The past two weeks had been an emotional time for me. It was difficult to cope with the news about the state of my Mother’s health, not to mention the recommendation by the doctors to do the bypass surgery asap. I was worried that the surgery wouldn’t go as planned.
The next few days were spent worrying and crying. During that time, a collegue’s father passed away from heart problems and that got me even more anxious. I didn’t know much about a heart bypass procedure, so I surfed the net for information. I was somewhat relieved to find that the risk of complications is only 1% – 2%.
Back in Kelantan, all the siblings gathered at HUSM where my Mother was warded. Most of us stayed at the bilik tetamu (guest room) provided by HUSM within its compound. That made it much more convenient to visit my Mother at the ward.
Those period at HUSM seems surreal. My siblings and I tried our best to control our emotions because we didn’t want to wither my Mother’s confidence. She needed us to be strong for her and I’m glad to say, we managed to do that. It was hard though, little triggers always brought tears to the eyes but I was careful not to let Mother see it.
On Sunday 3 April 2005, Mother was transferred to the coronary care unit (CCU) to prepare her for the scheduled operation the next day. On arrival in the CCU, one of the nurses gave us a prep talk on the operation and its after-care. A list of stuff that we needed to prepare was given:
2 pillows – after surgery, the nurses will put a pillow on Mother’s chest. The pillow will be my Mother’s companion 24-7, even on her trips to the bathroom.
One box of Kleenex – to remove phlegm when she coughes.
2 small towels – to clean herself. She was not allowed to take showers for the first few days after surgery.
She was also given an apparatus to exercise her breathing. She was supposed to blow into it every two hours and to aim for a reading of at least 1,000. When my Mother tried it for the first time, she only managed to achieve a reading of 250.
My Mother’s mood changed drastically after she moved into the CCU. Suddenly she seemed frail and serious. Her face was pale. I guess the looming prospect of the surgery was becoming very real for her.
The heart surgeon was supposed to visit Mother at around 4pm to brief her about the operation, but he couldn’t make it as the day’s operation had some complications. We were told that he would visit after the operation was completed.
That evening, my sisters, Kak Jah and Kak Yah, helped to bath my Mother with the special anti bacterial soap provided by the hospital. We were told not to touch Mother after she took her shower. Her bed was also changed when she was in the shower.
That night at around 9 pm, one of the doctors, Dr Aman came. He told us that the operation had to be postponed to Tuesday to allow the doctors some rest after a long day in the OT that day. Mother was upset and she asked the doctor to proceed with the operation on Monday. However, the doctor couldn’t accommodate her request.
Shortly after 9pm, another doctor, Dr Liew entered the CCU. He was still in his surgery gear, his head and mouth covered. From his conversation with the nurses, we gathered that the day’s surgery was just completed and there were some serious complications.
The next few days were spent worrying and crying. During that time, a collegue’s father passed away from heart problems and that got me even more anxious. I didn’t know much about a heart bypass procedure, so I surfed the net for information. I was somewhat relieved to find that the risk of complications is only 1% – 2%.
Back in Kelantan, all the siblings gathered at HUSM where my Mother was warded. Most of us stayed at the bilik tetamu (guest room) provided by HUSM within its compound. That made it much more convenient to visit my Mother at the ward.
Those period at HUSM seems surreal. My siblings and I tried our best to control our emotions because we didn’t want to wither my Mother’s confidence. She needed us to be strong for her and I’m glad to say, we managed to do that. It was hard though, little triggers always brought tears to the eyes but I was careful not to let Mother see it.
On Sunday 3 April 2005, Mother was transferred to the coronary care unit (CCU) to prepare her for the scheduled operation the next day. On arrival in the CCU, one of the nurses gave us a prep talk on the operation and its after-care. A list of stuff that we needed to prepare was given:
2 pillows – after surgery, the nurses will put a pillow on Mother’s chest. The pillow will be my Mother’s companion 24-7, even on her trips to the bathroom.
One box of Kleenex – to remove phlegm when she coughes.
2 small towels – to clean herself. She was not allowed to take showers for the first few days after surgery.
She was also given an apparatus to exercise her breathing. She was supposed to blow into it every two hours and to aim for a reading of at least 1,000. When my Mother tried it for the first time, she only managed to achieve a reading of 250.
My Mother’s mood changed drastically after she moved into the CCU. Suddenly she seemed frail and serious. Her face was pale. I guess the looming prospect of the surgery was becoming very real for her.
The heart surgeon was supposed to visit Mother at around 4pm to brief her about the operation, but he couldn’t make it as the day’s operation had some complications. We were told that he would visit after the operation was completed.
That evening, my sisters, Kak Jah and Kak Yah, helped to bath my Mother with the special anti bacterial soap provided by the hospital. We were told not to touch Mother after she took her shower. Her bed was also changed when she was in the shower.
That night at around 9 pm, one of the doctors, Dr Aman came. He told us that the operation had to be postponed to Tuesday to allow the doctors some rest after a long day in the OT that day. Mother was upset and she asked the doctor to proceed with the operation on Monday. However, the doctor couldn’t accommodate her request.
Shortly after 9pm, another doctor, Dr Liew entered the CCU. He was still in his surgery gear, his head and mouth covered. From his conversation with the nurses, we gathered that the day’s surgery was just completed and there were some serious complications.
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