PRAYER

            Can you believe that the woman who died right in front of my eyes came to life again? I started crying and begged ALLAH for giving the Life back to the woman who died  in front of me a little while ago. The medical team came rushing towards the woman and started their medical procedure to bring the life back into the woman. They were massaging her chest and doing other resurrection procedures. The doctor gave her a life saving injection. The nurse placed the machine on the woman’s mouth and nose and started giving her artificial respiration but no use. The doctor then told all to stand clear of the woman and gave her the electric shock. Once, no response second, no response, third and the line on the Heart monitor started oscillating. The heartbeat of the woman started and she came back to life. ALLAH has responded to my prayers.الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ 

          Since the year 2003, I started complaining to my doctor that I suspected heart problem. But he would always refuse to agree with me and always told me that the chest pain I am complaining about is of my stomach and not heart. The frequency of heart pain attacks kept increasing and the gap between the two pain attacks shortened. Initially I used to have chest pain after every six months. Then the gap narrowed to after every five months and it kept decreasing. But the irony was that whenever I used to be brought to the Cardiologist in emergency with the complain of the chest pain he would examine me, give me treatment for my stomach and relieve me from the hospital. This continued till 2008. 

          In this duration of almost five years three Cardiologists were changed/posted out of the hospital. It was somewhere in the beginning of the year 2008 when I again had a severe chest pain attack. This time the Cardiologist was Dr. Siddique, a new comer, who had just been posted in from The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD). He gave me the treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where I was admitted. I was discharged again, after giving necessary medicines and declared fit. However, on my request Dr Siddique agreed to re-examine me after 15 days. 

          To cut the story short, after 15 days when I reported to him for medical check-up, he put me through a process of different tests and after completion of the Tests, which took almost 30 days, he also declared me medically fit and found no defect as far as my heart was concerned. However, on my insistence, he referred me to NIVCD for my Angiography test. 

          I travelled on my own expenses, all the way from Quetta to Rawalpindi, a distance of almost 2000 kilometres, for the test. It was very kind of Dr. Siddique that he made all my appointments with the Surgeons/Doctors there at the NICVD. Thus on the very next day of my arrival, I was admitted at the hospital and the Angiography procedure was performed on me. 

          The result of the test reports revealed that I was right and doctors were wrong. It was discovered that three of my Arteries were blocked. One blockade was of 98%, the other was 96%, and yet another was 97% blocked. Thus the blood supply to the heart was hindered and that was the cause of my repeated chest pains. It was however diagnosed, by a board of 10 doctors that medicine management should be done with me. The reason the doctors gave was that the blockades are at such an acute angle that “Stunting” cannot be done and heart by-pass operation was out of question as well, as it was too risky. The panel of doctors assessed that in-case the by-pass procedure is conducted; my survival chances were 5% to 3%. So nobody was ready to take the risk. Thus, me and my family were briefed that it will be better to go for medicine management and shall forget about the heart by-pass operation or any other procedure. So we agreed and came back to our home at Quetta. 

          Here, despite my adoption of the suggested medicine management and strict diet control, that too under the supervision of my Cardiologist Dr. Siddique, there was no relief in the heart pain. Rather the frequency of attacks of pain increased. The gap between one attack of heart pains to another was shortened to almost once per month. Meanwhile two years passed and it was now the year 2010. A time came when I had severe heart attacks, three in a row in a months’ time. After the third one, while I was laying in the Intensive care Unit that one of my friend came to visit me. This was the person who was constantly in touch with me and was abreast with my current status. 

          He advised me that I shall leave the present set of doctors and I should go for a second opinion by going to Karachi, where better Cardiologists were available. I agreed. 

          It was with quite some difficulty, due to my serious medical condition that our Cardiologist and the hospital authorities allowed me to travel, with a precondition that I shall be airlifted to Karachi under the supervision of a doctor in attendance and shall be admitted immediately in Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) at Karachi. So it was done accordingly. The appointment with the Cardiologist and the admission at the hospital was scheduled for the same afternoon when our flight was arriving at Karachi. However, we could not make it due to extra ordinary delay of the airline flight. We lodged ourselves at a guest room and the next morning appointment with the doctor was re-scheduled. However, it could not materialize as I had a severe heart attack the same late night. I was rushed to the hospital and admitted in the ICU. From there, in the morning, when I was a little stable, I was shifted to CCU. Here at CCU I remained admitted from 3rd march 2010 to 14th  April 2010. I daily used to have three heart attacks and my Cardiologist, Dr. Qaiser and his team were surprised as to how was I surviving. They worked very hard with me with lot of dedication. So the frequency of my heart attacks came down to one per day. Dr. Qaiser told me that he is waiting for the day where I will give him clear three days without a heart attack that he will perform a fresh Angiography on me to see the current situation of my Heart and Arteries. This will help him to come to a conclusion as to what further medical procedure can be adopted. 

          It was there while I was in the CCU that the above narrated incident happened. 

          This woman of about fifty years was brought in unconscious with a reported severe heart attack. Dr. Qaiser and his team provided medical aid to the woman. Her medical condition improved and she came to senses. She remained alright for complete 24 hours. But the above episode happened when she had passed the previous night peacefully and was resting after having her breakfast. It was around 10:00 am in the morning. She was so positioned on my right sides’ next bed that I could fully observe her and her vitals monitor was right in front of me and was clearly visible. 

          While I was looking at her heart beat graph at the monitor that she had a jerk and the heart beat line at the graph went straight showing no kinks of the heart beats. The alarm of the heart monitor sounded and the technicians at the desk shouted for the doctor and the nurse, who were giving medical assistance to another heart patient some four beds away, and ran towards her. 

          It was then that I remembered the verse of The Quran and the Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, that ALLAH listens’ to the prayers of the patient and responds immediately. 

          I begged ALLAH for the life of the woman, quoting that he has promised to listen to the prayers of the patients. SHUKAR ALHAMDULILLAH (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ), ALLAH responded as per HIS own promise and the life came back to the lady. I cried in gratitude. 

          I may mention here that it took almost ten minutes before the lady came back. The attendant standing beside me, having years of experience at the CCU, told me that it is useless efforts as the lady has gone for quite long. 

          When she revived, the attendant said that it is a miracle and that it has never happened earlier in his professional life. After four days, the lady was discharged from the CCU. 

          I may confess here that during my more than a month’s stay at the CCU I prayed such for five more occasions and at all the occasions ALLAH was kind enough to grant my prayers by bringing life miraculously to the persons who were declared dead. I also prayed to ALLAH to give health to all who were with me at the CCU and ALLAH granted that. I may also confess here that I made another request to my ALLAH and saw its acceptance after few months in shape of a promotion of my friend who has helped me all along in my medical treatment. Peoples were very sure, due to all laid down standards, that my friend would not be promoted but he did. 

          On 14th April 2010, I was taken for my heart by-pass operation and Six by pass grafts were implanted to my heart. It was almost after fifteen days that I was again admitted back to CCU due to some little complications. There, out of curiosity, that I asked the Duty nurse at the CCU regarding any casualties during my absence of 15 days. 

          She informed me that there was causality almost each day after I left. Daily a heart patient expired. I felt sad. 

         Readers, it may be a co-incidence or maybe it was because someone of us (the heart patients at the CCU) was ignorant of the extensions of the Graces of ALLAH and thus did not pray.

           So do always pray and never forget to pray for others whom you see suffering.        

Posted by Zaffar Iqbal Durrani