Hello Son,
MERDEKA DAY
August 31.
Thursday.
Public Holiday.
Our family were meeting for brunch.
At 10:00 am.
Nearby in Taman Desa only.
A new coffee shop has recently opened
Dad, Mom, Aunty Carol, Grandma and Megan.
Dad and Mom arrived by 10am.
Dad ordered a coffee, while waiting for Grandma
and the rest to arrive.
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| It's the shop on the left of MIX STORE. |
Grandma came by 10:30 am.
Hehe. Good thing it was a public holiday.
We had no where to go anyway ... but wait patiently.
We all gave our orders.
The food came.
We ate and left.
Dad and Mom went back home.
Netflix was on.
Can't remember which movie was on now.
Mom had a manicure appointment at 2:30 pm
in Bangsar. Some 20 minutes away.
About 1:45 pm, Mom asked Dad to get ready.
Dad was laying on the sofa, with his eyes closed.
Your father said, "Gimme a minute ... headache."
Pause.
What???
This is not a good word in our family, since ...
since you, Daniel.
Quickly, Mom took the blood pressure monitor
to check Dad's blood pressure.
OMG.
What???
Dad said, "Call (Uncle) Chris."
Fast forward ...
We arrived at Sunway Hospital at about 3 pm.
Uncle C drove. Dad sat in front.
Aunty D and Mom were behind.
Justine was working that day.
Justine sent her thumb-up.
Dad took a number to see the doctor at emergency.
Dad showed Mom the ticket Q.
Mom said, "Son is with you. B : Bryan, 94 his birthyear."
9409
22
4
All You.
Everything is gonna be okay.
A brain scan was done.
All clear.
As you know, Mom and Dad are terrified of brain scans.
It was always followed by results that were difficult to
understand ... and the whys and the how comes would
emerge right after.
Your scans.
Anyway ...
It was just - nice - to have the all clear for Dad's brain scan.
Aunty Carol contacted her friend who was a cardiologist
at Sunway Hospital. He happened to be on call that day.
See how things are working out on their own?
Fast forward ...
Dad was at the Emergency Ward, Bed #8, for observation.
8???
That's 44.
"You are clearly here with us, Son."
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| reading @ 8:45 pm |
A coloured/dye contrast scan was called for.
It was after 8 pm.
Dad was given a number.
4031
Why, that's a clear 44.
All You.
ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!
Justine came over to the hospital after work.
Your sister arrived by 9pm.
She brought a small suitcase with
some clothes and toiletries.
Justine said,
"Aunty Carol said CT angiogram normal."
(The cardiologist is Aunty C's friend.
Reporting directly to her.)
Yes yes ...
Normal ...
What a nice, comforting word.
Normal ...
Mom remembers the few times when you said,
"I just want to be a normal boy ..."
Sniff.
Well, GOD had bigger plans for you.
Who knew?
So anyway, Dad was admitted for overnight observation.
12:47 am midnight
Friday, Sept 1 ...
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| Breakfast @ 747 am. |
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| Reading at 6:19 am. |
Mom made some food for Dad. Strictly no salt.
Eggs with avocado and dried cranberries on top.
Rice vermicelli soup with carrots and tofu.
A sprinkle of mushroom stock.
At 7:31 am, Dad sent a text,
"Dr H (Aunty C's friend) just came, said MRI good.
Pressure went down in the night.
Went up again 150/99.
Before morning medication."
Aunty C drove Mom to the hospital in the morning
and spent the whole day there.
The day before on Thursday, you somehow arranged for
Uncle C and Aunty D to be with Dad and Mom at the hospital.
They were both with your parents till just before midnight.
Then on Friday, Aunty C was free to be with us. Mom sure
was glad for the support of the family. Plus,
Justine was with us at night time.
Aunty C and Mom arrived at the hospital at 9am.
Dad was at the High Dependency Unit for the night.
Mom went up to 3rd floor.
It wasn't visiting hours yet.
Mom wanted to pass to Dad the food that she had prepared.
At the door of the HDU, a nurse happened to pop out.
Mom passed the bag of food to the nurse.
Mom said, "For patient in Bed #12. PKW."
PKW. Dad's full name.
Oh ... Mom forgot to mention.
Bed #12 ...
Yeah.
Smile.
Seriously.
How do you do it, Daniel?
That's a clear 21, to your mother.
You are surely near to watch over your father.
Mom couldn't take a photo of the room number
because there was a nurse stationed right
outside the door.
LOL.
So, your mother (later in the room) took a photo
of the meal order form instead. See at the bottom.
Her eviDANS.
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| Room : 3C (3rd floor) HDU 12 |
The nurse took the food and at the same time,
told Mom that Dad was going for eco.
Mom asked, what's eco?
The nurse said, "heart scan."
Justine corrected Mom in our texts, "Echo."
Your sister said it's like ultrasound.
Bedside ultrasound.
