An update

My studies are now progressing pretty well. I give myself 3-4 hours of study each day, but this is highly flexible and dictated by the other events occurring in my life. My dad has been re-admitted for tube feeding, and upon discharge, the tube that the doctors have passed into his stomach through the nose will probably stay in. He had a chest infection, and this is being treated, with good results, I am happy to report. As per the report my family gave me, he has improved considerably and even started talking now. Alhamdulillah.

My kids are fine, as is Nishrin. I had a long chat on Skype today, and they are doing well.

My hospital routine is going on as usual. Yesterday, the new week started with a bang because it was the first working day after a long Eid-vacation; there were millions of patients (okay, I am exaggerating), and the work was quite a lot. However, by the afternoon, the flow of patients had reduced somewhat.

In other news ... I go to Zalm again for three days starting tomorrow morning. Will keep updating you from there or later as and when I have something good to report. 

Thanks for reading.

Day 207, Saturday, 9th June, 2012

Since coming back from India, I have not really settled down mentally, as my father's condition back in India continues to worry me. Just a few days before my return, we discovered that he is suffering from chronic renal failure (his kidneys aren't functioning well), and, to push the matter further, I also hospitalised him for a night in Noor Hospital, and managed to carry out all the needed investigations. My brother informed me that his general condition had declined over the ensuing five or six days and his brother-in-law Dr. Saifeebhai had visited him and urged him to be re-hospitalised for possible urgent hemodialysis.


Eventually, we did get him re-admitted a few days ago, and dialysis was begun on him on Friday evening. As I write this on Sunday morning, I am told that he has undergone two sessions of dialysis already, and his general health is improving, al-hamdulillah. 


Back here in Al Muwayh, a peculiar situation developed for me. My room-mate Dr. Shahid had already informed me that as his family was going to visit him, I should locate myself in some other premises for a fortnight, and for the last several days, I was looking around for alternative premises, to no avail. Most available premises were large houses and their rents were exorbitant compared to what I had been paying in the old house (remember we were three persons sharing a monthly expenditure of about SR 900?)


I therefore spoke to our hospital's medical director Dr. Shehabeldin and urged him to seek permission from the Hospital Director Mr. Ahmed Farreh to allow me to stay in one of the rooms inside the hospital. On Friday, after the Jummah prayers, I contacted Dr. Shehab again, and after some consultations he had with the H.D., he allowed me to move in to one of the empty rooms on the first floor of the hospital complex.


Yesterday, i.e. on Friday evening, I moved into room No. 6, thanks to the help provided by Dr. Aala Ashweh, the benign Egyptian ENT surgeon; he brought me with my bags etc. to the hospital and thus facilitated my smooth shift to the hospital. The various male workers then helped me take the luggage upstairs, and also cleaned the room well enough for me to shift in. Later in the evening, I visited the local market (bakalla) and purchased a few things that I thought I would need in my new location, such as tea packets, some biscuits, and so on. I had already carried my tea-maker with me from the OPD to home so as to enable me to boil water in my room. This, then, I used to make myself a cup of tea, and then spent the next few hours sorting my stuff and placing it in the most convenient place within the room.


Today, the day passed awfully slowly, as there were hardly any patients in the OPD. I was on call as well; even so, there was no work, not even from the ER during the evening or the night. In the event, boredom creeped into me over the day, and by the evening, I was crying out from inside and begging Allah to make my life a bit easier and more interesting. I went for a half-hearted walk, and even visited a few super markets to while away the time, but all in all, I was feeling stifled in this very uncharming place.


I took a longish nap in the evening, and also retired earlier than usual to bed, just so as not to stare in the face of immense boredom.