Intensive Care

Ram’s brother-in-law, the husband of her late elder sister, who is now 81 years old, is in hospital. He has been in hospital since October 25th, initially admitted with complaints of being too tired, exhausted, and unable to get out of bed unaided. He was brought to the hospital by ambulance. He was reluctant in going. This was two days after he held a prayer session in his house for his late wife who passed away just about a year ago, on the 20th day of Ramadan to be exact. Most close relatives came for the prayer session. He already appeared very weak then and had difficulties moving about, meeting the family members, welcoming his neighbours and other guests. On hearing that he was taken into hospital, most went to visit him in the hospital too. All agreed that he was too weak, pale and frail.

Ram and I visited him too. He was his usual talkative self. We noticed that, in spite of being weak and frail, he was always moving, fidgeting, and appeared easily agitated. He does not seem to be happy where he was. He seemed to want to be taken home. He even said so. They keep taking samples but never found anything, so I might as well go home, he said. The hospital was thorough in the tests, they have to be, in order to have a proper diagnosis. They administered medications and treatment to him but his condition got worse. It was noticed that he was not accepting the health administration but was instead fighting it. He even removed by himself one of that stuff that they stick in his arm to administer treatment.

He was moved from the normal ward to a close observation ward but a few days later had to be taken into the Intensive Care Unit as his condition got worse and worse. He had problems breathing, with poor lung condition and pneumonia. Oral administration of medications failed as he kept vomiting them out. He had to put on a breathing mask and that too he kept trying to take off. He appeared to be fighting the treatments given to him, weak and frail as he was. He did not, and could not talk, but gave signs that he wants out. One of his daughters gave him a pen and he wrote that he wants to go home. He gave the nurses a rough time, but they persevere. They carried out their duties, nursing him, with dedication. We were all praying for him to get better, the nurses and the doctors helped to make it better for him, and all of us submitted to the Almighty to ease it for him whichever way it was but he was, all the time, persistently avoided treatment.

He was taken into the ICU the last day of Ramadan. His condition had gone from bad to worse. He needed help to sustain. Various gadgets were hooked up on him. He appeared lost, disoriented and I assume extremely stressed out. He had used all the energy he had to fight against whatever treatment administered, and that probably was one of the reasons his condition deteriorated. It was decided that he be allowed to have complete rest while treatment is given to his lung condition and it was agreed that the procedure be initiated the day after he was taken into the ICU, that was the first day of Eid’l Fitri.

After the Eid’l Fitri morning prayers, Ram and I went straight to the hospital. His children were all there too. It was explained to us that he will be put under sedation, a breathing apparatus will be hooked up and he will be aided to breathe and that treatment of his lungs and the pneumonia be administered. He will not be aware of the treatment, and under the relaxed condition it was hoped that treatment will proceed positively. It has been five days now and it was reported that his lung condition had improved much and that he can be taken off the breathing aid. All his children played a role in his recovery I think. Their Eid’l Fitri celebrations were very subdued, spent mostly in the hospital, keeping vigil on their father. One of his daughters, a doctor, played a major deciding role in all the medical processes. His eldest son, a General in the army, shuffled time between his duties to the nation and duties to his father, coming to the hospital two or three times in a day, and he did well. Another son, living in a neighbouring country came twice and both times spending most of it with his father. His other children too paid similar attention to their father. Ram’s two other sisters, Siti and Shidah, living in the south, came up to visit as well. All, in a way, contributed to his recovery, as it would have reassured him knowing that they all stood by him.

They have stopped administering the sedatives since this morning allowing him to recover naturally. Indeed when we saw him today he was responding to our call, but he was, as before the administration of the sedation procedure, moving his hands, legs, body and so on, perhaps slowly feeling conscious and feeling all those intrusive gadgets on his body. The breathing aid will be taken out as soon as he is fully conscious. We are yet to see how his response will be when fully conscious but we have high hopes. We would like to see him continue with life as normal, to be self sufficient, able to move about and attending to personal needs unaided. We continue to pray for guidance from the Almighty as we believe in putting our whole trust in HIM. We try, we do our best possible but in the end it is HE who decides one way or another and to HIM we submit………..

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya