Continued...

To continue my hospital story...

I dont remember getting to Sandton hospital or most of the time I was there. My mom had arrived in SA and at the hospital at about the same time that the ambulance did with me. She had taken the first Emirates flight from Bahrain to SA when she had heard the news. Becuase the doctors gave me so much morphine and sedated me for most of my stay at Sandton hospital, I dont remember much of it except for flashes of moments. I arrived at Sandton on the night of the 28th of November and would stay there till 10 December. All the time while I was at Sandton I was very confused as to which country I was actually in. I thought that I was in Kenya as it was half way between Dubai and South-Africa; however, thinking about it now that does not make sense. I also don't remember my parents being with me. One day which I distinctly remember from Sandton was the day that 2 elders from my church, 3CI, came to visit me and pray for me; they also bought me a fan as I constantly had a temperature and felt very hot.

One event that I wish I could remember more, but that is only a mere flash in my mind, is the night I had the surgery to put a plate in my pelvis. My mom recalled that when I came out of the surgery all I said was "God is soo amazing! Isn't God AMAAAAzing!" and when my mom asked me why I said it I told her "I dont know" and then she said "Don't worry God works all things for the good" and I replied "yes that is what He said; He works all things for the good of those who love Him". I remember that I came out of surgery and said that "God is soo Good! and wow isnt He amazing"; but, I wish I remember the dream!

I also remember some of the nurses at Sandton and one night I woke up in the middle of the night with my arms tied to the bed so that I didnt pull out the ventilator. I have flashes of my sister-in-law, then my brother's fiance, coming to visit me as well as my one friend crying and another friend bringing me a photo of their dog who was my companion when I stayed with them. I remember the ICU doctor at Sandton and that she was a friendly lady and was very sad when we left Sandton. Finally I remember the day my aunt brought me a slushy and how I desperately wanted it but could only manage one sip and the rest was thrown away. This must've been before I had the ventilator in. But for the most part Sandton hospital is just a blurr. I had so many visitors while I was there but dont remember most of who came including my parents who were by my side everyday.

On the 10th of Decemeber I was transferred by ambulance out of Sandton and to Joburg Generel to the private section called Folateng. This is the first day that I can remember clearly. The ICU doctor had tried to see if I can come of the ventilator right before the ambulance came but I struggled to breathe when they reduced the ventilator. I still remember the paramedics who was with me in the back of the ambulance and would see her weeks later at Folateng again when she would bring in another patient and she would be amazed that I was still on the ventilator. My dad went with me in the back of the ambulance and I vaguely remember the conversation he had with the paramedics about her job. It was a relatively short ride to Joburg General Hospital but I would feel every pump.

When we finally arrived at Joburg General, we had to find the private section, Folateng and it's ICU ward. Joburg Hospital is a major hospital with many, many, different sections. It took a while just to find Folateng and just before we had finally found it, the oxygen in the small portable tank had drastically decreased and I struggled to breathe. Fortunately shortly after I started gasping did they find my room and could hook my up with a ventilator. One of the worst experiences of my time in hospital, is not being able to breathe and feeling like Im suffocating. This was one of the times but nothing compared to what happened a week or 2 later.

On arrival doctor Tilley, the Folateng ICU doctor, came and checked on me and met my parents. This doctor had probably about 50+ patients as he was not only the ICU doctor but the High Care and general ward doctor. When he came for his rounds I would often only see him for a few seconds a day when he filled in a few things in my chart and that was it. In ICU each patient had a nurse assigned to them from 7am to 7pm and then again 7pm to 7am another nurse. What I didnt like is that everyday there would be another nurse. For all my time in ICU I maybe had 2 nurses that I saw twice except ofcourse the Matron Nurses, Nurse Hani and Nurse Thembi, who were the supervisors. In a strange and often scary environment where visiting hours is only 5 hours a day, nurses can make a real difference. I remember the one night I cried as I just felt so alone in the hospital and felt that even the nurses weren't friendly, especially since I couldn't speak for more than a month with the ventilator in, and I prayed to God that I could atleast have the nurses as friends and that I wouldn't just be job that they wish they can get over with. Shortly after that the new nurses that came became friendlier and more sympathetic!

Most of my time in ICU I would spend sleeping. Even when I had visitors I would often be too tired to engage with them and would rather just have my immediate family there because with them I could just sleep yet they won't leave. I wanted someone familiar with me even if I was sleeping just so that I wasnt alone. The one evening I had slept right through the visiting hours. When I woke up the nurse said to me that I had just missed my mom and dad(who was actually my uncle as I knew my dad was back in Bahrain already). I was so upset when I heard this as I hated being alone.

more to follow...