Part IV: Chasing the dream

The Christmas Season was fast approaching, even faster than ever. I knew in my heart that this Holiday Season was special. Not only for me but for our whole family. People everywhere was rushing buying gifts for their loved ones, giving thanks for all the blessings received for the past year, or praying for a special present during the holidays. But, for us, this was the time to be truly grateful for the gift of life, love, and family. I was touched to hear my daughter, Angelica Yvonne, pray one night. She said, "Papa Jesus, isa lang po ang hihilingin kong gift this Christmas, yun ay ang gumaling si Gogo (Raphael Inigo's nickname) at makasama namin siya ng mahabang mahabang panahon" (Papa Jesus, I only have one wish this Christmas, that is that Gogo would get well soon so we could be with him for a very long time). My heart was crushed when I heard this from my 6 year old daughter. It made me think and re-affirm our goal to have my son have whatever procedure needed for him to be well. We enjoyed the Holiday Season with the company of friends and family. And soon the year ended.


As we welcomed the new year with a new hope, we knew this would be the start of a challenging year. Before the the year ended, we were supposed to have another confinement due to my son's recurrent infection. We started the year by immediately contacting and coordinating with our doctors. Raphael Inigo was scheduled to be confined at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to have tests done to determine the cause of the recurrent infection. Since it was just the beginning of the year, our doctors were mostly out of town or were still just arriving from their vacations. We were issued an admitting order by Dr. Jossie Rogacion (Pedia-Gastroenterologist) and was admitted on January 4, 2011 and after a few days and a lot of laboratory tests they found out that the cause of the recurrent infection was, besides the Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR), he was also diagnosed on January 6, 2011 with Urinary Bladder Diverticulum or an out pouching of the urinary bladder creating an extra space for storing urine and not fully releasing it. Since he still had infections, we were referred to Dr. Germana Gregorio (Pediatric Hepato-Gastroenterologists) for proper monitoring and to lead in the management of my son's case. She told our doctors that they had to first address the infection before leading on to other procedures. After a series of tests, Dr. Nikko Magsanoc (Pedia-Urologists) informed us that my son had to undergo another procedure to clear him from infection. And on January 17, 2011 they conducted a Cystoscopy Procedure hoping to address the Urinary Bladder Diverticulum. We were later on discharged on January 19, 2011.

During our confinement, we were contacted by a group of mountaineers known as the Voyager Adventure Club (VAC) led by Mr. Al Del Barrio and offered us a fund-raising activity. They organized "Climb for Baby Raphael" at Mt. Galugod Baboy, Mabini, Batangas on January 29, 2011 with our son as the beneficiary. We were moved by their efforts in organizing this event as it was not everyday that a group of people would offer to climb a mountain to raise funds. Their efforts are truly appreciated.

The following month, my high school friends from De La Salle Lipa called me and said they wanted to help. They told me that instead of giving us money, they will provide some goods to sell. We finally decided to start the "SAVE a Liver, wear this BALLER" Campaign initiated by Ms. Trina B. Caldito and Ms. Trizha Dimayuga.

I was really touched with their efforts of cutting out and putting tags in each baller. Through this campaign we were able to raise awareness not only for my son, but also for his disease. We were able to sell these baller's nationwide and even reaching some of our friends abroad.

With the continuous success of our fund-raising activities, we were sure that soon my son would have the operation he needed. Although we still haven't decided where to have the operation yet, we consulted both doctors who were known to be well-versed in handling cases like this. We had check-ups done at The Medical City under Dr. Vanessa De Villa (Liver Surgeon) and at the Philippine General Hospital under Dr. Germana Gregorio (Pediatric Hepato-Gastroenterologists). We were praying hard on where to finally have his surgery done since we were running short on time. We were informed that in The Medical City their package costs PhP4,500,000 which covers for the Liver Transplantation with one-month hospital stay. While in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Kaohsiung, Taiwan their package costs (for non-complicated cases) NT$1,600,000-NT$2,000,000 or PhP2,300,000-PhP3,000,000 which covers for the pre-evaluation tests, Liver Transplantation, hospital stay (2-3 weeks in the ICU and 4 weeks in the ward) excluding the lodging at the dormitory, food, transportation, and other medical expenses.

We coordinated with a local support group which consists of post-transplant patients from Taiwan. We met with Mrs. Aurea Cabacungan-Ravelo (Ate Au) and Mrs. Gina Monasterio (Tita Gina) and they were kind enough to answer our inquiries with regards to Liver Transplantation. They told us that if we were to choose to go to Taiwan we should prepare around PhP3,500,000 to cover for the hospitalization, plane tickets, and other expenses for a 3-month stay in Taiwan. At that time, Tita Gina's grand daughter was still currently in Taiwan, so we took that opportunity to be able to ask directly to the hospital's International Coordinator, Ms. Linda Lin. I e-mailed Ms. Linda for the requirements needed and coordinated promptly on her inquiries. We then decided to have the operation done in Taiwan due to the urgency of my son's case, high success rate of up to 97%, and affordability of the transplant package (PhP3,500,000) compared to the local package (PhP4,500,000).

We knew that planning to have the operation done in Taiwan would not be as easy as it sounded. Our doctors told us that, first, my son had to be physically, mentally, and emotionally prepared. As we were slowly moving towards our plan, we noticed that after all the procedures done to him he was still having fever caused by infection. He had to undergo another procedure called CT Urogram, to thoroughly check his urinary tract. And from there, they found that the Urinary Bladder Diverticulum and Bilateral Hydronephrosis was still present. That's why we were advised to have another operation to finally clear him from infection.

We were admitted at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center on February 28, 2011 under the care of Dr. Maria Imedla Vitug-Sales (Pedia-Gastroenterologists) and Dr. Sally Gatchalian (Pedia-Infectious) on March 7, 2011 he was scheduled to undergo his final operation before his Liver Transplantation. The operation started around 8:00am with Dr. Nikko Magsanoc (Pedia-Urologists) as lead surgeon assisted by Dr. Jonathan Lao (Urologists) and Dr. Rodolfo Tuazon (Pediatric Surgeon) and took eight (8) long hours before it was over. They conducted the following operation: Cystoscopy Procedure, Repair of Inguinal Hernia (Hernitomy), Urinary Bladder Excision (Diverticulostomy), Re-implantation of Left Kidney Ureter (Uretral Reimplantation), and Circumcision.

We were finally discharged on March 13, 2011 and as we went home we knew that my son would definitely be free from infection this time. And from there we began to prepare for Raphael Inigo's Liver Transplantation in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. We now had a clearer direction in Raphael Inigo's Journey.