Thursday, June 10, 2010

Bing

"Bing kena cancer." The words were harsh, unforgiving. And they hung in the air like a foul odour that refused to drift away. Oh God ...

Shaken, I looked up at Pak Abu, bearer of such bad tidings. "It was detected six weeks ago when he went to the doctor about his persistent coughing," added Pak Abu.

Tears welling up, I said, "No wonder he's been rather quiet lately. We have to go see him."

Bing, whose real name is Rahmat, is a dear friend of ours. We met online as chatters some six years ago and our friendship blossomed into a close one over time.

Older than the both of us, Bing is like an elder brother more than a friend. Always thoughtful and caring, he never failed to bring back oleh-oleh (gifts) for us wherever he went; jade stone from Makkah, ikan pekasam from Kedah...

Because of the unique origin of our friendship, we call each other by our respective chat names; I am Cage and Pak Abu is Ash to him just as he is Bing to us, from his humorous chatroom nick Mr Sumbing.

Bing's retired, in his 60s and a grandfather. A lifewire if ever there was one, you could always count on jovial Bing to provide comic relief during our infrequent chatters' gatherings.

This morning, at the Oncology Ward of Damansara Specialist Centre, we caught up with Bing again. He was there for his second session of chemotherapy.

Looking very frail, Bing smiled wanly upon seeing us. I hugged and kissed his wife, who revealed that Bing had lost more than 50 pounds since the cancer was detected. Already of slight frame under normal circumstances, Bing appeared sunken.

He was unable to speak, thus communicated by writing on a notepad. He was not limiting himself to just western medicine, he scribbled, but was also exploring alternative healing.

The wife lamented that Ustaz Harun Din's Islamic healing centre Darussyifah had a four-month waiting list. "A long wait..." she sighed resignedly.

Bing's lung cancer is at stage four and is inoperable due to its close proximity to his heart. Chemotherapy remains the best option for now.

Today my heart is doubly heavy. My blogger friend Dalilah and niece Amirah are still tenaciously fighting the dreaded 'Big C', and now Bing...

"Ya Allah, ringankanlah beban mereka, peliharalah kesihatan mereka dan berikanlah mereka yang terbaik dariMu, kerana hanya Engkau Yang Maha Mengetahui."

17 comments:

mamasita said...

Sedih2..no words to describe how sorrowful to hear such news.
May ALLAH shower them with lots of strength and patience.
My heart weeps for all those facing this dreaded C.

Naz in Norway said...

Ya Allah...berikanlah mereka kesabaran, ketenangan dan kekuatan dalam menghadapi dugaan ini.
My heart goes to all of them :(

Anonymous said...

Madam,

Given the circumstance, Bing qualifies to request for an earlier appointment. They do oblige from what I was told.

Derebar

Al-Manar said...

Apa yang hendak dikatakan selain doa dan harapan.

Siti Hasmah said...

Well said and an eye opener for us all. Though I have not met him but my prayers are always for him. Azab Kanser hanya tuhan yang tahu. Mr. Bing rajin makan ubat ya but jangan putus asa sebab ini semua kuasa Allah jika kita terus berusaha mungkin akan ditemukan penawarnya insyallah.

elviza said...

Kak....

Sorry :-((((

Wan Sharif said...

Semuga di sisihkan kanser yang berpanjangan (malignant) .. hopefully it is of benign type..
Now, I better ask my friend who talk about a hadith that Muslim who suffer from cancer will go to heaven.. can use that to calm down people...
Apapun semuga Allah hapuskan dosa Bing dengan dugaan yang berat ini.. kifarah?!

Anonymous said...

Kak Putri

Insyallah Bing bersabar dengan penyakit yang menyeksa ini.Subhanallah!


....wawa

Zendra-Maria said...

Sorry to hear about your good friend. May Allah grant him and his family patience and strength in this trying time.

tireless mom said...

Sedih and sorry to hear about Bing. Allah penyembuh segalanya. Insha Allah.

Anonymous said...

Akak....we all shall pray for his speedy recovery :)

Inlcude me for the visit and i shall make the time for him.

Beannnn

Kamarulzaman said...

Bing like a brother to me.. Betapa berta pun mataku yang memandang Bing berat lagi bahu mu yang memikul. Itu dapat ku fahami. Hanya doa' saja yang dapat kuhulurkan buat mu. Semoga Allah yang maha pengasih lagi maha menyayangi akan menyembuhkan pengyakitmu... Amin

Anonymous said...

Pray, pray from your heart...

I lost two important people to cancer, Kak Midah, the most soft spoken women that I have known...and me mum...

I have done praying for your friend once I read your article...and will pray more ....for his best...

May GOD provide the best of what is the best for your good friend Mr Bing..

NanaDJ said...

Puteri,
Am sorry to hear about it. I can only doa that Allah gave him strength and patience to face HIS test.
I am faced with so many cancer patients in the course of what I am doing now, I could only pray for them and provide whatever comfort I can give them. But I grieve for them and family. At times I myself need counselling. Only Allah knows best.

Crystallips said...

Semoga mereka diberi kekuatan dan sama sama kita mendoakan mereka agar Allah memeberi yang terbaik.
Little did I know that you were the "Cage" that I knew online many many years ago!!!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

mamasita, naz, derebar, al-manar, siti, elviza, wan, wawa, zen, yatt, bean, moon, nana: tq for your kind words and prayers. we intend to visit him tomorrow and i shall pass your words along.

crystal: ahah, another online friend! welcome to my humble cyber abode. tis cage alright.. hehehe

Kama At-Tarawis said...

anon 8.21 - thank you dear friend.