Leaky Faucets

A few weeks ago, on a whim, I decided to pay a visit to a practitioner of homeopathic medicine.  Actually, my in-laws went to this doctor earlier that day and recommended that Aya and I give it a try since we both are long-time sufferers of various allergies.  Okay, I thought.  Why not?

When we got to the clinic, near the Capitol in Cebu, we were seen almost immediately by the doctor.  In fact, there were several doctors there in the consultation room including one of Aya’s aunts, a GP visiting from Mindanao.  Tita April and the others were training in homeopathy under this doctor.

When he took out his device with its magic wand and started moving it to different part of my hands, of course I was a little skeptical.  I always am.  He was measuring the toxicity levels in each and every part of the body, all of which have a connection to an exact point in one’s hand.

My levels were genuinely okay except for my liver, which is apparently the usual problem organ.  The liver can be cleaned, though, through some homeopathic remedies and a change in diet including the elimination of synthetics, pork and bottom-feeding shellfish, among other things.   Many of these recommendations I have been following for years; others, like cutting shrimp from my diet, will be more difficult.

But I did get a reprieve of sorts.  The homeopath said that he could not effectively analyze my toxicity levels until I had my dental fillings replaced, something my mother-in-law had already done (although I don’t think it was based on this particular doctor’s recommendation.)  

You see, when I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at the dentist.  My mother made us go for check-ups every six months, and inevitably I would have at least one cavity every time, and sometimes three or four.  This went on until my early teens so I have quite a few “silver fillings in my mouth.   Yeah, I ate a lot of candy and other sweets as a child, but so did my friend Jimmy, and he never had any cavities.  Maybe it is partly genetic.  My mother was a major sweet tooth as well, and it probably didn’t help that she took my to Dairy Queen as a reward after every painful cavity filling appointment.  I’m sure it was my idea, but it was never too difficult to convince her.  I went through three dentists during those years—Dr. Sachs (who I think got in trouble with the law later), Dr. Moyer and Dr. Mark.

Now I’m told that the fillings they used were made of amalgam, which is composed of approximately 50% mercury with the remaining half a combination of other metals including silver.  According to the homeopath, these dental fillings are highly toxic because of the mercury.   Exposure is especially high, he explained, when eating or drinking something really cold or really hot.  I have fillings in 16 teeth and some teeth have multiple fillings.  All of these have been in my mouth for 20 years or more, meaning that—at least according to the doctor—I’ve been poisoning myself for more than half my life on a daily basis.  Part of me wonders if this guy is a quack who is just making money of selling supplements.  Maybe they are herbal or natural, but it still seems like pills so are they really different than pharmaceuticals?

But I believed him.  I mean, it makes sense.  Especially when the majority of the world dental establishment still primarily endorses the use of amalgam.  To me, that is proof that it may be harmful.  It is probably against their collective interest to change the practice they have been utilizing for years and years regardless of whether it is harmful to their patients.  

Of course, the use or non-use of amalgam fillings is still quite controversial.  Scanning the Internet, you can find many articles saying they are extremely harmful and just as many saying not enough is known to make this type of conclusion.  I will continue to do further research on this topic, but it is more of the post-buyer reassurance type of research, like when you buy a certain brand or product and then afterwards conduct thorough research to validate your decision.

I already started the process of having my amalgam removed and replaced with composite resin.  I’m hoping that I won’t find out that this new material is similarly toxic in 20 years time.  On Friday I visited the family dentist, Dr. Rafanan.  She was highly skilled and knowledgeable.  She doesn’t use amalgam anymore, so I tried to get her to weigh in on the controversy.  She just offered both sides, saying that American dentists still mostly use amalgam while the trend in Europe is away from the mercury-laced mixture.  As with many issues, I’m betting with the Europeans.

