I met Mahvish as soon as she was born. She was the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. It didn’t take for the whole family to fall in love with Mahvish. She was a perfect child. Everything about her was so special and enjoyable. She was the first granddaughter and the first niece. She is my oldest sister’s daughter. I was 12 years old when I met Mahvish and I truly believe I became her mother first then my own daughter’s mom.
My sister and her family lived in my Ami’s home until Mahvish was 3 years old. And it was the most memorable and fun time I experienced with her. Then for some personal reason we couldn’t meet with my sister and nieces after they moved into their own home. The interesting thing was we all missed each other unconditionally. Our love for each other didn’t die but instead it grew stronger every day. My Ami was truly heartbroken when she couldn’t see her daughter and grandkids. She prayed and prayed to God to see them again. I still remember how many tears Ami shed as she begged God to make her wish come true, to see them again. But God had a different plan. It took 8 years until her wish came true; my sister’s husband had a heart failure and my sister and nieces moved back to my Ami’s home for good. It was the perfect arrangement. My mother needed support and there was no better caretaker than my sister. They all had a very good understanding of each other and lived happily like a big family. Both of my nieces called their grandma, Manu. Manu was my Ami’s nickname when she was a little girl. They both respected Manu a lot. My Ami was an active woman so they did everything together and listened to everything she said, whatever she asked for or needed they brought it to her right away.
Slowly with age my Ami’s health start going down. But she was still manageable. Years later one day my mother fell and had a massive stroke. It was Mahvish who saw her first and provided first aid to her. From that day my Ami’s condition got worse and worse. And she was fully on medical support and needed a fulltime nurse. None of my sisters and my nieces were medically qualified but that’s when the amazing side of Mahvish came out. Even though she didn’t know much about the medical field she knew her Manu needed help. Very quickly just by watching other nurses she learned by herself how to check blood pressure to properly using a feeding tube to every single thing you can imagine a stroke patient who is on fully on the bed would need. In no time she became a CNA and Nurse without a degree. With Mahvish and family care Ami started making progress. She was able to speak again, was more aware of her surroundings, able to ask for whatever she needed, she was able to move a little bit, she could show her emotions and she had a very positive attitude, she tried on her own to do whatever and as much as she could.
Mahvish was there day and night for her. She quit her daytime job to be with her Manu. She didn’t care about her own personal life, enjoyment, hanging out with friends or anything like that. Her focus was to provide the best treatment she could. She always fed her first and then she ate. There were countless nights she was up checking Manu making sure she was okay. Ami was not on any kind of life support so she had breathing problems especially during the nighttime. As soon as Mahvish noticed it didn’t matter what time it was, Mahvish was up standing next to her and tried to make it as comfortable as she could for her. Feeding was another issue. Manu didn’t want to eat because she couldn’t chew or swallow easily. It was Mahvish who made sure she finished her meals, even if it took three to four hours.
As soon as we thought she was getting better, everything got worse. She had more strokes and then through the MRI we found out her brain was complete gone and she had an infection in her blood and urine. Slowly she started losing consciousness and went into a vegetative coma. Once I heard about it I came to Karachi to visit her and spend time with my family. I tried to help Mahvish as much as I could. But the way she was taking care of my mother I am proud to say none of us sister could do it. Since Ami was on her bed all the time, she started getting bedsores. At some point her bedsores reached to stage 4, her Doctor had to do a small surgery and clean that area. If you don’t know much about stage 4 bedsores, they are injuries to the skin and tissues caused by pressure, it most commonly occurs to those on bed rest or in a wheel chair. A stage four bedsore means the sore is reaching into the muscle and bone that causes extensive damage and it isn’t easy to take care of. After she had the surgery she needed to change the dressing every other day. I thought I could be that strong like Mahvish but she proved me wrong. Mahvish watched the Doctor at the hospital as he changed the dressing and she was able to do it on her own. The only help she needed to hold Ami’s body because she couldn’t move at all. I remember very well the very first time I was helping Mahvish to change the dressing on Ami. My feet started shaking, and it was so hard to hold Ami. But I was amazed to see how confidently Mahvish was able to do it. That is just one example of her remarkable job of taking care of her Manu.
Ami’s condition was getting worse and worse and we knew her time was near. Mahvish was up many nights up and prayed by her side for many nights. Two days before Ami’s death she had a heart attack and that was an indescribable time for the whole family. Her Doctor told us she would not be able to make it to the hospital. Mahvish couldn’t sleep all night long and prayed and prayed. Her Manu left this world in front of the entire family. Mahvish was reading the Quran loudly and watched her Manu until her breathing stopped. On July 15 2014 at 1:25 AM Ami met her loving God and left this painful world.
Today Mahvish is living in Karachi with her mother and younger sister. She is missing her Manu a lot but is handing this difficult time beautifully. She is beautiful from the inside to out. She takes care of the house, does cleaning and cooking and follows all the rules, which any good girl is supposed to do. Mahvish is funny and loves to laughs and is full of life! But when she cries it’s very difficult to see her. I wish my Mahvish all the best for the future and truly am thankful from the bottom of my heart how she took care of Ami. I wish we would have more girls like Mahvish that are truly caring and love family!
No comments:
Post a Comment