The Traveler's Journal

Saturday, November 20th, 2010

I took a leave to attend my best friend’s wedding at the end of the week. She was going to marry Serukam’s future obstetrician ;D (it’s a small world after all). Then out of the blue, my brother announced the out striking news.

Dia udah mengeluhkan symptoms baal di kedua tangan dan sedikit kelemahan di tangan kanan sejak ± 3 thn yg lalu. Dan itu bertambah buruk scr gradual. Waktu g resign dari Serukam di bln Maret 2010, kami sepakat u/ ganti neurolog-nya. Sebelumnya dia udah berobat ke 2 neurolog & dikasih high dose Bcomp u/ keluhan neuropatinya, but no further testing/anything. Kami memutuskan u/ konsul pada dr. SG, the lady w/ the bright mind & yg terpenting memiliki curiosity over something (bkn cm terima doang & ga nyari lg further cause-nya). Dulu dia dosen kami dan salah satu dosen pembimbing my bro wkt skripsi.

Dr. SG mulai dengan pemeriksaan paling mendasar. Rontgen tulang leher and the result was still OK, cuma spasme otot aja. Dia nyuruh trial high dose Bcomp lagi u/ 3 bln dan disuruh control lagi stl itu. Ketika masa 3 bln itu lwt & hny ada sedikit perbaikan symptoms, my bro maju dgn pemeriksaan NCS (Nerve Conduction Study) dan memang ada masalah dengan beberapa saraf tepi tangan kanannya. So memang betul ada masalah yg lebih besar dari sekedar baal2 biasa.

Waktu itu kami baru nyampe rumah, msh di mobil, dan dia bilang dia udah MRI cervical (MRI leher). The MRI showed a mass inside his cervical spinal cord, suspect ependymoma. Sebuah benjolan menghuni dan bertumbuh di dalam medulla spinallis daerah leher, menyebabkan penekanan ke serabut2 saraf disekitarnya, yg mengakibatkan symptoms dia selama ini.   

This is so weird. Begitu pikiran g waktu itu. Don’t know for sure how to react. This is the first time somebody was having tumor in my close family. My clinical mind instantly taking control. What’s next? What are our options? But my heart was grieving too. The possibility of losing my only bro was unimaginable. And at that time, I was thinking about our parents & aunt. We didn’t want to make them worry or sad. But the truth must be revealed.

But first, we were going to consult dr.SG about the result before telling our family.

Tadi pagi my old pal (who lives just outside Bandung, haha, just outside means 3 hours or so) send me a message via FB. Bertanya bagaimanakah caranya untuk menjadi seorang blogger. That question strikes me, for the second time this week. Masalahnya, I have stopped writing since December last year. Before this, an old friend (how come many of my friends are old? Hahaha) replied my Easter wish with a compliment about stories in my blog, how he enjoyed them, & how he wished I would continue writing. Lalu sebelumnya lagi, my bro said that his doc told him to write his story (the lesion, op, & all neuropathies that came with it, now & then) & he asked how he would start. Dan g memberi dia saran2, padahal yah teuteup aja g belum mulai nulis lagi.

That’s why, today, I come back.