After a lengthy loss of contact, yesterday Saturday 18th April, Ari, Wira, my wife and I managed to visit ailing Anna at her PD house, the endowment of Anak Din, her husband who died 11 years ago. Ikhwan had given Anna's mobile number, and several calls followed by several wrong turns finally brought us to her corner lot 3-room terrace house at Jalan 3/7 Taman Intan Perdana, Telok Kemang. Anna and her new husband were waiting for us.
What brought us to visit was the news that she nearly lost a foot due to diabetic infection, but was saved by "maggot treatment." I've read and seen such cases some years ago on the internet, but not the rest of the group. They were naturally puzzled by the "ulat" thing. Anna confirmed it, and it was as I'd seen on the internet. Back home that night I showed the video to Idah on my p.c.
After her husband died from illness when based at Sungei Besi, Anna was diagnosed with severe diabetes. She's now on 2 insulin injections daily, has lost weight, and depends on her husband for their household chores. The right foot infection started innocently enough with a sore and some hard scratchings, and before long it became a large infected open wound on which she claimed to have spent RM 7,000 for hospital visits and various treatments without improvement, and ending with the PD Hospital's two final options - amputation or maggots treatment. The choice was simple, and it worked !
Even when Anak Din was in Kuala Lipis (that was how they knew Siti Norhaliza, and in fact she came to Sg. Besi for their daughter's wedding before Anak Din passed away) and Nenasi, Pekan, we visited. He was transferred to many places before his last posting to Sungei Besi. Ari said he went to all of them. Anak Din was Ari's nephew.
Now that Anna is in ill health, Husin, a widower and her new husband, is looking after her. He's 61, a year older, and isn't working anymore, but they're managing on Anna's pension, and they say it's enough for them, and yesterday it appeared so. The children from both past marriages are all married with children of their own, staying all over the place but mostly in Pahang, so visits are infrequent, but Anna said she understands and doesn't mind. Cik Ani called last night asking about our visit which she heard about, and I told her to visit Anna soon.
Anak Din died well before retirement age, but since my marriage into that extended family in 1971 until his untimely passing in 2004, I had acquired a liking for his jovial nature, among others. He got his good looks from his late mother, and was quite a ladies' man. In fact his "casanova" ways got him in trouble, and there are a few instances that I know of. But he raised a good family, and they have remained, in spite of separation, close.
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