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The world of biking opened up to me after the doctor confirmed his diagnosis of CAD (Coronary Artery Disease) on me way back in 2000. He also told me I have diabetes as well. He suspected a blocked artery and asked me to have a stress test and a procedure called angiogram. I couldn’t afford the procedure though and the stress test results were less encouraging. I was 39 at that time and it seemed that in spite of feeling really old, I thought I was too young to give up. I had a wife and two young kids to think of and that motivated me to fight these two lifestyle diseases.
I had to stop working to rest my ailing heart. For two years I was a stay at home father to take care of our two young kids (we now have three), while my wife worked as an accountant in a construction firm. It was during this time that I turned my attention to biking as a form of exercise. Whereas before I led a sedentary life - my daily routine was home – work – home, without any physical activity, I started to bike almost everyday. I went through the streets of Metro Manila trying to shed off those pounds that I had accumulated over the years. And from time to time I would venture alone on out of town trips like Antipolo, Teresa and Baras, in Rizal and once to GMA Cavite where my sister lived.
During those two years, biking and medicine combined to help me lose weight and maintain a relatively good health. And as soon as I started to feel better, I started to look for work. Providence would have me working in a call center as a Spanish medical interpreter. It gave me an opportunity to know more about my ailment. But as a result, I began to have less time to bike. I became what they call a “weekend warrior”: I only get to bike on weekends, if at all. I started to regain the weight I lost and worse, I lost the discipline too, to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I didn’t watch what I eat, I ate at odd hours because of my graveyard shift schedule.
And then it finally happened. I had a heart attack on August of 2004.
It was a good thing I had medical insurance which covered everything. At last I had the angiogram that was supposed to have been done years before. Indeed it showed a partially blocked artery and this was the cause of my heart attack. The doctor recommended angioplasty, a procedure that will put a piece of tube on the affected artery and get rid of the blockage. But again, I could not afford the procedure. I asked the doctor to honestly tell me if medicines could cure me. He told me we could still try medications but he could not give me any time frame as to when it would last.
Two months after the attack, I swore to go back to regular biking no matter what. I went back to work and I managed to bike or do some exercise during my free time in the morning. Yet my resolve was not complete as I lost my will and discipline again.
And so two years later, I was getting worse again.
One afternoon, I went to the Philippine Heart Center to have a checkup. They found a clot in my heart and so they kept me there, confined in ICU for a week. Although I felt better after that, I easily became tired and irritated. I couldn’t get enough sleep as I was waking up in the middle of the night gasping for breath. One particular November night, I went home from work, feeling tired and having chest pain. I thought it was just one of those things again but the chest pain persisted until the morning. I then asked my wife to bring me to the hospital. The pain was caused by the accumulation of fluids in my chest because my heart was not pumping efficiently enough (I couldn’t really recall or understand medical jargon!). As for my real condition, the doctor said I should undergo angioplasty as soon as possible. His real meaning: I was dying, and fast.
Armed with this information, I gathered enough courage to ask my relatives for financial support. Almost all of them did support me and so together with some financial help too from the PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office), through the efforts of my friend who is wife to Chairman Morato’s nephew, I was able to have the angioplasty on January 17, 2006, my second child’s birthday.
It was after this life-changing event that I came into contact with the Firefly Brigade. I came upon their website announcing the Tour of the Fireflies and their call for volunteer marshals.
My wife and I participated in that year’s Tour and I myself aspired to become a member of the Fireflies. But one significant stage of my life also began that year: I started to bike to work and as part of my bike advocacy efforts, I also started a blog, http://ruralpinoybiker.com, where I try to chronicle all my experiences in biking to work and how it helps me maintain my good health.
Biking has helped me live a productive and relatively normal life in spite of my heart ailment and diabetes. My blood tests are testaments to normal levels of blood sugar, and cholesterol, both the good and the bad ones. My blood pressure on average is normal. Biking is a great stress reliever too. I find that I am more energetic at work when I bike instead of using the motorcycle.
I may work in a white-collar job being in a call center, but I am proud to use my “blue-collar transportation”, the bike.
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You may email Rino at rino_avila@yahoo.com.