Show-biz thoughts from a hospital bed

To be confined in a hospital isn’t the best place to be—unless you’re Boy Abunda, who can afford the best specialists in town.

I had to be confined at the Capitol Medical Center upon the advice of a doctor friend, as I was vomiting a lot. My friend was there from Day One till I was discharged two days later, vivifying the saying, “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”

In your room, the television set becomes a patient’s best friend when no member of the family can be with you. I was saddened that a veteran comedian might lose her leg, while another stand-up comedian is scheduled to undergo brain surgery. In happy contrast, I was glad that Rico J. Puno is responding well after his bypass operation!

I watched “Your Face Sounds Familiar” to see if Karla Estrada was in the lead, and wished that she would sing “Happy Talk,” from “South Pacific.”

On the second day of my confinement, my niece kept me company. She turned out to be a human directory of GMA 7 programming! She slept only after watching “Celebrity Bluff.”

I tried to pray the rosary, but the drama scenes of AiAi de las Alas were a distraction. I couldn’t turn the TV off because my niece might go home if she missed AiAi’s new drama series! Another must-see for her was Dingdong Dantes’ “Pari ‘Koy.”

Thankfully, I was spared from a kidney operation. The doctor who attended to me issued a prescription for drugs to take for two weeks. On the TV screen, I saw Susan Roces flashing the sign, “Bawal magkasakit!”

Back home, I was greeted with grocery goodies from Baby Gil and Philippine Veterans Bank’s Mike Villareal. They cheered me up, and I felt like it was Christmas—in May!