DIONILA GUNGOB, 61, Diabetic and regular client of Hi-Precision Diagnostics – Mandaue | Photo by: Rosalie O. Abatayo
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Regular health check-ups and observing everything in moderation are the ways to go for a healthy life.
This is the life lesson that 61-year-old Dionila Gungob has kept in mind for over a decade. But this lesson did not come easy.
When she turned 48, Gungob was diagnosed with Diabetes Miletus and had since maintained medications to control her blood sugar levels.
A resident of Barangay Maguikay in Mandaue City, Gungob is among the beneficiaries of the medical mission conducted by Hi-Precision Diagnostics in Mandaue City last July 30, 2022, where they offered free laboratory tests for fasting blood sugar, cholesterol, and complete blood count (CBC) and consultation.
The medical mission, Gungob said, helped lessen her expenses for her medication, sparing the cost of the laboratory test, which she can instead use to refill her prescriptions.
Apart from the medical mission, Gungob is not new to the care of the Hi-Precision Diagnostics – Mandaue team. She is a regular client at the diagnostic and laboratory clinic located right outside her community.
“Makabenepisyo ta kay sa oras, di kaayo ka layo og adtoan. Ang resulta pod duol ra. Labi na kay senior, dako-dako pod silag deduction sa ilang discount,” Gungob said.
(I can benefit with the time I spend to go there because it isn’t far. The results are also easier to pick up since it’s just nearby. And since I am a senior citizen, their discount is also huge.)
A native of Bukidnon province, Gungob came to Cebu in the late 1990s to work as a furniture polisher. Throughout a day of hard work, she used to treat herself to a bottle of soft drinks in every meal and snack to quench her thirst.
“Mao gyud akong gimahayan nga wa gyuy naka-advise nako nga dili magpalabi sa [soft drinks]. Sa nagtrabaho pa ko, bantayan ko nang alas 10, alas 12, ug alas 3, naa gyud nay soft drinks, hasta pa panihapon kung mag-overtime. Sa akong kaon, wala pod koy control,” Gungob recounts.
(This is what I regret most, that no one advised me to take soft drinks in moderation. When I was working, I always mind that during my meals at 10 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm—and even for dinner whenever I render overtime—there should be soft drinks that come with them. I also did not control what I ate.)
As she no longer works as a furniture colorist now, Gungob sells puto maya to her neighbors to supplement the income of her partner, who earns a living through grafting.
Selling the delicacy, which is a morning favorite for most Filipinos, and the sweet mangoes from her partner’s work, Gungob admits she is always faced with a temptation to enjoy these treats for more than she should.