Call me 'Braveheart'

I just survived a quadruple bypass on Sept. 27.

- BUM D. TENORIO, JR.

An unthinkable heart operation performed on me, a biker who rode his saddle three hours a day prior to the detection of blockages in his major heart arteries.

From the time the obstructions were discovered on Sept. 12, my cardiologist at St. Luke’s Global, Dr. Leni Iboleon-Dy, prohibited me temporarily from biking because I was a “timebomb waiting to explode.” My heart surgeon, Dr. Ramon Diaz, confirmed it by saying, “Yes, you are a ticking bomb.” I could die anytime.

What prompted the angiogram that detected the blockages? An abnormality in my ECG was detected when I did my stress test at the hospital on July 19. Everything was caught because I had a cardiologist who was empathetic and thorough. She always wants the best for her patients and my TLC from her was extra special because we became friends since 2014, when I became her patient. We clicked right away when Dr. Leni told me in one of my consults with her: “I believe in miracles.” But three years after consulting with her, I stopped seeing her for seven years. The disciplinarian in her emerged as she took me back under her wings in early 2024.

In the same vein, I knew I was in good hands with Dr. Mon as my surgeon when he told me “I’m on my knees, deep in prayer, the night before the surgery. I’ll pray for you, Bum.”

I was wheeled in at 6 a.m. to the OR by family and friends while we were all singing “Happy bypass to you,” complete with balloons, to the amazement of the nurses at the station. All faces were lit up, hopeful. I managed to mutter in the OR Padre Pio’s prayer: “Pray, hope and don’t worry,” while clutching an image of him, two rosaries from my SVCC students slung around my wrist. I managed to pray the Memorare. Then I said, “Stay with me, Jesus.” And to honor my late parents, I declared my love for them and asked, “Nay, Tay, samahan po ninyo ako.”

Off-pump CABG