Thursday, October 11, 2007

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.

22 comments:

J.T. said...

Whoa! that must have been so unnerving and scary for you, your wife and the rest of the family when Azuan was in hospital.
Your account of what happened to him put me on the edge of my seat. I don't know what I would have done if I were in your place but I guess with situations like this (based on my experience with my late parents being rushed to the ER when gravely ill), I would have taken one minute at a time. It always seemed that those minutes seem longer than usual.

Thank God everything worked out, Azuan healed well and now you are going to witness his marriage. Soon, by God's will, you will have more grandchildren.

Since this is your last post before Hari Raya, I would now like to extend my sincerest wish to you and your family for a blessed and joyous Hari Raya. Enjoy the reunion and the wedding. Oh yes, and Happy Birthday in advance. :)

Anonymous said...

hi pak zawi .. thank God your son is well with the grace of GOD ... he is lucky indeed ... and now entering yet another new phase of his life ... being married. i wish him and the bride 'selamat pengantin baru'.. and to you pak zawi and family new addition to the family ..
oh yes, selamat hari raya .. and .. bila makan lemang dan ketupat .. ingat-ingat i kat sini ok ! .. hehehee JM being notti ! laa
rest of the gang seems to be MIA

Pak Zawi said...

j.t.
Only those who have experienced similar situation in life will understand how it feels when we are close to losing loved ones. Since you did too, I guess we feel tahnkful to God. It is Him that we go to when no one else among us could do anything about it.

Pak Zawi said...

JM,Thanks for all the wishes. I am truly happy that my son has managed to reach this phase of his life. Now I can consider myself to have done all the necessary deed of a father. How happier can a father be?
I will think of you whenever I will be taking those lemangs.

zewt said...

Pak Zawi, Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri... Maaf Zahir Batin.

The Ancient Mariner said...

Selamat Hari Raya Idilfitri.
Maaf Zahir Batin.

Pak Zawi said...

the ancient mariner Captain Sir,

Selamat Hari Raya Idilfitri. Maaf jua hamba pohon. Terima kasih kerana sudi mengunjung.

Bennyloh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bennyloh said...

Not having one like at Zak's with bodyguards?
http://malaysiancartoons.blogspot.com/
2006/10/little-rajas.html
Selamat Hari Raya

Pak Zawi said...

Bennyloh,
I am a poor man living on retirement benefit and definitely arentable to spend a fortune just for weddings. Dont have any enemy to require an army of bodyguards, only friends will come to provide moral support.
It feels great to have you visit my site. Thank you.

Bennyloh said...

You are doing extremely well as you are now, brader.
(earlier posting poking humour at another's open house). Felt what you wrote all the time, great job!
Selamat Hari Raya to you and loved ones

Pak Zawi said...

Bennyloh,
Coming from you those words are needed tonic to spur me on to writing more brader.
Was I poking humour to the family's open house? Never intended so. We tried hard at not offending the host though it was tough on us.
Keep on to your way of satire with your cartoons, it brought lots of smiles to me.

Lee said...

Hello Zawi, I am back. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family, selamat hari raya with all my best wishes for good health and happiness always.
Really glad to read Azuan is okay now. My best regards to him and his wife. Lee.

Pak Zawi said...

Lee,
Welcome back. Hopefully the guests you took around had a great time with you.
Thank you for the Hari Raya Greetings.
Conveyed your message to Azuan and his wife.

cakapaje said...

Salam Lebaran bang - Pak Zawi,

My first time here after reading your comment at Rocky's Bru. Having read about Azuan, I'm glad I crossed over.

Though it was nothing as serious as Azuan, I do know how irritating having a tube inserted down to the gullet via the nostril! But mine was the reverse as it was meant to suck out the gastric juices from my stomach. Imagine, how a kid of 8 as I was then, felt!

But alhamdulillah, Azuan has recovered and soon to be married. May both of them be blesses with a happy marriage that last, insyAllah.

Pak Zawi said...

cakapaje,
Thanks for visiting.
Imagine how bad you would feel when you are irritated with a tube going down your nostril with your hands restrained to the sides of the bed.
You had that experience when you were 8? Poor you. I really feel sorry for you.
My son Azuan's wedding was solemnised on the 15th of this month and the the wedding ceremony was done the next day. I will be posting the story in my blogsite as soon as I get the story and pictures.
I guess its stll not to late to wish you Selamat Hari Raya.

Anonymous said...

Pak,
how's azuan's wedding went along? lauk cukup tak? :)

love to see the pics with new posting soon..

Pak Zawi said...

J'da,
Your request will sonn be granted. It will be soon as I am writing it now.
Hope it will be interesting for everyone to read. I will put in as many photos as possible.

Anonymous said...

can't wait..

Pak Zawi said...

Hi All,
To satisfy your curiousity I have posted some pictures as a stop gap measure. Will do the write up and rearrange the pictures when I know how. LOL.

Anonymous said...

so thats what actually happened eh Abang. God is Great.
Interesting blog u have here. Check out mine ;)
http://hesitantblogger.blog.com

Pak Zawi said...

Annonymous (Hesitantblogger),
If you were Azuan's close friend and asked him about the scar on the left side of his head, he will tell in all his seriousness that somebody had stuck a kapak kechik on his head. He is quite a joker sometimes.
I have visited your site and I enjoy visiting it. Thanks for the visit.