Syawal past, present and future
Past
I celebrated last Syawal with mixed feelings. Hubby was sick since few months before Ramadhan. He started coughing which was not resolved with the usual cough meds. He was even admitted in one of the private hospitals for a few days. Doctor diagnosed his condition as maxillary sinusitis. He was eventually discharged. However, his coughing persisted despite the meds supplied by the hospital. He was sick throughout the month of Ramadhan and his condition worsened. However, he managed to gather strength to go to the market and shopped raw materials for Raya celebrations. Syawal came and  I can see he was struggling through his illness and tried to enjoy Syawal as best as he could. He pushed his limits when we had to travel to Terengganu for my brother's engagement. It caused me as much pain as he was in pain coughing his lungs out. During that Syawal, his condition did not improved. Apart from conventional therapy, we also tried alternative therapy. Buatan orang/santau was also suspected. Despite being a pharmacology lecturer myself, I cannot dismiss those opinions considering there are sick people in this world who could go to extreme measures to get back to other people. Hubby's condition deteriorated each day, He could not go to work, he could not sleep, he had no appetite to eat, his coughing was bad and he suffered from laboured breathing. I could not sleep myself, worrying about him. He reached to the extent of talking nonsense in his half-awake state. Sometimes asking me weird questions or making weird statements. And that really freaked me out. Eventually, both his legs were swelling and his abdomen distended. However he refused to seek treatment from the hospital initially, until one day he decided to go to another private hospital. He was observed in the emergency room and doctor informed us that his heart was failing. At the time of admission, his heart was only functioning at 20% strength. He was admitted and treated accordingly (inotropic, diuretic etc). Angiogram was performed but no significant findings. To cut long story short, after being detained in the ward for a few days, his condition improved, his appetite improving and he could sleep better. He was eventually discharged. Alhamdulillah.

Present
This Syawal, I count my blessings. Alhamdulillah, after the struggle from the illness last year, hubby got better and better. Appetite much improved and he started to gain weight. And Syawal could not be any sweeter than this.

Future
Praying for Allah's blessings for future Syawal and may we become a better person than we are right now...
Pictures of past Syawal and present Syawal. Can really see the difference in hubby's appearance between these two pictures. 

 
Sesungguhnya Allah menguji hambaNya dengan kesusahan dan kesenangan sebagai cubaan.... Dan sesungguhnya sakit itu ujian untuk yang sakit dan yang sihat.