REFLECTIONS
Reflections
THE ZEST FOR LIFE
Teresita Bacani-Oropilla, MD
A
t her 35 th medical class reunion,
Maria Teresa Angeles-Coleman
was given an award for having
helped the underprivileged above
and beyond over the course of her
career. With an infectious giggle, dressed in
festive garb for the occasion, she received it
with joy - yes, with joy, her trademark. She is
known for bringing gaiety to class and family
reunions, plus extensive documentary coverage of her many travels,
inevitably including the culinary delicacies of each place, which she
always anticipates with gusto.
Born a preemie, four and a half pounds of rather floppy baby,
her “yaya” (nanny), paraded her around as she gradually took in this
wonderful world. By age two, walking in the family garage, in no
uncertain terms she warned her towering aunts not to lean on her
daddy’s new jeep. At six, playing with cousins in a garden near her
aunt’s clinic, she watched a parade of sick people, mostly children,
come and go. She later said that was when she decided she would
become a doctor.
In the Philippines, encouraged by her devoted family, she sailed
through medical school. However, instead of going into a lucrative
private practice, for the next ten years she joined a similarly mind-
ed group to serve the indigent and less than well-heeled clientele.
These services included missions to remote regions. To increase
her knowledge of public health, she went to Hadassah University
in Israel, probably triggering a change of pace. Ending up in the
USA and using her new expertise, she helped organize clinics in
underserved areas in Virginia. For these, she was positively recog-
nized. Eventually, after qualifying medical exams and legalization
of papers to stay and practice independently in these United States,
she joined a private practice of pediatrics near Atlanta, Ga., with a
friend, serving as usual her favorite group of patients. Then, “She
looked at what she had done, and it was good.”
A success story of an immigrant doctor making good in the
land of opportunity? Yes, indeed. But, it was the pathos in between
that nobody saw, that makes this a remarkable story of survival and
perseverance. Along the way, she watched the suffering and death
of a dear friend from cancer. Then, she too developed cancer and
had to go through the excruciating pain of chemotherapy while
continuing to run the clinic and care for her patients. It was a day
of rejoicing for all concerned when she finally celebrated her five
years of being cancer free.
Although work and days of enjoyment with family and friends
never stopped during these periods, there is now a new urgency to
see what else is to be seen. Her retired husband had just been de-
clared legally blind due to a worsening
macular degeneration. In a play on the
proverb, “If given lemons, make lemon-
ade,” she has since lessened her schedule
of seeing patients, and accelerated their
private travel plans. They have therefore
seen the Northern Lights, the famed
aurora borealis, in Iceland on a weekend
trip, and are now in Norway to see the
sun shining at midnight above the arc-
tic circle. As planned, they will revisit
family in the Orient come Christmas.
They would like to experience life in
the untrodden picturesque villages of
Europe between clinics too, while sight
remains.
Thus, this child who started out a
tiny preemie continues to teach lessons
about life.
Never underestimate the potential of the littlest of your charges,
nurture them with respect. Those baby goo-goo eyes, as you watch
them, are watching you too.
Life is full of choices and opportunities. Difficulties along the
way can be overcome.
There is joy everywhere if you look for it.
The zest for life must never cease.
More power to her and her tribe!
Dr. Bacani-Oropilla is a retired psychiatrist.
SEPTEMBER 2018
27