Time and again, I have been tested. One day, on returning home from a long drive from KL, I had a stomach upset as a result of eating contaminated burgers. The next morning, bacteria spread through blood stream (bacteraemia) to cause some distant skin infection.
I have been admitted with immediate effect and intravenous antibiotics started. To make it brief, I survived and returned to work without major setbacks.
The tests in life are not uncommon. Different people are being tested in a different way. They determine to what extent we could go and remain patient (sabr) and persistent (istikamah) with our lives. My religious teacher and friends always remind me – you are only be tested within the realm of your limit Stay put and believe in God. Don’t get too overwhelmed by your own emotion. There’s got to be a reason for the trabulation that I had stumbled upon.
Admission to hospital is a major event. I have to adapt to the new life outside of home. Doctors used to think they knew everything about diseases and hospitals. Once they need to play the role of a patient, then they know how difficult life could be as a patient – when nurses start harassing rumors, colleagues start digging their past act and employers start asking when they will return to work. Subconsciously, an event such as hospital admission will become an experience that will influence how they think and react to treatment.
Health is a blessing of God. You won’t truly appreciate it until you’re sick. For the moment, you are ill, the blessing of good health is already gone. Once it’s gone, it becomes a greater challenge to restore back the realm of good health. In some cases, you could just dream because the reality is, you will never return to the past conditions of good health.
It was one of the most dreadful and partubing moments in my life. It teaches me how to appreciate life, how to respect people around me, and the greatest lesson is how to be closer to the Creater, the most beneficent, the most merciful.
Born in Kedah. Studied at Alam Shah, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and King's College, University of London. Previously, acted as Head, Dept of Psychiatry, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Currently, works as Professor of Psychiatry at Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah International Islamic University, Kedah. Married and blessed with 4 grown-up children.
View all posts by mohdjamil