Four teeth down and 12 more to go.  Incidentally, Dr. Rafanan informed me that I had a new cavity, which she promptly drilled and filled with composite resin, of course.  This was my first cavity in well over a decade.   I brush my teeth and floss regularly, but I haven’t been to the dentist in almost four years.  My last scheduled appointment was the day after the Fourth of July in 2005.  When I got to the office in lower Manhattan near Century 21, after schlepping all the way from Jamaica on the E train, I found the office locked.  They never called to say they were taking an extra day of holiday, and in fact, when I called to complain, my call was never returned.  I was so upset that I never went back, and although I asked around for another dentist, I never made another appointment during my last few years in New York, partly because there were very few dentists who accepted the crappy city employees’ insurance, DC-37.  My first dentist in New York, who I went to for several years, didn’t accept the insurance, which is why I switched when I started working at the library.  

In the Philippines, I don’t think dental insurance is very common, so I have to pay out of pocket, which is expensive but much, much cheaper than U.S. dentists.  And, if turns out that the homeopath is right about the amalgam (he actually said it should make a difference in my allergies), then it will certainly be worth every peso.

Feeling pretty crappy right now. We left Cebu on Monday night and arrived in L.A. the same night due to the 15 hour time difference. So far jet lag has gotten the best of all three of us, and it is particularly hard with a toddler. On top of that I’ve been pretty sick since Wednesday. Started out as a bad cold and sore throat, evolved to fever (just under 101 F or about 38 for those of you who use the centigrade scale), cold sweats and shivering (this morning) and now general grogginess and a painful cough (chest and throat). I’m taking medicine, (Robitussen and Ibuprofen) which I normally don’t do, because I don’t want to ruin my vacation.

Our sleeping patterns are slowly aligning with Arizona time (our current location), but for the first few days we (including Ana) could not sleep at night, finally falling asleep around 4am every night and not waking until noon. We’ve had to play with Ana during these hours just to get her tired enough to sleep. Hopefully, tonight all of us will get a full night’s sleep and wake up at a normal hour feeling like we belong in this time zone, at least temporarily.

It’s been a little strange being back in the U.S. after almost six months away but it hasn’t really fully sunk in yet due to my dazed and confused condition. Also, L.A. and Arizona are not places that I’ve ever lived so there is nothing particularly familiar about either place to make me feel nostalgic. I don’t quite know how to answer the question “where are you from.” Is it the place I live now, the place I lived for the past 10 years or the place I was born and raised.

We spent two nights and one full day in L.A., staying at the Travelodge near LAX. We only stayed there for the low price and the location-not location in the sense that it is in a desirable neighborhood (unless you looking being surrounded by Adult toy and video stores and a Denny’s patrolled by prostitutes) but that it’s close to the airport and near the highways. We ate at that Denny’s twice (regrettably) but there were no hookers there at that time, only the time I loaded the rental car with our luggage at 3am in what became an aborted attempt to drive through the night to Scottsdale. I haven’t eaten at Denny’s since college, when it was one of the few choices for late night binging. The food hasn’t gotten any better with the exceptions of the chocolate milkshakes which are just as good and as huge with “a little extra in the malt can” as the menus always promised back in the day.

We made the most of our only day in L.A. on Tuesday as it was Aya’s first time there. After waking around noon we had breakfast (lunch?), got the rental car at Fox across the street, and headed for Venice Beach where we had lunch on the grass, strolled the boardwalk and let Ana play in the sand. We then headed toward Beverly Hills stopping at Trader Joe’s and Long’s Drug to pick up some provisions such as quality diapers and some snacks including Gorilla Munch, a gluten-free cereal for Ana. Also picked up a phone at the T-Mobile store so we now have a U.S. mobile. We just drove through Beverly Hills so Aya could see what it was like since we didn’t have much time. When we first passed the sign welcoming us to BH, Aya asked if it was the ghetto of Beverly Hills. It looked okay to me, but I guess she had certain expectations in mind that were not met. A drive down Rodeo Drive restored her original notion of the city. We then met up with Aya’s Columbia classmate Angelica who lives in L.A. near Beverly Hills. We walked (yes, apparently some people walk in L.A., at least in this neighborhood) to the Farmer’s Market and had dinner at Moishe’s, an Israeli place. Aya spotted a celebrity, although Angelica and I did not think it was her. She was convinced that Alexis Bledel from “Gilmore Girls” was at the counter at Moishe’s while we were seated. She has great vision so I didn’t doubt her but when I walked up to the counter to get our food, I heard her talking to her friend and she had a Southern accent, sounding nothing like she did on TV. So we argued over whether it was her or not and will probably never know unless Alexis miraculously stumbles upon this blog and clears things up. After dinner, we walked around The Grove outdoor shopping mall next to the Farmer’s Market.

