His Final Day

The dreaded call came from my Mum on Saturday's afternoon while Mike and I were shopping at Art Friend in Bras Basah Complex while waiting for Nic to finish her class at NAFA. Mum said that the Hospital called and said that Papa's condition had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and he was being re-admitted to the ICU again.

A part of me was anxious, but a part of me felt that it probably may not be that bad. Papa had afterall gotten discharged from ICU 3 times. He was also doing fine the night before, and had even asked Mum to bring his guitar to the hospital so that he could entertain himself a little. As we cruised on the highway, I remembered Eric Clapton's Tears In Heaven playing on the radio. I also remembered feeling a sense of uneasiness as we approached the hospital.

When we arrived, the doctors told us that Papa's condition was critical. He had apparently passed out a lot of blood when the nurses were changing his diapers in the morning. He was immediately sent to the ICU, and a scope subsequently revealed that Papa had numerous ulcers in his stomach, and some were bleeding. Everything happened so quickly. The doctors told us that his blood pressure was falling despite maximum dosage of drugs being given to him. His breathing was erratic, and he had to be intubated. He was also given a blood transfusion. Despite all these measure, I guess Papa's body was simply too tired to put up a fight. His body just gave up. The next time the docs saw us, she told us to gather the relatives, while the nurses clean him up.

As Papa laid sedated, Mum and I talked to him. Papa seemed aware of our presence, and we were pretty sure he could hear us as his brows furrowed as we talked. Papa shed a tear when Mum told him that she love him dearly. When Nic called out "gong gong", I could see Papa's lip twitched a little, like a smile. She has brought him so much joy and laughter. When Mike held Papa's hand, we could see Papa's stats slowly coming to a stop. Its as if Papa felt the assurance that Mike will be taking care of the family with his departure. Papa passed away peacefully at 6.39pm, with his dear ones by his side. i saw my Papa took his last breathe. He will be dearly missed by all of us