So yesterday was quite a day for me. I woke at some time between 5 and 5:30 a.m. Why? I was scheduled to guest in ANC’s new show Mornings @ ANC.
“Nina”:http://ninascoops@blogpspot.com asked me if I could guest on their new show. I said yes of course. I asked if we could talk about “PSOD”:http://www.psod.org.ph I wanted to promote PSOD if I was going to guest on their show. Of course she graciously said yes.
So there I was early in the morning, getting ready to take the trip to ABS-CBN. I left the house at 8 a.m. thinking that traffic would be terrible. The call time was at 9 and I didn’t want to be late. There was no traffic. I was there at 8:15 a.m. Well better early than late. I killed time in the car till 8:45 a.m.
We made our way to Studio 6 of ABS-CBN. On the way there I bumped into “Bernadette Sembrano”:http://www.bernadettesembrano.com/. She and I were acquaintances so she said hi. We chatted for awhile asking each other how we are. She walked me to the studio. She said she’d also write about me so we exchanged numbers. She left afterwards.
I went inside Studio 6 to look for “Nina”:http://ninascoops@blogpspot.com. Man, it was cold in there.. Good thing I wore an undershirt. Otherwise I would have been frozen stiff. After a few mins, she came in. We exchanged hellos. We chatted for awhile since the segment was still a good 20 to 30 mins away.
Game time came.. We sat on the set. Mics placed and cues given. We’d be going live in a few seconds. The interview came and it went ok. Questions asked were pretty much standard. What’s Pompe, Family, etc.. Questions I’ve answered numerous times before. We also spoke about “PSOD”:http://www.psod.org.ph that was the more important aspect of the interview.
A funny thing happened though. Nina asked me (not exact words, only as how I remembered it) “They said you might only live till the age of 30, how come you still feel so blessed?”. I replied “Let’s put it simply, I’m here right now on ANC, being interviewed by a pretty lady, how can I not feel blessed?”. Ha Ha Ha.
It might sound funny, my cousin even told me I was so slick.. Honestly I just wanted to put it in simple terms. Really, that’s how I feel. How can I not feel blessed when I was given a chance to go on T.V. to promote a worthy cause, add to that it was a pretty lady that was asking the questions. It’s all good!
In life it’s the simple things that make it interesting. I know what happened was a simple thing, trivial to some but to me I appreciate experiences like that very much. It makes life fun. It’s things like this that you appreciate when faced with a situation like mine.
After the interview, Nina, gave me a tour of ABS-CBN’s news room. It was fantastic. I got to meet people that I’ve wanted to meet, such as Maria Resa, Chari Villa, Julius Babao, etc.. I like the news and it was fun to meet the people I watch every day. I especially loved meeting Maria for the simple fact that I admire her work very much. I’ve watched her since the time she was on CNN and I liked her work. So that was definitely a treat.
To make things more interesting. Yesterday was also the same day that they decided to air the feature on TV patrol. So in a way I got a lot of media mileage that day. Ha Ha Ha.
Thanks to the people who watched. The ones who sent SMS messages and left comments here on my blog. I really appreciate it.
Oh one more thing, Bernadette (another pretty lady) decide to drop by that day. We had a good chat and got to know each other better. I’d like to think we’re not just acquaintances now but friends.
Hey! just thought i’d drop by after watching your interview on the filipino channel, I can truly say that I was blessed by your story and that I admire your wisdom and strength..keep praying and god bless =D
I saw that part when you told nina about being interviewed by a pretty lady like her is a blessing. That made me smile. =) For someone in your situation, that was soooo cool and cute, really. =)
If it was somebody else, He’d get a little slap on the face, I guess. =)
Keep inspiring us.
Again here’s one grateful soul appreciating you and your cause. =)
i watched your interview last night in ABS-CBN coz pompe’s disease is such a strange disease and im interested to know about it.im a nursing student from mindanao..youre such a great person coz despite of your disease still life is not unfair to you.have a faith in GOD….
hi, i saw you on tv the other day and promise myself to open your website. Listening to your story is very inspiring for me. By looking at you on tv i really have a deep feeling of admiring the way you see life. I salute you for standing still despite your condition. Other people really would think you are helpless probably but as for me you are an instrument of strength and faith. You take life as it is and you showed extra ordinary sense of acceptance, thus, you make everything much lighter and you made it.
