Chapter 14: Chapter 14

"The next morning I was feeling very weak but I managed to get dressed for my morning lectures,even after arguing with Halima that I must stay back and rest I still wouldn't agree to miss out a single lecture"

"We went for our lectures and I could feel almost everyone staring at me,my eyes was all heavy and puffy and my face became all red,everyone knew that I wasn't alright,for I always come to lectures with a smile on my face,but today I know I looked terrible but who cares"

"After our lectures,Halima insisted we go to the hospital,but as stubborn as I was I didn't agree to that"

"We were  heading back to the hostel,when mama called me"

"Assalamualaikum Amaani"mama said with all excitement in her voice.

"Waalaikumusalam Mama"I managed to say,and hope I don't sound sick.

"Ooh my, what's wrong Amaani?are you sick?is everything alright?"mama asked worriedly.

"Mama I'm perfectly fine"

"I don't agree with that,now where's Halima?give her the phone"I handed the phone to Halima.

"They exchange pleasantries and Halima told her everything not leaving a single part"she handed me the phone.

"I'm going to call your medical personnel right now so you will have a checkup okay?"

"But ma....she cut me off saying no...but and that's final"I sighed heavily and said okay.

"Some minutes later,My medical personnel called me and asked me to go meet him at premier Hospital,without arguing I headed to the parking lot where the driver is waiting for us"

"In about some minutes we reached the hospital and right on time we were led by a nurse to go meet Dr.Rayan"

A man who looks in his mid twenties walked in,he has an almond shaped eyes,bushy brows,peach pink lips and broad shoulders.

"Assalamualaikum"he said in a soft  voice.

"Wa alaika salam Dr.Rayan"We said in unison"

"It's been long and you don't look so good Amaani,tell me what's wrong?"he asked while checking my temperature.

"I'm fine doctor it's just a little fever"

"It doesn't seems like it Amaani,you have a very high fever and your body is very weak,do you have a stomachache,headache?

"Just a little headache"A nurse came in and took my blood sample as instructed"

"The result will be out in about thirty minutes"he said and smiled.

"Thank you doctor"Halima said with a big smile plastered on her lips.

"Now will you please excuse me ,I'll be back in the next thirty minutes I have a surgery in about two hours,please make yourself comfortable ladies"he smiled and walked out.

"Amaani,Halima called out softly,what's wrong with you?i know it's not just about the fever and I know you don't want to talk about it but please don't let things keep bugging you in there"I gave her a weak smile.

"Some minutes later,Doctor Rayan came in with a nurse tailing  behind him"

"Do we have good news or bad news there?"Halima asked with hope in her voice.

"He smiled inwardly and began  saying,Halima your friend is having a severe migraine headache and she will have to stay at the hospital for some days to assure she's okay and perfectly fit"

"Dr.Rayan but I have lectures and I'm fine,he cut me off saying no buts-and no complains"

"Halima if you don't mind may you please come with me"

"I'll be right back Amaani"Halima said and left with Dr.Rayan"

*********

Halima's POV

"I followed Dr.Rayan to his office,he offered me a sit and smiled sadly"

"Doctor is everything Alright?"I asked worriedly.

"He heaved a sigh,the case here Halima is critical,and the result don't seem friendly"he said handing me the report sheet.

For the past five years Amaani has been suffering from a very Chronic migraine headache,and as her medical personnel I always insure her health safety and things has gone far much better when we proceeded with the medical  treatment and she was always responding good to medical treatment,it went  on for about two years and she became normal,but in this case it looks like my patient has been stressed out for the past few days and it's causing critical complications in her brain,which is really bad,she has been stressing all the things happening and her brain is finding it difficult to handle all the complications, migraine pain happens due to waves of activity by groups of excitable brain cells. These trigger chemicals, such as serotonin, to narrow blood vessels. Serotonin is a chemical necessary for communication between nerve cells. ... This leads to throbbing pain.migraines may affect the long-term structure of the brain and increase the risk of brain lesions, these stimuli feel like an all-out assault. The result: The brain produces an outsize reaction to the trigger, its electrical system (mis)firing on all cylinders. This electrical activity causes a change in blood flow to the brain, which in turn affects the brain's nerves, causing pain.

"I listened carefully and nodded in response-good to be a science student else I'd be too dumb to understand any of this"

"And this May lead to a serious problem,all the treatment given to her for the past years and  health safety insurance might be a waste if she continues to stress herself just like it happened years back,it might lead us back to square one, it's a direct result of the way the brain has wired itself over time. Initial attacks may result from any combination of environmental and genetic factors that cause the nervous system to become particularly sensitive to certain stimuli. There is substantial evidence that individuals who experience adverse childhood events (such as neglect, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, or sexual abuse) are significantly more likely to develop migraine later in life. This suggests, at minimum, that her genes and nervous systems are stamping in a painful wiring pattern at a very young age. Over time, these patterns become ingrained in the nervous system as migraine attacks slowly rewire the brain to perpetuate this feeling of pain.

