Angels From Above

For many, including myself, everything that happened since the 2nd admission into ICU seemed to be in a whirl. Here's an account to my best memory....

After the 2nd ICU admission, it only on the 4th morning, 22nd Jan, that the ICU doctors finally gave the green light to have the breathing tube removed. After days of sedation, his first words uttered, as reported by his doc and nurse, were... Orange Juice!

His fluid retention was greatly reduced when 11L of water was drained one day when medications were given aggressively to flush out the water retained in the body. Improvements were seen in the lungs as they started to dry out. It was later through tests that revealed the lungs were also bleeding during his ICU stay. The extent of damage could only be accessed at a later stage.

So glad were all and the nurses at his ward 48 Central were so happy to receive him back from the ICU. After he settled in nicely, I heaved a sigh of relief and said to myself "the worst is finally over", or rather that was what I thought!

Things looked better as he seemed more calm but it was soon noticable that he would lose his balance and slide to one side or at times tremble before falling asleep. The most noticeable was him shaking his right leg which was easily mistaken for restlessness. This leg shaking went on and off for a few days and the doctors felt somethings was amiss.

Finally on Thurs 24th jan, he was using much effort to breathe even though his oxygen level acceptable, the decision was made to send him to an intermediate care ward (1 level lower than that of an ICU). He wore a mask to push air into his lungs to help relieve his breathing efforts without having to intubate him. It only lasted a few hours as they realised his breathing was even more shallow as he kept taking off the mask.... he described at a later stage that the mask felt like having a hair dryer blowing air into your nose.

Over the next 5 days, he toggled between reality and a lucid state of mind. The doctors hoped it was an effect from the many and potent antibiotics given. Most of the time, he was incapable in expressing his feelings and at times only able to say a few words. Initially, he was able to recognize and sometimes even able to say your name. Over the weekend, he started to get agitated and kept repeating phrases over and over. Most phrases were about leaving the world, wanting everything to be over and a whole lot more.

After trying to calm him using various methods, it came to a point where the only thing left in my mind was to call his doc on a Sat evening to get a better understanding if it was a medical related condition. His desire to be baptised became more urgent and Pastor Jack Sin came almost immediately and it was noticeable that he seemed more calm.

Came Monday, 29th Jan, he lapsed into a world of silence. The heartbreaking moment was when he couldn't even response with his eyes when I call out to him. The doctors were extremely worried and an urgent CT scan was ordered for his brain to sniff out any tumors or possible bleeding. It seemed like eternity before the doctors came to assure us that the brain scan was normal later in the afternoon. At the same time they were able to see that his left lung was quite badly infected with pneumonia. It was explained that when a patient is very ill, it is possible to be in such a state and he needs time to come out of it as the body heals.

The next day, he suddenly opened his eyes and demanded to be discharged... even threathened to pull out all his tubes and lines if the doctors didn't acceed to his demands. He felt that he was leaving the world and he wanted it to be at his own home. The team of doctors and a social worker came to assist in calming him. Like it has always been, food was carrot to calm him down... he wanted to get his chocolate banana cake and fish n chips from Secret Recipe within an hour. We all scrambled - Lynette, Jessica and Juan pooled their efforts and managed to meet his timeline.

He was transfered that very night to his own isolation ward as the sounds coming from the intermediate care machines were not condusive in his recuperation. The docs told us it is only now up to his body to fight and heal as the doctors have given all they could.

His will to fight gained strength and he made much improvement over the days and was even granted home leave during Chinese New Year eve for reunion dinner! This fighting spirit is still going on strong.

The dedication, empathy, compassion, concern and care rendered to the both of us by the entire stem cell transplant team, germ cell tumor doctors and the nurses of ward 48 Central are great blessings showered along with the mountain-strong support from family and friends by the Good Lord above. We call them our angels from above, specially sent by Him.