Wednesday morning we were awoken at 12:15 by the hotel receptionist asking if we were checking out. We were. After abandoning our hastily conceived plan of leaving at 4am (after the original plan of 6am was in doubt due to our lack of sleep), we finally feel asleep only to miss our alarms. So we got ready in 30 minutes and hit the road dreading the infamous L.A. freeway traffic.

Stay tuned for more-gotta get some sleep now…

Early on in my time in New York, I discovered that living there makes you more assertive, more willing to speak up when something bothers you or push your way through a difficult situation.  You really have no choice.  The meek will miss their stops on the subway because they are too timid to shove someone away from the closing doors.

In the Philippines, at least in Cebu, people tend not to protest even when there is reason to do so.  A few months ago, we were having trouble getting a medical test done for Ana.  Every time we went to the doctor’s walk-in clinic she was not there for some reason or another.  The third time this happened, the receptionist said the doctor took the day off because it was her husband’s birthday.  This really set Aya off.  She yelled at the receptionist and lectured her on common courtesy, and then demanded that the doctor be reached on her mobile.  The doctor, taken aback at being chastised by a lowly patient, came in that day to give Ana her test.    The other waiting patients–who had silently absorbed the disappointing news of the doctor’s absence despite the fact that some had traveled two hours by bus to get to Cebu City-were stunned because people don’t stand up to doctors here.  They were also grateful that someone did because their time would not be wasted.

At a cell phone store at SM mall yesterday, Aya had another chance to bring out the New York bitch persona as she reprimanded the clerk for not fixing our phones and actually leaving them worse than when we brought them in on Wednesday.  They had told me that they couldn’t do anything further, but Aya managed to convince them to try again.  It’s harder for me to be assertive here because of both the language and cultural barrier, so I purposely summoned her over knowing that she would know just what to say.   She was always more nervy than me anyway and more comfortable confronting people in person (although there was that memorable occasion when I went I went toe-to-toe with the INSofficer and miraculously prevailed) while my forte is the written letter or e-mail dressing down the recipient.   So it is good to be able to trot out this bitchy persona when something needs to get done and we can thank her years in New York for this sometimes wonderful infusion of chutzpah.

I got some encouraging news from a doctor last week.  After not running for over a month because of my injured right Achilles’ tendon, I finally went to see a sports medicine specialist, who I was told by an acquaintance is the top sports doctor in Cebu.  Dr. Tony San Juan of Cebu Orthopaedic Institute is the type of doctor I like to visit.  Like John Connors, my sports podiatrist in New York, Dr. San Juan did not tell me to stop running.  He told me everything I needed to do so that I could start running again as soon as possible.  In short, he told me everything I wanted to hear.  Other doctors I have gone to in the past have been less encouraging, telling me I should find other sports.  They just didn’t understand how important running is to me.  Dr. Connors and Dr. San Juan get it.  So now I am back on the elipitical after a month of only swimming.  Next week, hopefully I can start running again and hopefully the pain will be gone.

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time staring at the bottom of a swimming pool.  This activity is not without purpose, though.  I stopped running over a week ago to allow my strained Achilles tendon (which I hurt playing basketball over a month ago) to heal itself.  So the only exercise I can really do is swimming laps at my gym.   It’s a little dull in the sense that I can’t bring my iPod into the pool and I can’t watch TV.   Nor can I let my eyes wander around the gym and watch the other people come and go like I can do when on the treadmill.  So I’m basically left with my thoughts while my eyes can only fixate themselves on the dark blue line underneath them at the bottom of the pool.  Yes, every few strokes I need to turn my head to the left so I can breathe, but it’s hardly enough time to see anything of interest.

But as monotonous as swimming can be, I find myself getting more and more into it as I try to swim longer and faster each time.  Really, it’s just a placeholder until I can run again, but even then I hope to be able to work swimming into my workout routine.  It’s certainly better for the body and it also works muscles that I don’t get around to when I’m just running.

