Alhamdulillah
Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 12:27 PM | 0 comments  
My grandmother was discharged from the hospital last Monday and is now on a 31 day medical leave... not that she needs it.

The doctors insisted that CABG(bypass) was a better option than PCI(the balloon procedure) for her condition was pretty advanced. She initially agreed to the bypass and even signed the papers for the procedure. I suppose the memory of seeing her late friend going through the pain of the bypass was too much for her. She said she wanted to be able to stand up to pray, fearing that by taking the vein from her leg would affect this. She insisted on doing the balloon procedure.

Doctors after doctors tried convincing her otherwise. The procedure was done last Friday and the doctors were pleasantly surprised that one of the arteries which was completely blocked was easily unclogged. The one that was 90% block had stents in place.

Now comes the hard part of letting her have complete rest. The 'leader' of a group of elderly women who frequents to Larkin and other parts of Malaysia will just have to rest for now.

I know waiting is sometimes the hardest part. It's just a part of life.
Posted by Firdaus Labels:
Building Resilient Muslim Youth
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 8:56 PM | 0 comments  


I spent the last weekend at NACLI. Nice facilities with good food. Too bad it's only one night. It was a great reminder for myself as a khalifah on this earth. I went with the intention to learn and be inspired. I believe I did.
Posted by Firdaus Labels: ,
PCI on LAD and RCA
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 8:39 PM | 0 comments  
My 72 year-old maternal grandmother was admitted to SGH last Thursday. She suffers from angina and has been on medication for years. Upon probing the doctors found 2 out 3 of her coronary arteries are completely blocked with the other one 90% blocked.

She refused to be probed but relented when a fellow patient said that the probing would not hurt. The doctor recommends coronary artery bypass graft(CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI) as the second option. It took another period of coaxing to convince her to sign the papers to allow the procedure.

She would not relent to the coaxing of her son and daughters. Alhamdulillah she relented after one of her niece coaxed her. Mum says that by not relenting to her son and daughters was her way of showing that she's manja towards them. The way I see it, she's just putting on a silent tantrum to mask the fear of uncertainty and calling out for more attention from her loved ones. Just like when a child throws a tantrum, she just wants more attention.

She's opting for the PCI procedure which is not surgical. The doctor will insert stents to widen the passage of the arteries. The stents will be locked in place by inflating a balloon like apparatus. This will be done by inserting the apparatus with a wire from either an artery from the leg or the hand. This will be done on her left anterior descending(LAD) and right coronary artery(RCA).

I did some reading up and feel cautiously optimistic of the procedure which will be done either tomorrow or the day after depending on her condition. All we can do now is to give doa that Allah will make the procedure a success and for her speedy recovery. Amin.
Posted by Firdaus