Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Always2 remember ALLAH- never forget that!

Me & family take turns caring for mother.

She is not in any pain, but it is our duty to ensure that she is as comfortable as ever. All of us are being briefed on what to expect from mother's worsening situation by the palliative care unit. We are all in a journey of our lives.

The most important thing for us is not to panic. Just show your calmness and composure and always make her feel good.

If we show our sadness to her, she will feel the sadness and this can affect her courage.

On the spiritual side, never ever let her forget the word "ALLAH". Allah the Almighty, the God that we pray and remember, must always be on her mind. We strive to ensure that she always remember ALLAH.

I embarked on a project called Khatam Quran. Since she is now at home, I ensure that when it is my turn to be with her, I must recite the Quran. On the day 16th Jun until now, I have covered half the Quran. I must ensure that I khatam (finish) the Quran before the start of Ramadan.

Mind you, reading Quran does not mean reading it in Arabic. I also read the translation to my mother. By this way, it will not benefit my mother alone, but it also benefits me.

May Allah give me strenght to go through this. Praise only to Allah the only God!!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Caring for mother at home

On 16 Jun 2011, begins a new chapter for me and my family.

University hospital discharged my mother and now starts me and my family to take care of her at home.

We bought a bed together with a bubble mattress to prevent bed sore.
Me, brother and 2 sisters made some schedule to take turns (shift) to take care of her.

We also got the hospital to advice us on paliative care (care of a dying person).
We also have engaged a home nursing service in case we need one.

But the most important thing all of us need is the spiritual strenght to ride through this wonderful "journey".

A strong believe in Allah (the one and only GOd) is essential to give us the strenght. In Quran verse 6:2; "He (Allah) is Who created you from clay, then he gave you a term (life before you die), and only He know the term (your life span),
and still you doubt"

Every single living thing must die. Allah knows how, when & where each one of us will die. We must face it wheather we like it or not. We must realise that death is another chapter in our life where we will leave this world and enter a new world.

On 21 Jun 2011 (Solstis day), where on that day is the longest daylight for North Hemisphere and longest night in the Southern part of the world, my mother was in real pain. All of us did not know what to do. She hardly slept, and every 10 minutes starts to moan & groan. It started at midnight and lasted until 8pm that day, until she finally got to sleep.

The next day, we consulted the Paliative Care doctor & she explained in detail on how to face that kind of situation. We also checked the spiritual side on how to calm mother when faced in this situation.

After that challenging day, the coming days became easier as we followed instructions and took care of her. We exactly know what to do and we are calm in the stuation.

Yes, me & family face great challenge in caring for a bed ridden mother. But, we are most greatful to Allah, to give us the opportunity to be close to mother
and take care of her. It has been very satisfying experience indeed.

Make dua for my mother.. May Allah make her easy..

ps. This posting is specially for Sarah Neff (my foster sister in Switzerland) and sincerely hope she reads it...