Another Wedding Soon - Part 2

We would have lost our son Azuan if not for certain action by his friends on that fateful night in Dec 1997. A freak accident with his motorcycle on the way to supper with with his two other friends after a night of study while in University Technology Malaysia almost cost his life. He was then pursuing a degree course in polymer Engineering at UTM. The three of them were riding two motorbikes with Azuan riding alone infront. At a particular sharp bend his friends found Azuan sprawled on the road and thought he was kidding when he said he fell down from his bike. His friends thought he was kidding since they wasn't able to see what happened. There was no other vehicle on the road at that time to cause an accident.

A middle aged Chinese man later stopped by and noticing Azuan was feeling giddy and nauseating, told his friends to take him to the clinic. The doctor examined Azuan and realizing that he could be suffering from internal injury made arrangement to send him to The Sultan Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru. At the hospital Azuan managed to call his brother Azrin who was then working around Johore Baru. Unfortunately Azrin didn't answer the call. Azrin later found out about Azuan's situation and immediately called his mum. Since I was working in Gua Musang about 200 km south of Pasir Mas where our home is located, my wife Fatthiyah agreed to drive to Gua Musang and together we would drive down to Johor Baru.

We went straight to JB hospital. Azrin met us there. Azrin gave us a brief account of the accident as related to him by Azuan's friend. It was due to Azuan's collapse at the hospital that the hospital authority decided to operate on him immediately after a brain scan indicated there was a blood clot in his brain the size of a pingpong ball. Azuan was lucky that the brain surgery unit was recently set up a month ago under the charge of Dr. Suffian. Otherwise he may not be able to be operated immediately. Time was the essence of it, the longer the various brain part is allowed to be starved of essential oxygen, the more damage to various part of the brain controlling the various part of the body functions. Most important is of course the sight and memory function.

Immediately after the operation, my son was placed in the ICU. He was under sedative to make his brain rest so that it will repair itself sooner with the help of medication. Dr Suffian explained to us that his duty was only to save life. Anything else like ensuring that no brain part was damaged was still beyond the knowledge of man. He asked us to pray to Allah that our son will survive without any harm to any of his body function. That revealation was quite unnerving.

A brain surgery involved the removal of the top of the skull and taking out the brain from the head for futher surgery. In Azuan's case the blood clot would be drained off and after that the brain is replaced into the head. The part of the skull removed will not be put back immediately as the brain had enlarged due to brusing during handling thus it will not fit in snugly. Only after the brain size had returned to normal and there is no further need to operate on it will the removed skull section be replaced. We could notice the soft mushy brain under the skin tissue where part of the skull was removed.

In the ICU, Azuan was in a deep sleep but could be brought to semi consciousness by calling out his name or by applying hard slaps on his arms. By holding palm to palm we managed to get his reactions when we called out his name.

Azuan in the ward.

When his condition improved, the removed skull was replaced and the skin flap was closed. He was moved to the normal recovery ward after several days in the ICU. All this while he was fed by a tube put through the nostril. His hands had to be restrained as he had the tendency to remove the tube as it was irritating to him. Every time he the tube, it had to be reinserted by a nurse. Later on a hole was constructed on his throat to enable tube to be inserted direct to his stomach. This method is less irritating. I was taught to feed him since Fatthiyah wasn't comfortable doing it.

His memory was yet to be restored

We were there for 20 days until Azuan was strong enough to be nursed at home.
Azuan had no recollection of what happened during the period when he collapsed until he was brought home to Pasir Mas by car. On the way home I was caught by a police speed trap but was let off after incessant pleading with the traffic police.

Recuperating At Home In Pasir Mas.

Several months later when we thought he was well enough, he applied and was admitted into UiTM Dungun to take up a Diploma on IT. Unfortunately whenever he tried to study he felt sharp pains in his head. Azuan didn't complete the course.
Now some years later he has found employment with the central bank.
It is a great wonder that this son of ours who nearly lost his life is healthy and well to such extent that he can easily play strenous badminton games regularly. Once he joined his mates from the bank to successfully do the tough Head Hunters Trail in Sarawak.
Come this 15th of October, Azuan will be married. His marriage will be the last among the siblings and hopefully he will continue to give me many more bundles of joy in the form of grandchildren.
Everything is ready for the joyous moment. I can hear the workment banging on nails trying to finish off the job of the new porch. The porch will be part of the serving area for the guests which will be held outdoor.

Unfortunately the PC I was normally down and this old laptop is so slow, I cant put in any pictures to illustrate our preparation for the wedding.

Since this will be my last post before hari Raya, I would like to wish all fellow Moslem Selamat Hari Raya. For the non moslem, please do visit the moslem brothers as you are most welcome to join the joy of celebrating it.