typg #1: when we took mama to dubai hospital

It was a Saturday and Hubby and I were on our way to Dubai Festival City to buy a dress for Sophie for her birthday. Suddenly, my mobile rang and looking at it, I saw it was Mama calling. When I answered, I already knew something was wrong. Mama’s voice was shaky (as if on the verge of tears) as she asked me if we could go home as soon as possible because she felt dizzy and very weak. I immediately told Hubby to make a u-turn and head home. Fortunately, even though it was the peak of the rush hour traffic, we didn’t get caught in any traffic jams. However, all the way, I kept imagining the worst but still praying and hoping for the best.

Upon entering the door, I saw Mama lying on our sofa, her head on a pillow with a blanket covering her shivering body. I asked all of them (Mama, Yaya Juliet, Gabe, and Caila) what happened, and they said that Mama had been fixing the things she had bought in her balikbayan box when she suddenly felt dizzy, and then she rushed to the bathroom where she threw up. Twice. I told Mama we would take her to the hospital, but she said she just needed to rest. I let her. But after 2 minutes of watching her frail body just lying there, I couldn’t take it anymore and told her in a stern voice that she needed to see a doctor. Good thing she didn’t disagree anymore. Most probably because she was too weak to argue and/or she knew I was right.

Leaving Yaya Juliet and Gabe in charge of the apartment and our 2 daughters, Hubby and I took Mama to the Emergency of Dubai Hospital. I showed Mama’s health card to the man at the Admission Counter while Mama half-lay half-sat on one of the chairs in the Waiting Area. While we waited, a Filipina nurse saw us and, noticing how Mama looked, she asked for a wheelchair and then told me to take her to a small room where she asked a few questions and checked Mama’s blood and blood pressure. When I asked her the findings, she just said it was a little high, but generally ok. It was also in that room where Mama vomited again. Luckily the nurse managed to pull out a plastic bag just in time before Mama couldn’t hold it anymore. It was gross, but what else could you expect.

Then the nurse directed us to the Monitoring Ward (actually, I just made that up. I don’t know the actual name of the area) where Mama was asked to lie down on one of the beds. A few minutes later, another nurse came. Mama’s BP was checked again, she was hooked up with I-don’t-know-what, and given injections. While she did all this, I checked Mama’s paper and saw that her earlier systolic BP was 220. What?! That was not “a little high” as the nurse told me earlier, that was absolutely critical! I seriously wanted to freak out! All sorts of what-ifs started entering my mind. But thinking about it, maybe the nurse didn’t want me to panic and she generally knew what she was doing. Sometime later, another nurse came for her ECG test and left us, And then a doctor came, talked to Mama, asked her a few basic questions, asked her to stick out her tongue and then instructed her to relax and get some sleep.

An hour later, the second nurse returned and checked Mama’s BP. It was lower but still in the high range. Again, she left and Mama was told to relax and sleep. The same thing happened again after another hour, and then the doctor returned.

I had called my sister earlier to let her know what happened and we agreed that it would be best if Mama stayed in the hospital for 1 night.  We had already planned on taking the next day off from work.  However, when I asked the doctor, he said he could admit her, but since Mama had generally recovered, there was really no need for him to keep her there. Mama didn’t help at all because she was so active when the doctor asked her to stand up and walk on her own. Obviously, she wanted to go home and didn’t want to be cooped up in the hospital any longer.

back to her old self and feeling much better

Since it was a government hospital and we had taken Mama through the Emergency, we didn’t have to pay for anything except for the few medicines the doctor prescribed (just Dhs4). So after more than 3 hours in Dubai Hospital, we headed back home.

Thank You and Praise God we practically didn’t have to pay for anything at the hospital.
Thank You and Praise God for Your miraculous healing power for Mama’s fast recovery which You gave through the doctor and nurses of Dubai Hospital.
Thank You and Praise God that despite Mama’s high blood pressure, it didn’t bring about any serious side effects.
Most of all, Thank You and Praise God for extending Mama’s life on earth with us.

One’s life is truly a gift and blessing, and we should always be thankful for every day, every hour, every minute and every second that our loved ones are with us.