Work, Work, Work - The Scare

Phewww…last week was another “killer” week. Work had me traveling up and down from the office in Subang and then to Putrajaya. Two days in a row I was late for my meetings. Bila the partners called asking me where I was, seperti biasa the standard answer was, “On the way…”. Padahal baru nak take the elevator down to the car park. Tak tau lah apa hukum nya buat coverline like that. Bohong sunat kot, but I somehow knew that the other party also knew that the answer was somewhat…errr not the exact truth. At times I am just so “amazed” with my ability in doing this juggling act. Pagi meeting with the team in Subang and then scramble to Putrajaya. Then dah settle in Putrajaya, run pulak to KL** for another meeting. Ishhhh….penat!!! But, tak pe lah, work is also ibadat kan.

The already busy and hectic was petrified by the Farah’s H1N1 false alarm. She called from school last Monday saying that her teacher had asked her and a few friends to go home as one of her classmates was tested positive for H1N1. Apparently Farah had come in contact with the girl. Me being the lurus bendul (and so, so bedul) Mom asked her to go get herself checked. Faris took her to our panel clinic but was told that the clinic does not accept such cases and they were asked to go get checks done at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (TARH) in Kelang.

At the screening area, Farah was asked many questions. She told them about her umrah trip and how much contact she had with the classmate. Tau-tau lepas tu she was taken to the quarantine ward. H1N1 or not, that was to be determined later. Can you imagine how I felt when I received the call from Faris saying that the sister was taken “hostage”?? I was in a meeting in Putrajaya, terus tak boleh focus, came out from the meeting room and made calls like a mad woman.


When the meeting ended, I drove all the way to TARH, hoping to see her and to get the exact story of her being quarantined. It was visiting hours at TARH and had to drive 2 rounds until I got a parking space. Went straight to level 8 and …….all I saw was the NO ENTRY sign. There were guards placed on the floor and the signage showed “H1N1 WARD”

Huhhh??? Apa sudah jadi ni??? I stormed at the guard demanding to see Farah. But she told me, NO ONE is to enter the ward. I demanded to speak to the doctor and she replied, “Puan kena tunggu.” By then I was furious and was practically shivering due to my unexpected discovery.

I didn’t know if it was the government hospital ambiance that cheesed me off or the fact that they had my daughter “kept” inside, all in isolation. Okay lah...I told myself, all “airs and egos” aside, now let’s get to the bottom of things. I finally got to meet with the staff nurse on duty and this great lady gave me the assurance that there was nothing I should be worried about. They just wanted to be sure that Farah was not H1N1 positive. Then the specialist came to talk to me and he told me that it didn’t look like H1N1 but they just wanted to be doubly sure. He said two things he wanted to establish – one was dengue and the other was H1N1. He told me that Farah’s throat did look a bit sore, but she wasn’t having a fever, so H1N1 was very much unlikely the case here.



My next question was, “When would we be able to know the results from the tests?” He said in 24 hours and this meant Farah had to spend that night in the hospital!!! Upon hearing this, my eyes were welled with tears. Entah lah…fear, exhaustion, anger, all the other mixed feelings cooked inside of me, causing me to break down. The nurse calmed me down and reassured me that there was nothing to be worried about. She said there was nothing much I could do there at the hospital so there was no point waiting. She gave me the contact number of the ward and told me I could call anytime to check on Farah’s condition.

Leaving me with no choice, I left with a wearisome heart. Headed back to the office and buried myself with piles of documentation already waiting for my approval. That took my mind off what was happening in the home front.

I stayed in the office till almost 11.00 pm and a text message from Farah helped ease my worries. She reported that things were okay in the hospital, just that she was bored - no tv, no music and no nothing. I replied saying to take it easy and just sleep off the night.

On my way to work the next day, I received a call from the hospital saying that Farah was free to leave the hospital. Results from the tests concluded – H1N1 negative and so was dengue, Alhamdullillah….syukur.

Part 2...coming up real soon