It was Christmas 2020. I had just returned from school a few days earlier and made my customary visit to my grandmother, a tradition cherished by every grandchild. Without fail, she would check our blood sugar during each visit and gift us a refill pack of both Milo and powdered milk. She treated all her grandchildren equally, ensuring each of us received the same attention and gifts upon our return from school. When it was my turn to visit her, she performed the familiar blood sugar check and presented me with the usual gift.
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She even tossed some fabrics my way to come up with my usual magic and make a dress for her, and I jumped at the chance! My grandmother is one of the rare souls who actually thinks my sewing skills are top-notch, and she loves bragging to everyone that I’m the mastermind behind all her fabulous outfits.
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It was a Friday, and I had swung by earlier to visit her, and since it was Friday, I would pray the Juma’at prayers at the central mosque close to her house. As we strolled to the mosque, she kept stopping on the way; walking was suddenly as exhausting as running a marathon. She's always been super vigilant about her health, so she decided to go to the mosque first and then go to the hospital for her usual routine check-up. As I waved goodbye that day, I told her to take lots of rest because she might be falling sick.
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The next Friday was New Year’s Day, and I had delivered her dresses to her. My grandmother loves wearing new dresses, and she wore one of her newest dresses that I had made for her for Juma’at prayers on this day. The same occurrence that happened last week happened on our way to the mosque. She kept stopping on the way due to tiredness again.
She decided to go to the hospital the next day and finally get herself checked just to be safe. She didn’t want to go alone, so she took my mother along, and when she got to the hospital, she was told that her heart was stressed and she needed to be placed on oxygen for easy breathing with no strain on her heart.
She was responding well to treatment, and I constantly spoke to her through the phone, and she told me about the strange and funny occurrences that happened in the hospital. She even told me about how someone who was in the same ward had died the day before, and we both prayed for her speedy recovery.
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The day was the 5th of January 2021, and I was still enrolled at a fashion school. I had gone to the academy to discover that it was still closed. Apparently, we were still on holiday due to the new year, and so instead of going back home, I decided to just go to the hospital and visit my ailing grandmother. I got to the hospital, and I met my aunty on my way. She dragged me to the canteen, and we bought Amala and Ewedu for my grandma. I was more than happy to hear that she requested that particular food. I was relieved that she had gotten better.
When we got to the ward, I met her sitting upright, and she replied weakly when I greeted her. I was happy regardless; at least she felt my presence. My mom fed her, and she ate happily.
A few moments later, her heartbeat dropped, and doctors had to be called in to try and resuscitate her. She was dying right before my eyes, and everyone got scared. We were shooed away to allow doctors to do their jobs with no external interferences. It was not up to 10 minutes later that she was pronounced dead.
My heart almost stopped, and I couldn’t wrap my head around how she could have died. We were just talking to her, so how could she just die?
Before long, preparations were in place to take the body to the morgue. Wait, what? My grandmother was now referred to as a body?
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This entry isn't about my best hospital experience, but it's one that's vividly etched in my memory and will stay with me forever. Even now, I grapple with accepting her passing, and oh, how I fervently wished she could have been successfully resuscitated. Most nights, I find myself wide awake, dreaming about how wonderful it would be if she were still alive.
My entry for the #Decemberinleo day 9.