Like scan baby, Justine explained in her text.
Oh, ok.
Meanwhile, Mom and Aunty C were waiting at Starbucks.
Visiting Hours were from 12 pm.
Dad said he couldn't get much sleep the night before.
One of the patients in the HDU was making a lot
of noise.
The patient was shouting and calling out for the nurse like
every few minutes.
It was noisy in the HDU with all the monitors too.
So Dad said he was going to take a nap, while waiting
for 12 pm, Visiting Hours.
 |
| Reading @ 11:07 am. |
Time passed.
Mom was at the HDU entrance by 11:55 am.
She was the second visitor to enter after the first visitor
kinda cut her line.
Mom walked in to Ward/Bed #12.
Dad had still not changed. Aiyaa.
So no photos here.
Dad said he didn't want the nurse to help him.
At the same time, the nurse said to Mom,
"Patient didn't want us to help him change.
He wanted to wait for his wife."
Haha.
No problem.
Mom drew the curtain for some privacy.
Dad brushed his teeth, washed his face,
changed from the hospital gown
and combed his hair.
There.
All nice and clean now.
Dad said, "I just found out the mri is all clear."
(the text was sent to Justine at 12:36 pm)
"Doctor said the mri is NORMAL." (12:42 pm)
Mom did a little dance in her head.
NORMAL.
How special is this word.
So heart-warming.
NORMAL.
We always want everything to be NORMAL.
Don't we, son?
Aunty C came in to see Dad too.
Your aunt told us what the doctor, her friend, said.
Basically, all is good.
That's all we need to know.
All is good.
And normal.
The hospital lunch tray came.
Mom told Dad to eat the food that
she had prepared first.
The food bag was sitting in the corner, untouched.
The nurse had brought it in earlier,
but Dad was having the heart scan etc.
So excuses started to pour in.
Oh. Never mind.
Eat now.
Dad started eating the home-cooked food.
Your father had no choice but to say
the food was yummy. Hahahaha.
Well, why shouldn't it be?
It was made with a heart full of love.
How could any food prepared in that way
not be yummy?
Hah!
At 2:15 pm or so, the nurse came to inform Mom
that visiting hour was over.
Oh.
Alright.
Okay.
Mom and Aunty C went down to Starbucks.
The day passed.
By 3:43 pm, Dad had texted to Justine to inform
that the doctor just came and we could go
to the (normal) wards.
Dad's doctor met up with Aunty C at Starbucks
and they spent some time catching up.
Mom decided to walk around the hospital and
soon settled for this area, where the piano was
playing on its own.
 |
| Beside Starbucks. |
Justine came to visit after work.
About 8pm. Your sister had her dinner in the room,
and left about an hour later.
Dad was only transferred out of the HDU late that night
(due to full occupancy, believe it or not).
Anyway, that night, Mom spent the night at the hospital.
In the normal ward.
It must be mentioned here that,
Mom came across 2 packets of skim milk powder,
that was brought to the HDU room, with a packet of MILO
for Dad's teatime. Along with 2 small buns.
Mom could have left the milk packets in the
HDU room when we transferred out.
When was the last time we even used milk powder?
Like - Never.
When Justine and you were babies.
However, there was just - something - about
that milk powder packet. Mom found herself debating ...
yup, debating, whether to take or not to take,
with her to the normal ward.
You must have whispered to your mother :
Take the milk packet, Ma ...
Pause.
Mom followed that inner voice and found herself
packing the 2 milk packets into her handbag.
Remember this info.
It's crucial to the coming story.
Another thing that happened which must be noted
was when a staff from the catering canteen came
to Dad's room to take his order for breakfast the
following morning.
When Dad was going through the order form,
Mom was thinking to herself, "Cereal."
This cereal word was in your mother's head
although she was actually thinking of OATS.
Oats / cereal ... potato potah-to ...
Oh well ...
Anyways,
Dad said, "scrambled eggs."
Mom heard it.
Aunty C heard it.
Never mind, Dad will have his cereal at home.
Eggs are good too.
Remember this info.
Scrambled eggs.
For breakfast the next morning.
Yes, so 2 separate details for 2 ZAP inciDANS
that would soon happen.
Friday night.
At the normal ward.
That night, Mom sent a text to Justine (9:50 pm):
"All showered and smelling nice."
Justine replied, "Hehe. Me too." (10:04 pm)
Mom sent another text (10:10 pm) :
"Lol. We are waking up early tmr n getting
dressed for the Dr. Will see u at home tmr. Nitsie."
Dad needs to look nice and ready to go home,
in order for the doctor to let Dad be discharged.
Unlike this morning, when Dad waited for Mom
to help him change (noon time).
He was totally untidy and unshaven when the
doctor came to his room at 7:30 am.
Horror.
No photo for you.
Don't try to imagine.
Okay, so anyway, we were in bed.
