Dubai: This Christmas, Mary Kutty Thankachan, 69, has more than one reason to be cheerful.
The former Dubai Health Authority nurse has not only recovered completely from a paralytic stroke and is looking forward to a happy Christmas with loved ones, but her illness also gave her an opportunity to experience the love and care at the very hospital where she spent years tending to the needs of others.
After suffering a stroke on December 17, Thankachan was admitted to Rashid Hospital — where she had worked as a staff nurse for over 14 years since 1973 before moving to Latifa Hospital for another seven years — and is due to be discharged by Wednesday.
Thankachan is happy she renewed her ties with her old colleagues.
Thankachan, who resigned in 1994 owing to family commitments and returned to Kerala, came to Dubai on a residence visa in 2010 after the death of her husband to join her daughter Sheeba’s family.
Mary Kutty in 1973
On December 17, when she suffered a stroke early in the morning, her daughter rushed her to Rashid Hospital trauma care where she was given immediate treatment. Although she had lost complete movement in the right side of her body and had slurring speech, Thankachan has recovered considerably since then and today, she is alert, is able to lift her right arm and leg. She is ready to go home.
“On the first day [of the stroke], I was not very aware of it but the quick treatment [at Rashid Hospital] [helped] me and although still sick, I could not contain my happiness at being in a familiar environment. This place is like home to me and the staff is my family. I cannot tell you how relaxed I feel to be in this hospital,” said Thankachan.
A graduate in nursing from the medical college in Indore, India, she was amongst the earliest batch of nurses recruited to Rashid Hospital soon after it opened up overseas recruitment. “I was only 26 and one of my friends who was already at the Ministry of Health here, advised me to apply. I was proud to have cleared the interview and tests and only a few of us made the cut. I came to Dubai in 1973 on an overseas contract,” recalls Thankachan who was at the time single and happy to be part of this big hospital.
“I was employed in the labour and maternity ward which was fairly busy with at least five deliveries during the day and we were always on our feet. There was great team spirit. I worked here until 1987 and was moved to Al Wasl (now called Latifa) Hospital. My colleagues and I started the maternity ward there,” said .
Thankachan, who married at 27, and has three children — two sons and a daughter — all born at Rashid Hospital.
She sees her present visit to Rashid Hospital as an opportunity to meet former employees and get a chance to see younger nurses at work. “Many of them were born after I retired and yet they care for me with so much love,” she said.
Quick stroke treatment restores complete movement
Thankachan was administered the Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) injection by the team attending on her. The tPA is a treatment that can be given to stroke patients who have no bleeding and come within an hour to the hospital. It gives a 30 per cent chance of complete recovery to the patient. The Rashid Hospital Stroke Unit is the only place in UAE administering this clot-busting injection.
Dr Ayman Mahmoud Al Boudi, specialist neurosurgeon at Rashid Hospital attending on her case said timely help had made a big difference in her recovery. “When she came to us on the morning of December 17, her right side was affected completely, her speech was slurred, her face was drooping. After a CT scan determined she had no haemorrhagia, I administered the tPA which busts the clot and restores blood supply. Lack of blood causes brain cells to die, but quick restoration often minimises the damage,” he said.
Al Boudi said she would be able to go home for Christmas.
The former Dubai Health Authority nurse has not only recovered completely from a paralytic stroke and is looking forward to a happy Christmas with loved ones, but her illness also gave her an opportunity to experience the love and care at the very hospital where she spent years tending to the needs of others.
After suffering a stroke on December 17, Thankachan was admitted to Rashid Hospital — where she had worked as a staff nurse for over 14 years since 1973 before moving to Latifa Hospital for another seven years — and is due to be discharged by Wednesday.
Thankachan is happy she renewed her ties with her old colleagues.
Thankachan, who resigned in 1994 owing to family commitments and returned to Kerala, came to Dubai on a residence visa in 2010 after the death of her husband to join her daughter Sheeba’s family.
Mary Kutty in 1973
On December 17, when she suffered a stroke early in the morning, her daughter rushed her to Rashid Hospital trauma care where she was given immediate treatment. Although she had lost complete movement in the right side of her body and had slurring speech, Thankachan has recovered considerably since then and today, she is alert, is able to lift her right arm and leg. She is ready to go home.
“On the first day [of the stroke], I was not very aware of it but the quick treatment [at Rashid Hospital] [helped] me and although still sick, I could not contain my happiness at being in a familiar environment. This place is like home to me and the staff is my family. I cannot tell you how relaxed I feel to be in this hospital,” said Thankachan.
A graduate in nursing from the medical college in Indore, India, she was amongst the earliest batch of nurses recruited to Rashid Hospital soon after it opened up overseas recruitment. “I was only 26 and one of my friends who was already at the Ministry of Health here, advised me to apply. I was proud to have cleared the interview and tests and only a few of us made the cut. I came to Dubai in 1973 on an overseas contract,” recalls Thankachan who was at the time single and happy to be part of this big hospital.
“I was employed in the labour and maternity ward which was fairly busy with at least five deliveries during the day and we were always on our feet. There was great team spirit. I worked here until 1987 and was moved to Al Wasl (now called Latifa) Hospital. My colleagues and I started the maternity ward there,” said .
Thankachan, who married at 27, and has three children — two sons and a daughter — all born at Rashid Hospital.
She sees her present visit to Rashid Hospital as an opportunity to meet former employees and get a chance to see younger nurses at work. “Many of them were born after I retired and yet they care for me with so much love,” she said.
Quick stroke treatment restores complete movement
Thankachan was administered the Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) injection by the team attending on her. The tPA is a treatment that can be given to stroke patients who have no bleeding and come within an hour to the hospital. It gives a 30 per cent chance of complete recovery to the patient. The Rashid Hospital Stroke Unit is the only place in UAE administering this clot-busting injection.
Dr Ayman Mahmoud Al Boudi, specialist neurosurgeon at Rashid Hospital attending on her case said timely help had made a big difference in her recovery. “When she came to us on the morning of December 17, her right side was affected completely, her speech was slurred, her face was drooping. After a CT scan determined she had no haemorrhagia, I administered the tPA which busts the clot and restores blood supply. Lack of blood causes brain cells to die, but quick restoration often minimises the damage,” he said.
Al Boudi said she would be able to go home for Christmas.
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