Because of Ana’s constant rashes on her face, we had her tested for allergies.  The doctor thought she may have a high likelihood of developing asthma, which Aya has battled since she was a kid.  She tested negative for the dust mite-a key indicator of asthma-but Dr. Sulay still feels asthma may come.  Unfortunately, she was positive for peanuts and wheat flour, though both were at the extreme low end of the scale.   She very well may outgrow the wheat allergy, Dr. Sulay said, but peanut allergies are usually  life-long.   I’ll feel terrible if Ana never gets to experience the bliss that is peanut butter, one of my absolute favorite foods.  I practically subsisted on peanut butter sandwiches as a kid, when I was a terribly picker eater.  Before long runs, my staple breakfast was a toasted bagel with peanut butter.  And of course, chocolate and peanut butter in any dessert is one of my most cherished combinations.  Is it possible that my overindulgence in peanut butter could have somehow led to Ana’s allergies?  I just hope that someday it will reverse its course.

This morning, Aya and I did our first race in Cebu: “Run for Your Heart.” I did the 10k (6.2miles) and she did the 6k (3.72 miles). Man, am I out of shape. I finished in 1:04:10, which is by far my PW in a 10k race. PW means Personal Worst-not sure if I’m coining a new term here. Runners often use the acronym PR for personal record. (I think some also use PB for personal best.) This means it’s your best time ever in that particular distance. My 10K PR is 49:31, which I achieved in Central Park in December 2005 when I was on a bit of a roll knocking out PRs several races in a row. My previous personal worst in a 10k was 55:55, also in Central Park. So my range was pretty narrow and my times relatively consistent over about fifteen 10k races.

But today was different. For one, I’m in the worst shape that I’ve been in since I lost over 50 pounds in 2000. I’m about 15-20 lbs. overweight, but I’m trying to do something about it. The second factor was the weather and the conditions of the race. (I know I’m making excuses here, but I think they’re justifiable.) Not sure what the temperature was (probably in the low to mid 80s) but the humidity got really bad about halfway through the race, and my pace slowed precipitously as a result. A tiny bit of blame can be placed on the metric system. (I know, I’m getting pathetic here.) Through years of running, I’m thoroughly familiar with the conversion of Km to miles, but I’m used to having mile markers, not kilometer markers. Also, the markers were quite sporadic so I was not keenly aware of the location of the finish line until I saw the sign.

I was so tired toward the end that I did something I pretty much never do in races (except for the marathon): I walked. Only for two minutes until I caught my breath. But still, I broke one of my own cardinal rules. This was actually during the last kilometer as I only ran for another two minutes after taking my walk break. Hopefully, I can get used to running in this weather so I have a better time next race. The heat and humidity is no worse than that in New York in the summer, but the air quality is much worse. And there were cars on the course, which is almost unheard of in New York. (Some of the races in the outer boroughs have points where cars cross the street, but that’s far different than the situation in Cebu. There were people (not cops) directing traffic, but the race went through some major thoroughfares (Osmena Boulevard, Gorordo Avenue and Escario) and we ran alongside the cars-either on the sides or down the middle of the street surrounded by cars on both sides. This was a first for me. I didn’t feel unsafe due to the many other runners in front or behind me, but the smell wasn’t pleasant. It was likely a combination of diesel exhaust from the Jeepneys, garbage and just general air pollution. (Or maybe it was just durian.) But runners have to fight through a lot of things to finish, so this is just another challenge.

Races in the Philippines are certainly less organized than the ones put on by the New York Road Runners Club. There were no portable toilets at the start. The staging area was the Cebu Doctors University gymnasium which featured a basketball court covered with what looked like peeling wallpaper. The bathroom there had a few urinals and one stall, but unfortunately there was no door on the stall and no seat on the toilet. It’s common in the Philippines for public toilets to have missing seats and there is rarely toilet paper. Aya suggested that we bring some of our own just in case, and we did, but without a seat and a door, I would just have to control my stomach during an hour-long race. Afterwards, there were no bagels or bananas which are the quintessential post-race food in the States. There was bottled water, and some food but I couldn’t find it. Aya said they had pancit, which is a traditional Filipino noodle dish.

