#14 Love, Strength & Kindness

Till death do us part. It’s a simple line which holds such a strong meaning. For the past few months, it was a difficult time for my grandparents as my grandma had undergone a couple of hospital admissions for some of her conditions. She was in a lot of pain and some medications are unsuitable for her as she has kidney problems as well. She wouldn’t have gone through those times without huge love and support from my grandfather. He was there all along for her despite his health conditions as well. He stayed by her side for every hospital admission, suffered through the cold air-conditioned rooms despite his children asked him to come back to their homes for some good sleep. As I grew up, I never seen them separated for a day, even when one had to go to KL for a hospital follow-up, the other had to follow. My grandpa went back to his hometown two months ago to take care of some errands, and he never fail to call my grandma every night to check on her. They are, in my view, the quintessential of marriage.

However, life is not always rainbows and sunshine. I met a pregnant patient who was admitted a few days ago. She had an early admission as she also has congenital heart disease (which means a very high risk patient), so the doctors need to monitor her to prevent any complications. While talking to her, she told me some distressing information about her. She is going through this pregnancy alone. She’s from a different state and lives with her parents. Her partner wasn’t there for her, even at one point they had a huge argument which almost caused her to have a miscarriage as her condition cannot tolerate stress. Her partner’s family doesn’t even like her and didn’t take care of her when she stayed with them. During her admission, no one visited her (her parents live far away from the hospital she’s admitted). Only through the kindness of strangers, who were the nurses and the other patients that give her the strength to go through with this pregnancy. She told me how the nurses bought her some food when she craves for them and how the other patients gave her the support and kept her company. When I talked to her, I was amazed at how happy-go-lucky she was; even she had the patience to forgive her partner and his family. These kind of people are so rare, I find it hard to believe that I met someone like her.