I just want you to know that someone living in this earth, like me, wishes all the best for you and may God takes care of you every second of the day.
I heard you will undergo transplant (if i’m not mistaken), I really wish you well and I know God will stay beside you and will continue to prove His invisible power to keep you safe and refresh you with His love and mercy.
I would be very glad to visit your web and send you messages. Have a nice day…..
hi! i’m really amazed and inspired of you.. of how you fight pompe.. you made a change to me and hopefully to a lot more.. i was watching tv patrol when you were featured.. at the age of 13 i know i shouldn’t cursed life(wow!) but after watching you on t.v. and knowing your story i felt ashamed and somehow changed my outlook in life.. i hope God will longer your stay here on earth! =)
Hi. When I saw you on TV the other night, you seemed familiar. Iniisip ko talaga kung san kita nakita….ang tagal ko nag-isip ha? then i knew….you were featured before in one of my favorite TV shows…Straight talk of Cito Beltran. I can’t remember the date, it seems years ago. Well, I’m glad to see you again. Good luck. God bless.
We really enjoy reading this site. Miracle always happen and I hope there will be medicines to help cure this disease. We salute you Juan for being brave and full of hope. We always pray for your recovery and keep up the good work! God bless…
Very nice, that your interview has telecasted in TV. Your replay for Nina’s question shows your strength of you life. Sad that I can’t watch your interview. Is that a international channel or it will telecast only in Philippines?. But here we have to use set-top box to see CNN. Hope u has a good chat with media people:)
Hello Dickoy,
Here I am again, trying to cheer you up with my simple “Hello”. I guess you’re becoming a big celebrity with all those exposures given to you on TV. My only regret is that I never had the chance to see them. Bad timing, I guess. It’s good that you have this article. You see, I really admire the way you look at life and your appreciation of the simple things surrounding us. Most people tend to take these things for granted and only realize their importance when they’re already gone. I hope all our politicians will have the same outlook and disposition in life. In which case, this beloved country of ours might still have a chance. On the other hand, I think you’ll be a good journalist.
This is kinda long already, thanks for reading and the replies you made in the past.
God bless.
hi… you inspired a lot of people and im one of them.. always pray to GOD to give you more strength, hes the one who will help us…
na inspire po talaga ako sa napanoo\d ko po sa tv tungkol sa paglaban po ninya sa sakit na pompe….hanga po ako sa pinapakitang lakas ninyo sa pag laban ng pompe.hindi po naging hadlang ang sakit nyo po para ipagpatuloy ang buhay.. iniidolo ko po kayong mga umalaban sa sakit na iyan….lalong lalo mna po kay kuya. yung inenterview sa tv.nakikita ko po sa kanya yung determinasyon nya…. bagamat may saklit po sya hindi po sya sumusuko….. dahil po doon ay nagbago ang pananaw ko po sa buhay. na hindi hadlang ang ano pa man para lang ipagpatuloy ang buhay. lagi ko po ipagdarasal na sana po ay ghualing na po kayo.. tibayan nyo po ang loob nyo…. mahal po tayo ni god… lalong lalo na po kayo…… salamat po sa pagbibigay inspirasyon sa katulad kong istudyante at mag aaral……sana po kuya wag po kayo mawalan ng pagasa……….salamat pom talaga kuya.. at mabuhay ka po…… maswerte ka po kuya. dsahil hinahayaan ka po ni god na mabuhay dahil marami ka pa pong maiinspire na tao………sana po lagi nyo po iisipin na marami pong nagmamahal at nagdadasal para sa pag galing nyo po.. salamat po talaga nalaman ko din po na ooperahan po kayo. alam ko po na magiging matagumpay iyon basta manalig kla lamang po sa diyos po…… sana po patuloy pm mayong lumaban sa agos ng buhay……..salamat po taaga sa pagbibigay ng inspirasyon nyo po sa amin……………… kasama mo po ako sa panalangin at pag laban ninyo sa inyong sakit….salamat po talaga….. ang tanging maitutulong ko lamang po sa inyo ay ang ipagdasal po kayo at ang mga iba pang taong maysakit po… kahit doon man lang po sa maliit na bagay na yon makatulong po ako sa inyo