Sallam semua,
Last Wednesday, on my way to JB for a short working visit, I received an SMS from a friend (ex-Melaka High School) that another friend, Ramlan Md. Nor just had a attack and is in SJMC ICU. Ramlan whom we called Adik (I do not know why) was also known as Tarzan (also I do not know why) and I were together in High School from from One to Form Five (1971 to 1975).
In the past few years, several of our High School friends had died because of heart attack. Of hand I can remember 2, Yusof Sulaiman and Mazlan something (we had a few Mazlans in High School and I do not want to get the wrong one). Anyway, I was busy the last week so I had no opportunity to visit him but I was kept informed of his condition. Apparently he was transferred from ICU to CCU.
So today, I decided to pay him a visit. I went into SJMC's CCU and started looking for Adik. All the rooms in the CCU were occupied but I did not see him. Apparently a lot of people suffer from heart attacks. All the nurses were busy so I had to wait. Finally a nurse was free and I asked her. She looked in the register and told me that Ramlan has been transferred into the normal ward, Room 216. I was relieved and headed straight to the room. As I walked into Rm 216, I saw a lady lying on a chair besides the bed. On the bed was Ramlan, he was watching TV. A movie, Home Alone (do not know what number) was on. I recognised the bumbling crooks immediately.
I gave my sallam and he seemed well when he replied, his trade mark smile was on. When we started talking, his wife got up. Ramlan told her, "kawan High School". Apparently quite a number of our High School friends have visited him. I'm happy for him and also for my friends who took the trouble to come, some from Melaka. Apparently one of the first to come was "Ibrahim Jagung", on the first day itself, but he only arrived at the hospital at 11:00 pm. "Aku kena hantar jagung dulu Dik sebelum datang sini" he told Ramlan. Before he left, he even told the nurse to take good care of his dear friend. No wonder he has 2 wives.
I chatted with Ramlan for a while and I gathered the following which I want to share with everyone.
1. Ramlan had the attack when he was in Subang Jaya to pick up his wife who worked in one of the colleges.. (They lived in Kajang).
2. He described the pain as follows:
1. Very sharp pain in the back
2. Very thrusting and excruciating pain on the chest
3. Numbness to his left arm
4. Finally he was sweating
3. He knew he had a heart attack because he had some experience with friends before. He has also read about these things. He said once he felt the numbness in his arm he knew he had a heart attack.
4. Though his wife wanted to drive, Ramlan insisted that he should drive to the hospital from the college, I think he said Stamford College, which is not too far from SJMC. He was afraid his wife would panicked and he would be in more stress had he allowed his wife to drive. So he drove even though in pain.
5. When he reached SJMC, he left the car at the porch and asked his wife to park it while he walked (as he said he practically ran) to the Emergency room.
6. He told the everybody that he needed help as he had a heart attack. They put him on the bed and was immediately attended to. Tests were conducted and it was confirmed that he had an attack.
7. By the time his wife returned from parking the car he had been whisked into the ICU to be treated.
8. They put a stent into his main artery which was 100% blocked. He tried to explain some medical procedures but I'm not too inclined to remember.
9. Anyway, he looks okay to me today.
The main points that we should remember are the following:
1. You must KNOW if you had a heart attack. I think somebody posted something on this previously.
2. You must seek treatment IMMEDIATELY. Ramlan was lucky he was in Subang Jaya and managed to get to hospital in a short time. Others may not be as lucky.
Another very important thing Ramlan told me was: Make sure you have an insurance coverage. He would have to think twice about going to SJMC had he not have insurance coverage. I know some of us have medical scheme provided by our employers but we should advise our children to take up medical insurance while they are still young because the premium in affordable. At our age the premium is already high but still lower than the cost of the treatment.
I think I should stop now. Somehow, I get carried away when writing.
Sallam,
HBO
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