The good news is -This neurological sensitization to pain can be undone, in whole or in part, through education and exercises that help the brain to let go of past stressors and learn new, less painful neurological patterns. The Curable program harnesses the benefits of multiple mindbody approaches that have been proven to reduce migraine frequency and intensity - like meditation, CBT, and mindfulness-based stress reduction she will be  having total bed  rest because she needs to rest more than ever,note that the next time this happens it won't be funny and might lead to Surgical decompression of the peripheral sensory nerves around the skull can have a beneficial effect on the frequency, severity and duration of the migraine headaches. Surgery is performed as an outpatient procedure under local or (usually) general anesthesia and usually takes one to two hours. Some patients have multiple migraine triggers and surgery may take longer if the trigger sites are on different areas of the head. Surgery is not on the brain and we do not remove or go through the skull bones but we are not 100%sure if the patient will survive.

"After his  last word I couldn't feel my soul in my body any longer everything doesn't sounds good,my friend was stressed out all this while and I couldn't help her,I felt a hot  tear burned my cheeks"hello are you there,I heard Dr.Rayan said,uhmmm yeah inshallah we will try our best,don't be stressed out too,it's all gonna be fine,I believe she's a fighter,it's just that the things she carries in her head are too dangerous for her age"he said and gave me a hopeful smile.

"Excuse me he said and picked a call,Hello are you here already,Okay I will meet you up in the next 10 minutes"he said and hanged up the call.

"Now lets go meet her"Okay i said  and as the gentleman he was he opened the door for me letting me out first.

"We headed to the room and looks like Amaani is fast asleep"

"That's the good rest she needs"Dr.Rayan said and chuckled lightly.

"Now I'm giving her three drips or more  due to the weakness in her body"Okay.

"He did all what he had to do on Amaani and left for his surgery,with a promise that he would be back in some hours to check on her"

"I felt heart broken seeing Amaani like this,it breaks my heart into pieces but I just hope she will be alright"

"Picking up my phone I saw 20missed calls from Abeeda"the girls must be worried.

"I was about to dialed Abeeda's number when I heard Amaani's phone ringing,I checked the caller ID and it was Abeeda,I picked  the call and gave her all the details and she said they  be there in some minutes"

"I sat down on a chair close to Amaani's bed and wondered why she's having so much stress on her head,is it because of her adverse childhood event?what could be so disturbing to cause all this problems on a person like her when she doesn't even deserve it.but today I've learned a very important lesson in my life-we can always smile but that doesn't mean our hearts are not shedding tears and behind her smile is a story you will never understand.

"I dialed Ma's number immediately,she picked on the first ring-Bonjour Ma(good morning Ma) ce qui ne va pas vous semble stressé(whats  wrong?you sound stressed out)a fin què tu m'as manqué MA(because I missed you MA) tu sais que tu m'as manqué aussi(you know I missed you too) how I love this beautiful woman's voice that always makes me smile.

comment va l'école?(how's school) bien mon amour(fine my love) Suis à l'hôpital, Amaani a été admis(I'm at the hospital,Amaani has been admitted)

ooh mon Allah mon cherie, qu'est-ce qui ne va pas avec elle? devrais-je venir?(Ooh my Allah mon Cherie,what's wrong with her?should I come over?)I could here how worried she is.

non Ma, ce n'est pas grave elle ira bien(no Ma it's not serious she will be okay) I said hoping she would believed me.

son stress scolaire juste et l'examen approche(it's just school stress and exams is approaching) ok mon cherie, prends soin de toi pour moi et Amaani, assure-toi qu'elle prend ses médicaments et mange ses repas(okay Mon cherie,take care of yourself for me and Amaani too,make sure she takes her drugs and eat her meals)

okay Ma j'aime ma, salue papa et lui donne un baiser sur ses joues au nom de moi(i love Ma,greet pa and give him a kiss on his cheeks on behalf of me)ok Mon Cherie bye,bye ma.i ended the call.

"I know Ma didn't believe what I told her and she sounds worried sick but she just let it sly,and that was what I was afraid of,telling them all what the doctor said is a very bad idea and will make them all come over which Amaani won't be happy with,and now Mama will need an explanation and this is a serious situation that her family needs to know but I don't know how or what to do,should I or should I not tell them?Amaani is like a sister to me and her family means everything to her-her first priority,most especially Mama and she wouldn't want to add more to her stress after all those years.