Hi, it's Maiqui.

Christmas is by far my favorite time of the year. The festive decorations, the lively, heartwarming music, the twinkling lights, and all the joyful celebrations create a magical atmosphere that fills my heart with warmth and happiness. It’s what I look forward to every year and start celebrating as early as September.

Last Christmas was one of the toughest I’ve experienced. I had to skip all the usual celebrations and isolate myself to avoid getting sick, especially with the wedding coming up. It was hard not being able to see friends or enjoy the holiday festivities, but I knew I had to do it to stay healthy.

This 2024, however, is a different story.

I’m so excited to share the good news with all of you who’ve been part of my journey—my doctors have officially told me that I’m now in clinical remission!

Clinical remission means that the signs and symptoms of a disease are significantly reduced or undetectable, even though the disease may not be completely cured.

In short – I’M OKAY!

It’s been a while since I last updated this blog, so let me catch you up on everything that has happened along the way that led me here.

In the first half of the year, I still had several symptoms. I shared in my previous post that I was experiencing the following:

• Hair loss
• Skin allergies, acne and redness especially on the face
• Swollen and stiff fingers and joints after sleeping or being inactive for some time (it goes away when I start moving)
• Heart palpitations especially at night before sleeping
• Fatigue if I exert too much effort and/or don’t get a good night’s sleep
• Some blurred vision especially at night

As the months passed, most of these started to disappear. The only things I experienced left were redness on my face (especially when stressed), very minimal swelling on my fingers in the morning, and blurred vision at night (a medication side effect).

I also continued to undergo lung function tests every three months, and the most recent one had the best results yet. Compared to how it was in 2023, my results were finally within the normal range.

From July to September, however, I would get sick with the flu or some bacterial infection. The silver lining, though, was that my doctors realized that my medicines may be suppressing my immune system too much. Since my tests and symptoms were good, they decided to lower the dosage and possibly have me stop taking the medicine completely. The only treatment that would potentially remain for now is the Rituximab infusions.

This medicine is the one that I really wanted to stop, as I am not allowed to get pregnant while on it. I hoped I’d eventually stop, but I stayed patient and disciplined. I even tweeted about this on the 17th of August, hoping to manifest that it would come true.

As we near the end of 2024, I’m proud to say that I’m no longer on the medication!

Does Twitter/X have some kind of magic? Maybe not, but I do believe that when you put something out into the universe, it has a way of listening. To quote one of my favorite books:

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist

My husband, Robi, and I officially received the good news back in November when we went to Singapore to meet my doctor. She told us that it’s really a blessing that I am doing great.

Robi turned to me and said, ‘This is the Christmas miracle you asked for.’

My doctor then looked at me and replied, ‘No, you’re the Christmas miracle.’

I couldn’t help but tear up. This is what I prayed for, and so did all of you here. It’s finally real.

My Christmas wish came true.

I will forever be grateful to everyone who has supported and prayed for me along this journey. Please know that your prayers made a difference. They gave me the strength to keep going—and I did.

I still receive messages about how this blog has been helpful, and now I’m excited to pay it forward by sharing more tips and lessons that helped me recover—hoping they can benefit others too. I have big plans for 2025, but first, it’s time to enjoy the holidays with those I love.

Thank you, Lord, for the early and best Christmas gift ever. –