On the positive side, I met some cool people that are really involved with the running community. I ran with John Pages for the first half. He’s an acquaintance of Aya’s who writes a column in the Sun.Star and also has a blog on Cebu sports happenings. John introduced me to Dr. Peter Mancao, a cardiologist, who was the race director of today’s race. He did the 2007 NYC Marathon. Through John, I also met a Cebuano women named Maria who has lived in the US for over 30 years and currently resides in Georgia. She’s a great golfer and said she doesn’t like running but only does it to keep in shape for golf. Along the way, I saw a few staff members from Holiday Gym. It’s important for me to meet other runners here so that I’ll have people to train with, especially if I want to do longer runs in preparation for a marathon next year. I don’t want to run here by myself, particularly since people tend to run at 5 am to beat the heat. I’ll probably continue to do most of my running on the treadmill at the gym but eventually hope to do a weekly run outside with a group. There was also a pretty good turnout. Maybe 1,000 people. The running community is somewhat invisible here but apparently it exists, and I hope to be an active part of it.

I’ll stop here now because I’m exhausted. We got up at 4:30 this morning because the race stated at 6:00 am. I don’t think that effected my time, so I won’t use that as an excuse. I do wish the races here started at 8:00 or 9:00 like in New York, but you really can’t do that here. And this, by the way, is supposed to be the coolest time of year. March and April are supposed to be pretty brutal.

After weighing myself at the gym yesterday and realizing that I’m even heavier than I thought, I’m vowing to redouble my efforts to take off the extra 10-15 pounds I’m carrying.  I don’t have any more excuses left.  I have plenty of time to exercise, which I’ve been doing since I joined Holiday Gym last week.  I’ve gone to the gym 7 of the last 9 days.  Hope I can keep that up.  Also, I’m really trying to eat healthier now-forsaking white rice as much as possible, not eating much meat other than fish, chicken and shellfish, and eating a lot of fruits and vegetables.  I’ve been doing well for the past few days so I hope I can continue.  Also, less sweets of course.  That’s always been my achilles’ heel.  This morning we had the healthiest breakfast since we arrived: organic old-fashioned oatmeal with bananas and organic peanut butter, half a mango and Gen Mai Cha green tea.  I felt so much better not eating the typical Filipino breakfast that my in-laws usually eat: eggs, rice, meat, bread and fruit.  Delicious but deadly if eaten every day.

It feels good to finally start working out again after packing, moving, jet lag and a weeklong cough that I think I’m finally over. We joined the Holiday Gym this week and I’ve already used it twice-swam for a half hour on Tuesday and ran on the treadmill today. I always feel much better after working out, especially when I’m eating a lot as I’ve been doing since I got to the Philippines two weeks ago.

I hope to increase my running soon and get into the racing scene here. There’s a running club-Cebu Executive Runners Club-I’d like to join. It would be helpful to meet other runners I can train with, particularly if I am going to try to do a marathon next year. Right now, I’ve got my sights on Tokyo. February 2009. There’s a ½ marathon on Sunday as part of the Sinulog festival, which is like the Filipino equivalent of Mardi Gras it seems. I’d love to do the race, and could possibly finish despite my lack of training these past months, but I think I’ll be smart and sit this one out.

I think I’ve been to the mall more in the past two weeks than in the previous two years.  Malls are hugely popular here in the Philippines, partly, I think, because almost everything one needs to buy must be bought at the mall.  And there are so many malls here in sharp contrast to New York City, where malls are few and reasons to frequent them are fewer.  Today-Saturday-we needed to go to Ayala Mall to go to the hardware store-True Value no less-and the pharmacy, a Filipino chain called Mercury Drug.  It was swamped, annoyingly so.  I miss just being able to walk up to the corner of my street to go to Duane Reade to get almost any necessity.  I’m not a big fan of malls in general so I’ll try to avoid them as much as possible, but it may be difficult.

On the positive side, I did find a health food store at the mall.  While small, it was a big improvement on many of the other so-called health food stores here that are actually just vitamin stores.  I picked up some familiar products from Arrowhead Mills: oatmeal and peanut butter.  I’m trying to eat healthier after several weeks of not watching what I eat.