Perforated Duodenal Ulcer

That's the term the doctor mentioned to us on last Saturday, 3th November 2007, and basically it's:

"What is a peptic ulcer? A peptic ulcer is a hole in the gut lining of the stomach, duodenum, or esophagus. A peptic ulcer of the stomach is called a gastric ulcer; of the duodenum, a duodenal ulcer; and of the esophagus, an esophageal ulcer. An ulcer occurs when the lining of these organs is corroded by the acidic digestive juices which are secreted by the stomach cells."

My dad had been complaining stomach pain right before raya and his health had been deteriorating since then. GP only suspected gastric problem as my dad already had it and had been prescribing usual medicine. But last Friday, he asked my mum to bring him to Putra Medical Centre as he could not bare the pain anymore. (Me, brothers and sisters headed back to Alor Setar once being informed his admission.)

The specialist who attended him performed the endoscopic procedure at once. A flexible tube is inserted through the mouth to inspects the stomach, esophagus and duodenum.The result showed that my dad had ulcer in the stomach and he has a big hole in the duodenum. Duodenum is part of the peptic in our body. In other word, his duodenum already worn out! But the most scary thing is, his chance of surviving is very slim. The doctor needed to perform operation in order to save his life. Before the operation, the doctor explained the consequences we might face. Considering his age(my dad already 80yrs old), the chances of surviving in the operation is 50%. But if we put the operation on hold, his conditions will getting worse and we do not want to see him suffer the illness much longer. We have no choice but to agree with the operation and 'tawakal' to Allah.

I haven't seen my mum been so worried than before. Worst still, she cried and blamed herself for not believing my dad. She told us that dad had been complaining the pain to her for quite some times, yet she still assumed it was just normal gastric. Watching the nurses pushed my dad to the operation theater, she said to my elder sister,KI, " Mak rasa bersalah sangat tapi Mak redha dengan ketentuan Allah. Semoga Allah bagi keputusan yang terbaik untuk Bapak." We(me and KI) tried hard to hold our tears. We told her to be strong and mum could count on us should anything happen.

The operation went well for almost 3 hours. We thanked Allah for it and the most important thing, my dad survived the operation! Even though he was in ICU after the operation, he didn't have to use any life support as he was half conscious after the operation. He only needed to 'puasa' for few days. After five days in ICU, and showing no major complications, they transfered my dad to normal ward. Alhamdulillah! Praise be to Allah!

Now, still warded, our du'a is only for his speedy recovery. We are hoping, especially my mum, that dad will be discharged soon.