Mom - The Crown of My Heart

That Saturday morning, as I promised my mom, I took her to Putra Specialist Centre, Malacca for a final check on her cyst inside her uterus. With final check, I mean last check before the surgery, which was supposed to take place three years ago!

There was no sense of urgency at the moment, considering this wasn’t a life and death situation, at least not that I can think of. So, with no expectation, I walked into the hospital and made an arrangement for my mom to see one of the doctors there.

Dr. Tan Lee Nak.

That’s the name of the fine lady doctor that’s going to check upon my mom. “Obstetrician & Gynecologist”, said the sign on the door I entered with my mom. (Pakar Perbidanan dan Sakit Puan).

‘So, Doctor Tan, how’s my mom?’ I asked when the doctor came out from a small room adjoined to her office, with my weary-looking mom by her side.

Doctor Tan took her time before answering my question. With her finger pointed to unmistakably a picture of female reproduction system on the table (thank god I paid attention to my biology class), she drew one big circle on the right side of the picture. The right ovary...!

‘What is...?’ I cannot complete the sentence.

‘This circle represents the size of the cyst inside your mother!’ The doctor explained calmly. ‘The cyst is attached to your mother’s right side ovary and it’s getting bigger and bigger by the time’.

What?! My jaw dropped. It can’t be... I said to myself.

‘Err, doctor...’ I finally managed to say. ‘Exactly.. how big is the cyst inside my mom’s uterus..?And.. is it.. is it.. dangerous?

Once again, Doctor Tan took her time, before launched into a rather long explanation.

‘By now, you should know what is it the cyst that we’re dealing with..’ said the doctor. And then without waiting for my respond, she continued,

‘To answer your question just now, the cyst that attached to your mother’s right ovary is big. I can’t really say how big it is, but it is big. And to be honest, it can be dangerous if it stays in there any longer. Why? Because first, the cyst might burst open and the liquid inside it can be toxic to your mother’s body. Second, and more important, the cyst sometimes.. is an early indicator of cancer...!’

‘Did you say cancer... doctor?!’ I can’t stop myself. My heart is pounding, and by now, flashes of bad things started to flood inside my mind.

For a minute, the doctor looked startled by my hard expression. Then, she smiled and says,

‘Yes. But I still didn’t finish my sentence...’

As I nodded and say sorry, she continued,

‘What I said just now are the possibilities of what can happened if we don’t remove the cyst. And after I scanned your mother’s uterus a while ago, I can say that so far, there’s no sign of cancer on your mother’s uterus...’

I just said my syukur to Allah on the news when the good doctor, once again continued,

‘Although... I still have to warn you that everything will be confirmed; only after I removed the cyst and take it to lab for some tests...’

Exhaled deeply, I nodded once again and said,

‘That’s good enough doctor. That’s good enough...’

And after a while,

‘So, when can you do the operation, doctor?’ I asked.

The doctor smiled before she replied,

‘Actually... it’s up to you and to your mother. I can only suggest you do it as soon as possible.’

Nodding slightly, I turned to my mom,

‘Mak, doktor tanya, bila mak nak buat operation ni? Macam mana kalau selasa depan? Boleh ke mak?’

Looking at me, my mom nodded slowly. Okay.

‘How about this Tuesday, doctor? Are you free that day? I asked.

‘Tuesday’s okay,’ said the doctor. ‘I have no operation on Tuesday, and I can perform the surgery on your mother in the morning.’

And just as I thought, everything’s settled, and I can bring my mom home, my hope vanished just like that.

As I found out after that, the difficulties are just about to start...