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."