Dad on the patient's bed and Mom on the
visitor's pull-out sofa bed.
It wasn't long before Mom suddenly had a
cramping attack on her leg. It must have been
the whole day of walking about in her platforms.
OMG.
It was bad.
Normally, at home, Mom would call Dad
to get her her calmag tablets or even a
warm drink with a bit of salt that would
have helped in calming the cramps.
In the hospital, she had no calmag and no salt.
OMG.
The cramps were really bad, and there was just
no way of relieving the discomfort.
Yes, discomfort.
Just discomfort.
We are not going to say it was PAINFUL.
because...
pain was all you knew ...
or rather, you understood pain well.
Yet you handled your pain so graciously and
so elegantly, that Mom will always think twice
before uttering this word PAIN for herself,
as she is well aware that her PAIN will never be at
the same level that her son used to experience or
encounter.
From the age of 7 to 15 years old.
You never bothered anyone, never cried or complain
about your pain. Only a soft whisper to your mother,
"Dexa ... or Tramadol ... " to indicate to Mom that you
need the painkillers. You carried your cross quietly,
and confidently, Daniel. You were certainly filled
with the holy spirit. GOD loves you so very much.
So anyway, where was Mom ...
Ah ...
Mom was about to call Justine to bring her calmag tablets
when Mom suddenly remembered the milk powder.
Quickly, Mom reached for the first packet of skimmed
milk powder and poured into a cup that was half-filled with
water.
You must have seen your mother gulped the milk down.
Mom made a second cup. There were 2 packets, remember?
After drinking the second cup, the cramps just immediately
left her.
OMG.
Thank GOD.
Thank GOD.
Thank GOD!!!
The relief was quite instant.
Mom was so impressed she woke Dad up
to tell him that she has to start buying milk
powder from then on.
Gosh, she has never drank milk to relieve her
leg cramps before. Seriously.
Who knew?
You ...
You knew ...
Somehow you knew ...
As she laid down on the sofa-bed after
the cramping incident, Mom found herself
whispering in deep gratitude:
Thank you, Son. You knew somehow that
Mom would need that milk powder. Your
mother was gonna leave that 2 packets in the
earlier HDU room. The chances of Mom keeping
the milk packets in her bag were -
seriously ...
no chance.
Only angel chance.
Saturday, Sept 2
The next morning, on Saturday,
Mom got up before her alarm rang.
She had set her alarm to go off at 6:30 am.
Mom took a hot shower and changed,
before waking Dad up.
Good thing we were early.
The doctor came in around 7:20 am.
After advising on a follow-up appointment,
the doctor discharged Dad.
Hurrah!
A guy in uniform brought the breakfast tray in.
He left the room immediately.
Dad lifted the lid, and kinda exclaimed,
"Eh, thought I ordered scrambled eggs."
Pause.
Why, yes, Dad did order scrambled eggs.
Instead, there were 2 small boxes of
Kellog's Cornflakes.
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| photo time : 7:44 am |
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| breakfast cereal |
Mom observed quietly the mini-drama
that was enfolding before her.
O
M
G
Your mother kept to herself, that she had
actually thought of CEREAL when the order
was taken yesterday.
Only you knew your mother's thoughts.
Then Aunty C came in, saw the breakfast tray,
and commented, "Hey, didn't you order scrambled
eggs?"
You must have made Aunty C speak up.
Right after your aunt made that comment,
Mom found herself telling Dad and Aunty C,
"OMG, is it weird, but yesterday when the
order was taken, I was thinking of cereal."
And suddenly, this morning, 2 boxes of cereal
came to us.
Hahaha.
Grin.
About 15 minutes later, that same guy who came
with the breakfast tray, brought another tray,
apologizing for the mistake.
Dad had already eaten one packet of the cereal.
The guy took the 1st tray away, but left the
2nd box of cereal on the overbed-table.
Presumably for Mom to have her breakfast too.
2 FREE boxes of cereal.
Hahaha.
That was quite funny what you did there, Son.
Hehehe.
Only YOU could have read your mother's mind.
FREE - was definitely your arrangement.
And your doing.
Chuckle.
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| photo time : 7:57 am |
So, as it turned out, Dad had his scrambled eggs
and Mom had her cereal.
LOL.
By the way, this is Dad's room number.
6-06
12
21
All You.
Always near and beside us.
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| Lunch @ 11:31 am |
Dad had salmon for lunch, whilst waiting
for pharmacy to send his medicines.
We left the hospital about 2:30 pm.
We arrived home to have a lovely surprise.
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| 2:49 pm |
A big basket of a variety of fruits for Dad
from the family.
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| 9:23 pm |
Oh boy, a tad too low now.
Like Mom's.
Grin.
Thank you, Daniel, for being with us
every step of the way,
and placing all the right people
along the way to help us through
this merdeka incident.
Keep the ZAPS coming, Son.
x0x0
Mom
