Hazia’s Reflections

After days of agony, I finally got a call from Al 30 minutes ago. Ad’s brother called him from Houston at 6pm yesterday evening.

First of all, Alhamdullilah, he is alive. Secondly, the doctors did a CT scan and his brain is okay. Those were my 2 major concerns.

Apparently, he had a mild stroke which came at the same time as the malaria. He had moved on to a semi-concious state but was still unable to speak. He could only moved his right hand. Tears rolled down his cheeks when he heard his mother talking to him. So, the doctors believed that he could hear and understand. His brother said the left side of his face and body also seemed ‘different’.

He was in critical care and only his mother was allowed to be with him. Even his father and his other family members were not allowed to go in for sanitary reason. Al said he wouldn’t be flying there because of that. The doctors asked to wait for another 7 to 10 days to determine the next move.

Ad’s brother in law has his contacts and they were considering moving him to Washington DC. Right now, they told the doctors that money was secondary, the main aim was to get him the best treatment as soon as possible and get him out.

His brother said they were trying to determine when the stroke happened. I told Al that if it was relevant, I chatted with him 9 hours before he became semi-parazlyed, that was also 8.5 hours after the doctor visited him at his house.

Another point, he was sick when he arrived in Sudan. He didn’t find a clinic and resorted to minyak cap kapak. So, there was no medical record of that. I stressed to Al that I have detailed record of his travel and his schedule and I can check the dates if need be. We shall wait for his brother’s next call for more news.

Thank you all for those who have been praying for Ad’s health. May God reward your kindness. I shall continue praying.

P/s: For my future note, Al called me at my office (he has my business card), not on my mobile phone. I think he didn’t want his office/house number to appear. I also heard beep beep sound like on a public phone.