What a week...

The past 2 weeks have been very emotionally exhausting...my best friend, Norie, was rushed to the hospital. They thought it was a mild stroke pa but thank goodness it wasn't. I didn't even know that she was rushed to the hospital until the her 1st night - something just came over me ...that I have to send her a text message cuz she was supposed to go to my house in LP to pick up her mini-pasalubong that my dad brought for me. When she replied, she mentioned that she can't make it because she's confined at Asian Hospital....what?!? Of course, I panicked...I didn't know she was sick at all. So, even though it's 10 pm in the Philippines, I tried calling her house in Laguna to find out. Her brother told me all the info that I needed and then I called her. So I talked to her and her mom ...I was relieved that she's ok naman. Kaya lang at that time, she didn't know what was wrong with her. Her results came back a day after and they verified that it wasn't a stroke. Then more results .... all normal naman. Tapos, her doctors found out that she has Miller Fisher syndrome.

What is Miller Fisher Syndrome?
Miller Fisher syndrome is a rare, acquired nerve disease that is considered to be a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome. It is characterized by abnormal muscle coordination, paralysis of the eye muscles, and absence of the tendon reflexes. Like Guillain-Barré syndrome, symptoms may be preceded by a viral illness. Additional symptoms include generalized muscle weakness and respiratory failure. The majority of individuals with Miller Fisher syndrome have a unique antibody that characterizes the disorder.
Is there any treatment?

Treatment for Miller Fisher syndrome is identical to treatment for Guillain-Barré syndrome: intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) or plasmapheresis (a procedure in which antibodies are removed from the blood) and supportive care.
What is the prognosis?

The prognosis for most individuals with Miller Fisher syndrome is good. In most cases, recovery begins within 2 to 4 weeks of the onset of symptoms, and may be almost complete within 6 months. Some individuals are left with residual deficits. Relapses may occur rarely (in less than 3 percent of cases).
What research is being done?

The NINDS supports research aimed at discovering new ways to diagnose, treat, and, ultimately, cure neuropathies such as Miller Fisher syndrome.

I'm so relieved that it's not life threatening - she still has to go through therapy but at least her recovery is looking great na. She went home last Tuesday and she's taking some time off work. I told her that it's a good idea kasi she's so overworked! It will really be great for her because at least she can relax for now and be stress free from work.


And then, while Norie was in the hospital, my grandfather was rushed to the hospital too...same place as Norie's...Asian hospital. His hiccups(hiccoughs) were really bothering him ...he would have them one after the another that he was having difficulty breathing. And at the same time, he's been having difficulty in urination as well. It was such a scare because my grandfather has never been hospitalized before in all his life. I think I've only been sleeping for about 3-4 hours everyday because I just can't help but worry. I don't think I'm the only one worried but my whole family. We're glad that he's been released from the hospital too but we're still waiting for some test results.

Say it with me....whew!!! What a week it is!!!

House update

Finally! After 5 exhausting days, we've finally managed to close the deal
for the new house! Who would've thought that the mortgage approval would
take 3 days?!? And we only had 5 days to do this plus the home inspection!
You won't imagine how stressed out we were ....! And we couldn't book the
home inspection until the mortgage has been finalized. UGH! But we're
awfully relieved when it was approved and the home inspection was done.
We found minor repairs that needs to be done ...there was a leak but we got
a few hundred dollars deducted from the purchase price because of that...
better than nothing, I guess. So now, we're saving up for the remaining
downpayment (read: scrambling for money!), closing costs ... ok, gettting suffocated, I can't breathe! LOL!

So for anyone who would want to visit, just bring you own chairs! LOL!

A new house

We bought a house!!! And it all happened in 1 day ...yesterday! We didn't expect it to happen that quickly but we've looked at a few houses and it's the best one! It's a funny story really... I saw the house listing on MLS back in January and the price was something we couldn't afford. I've talked to the seller's agent and he asked if we wanted to see it but we decided to wait until we get pre-approved for a mortgage. So a few weeks after we got pre-approved and we hired our agent ... I was so happy to find out that the house was still available...and the price was reduced!!! We were able to look at it and it was really what we both expected it to be. Then we looked at a few more houses and we've seen what the differences were ... then JR and I decided to make an offer on the 1st house. We didn't expect to get it because they wanted the closing date to be around Feb-Mar 2006 while we wanted May-June so we re-negotiated and decided April wold be the best for everyone. The price was a little higher than we originally talked about but it's still something that we can afford nonetheless.

I'll try and post more pics once we get everything finalized. It's so exciting, we have a house!!!