Mother (a word that means the world to me) May 17, 2008
Posted by Riz in Uncategorized.26 comments
“M” is for the million things she gave me,
“O” means only that she’s growing old,
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me,
“H” is for her heart of purest gold;
“E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together,they spell “MOTHER,”
A word that means the world to me.
By Howard Johnson (c. 1915)
Dearest Mom,
It’s very likely you may never read this but there are things I have always wanted to tell you, words I know you wanted to hear but I just couldn’t speak. I always left the feelings to be expressed simply through emotions and body language. Till date, I’ve not sat down and told you that you mean the world to me. Perhaps, this post can, in its own little way, try to change that.
They say ‘the process of birth is the most dangerous journey any individual undertakes’ so I can only wonder how much harder it would have been to carry me around for 9 long months before being my portal of entry in to this world. Im not able to carry a back pack for a few hours without getting tired and wanting to throw it aside whilst you had to carry me for several months, constantly through the day and through the night. Whether you were sitting or sleeping my burden was always on you.
And the day I was born wasn’t the end to your workload but just the beginning. Yet you held me in your arms and welcomed me in to this world with unprecedented joy. You were my first friend, my first word, and my only world. You fed me, clothed me, bathed me and (when I deserved it) kicked me. You taught me to speak, taught me to stand. Taught me to walk and taught me to pray.
I remember how every day in the morning you would wake me and make me start the day with the shahadah. You never failed to pack food for me to take to school or have lunch ready for me every time I came home. I remember how you used to make me revise for the dictation tests while you cooked in the kitchen. You even took care of arranging my school bag every night and then would ask me to recite to you all the Surah’s I knew before telling me short stories to put me to bed.
The last 5 years that I have been away, every day you have worried over my meals, my studies and even my sleep…and every time I came home for vacation you would cook up a feast as if I was the king.
I’ve been rude, I’ve disobeyed. I have upset you and even broken your heart…and yet when I would come up to u and say sorry, I remember your words “My son, you are still learning and I’m not angry with you”
Our Prophet Rasulullah S.A.W. said, “Jannat lies under the feet of your mother.” And I don’t think there’s a better way of saying how much you mean to me. Everything I am, I am because of you and no words can express how much I love you. Not only words, but even my actions cannot ever repay the debt I owe you, mama.
Your baita,
Riz.
PS- wish you and dad both a wonderful anniversary and may u both live far longer than me, with happiness, prosperity and good health. and thanks to a special someone for asking me to write about my mom. i dont know how you knew that i had kept the love for my mom bundled up inside, but then again you are able to read me like a book 
*hugs*
Accident & Emergency May 10, 2008
Posted by Riz in Hospital.Tags: 911, A&E, ER
11 comments
I was supposed to write something other than medicine for a change but I was just rearranging the ton of notes that had accumulated on my bed and I came across this random article I had written on one of the papers a few months ago while I was in A & E.
I’ve just completed a month in the most happening place (Accident and Emergency) in a hospital and moved on to the one place (Paediatrics) I wasn’t particularly looking forward to throughout the year. And along with me I carry a memory here and a memory there. I did so many ‘cool’ things during this previous posting which I only used to dream about (yes, med students can end up dreaming about the hospital itself).
For instance, there was the day when I got to administer CPR on a dying lady who managed to live, and on the baby which unfortunately didn’t.
Ok, ok…I’ll switch to the lighter moments such as where I made an utter fool of myself in front of a patient by describing to them an x-ray thinking it belonged to someone else. *takes a mental note: -never see the x-ray of a patient without getting a history and a physical first* also was the moment where I cut myself trying to break open a vial in a fancy way, and the several injections I poked into others without a care in the world lol. I finally got some proper practice to fine tune my ability to suture people up and even better practice on how to avoid my ears getting blown away when some of the patients scream at the top of their lungs. There’s a rumour that goes around in my hospital which claims Bangladeshis and Egyptians are the most pain-sensitive of all humans- A & E does make that rumour hold true. Oh and these were the days when my white coats would regularly end up being stained with blood while assisting emergency amputations.
Overall though, it’s been one place where my heart has really been satisfied with. The one department in the hospital which I can honestly say I left unwillingly. It’s the one field that’s got me really attracted towards for a life-long career and yet I ponder now whether the stress and pay will be worth the toll or whether it was just something I enjoyed because it was temporary and had cool working hours.
Before I conclude, here’s a take-home message for you all: We have all seen on tv (specially in indian movies) that famous celebrity lying in the ER with a monitor attached to him that suddenly shows a flat line for the ECG and you hear the nurse scream “Help! He’s dying!!!”. Then out of nowhere these amazing doctors come up and shock him magically back in to life. Well next time that happens, remember that’s just bull. You don’t shock a flat line, unless you want to make sure he remains dead.
