CHAPTER 6

2024-12-17

CAN'T RECOGNIZE HER BOY

“Little brother(LB)”, six years younger than Lun, was called at the office to see mom asap at the emergency ward after admission on the night in late May this year. By the time he arrived, mom could no longer recognise her son. Instead stubbornly her foot reached out to the floor to leave the wheelchair. To prevent her from doing so, I repeatedly said, “No, no.” after returning her foot to the original spot. It repeated. Both LB and I agreed that this was the same mom who insisted on her push.

She finally got a bed and with the explanation from the doctor, then we knew that mom had contracted an acute and serious disease. A complete replacement of platelets was necessary which took weeks doing so. It needed to be done at the General Hospital(GH). The specialist team there was ready to receive her. One more CT scan was done for final diagnosis before transfer.

DECISION TO STAY

By eleven o'clock, mom was sent to do a CT scan. On the way to the lab, LB told me for the first time that he had to drop his plan to move out, but to stay with us instead with this crisis. I drove to GH to follow up while LB returned home to rest. He planned to visit mom the following day.

Driving westbound alone after midnight under cold rain on an empty street was a new but unreal experience for me. The doctor in charge briefed me on the essentials of treatment and asked in advance our decision on extension of medical service after unsuccessful treatment. Mutual decision on stopping unuseful service was made by us before and I told the doctor so.

A bed was spared for my wife finally as an ICU with additional equipment. By then her eyes lost focus. Within 140 minutes, she was separated from us forever. LB rushed to the hospital after knowing this. How come mom was gone like this? What did it mean?

MULTIPLE BARRIERS

For him his life was lined up with forthcoming barriers, with more severity the following one. By age four, he was aware of the specialty of his elder brother and the related challenges. Then he experienced the hardship of the parents, the serious sickness of dad, the rehabilitation, followed by a more serious one. After liver transplant it was the brain injury (BI) which rendered dad disabled. Two years after, possibly an aftermath of BI, dad had suicidal ideation arising from an acute depression attack. Another two years were needed for recovery. Finally, my pillar broke down. Both of us lost our most beloved, a mother and a wife.

He asked a question a few times, “Does one's life have to go through this many (misfortunes)?” As a father I need to ask the Lord the reason behind such. Now he decided to live with me. Father and son have time to figure out an answer.