Aping APE on Mother’s Day

I dread Annual Physical Exam big time. Maybe it has something to do with blood extraction and injections and that extra task called “sampling”. I hate the image of a needle being stuck in my arm plus the fact that you have to completely trust your nurse to be a pro on that field. Otherwise, you’ll end up black and blue.

For the record, last year, I availed the company APE only on the last week of the monthlong schedule. Trying to be brave in front of my office peeps that were in the queue for blood test, I observed the whole process. I looked at how a rubber was tied in my arm then a clean syringe penetrated my flesh followed by the image of a blood slowly filling the container.

I really thought that it was heroic and fulfilling on my part, only to realize that it made me fear APE more this year. It didn’t help that one time, Leah approached me and showed me that black thingy on her arm and swore to me that she will never ever get an APE again.

Last week, I was still unsure if I can fearlessly approach Healthway the next day. I slept at 8pm and made a deal with myself that if ever I wake up at 11:30pm to follow the 8 to 10-hour diet, I’ll do it. The biological clock in me won. So at midnight, I was scouting for food and some containers for the “sampling”. It didn’t help that 7-11’s were everywhere.

On Mother’s Day, last Sunday, I accomplished one of the motherly things I could do to myself. I submitted myself for check-up, having in mind that it’s something that my mom would love me to do. True enough. When I texted her first thing in the morning to greet her “Happy Mother’s Day” and mentioned about that unusual weekend activity I was about to do, she just said “Sige, para rin sa ‘yo ‘yan”. The butterflies in the stomach were still there, giving me an initial BP of 150/100, but everything turned out very well. I saw some colleagues there that gave me at least ample time to relax and converse. Not to mention that I got the gentlest blood extraction ever.