When it rains, it pours

MACULAR edema is the build-up of fluid in the macula, an area in the center of the retina. The retina is the lightsensitive tissue at the back of the eye and the macula is the part of the retina responsible for sharp, straightahead vision. Fluid buildup causes the macula to swell and thicken, which distorts vision.

Arteries and veins carry blood throughout your body, including your eyes. The eye’s retina has one main artery and one main vein. When branches of the retinal vein become blocked, it is called branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). When the vein is blocked, blood and fluid spills out into the retina. The macula can swell from this fluid, affecting your central vision. Eventually, without blood circulation, nerve cells in the eye can die and you can lose more vision.

Guess what? I have been diagnosed with macular edema secondary to superior BRVO. Oh dear! That simply means I have blurred vision on my left eye which will require an intravitreal injection - a shot of medicine into the eye. The inside of the eye is filled with a jelly-like fluid (vitreous). During this procedure, your health care provider injects medicine into the vitreous, near the retina at the back of the eye. How much and how often? It will be for three months, at least, at a cost of taymis taymis taymis . . . ay apo. The injection will hopefully reduce the swelling in the macula which is directly proportional to the thinning also of the wallet and the bank account!

Bank accounts, you say? Have you heard reports of bank accounts miraculously losing their deposits without any actual withdrawals by the account owner? According to that amazing PGT magician from Ilocos - wow, magic! That's ATM skimming - a type of fraud which occurs when an ATM is compromised by a skimming device, a card reader which can be disguised to look like a part of the machine. The card reader saves the users' card number and pin code, which is then replicated into a counterfeit copy for theft.

Guess what, again? I got "skimmed!" Both my

Bashour study linking emotional stress on heart ailments apply to people under extreme emotional stress and commonalities undergoing trauma.

Bashour cited several cases where emotional stress led to heart attacks in the span of his studies; he said extreme emotions can trigger heart ailments like joy, anger, jealousy and disgust.

In a random post on social media, I read that the pain your feel when you break up with someone you love [assuming you were in the relationship for love in the first place] resembles the physical pain you feel when hurt… so the phrase “It cuts like a knife” will ring true for the brokenhearted.

If we feel physical pain during a breakup or a lovers spat and if we can literally die of a broken heart then I must be some kind of mutant to still be alive.

Happy Valentines