Tribute to a friend

Assalamualaikum,
I've longed to write about this but only now I could find a perfect time to do it.

Have you been to an ICU ward before? I had, just recently, about a month ago.I never been there before, so the thought and sound of it creates eerie feelings inside me. The word ICU reminds me of the scenes in House MD or even CSI, where injured and VERY very sick people are cured and taken care of in the highest alertness of the staffs.

I went there on Sunday with two of my colleugues, to visit a friend known during our internship in the northern region. The next day we were going to have a test, but nevertheless, this thing is far beyond important.It was URGENT.

The news that we received is that this poor girl was admitted to the hospital when she fell unconscious at home, after a long, unusual fever. In one week's time, her condition turned from bad to worse, due to heavily infected lungs (well, that was what the doctor said). At first, I could not quite believe it, since the girl that I know is very bubbly, always smile and very healthy. And now she was in ICU for a week, straight? That was quite beyond my imagination.

But then as I enter the ward, OK let me describe the ward first.This is a government's hospital so please don't expect a first class service and everything.The ICU ward placed about 10 to 12 people. Relatives and friends who wish to enter the room should wear a smock and of course, shoe-less. If the visitors wish to touch the patient, they must wash their hands before and after they touch to avoid germs and unexpected infection.

As we finally successfully located our dear friend in the ward, well I was in a state of shocked. Real shocked, eventhough I've prepared myself for the situation.She was lying there, helpless, crippled with tubes and wires all attached to her body from the machine that produced some weird sounds. Nurses were busy taking readings and jotting informations on their cards, while we stood there, observing our dear friend. She seemed to be unconscious, and I still stared at her, unable to do anything.

Friend : Nurse, keadaan dia macam mana ye?
Nurse : Teruk dik, dia tenat.
Friend : Takde perubahan langsung ke?
Nurse : Takde, masih sama, tenat.Bersabar la banyak-banyak ye.

Fortunately my colleugue stayed in control, and immediately took out theYassin.We began reciting surah Yassin, eventhough initially I found it very difficult to stabilize my voice so that I could recite it right. Trembling and all, we managed to do it for the sake of our friend.It felt awkward at the beginning since usually visitors were not allowed to stay for long in the ward, since only limited people should be in the ward for one time.

In the mid of the recitation, one of my friend begin to cry. Luckily a nurse gave us a chair, so she could sit and settled down for a while.Emotions washed out all of us, and almost to the end of our recitation, we noticed our crippled friend moved a bit and opened her eyes. This time, all of us failed to contained our tears, eventhough we knew that it was unwise to cry in front of a patient. The reverse- psychology should be applied, yes we have to smile, talk and laugh for her to gain her survival spirit back. As we smiled and talked to her, still tears streamed down our face.The atmosphere at that time was so..EMOTIONAL.She was unable to reply what we said, due to many tubes attached to her mouth and face.She just nodded and tried to speak to us, but she failed eventually.Our heart broke, but deep down we resist to accept the truth that she was in her worst condition.

Later it was time to leave the ward. Still I could not speak much to her, cause when I tried to utter a word, I just could not control my emotion. Lastly we gave her some last words and promise that we will always pray for her, no matter what.After that, we had a long chat with her mom and sister whom equipped us with detail information about her condition, before we head back to our campus.

Well, the reason I told this story in great detail, is just to share with you the feelings I had when I went to the ICU ward, to visit my friend. I felt so vulnerable, fragile, insaf sangat and at this time, I started to wonder; what if this happen to me? How will I react? How I can deal with this tough situation? How it affected not only me, but the family, friends and the love ones? Senang cerita, pengalaman ni sangat menginsafkan and affected me personally, for now I realize how small and powerless we are, compared to the ultimate power of the Almighty.

Jadi, kita yang sihat sekarang ni kena sedar, tak selamanya kita akan sihat.Tak selamanya kita akan hidup senang, kaya-raya, muda remaja dan sebagainya. Tiba masanya apabila Allah nak menguji, berdoalah kita sentiasa tabah untuk menghadapi segala ujian dan cabaran-Nya.Bak kata seorang senior saya, kita jangan berdoa Allah permudahkan atau ringankan ujianNya, tapi kita doalah Allah perkuatkan diri kita untuk menghadapi segala cabaran dan dugaan yang mendatang.
**
That was a month ago.Now, with Allah's wills and blesses, she recovered from her disease successfully and now she'd discharged from the hospital.Dah boleh makan ayam KFC dah.Sounds miracle, but that was Allah's gift to His believer...also, we heard that her upcoming wedding will still be held as usual, perhaps around May. So congratulations, friend. And always be tough and patient throughout the life. We are always here to support you...