ike many young ladies, Madam Nooraini, 56, looked forward to starting her own family when she got married in 1989. One year after her marriage, she was hospitalised for frequent nose bleeds and fluid overload. The doctor diagnosed
and ordered dialysis. Nooraini was distressed as she was uncertain about the prospects of her conceiving given her medical condition.
Two years after starting dialysis, Nooraini started feeling unwell. Concerned about her health, she took some urine tests. She was overjoyed when the results showed that she was pregnant.
Supermom
As pregnancy places more burden on the kidneys, pregnant kidney patients are at higher risk of developing
hypertension and
diabetes. Nooraini, who was dialysing at NKF, had to increase her dialysis sessions from three to six times a week, Mondays to Saturdays. NKF nurses would also diligently monitor her pregnancy to ensure the safety of both mother and child.
On 6 October 1992, Nooraini gave birth to her “miracle baby”, Nurhidaya, thus fulfilling her dream to become a mother. After giving birth, Nooraini reverted to a thrice weekly dialysis regime. She continued working until 1999, when she stopped work to become a housewife. Without complaint, she took care of her family so well that her daughter never felt her mother was different.
Love Reciprocated
Nurhidaya, now 22, recounted, “Growing up, I did not consider my mother to be different from other mothers. I knew she had to go for dialysis, but other than that, she was the same as my friends’ mothers. She busied herself with what other mothers did – household chores, cooking and taking care of me while juggling her job as a production operator. It was only when I was older that I realised the difficulties she had to go through. She is a supermom and a real fighter.” Nurhidaya said that her mother has always been a very independent and strong person. As age catches up with Nooraini, she faces more health complications but each time, she is determined to pull through. She underwent a heart bypass in July 2014 and was placed on oxygen therapy.
Now, it is Nurhidaya’s turn to take care of her mother. She would bathe and change Nooraini every morning before leaving for her work as a Patient Service Associate at a hospital. Every night, Nurhidaya would ensure that her mother’s oxygen mask is in its proper place before turning in.
Despite life’s challenges, Nooraini remains cheerful and upbeat. She enjoys watching television with her family and loves it when her relatives visit her at home, when they would exchange stories.
