SEMPER ERECTUS!

Edel with early stage bulbar type of ALS

Edel had an impossible dream. He was planning to beat an unbeatable foe. Normally, his type of ALS gets you in three years. Well, he was planning to outdo Stephen Hawkings even if his was of the most severe type. He had an unwavering faith in the God force. On the side, he did a book that unraveled the mystery of the calendar during the early days of his illness. This is a useful manual on how to tell the day of any date from year 0 AD to anytime in the future. But, his greatest project was his plan to beat ALS. We both knew this was impossible but he had faith in miracles.

No one would ever think of Edel as spiritual from the way he talked. He was always on the scene. Mahilig sa gimmick. Basta mga kaibigan niya ... kasal, binyag o patay, he was there. But he loved most attending events that concerned "rites of passage" ... the "for the boys of the bedistas and the upscamen”. He was there ... on the frontseat, center aisle. He loved life with such intensity you could see it from the heart-stomping music he played on the piano or saxophone. He had an earthiness uniquely bound with spirituality. He was simply very human. Taong-tao. Bastos pero maginoo, napakagaspang sa biruan pero pinung-pino sa pagmamahal.

Edel and I had been running parallel lives from prep school. We joined practically the same organizations way up to med school. We were really not that close but we had common friends and common enemies. And when we had to work or play together, we blended very well. We were particularly notorious for our coarse humor.

In 2000, our parallel lives finally crossed. Right after our silver jubilee homecoming in San Beda, my friend Edel came to me as a patient. He asked what acupuncture could offer for what I realized he had -- one of the most dreadful diseases anyone could contract. I ran for help. I knew this was incurable. A community of friends to provide moral and spiritual support was crucial. I called for a meeting where Edel could explain what was going on with him. I called on common friends from San Beda, UPSCA, UERM and Likas. Marj Salcedo, Ferdie la Chica, Ramci Sanvictores, Bob Santos and Allen Mercado met Edel at my home to see how we could all help. This started Friendsofedel.

Many have been telling us how lucky Edel had been with friends like us. Thank you for that. Actually, we, his friends, are the lucky ones. Not only because we didn’t catch ALS. Sabi nga niya: "pare, ito yung sakit na gusto mong ibigay sa ating mga kaaway." I think being witness to his personal odyssey was a very special privilege provided us through Edel. Friends have described him as a fighter. Oddly enough, the best description came from someone whom we both disliked in high school. This newfound friend called Edel: a good warrior.

Edel with full-blown ALS

During our get-togethers, we saw Edel cringe in pain as a muscle in his abdomen or arm began to fail, to atrophy. He did not cry. He simply closed his eyes. When the pain had passed, he continued to laugh with us, listening to our trivial travails, and enjoying good eats. He loved life and he developed coping mechanisms to make him not just survive but live well. We saw him develop a system of being brought from his bed to the bathroom, to the living room and back to bed. He thought out a system of fixing his clothes just before lying down to make sure that no fold under him would cause discomfort as he slept. He developed a system of positioning his fingers and legs so they remained that way all night. He devised a system of being fed as well. All these he developed and taught everyone who wished to care for him. He had very little use for specialized care. He never had a special nurse. And, he consistently shunned the day he would need the use of a respirator or a feeding tube. He loved to eat and relish food like most of us in the group. And this he did to the last moments of his capacity to swallow. He readily used what normal functions were still left. These are details often taken for granted by many of us, yet it spelled quality of life for him.

And he survived a day short of a full 7 years through sheer courage, forbearance and a lot of creativity. He never showed any sign of surrender. He immersed himself in the bible. He regularly texted us the scheduled weekly scripture readings. This he sent in between his dirty text jokes.

This is why I say we were privileged to have stood witness to his character. And, constantly aware of the death knell that Edel had managed to avoid for some time, the support group continued to celebrate life with Edel through fun, food and prayer. We saw the best in someone who was in a desperate and hopeless situation.

Friends, last night, I had a vision in my sleep. St. Michael the Archangel appeared in a dream. He told me not to fret because Edel is doing just fine. That he is actually busy in Heaven. He has resumed his practice of gynecology up there, he said. And that Edel has this message for all of us:
"Heaven ako rito, pare. Ako ang doktor ng mga anghel na may mga malalaking PAKPAK."

I end with Edel's favorite personal battlecry from high school. This could have been the call of King Leonides as he led his 300 during their last day in battle against the formidable Persians. A battlecry of a brave warrior: Magnus phallus, semper erectus!