Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Our prayer for ayahngah

We had a short, unplanned, last minute trip to Kuantan and it was no vacation for us.  My uncle (ayahngah), adik pada mak sedang mengalami masalah jantung dan pada masa tu warded di KPJ Kuantan.  He'd been warded since the previous week at Hospital Jerantut, then asked to be transferred to KPJ for further diagnosis.  During the transfer process by ambulance he felt unconscious and remained so for several days.  Kitorang memang tak sempat nak melawat dia masa kat Jerantut.  Masa kat Kuantan, dah almost a week kat sana baru kami sampai.  Though 'short trip', it was a 2 and half hours journey nevertheless.  Jadi disebabkan hubby tiba- tiba kena panggil kerja pagi Sabtu tu, he said let's spend the night there, carikan hotel.  So we spent the night kat Vistana Hotel (see the post about hotel here).

After transferred to KPJ Kuantan.
Hari sabtu yang kitorang sampai, dia dah sedar Alhamdulillah.  Tapi the sight of him, Ya Allah it was just too heartbreaking.  He looked small and sick, and was exactly like my great Grandpa (his father).  I can't stand to look at him for long.  Apparently what he had was a blocked artery, just one small artery.  I am no doctor, so tak tau camana nak explain, cuma yang I tau it wasn't the main arteries yang block.  Tapi this small one ni, menurut pakar kat KPJ tu, agak pelik sebab dia tak pernah tengok keadaan di mana a small blocked artery macam tu boleh mengakibatkan pengsan dan keadaan yang teruk macam my uncle alami.  I remember my brother told me (bila dia visit malam yang dia dipindahkan dari Hospital Jerantut ke KPJ) that he seems lifeless, and like there was no hope Wallahualam. 

Masa unconscious, dalam CCU KPJ Kuantan.
 The doctor recommended angioplasty, a non- surgical procedure that can be used to open a blocked heart artery.  In my ayahngah's case, a stent placement was required.  In another word ianya merupakan procedure di mana 'benda asing' dimasukkan ke dalam pembuluh darah untuk membuka laluan darah.  Kan blockage, maka prosedur tu akan bukak la kat mana tempat yang block tu.  Unfortunately diorang tak boleh buat kat KPJ Kuantan so at that point of time, it was either Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) or at another private (which ayahngah then was referred to Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur). 

For information, angioplasty ni as mentioned above, is non-surgical, jadi tidak ada sebarang open surgery dilakukan.  Am not sure that the risks are for angioplasty, cuma yang I tau since my Father In Law (FIL) pun dah pernah buat, is that you tak boleh bangun dalam 6 jam gitu... Then kena refrain from driving dan kerja- kerja berat dalam masa 2 minggu gitu lah.  For me, kalau dah ada heart problem itu dah memang sign yang diberikan bahawasanya anda perlu berehat dan jangan buat kerja- kerja berat.

Progressing well, dah bangun makan.
 Rasanya I was informed (somewhere during the many conversation we had masa kat Kuantan) that he had one done in the arm already.  I assume tak effective, so that's why they had to do another one, so yeah you can imagine the big, fat, bill.  For me, the procedure is not a guarantee that your heart problem will go away forever.  Another time when I was waiting at PHKL for ayahngah to be admitted, I had a chat with another patient who had done angioplasty twice, cost him RM100K+ for both times and a monthly RM1K for medication but he is still unwell.  So yes, the situation varies.  Macam FIL I, dah buat tu dah takde mengah- mengah dah dan nampaknye makan pun dah tak ada pantang larang gayanye.  Tak beringat, boleh mengakibatkan kemudaratan kan...
Alhamdulillah, look at him after several days tak sedar, and after weeks of warded.

Anyway I hope ayahngah will quit smoking, and quit all that fatty food macam sup gearbox, daging dan sebagainya.  I pray that Allah gives him a second chance, and that he will be well and get to see both his sons graduate (for PHD and diploma), and dapat tengok cucu nya bila kazen I dah kawen nanti.  May Allah protect him, and his family.

Baca kat sini, ada jadi masa angioplasty dilakukan: Source: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/treatment-angioplasty-stents

First, a cardiac catheterization is performed as part of angioplasty. You will receive medication for relaxation, and then the doctor will numb the site where the catheter will be inserted with local anesthesia.

Next, a sheath (a thin plastic tube) is inserted into an artery -- usually in your groin, but sometimes in the arm. A long, narrow, hollow tube, called a catheter, is passed through the sheath and guided up the blood vessel to the arteries surrounding the heart.

A small amount of contrast material is injected through the catheter and is photographed with an X-ray as it moves through the heart's chambers, valves, and major vessels. From the digital pictures of the contrast material, the doctors can tell whether the coronary arteries are narrowed and whether the heart valves are working correctly.

If the decision is made to perform angioplasty, the doctor will move the catheter into the artery with the blockage.  He or she will then perform one of the interventional procedures described below.
The procedure usually lasts about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, but the preparation and recovery time add several hours. You may stay in the hospital overnight to be observed by the medical staff.

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