Hans and Congenital Hernia

Text message 16:36:45, 11-Sept-2003:
Hi. I watched d news earlier & saw d segment abt those fil siamese twins (joined head) hu flew 2 NY 4 operatn. I realized lucky p rin si Hans. I havn't told u yet but hans has congenital hernia. I feel stressed worrying abt his hernia. He's so young 4 an operation. Kng pwede, aakuin ko nalang lahat ng pain nya. We'r going 2 consult pediatric surgeon 2 knw wats best 4 hans. We wud realy apreciate ur prayers. Tnx.
-Rach Yapchiongco

I asked her what type of hernia it is:

Text message 09:44:08, 13-Sept-2003:
I dnt knw wat type. Yng bukol wala p sa balls. Dr said not 2 worry b/c its simple surgery. But being a mom, cant help but b affected. Baka nxt fri operation. I'l let u knw. Tnx 4 ur prayers.
-Rach Yapchiongco

Asked Jon. It's probably congenital inguinal hernia - wherein the abdominal walls did not fuse in the fetus' 8th month. This leaves a hole for the intestines to protude down towards the groin area. Surgery corrects it.

Thankfully it's not the dangerous kind. A google search would initially turn up diaphragmatic hernia - which is a rare one usually found in boys and affects the lung area - only 50% survive it.

Text message 10:14:08, 13-Sept-2003:
I'm glad its not serious. Dr said its 40% hereditary. Jules was operated on wen he was 1 month old due 2 similar case. Yng 2 nephews din ni jules similar case. Late n dumating si kelly. Hanap k nga nya. 2 anak nya, biba yng panganay. D n cla umabot sa handaan kya d2 cla haus punta. Yng bby boy had undescended testes & was suposed 2 b operated. Thnk God daw at nadaan sa hilot at dasal kya ok na.
-Rach

Which means that if Hans will have a son, it would probably have the same condition.

`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`

Kelly was another classmate from grade school. She graduated later than us because she spent a year in New Zealand after the coup attempts during President Aquino's term. Her dad's one of those RAM boys - Rocky Tor. He was actually in the wanted list then.

My batchmates in grade school were an interesting bunch:

There's Ines Romualdez who's related to Imelda Romualdez Marcos - I think her family left the country after the Ninoy assasination.

There's Nancy Binay, daughter of Jejomar Binay - former Makati Mayor and MMDA chairman... dunno what his position is nowadays. Nancy's mom became mayor when her dad's terms expired making him ineligible for re-election.

There's Pauline Pacificador. Former MP Arturo Pacificador's daughter. Top politician during the Marcos era. Was on the run in Aquino's time for supposedly ordering the murder of another well known person.

Then there's Lara Saguisag. Daughter of Rene Saguisag. He was associated with Cory Aquino and had many people shaking heads when he sided with Joseph Estrada during and after the impeachment trial.

None of the girls are in the limelight.

It's my high school batchmates you see in TV or newspapers - being news anchors, commercial models, or caught by the camera attending a social event.