal activity.  The NBI Clearance is required to apply for a job, and some place along the line, Grace lost hers, so she has to fill all the squares to get a new one.  We got the Barangay ID with no problems, but found that we have more hoops to jump through to get the Post Office ID, so we went shopping at Landmark Square in Makati and bought a bunch of small stuff for the house.  I bought a water heater, and they will be coming to install it on Saturday.  I am tired of feeling like my heart will stop when the first spray of water from the shower hits me. This is a small demand unit that only supplies one shower head, so it should be fairly energy efficient.  We both had sore backs after shopping, and Grace took me to a spa she found for a massage.  I think she had a coffee body scrub too.  I feel much better now.


It's difficult to talk about Grace without getting into the realm of TMI.  Let's just say that I am a very relaxed and happy guy with a perpetual goofy grin on my face.  She is such a sweetheart, and takes such good care of me.