I had met Feng Hwang, a 22-year-old girl, during my visits to the herbalist. What had initially been thought to be a persistent cough turned out to be cancer. I wasn't clear where her cancer started, but even with chemotherapy and radiation, the cancer spread to her heart and brains. Seemed that one lump in her brain was not responsive to therapy.
When I went to the onco ward, she was already there. Initially, when I was there, she was still alert and able to feed herself. As the days wore on, her condition deteriorated rapidly. Because of the pressure on her brain, she could not see clearly. By then, she could barely eat. Her mum and sister took turns to watch over her day and night.
The day times were the worst for her. I wasn't sure if it was due to the warm weather in the day, because there were times when her eyes rolled and her tongue curled upwards. The doc came but couldn't do anything for her. Sometimes she wasn't even aware that her friends were visiting. But then, at night, she would become alert and could even ask the nurse to help wheeled her to the toilet.
I was discharged on 26 Feb, and she passed away on 29 Feb 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment